Stories by Victoria Jones

In a day and age where immigration, a path to citizenship, and access to higher education are hotly debated topics, doctoral candidate Matthew Shaw, Ed.M.’14, is conducting critical interdisciplinary research in law and higher education. This year, Shaw’s work was recognized by the American Bar Foundation (ABF) when he was selected for the National Science Foundation-funded Law and Social Science Dissertation Fellowship. Each year, the ABF, in conjunction with the Law and Society Association, chooses three fellows from across the country to participate in a two-year in-residence program in...

Stereotype threat — the fear of being judged on the basis of negative stereotypes, and the fear of doing something that would confirm those stereotypes — is insidious. It’s a cyclical, self-fulfilling phenomenon, where members of stereotyped groups can feel so much pressure (consciously or not) from the weight of those fears that it inhibits their performance. Studies have demonstrated the effects of stereotype threat on everything from academic performance to athletic competition. When it comes to education, stereotype threat and social-emotional distress can significantly hamper a student’s...

Bring universal learning ideas to life in your classroom by creating and sharing your own educational materials. Find innovative games that teach critical thinking and math skills. Help your students learn to write a better lab report. Educators can do all of that with a set of free tools created by CAST, a nonprofit research and development company dedicated to breaking down barriers to learning. At CAST, making curriculum accessible to all takes many forms, including the production of resources and tools that break down barriers to learning. Working under the motto, “Until learning has no...

As policymakers, administrators, and teachers, we want the children in our classrooms to be happy, of course. But how much does their happiness really matter when it comes to learning? According to a new study by HGSE lecturer Christina Hinton, Ed.D.’12, the answer is clear: It matters a lot. Hinton examined the interplay of happiness, motivation, and success in a K–12 setting, and she also looked at the school factors that support student happiness. Using both quantitative and qualitative measures, she found that from elementary school to high school, happiness is positively correlated with...