Forbes features Wei LAB project building pathways to inclusion in engineering
A project out of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) that aims to more fully engage women and people of color in engineering was featured in a report from Forbes on April 23 headlined, “REVIIS and the Path to Inclusive Engineering.” Brian Burt, professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and director of the Wei LAB, is the principal investigator of the project, titled Raising Equity Values with the Inclusive Professional Framework and ISO DEI Standards for Societies (REVIIS). Burt and his diverse team of organizational change and engineering
professional society leaders recently received a $1.25 million grant from the National Science Foundation for the project, which aims to increase diverse
engineers’ access to and inclusion in professional engineering societies and engineering more broadly. Speaking about why this is important, Burt tells Forbes, “Disciplinary excellence is only as good as those contributing to the discipline. Engineering has historically been a domain in which a narrow
population of people contribute. This myopic lens influences the nature of problems identified and addressed, and how efficiently and effectively problems are solved.” Full story here.
Ladson-Billings speaks with ʻ60 Minutes’ about the power of great teachers and schools
Gloria Ladson-Billings appeared on “60 Minutes” on May 5, contributing to a segment that put the spotlight on two high school seniors from New Orleans who came up with trigonometry proofs for the Pythagorean Theorem, a problem that stumped the math world for centuries. The segment also highlighted the power of dedicated teaching and its impact on academic success. The students who came up with the proof attended St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans, where 99% of students are Black girls — and all are high achievers. Ladson-Billings is a professor emerit with the UW–Madison School of Education who previously held the Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education. She has dedicated her career to examining
the cultural foundations of teaching and learning that lead to educational improvement for students who are most marginalized in schools. The “60 Minutes” report noted part of the success of St. Mary’s is rooted in the idea that all students can succeed — no matter the environment one lives in. Indeed, for 17 straight years, 100% of its students have been accepted to a college or university. Ladson-Billings says having an entire school so strongly dedicated to the excellence of all students “is almost like being in heaven.” Full story here.
In other reports
- This past spring, Kevin Lawrence Henry Jr., an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, was a guest on the PBS Wisconsin program, “Why Race Matters,” discussing the impact of race when it comes to COVID-19 and educational disparities. Henry is a scholar and public education advocate whose research investigates the racialized lived realities of charter schools and school choice policy and practice; the persistence of anti-Blackness in education; and culturally relevant and restorative justice approaches in education. Full story here.
- USA Today on May 24 published an article headlined, “What is the ‘best’ children’s book? Kids, parents, and authors on why some rise to the top.” Among other things, the report explains that “a book should have characters or lessons that young readers can identify with.” USA Today then notes research out of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, which is housed in UW–Madison’s School of Education, explaining: “Children’s books have gotten more diverse, both in the authors and the characters they write. A 2022 breakdown from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center noted 40% of books published in 2022 and received by the CCBC were by authors of color. On the other hand, an analysis of award-winning children’s books showed white characters are overrepresented.” Shannon DeVito, the senior director of books at Barnes & Noble, tells USA Today: “A good book that talks about modern culture (and has a) diverse cast of characters is better than something that doesn’t.” Full story here.