Latest Announcements

The Illinois Principals Association (IPA) announced that Courtney DeMent, Ed.M. '06 EPOL, received the 2026 Herman Graves Award. 

“Dr. Courtney DeMent is a leader of leaders,” shared IPA Executive Director Dr. Jason Leahy. “Courtney not only serves effectively as a principal in a high-performing school, but she is also someone who is sought out by her peers for guidance. For the IPA, she has served at all levels of the organization, including as a member of the Association’s Executive Committee, where her steadfast leadership continues to move the IPA forward.”

DeMent has been a member of the Illinois Principals Association for 12 years and currently serves as Secretary for the IPA Board of Directors. Previously, she served as State Director, Region Director, Region Secretary, and as a member of the DuPage Region of the Illinois Principals Association. DeMent has also served on the Illinois State Superintendent’s Principal Advisory Council and presented at the IPA annual educational leaders conference. She is a member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (now the National Principals Association).

The Herman Graves Award was established in 1991 to recognize outstanding service to IPA. It recognizes his contributions to the Association and his enthusiasm for the profession. Regional winners are chosen from the 21 regional areas of the Illinois Principals Association. From these elite administrators, a state winner is chosen by a committee composed of IPA Past Presidents.

Dement serves as principal of Downers Grove South High School.

Asmaa Elsayed, A Ph.D. student in Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, has been named a recipient of an American Doctoral Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). This prestigious fellowship offsets scholars’ expenses during one year of their doctoral program, accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia.

"The AAUW Fellowship gives me the financial stability to devote nearly all my time to completing my dissertation, which I will defend in April 2027," Elsayed says." It brings me closer to becoming the first woman in my family to earn a doctorate, a milestone that reaches well beyond my own accomplishment."

"Receiving the AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship is a deeply meaningful affirmation of my place in higher education after a long and often difficult journey,” she says. “As a first-generation, nontraditional student and the first woman in my family to pursue graduate education, I questioned whether academia was prepared to make room for someone with my background. This fellowship affirmed what I have come to believe more deeply: I have earned my place here, and my experiences, perspectives, and scholarship matter. 

Elsayed is a post-structural critical feminist researcher whose work centers emancipatory and transformative learning. She is a doctoral candidate in Global Studies, with a minor in women and gender in global perspectives. Her research explores identity, healing, resilience, and holistic well-being among women College students.

"I am immensely grateful to AAUW and to the professors, mentors, and colleagues who recognized my potential, especially my advisor, Dr. Yoon Pak," says Elsayed. "Her grace, kindness, and unwavering support created an environment in which I could remain resilient and continue working toward completing my doctoral program despite significant personal hardships."

Established in 1888, AAUW American Fellowships are the oldest non-institutional source of graduate funding for women in the United States.

Join the University of Illinois and the University of Birmingham for their upcoming BRIDGE webinar on November 3, from 9 - 10:30 a.m.

The webinar is titled "Teacher Preparation, Professional Development, and Mentoring for Teachers Working in Challenging Circumstances." Curriculum & Instruction Assistant Professor Giselle Martinez-Negrette will be a featured speaker.

This webinar will focus on emerging themes from the group’s recent interactions with five South African universities. It will be held on Teams and require a password. Click to join the event on the day. Meeting ID: 317 152 032 052 216, Passcode: CK2B3fv6

The College of Education invites applications from faculty across campus to serve as Alma Faculty Fellows for the Alma Project. 12 fellows will be selected for the August 2027-June 2028 term. Each fellow receives $5,000 in project funding.

Full-time tenure system or specialized faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign across any discipline or College are eligible to apply. We welcome applications from instructors with and without prior experience in community-engaged practices. These fellows will join the three Senior Faculty Fellows selected earlier this year.

The deadline to apply for the Alma Faculty Fellows cohort is November 6, 2026, at 5 p.m. 

Apply and find out more about the fellowship here.

Audrey Armour, a sophomore Elementary Education major, will present her research at the Undergraduate Research Showcase.

Armour will present "Literacy Education and Initiatives: A Case Study of Two Illinois Schools" at the symposium.

The showcase takes place at the Illini Union, room 104, on Friday, November 6, from 4-5 p.m.

The Showcase is an annual event that features a small cohort of specially invited undergraduate researchers nominated by colleagues across campus for their outstanding scholarship and previous presentation experience. These exceptionally talented students will share their projects in an engaging poster session, giving attendees a chance to explore their work and learn about their research experiences.

Three instructors with extensive experience in community-engaged learning have been selected to serve as Senior Faculty Fellows. Senior Fellows will be involved in shaping the Alma Project for campus from the early stages.

Annie Abbott, teaching associate professor of Spanish; Alexandra Chronopoulou, clinical associate professor of Statistics; and Andrew Moss, associate director of the program in professional writing English, were selected as the project’s inaugural cohort of Senior Faculty Fellows.

Abbott, Chronopoulou and Moss’ applications resonated with the committee because of their experience implementing community-engaged practices, their long-standing community relationships, and their thoughtful ideas for integrating neighborliness content. Their courses share a common goal of nurturing mutually beneficial relationships between Illinois students and the Champaign-Urbana community through diverse collaborations, such as working with local Spanish-speaking and immigrant organizations, offering statistical consulting to C-U nonprofits, and providing grant-writing services to local organizations.

The “Alma Project: Promoting Neighborliness at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign” seeks to create, support, and sustain a culture of neighborliness at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through dozens of community-engaged learning courses where students develop the character virtue of neighborliness.

Adeoye Adeyemo, assistant professor of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, has been named a 2026 Emerging Innovator by the University of Illinois' Office of Technology Management.

The award celebrates an important milestone in the innovation journey, recognizing a research discovery's broader potential and taking the first formal step toward exploring its translation into societal or commercial impact.

Adeyemo’s project is a documentary, currently in post-production, that focuses on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the East St. Louis community and student-athletes.

All faculty members reaching this milestone during the year are recognized as Emerging Innovators, creating an annual cohort of researchers beginning their engagement with the University’s innovation and commercialization ecosystem.

Gerald Wilson, the university’s director of entrepreneurship, says, “Our faculty innovators are among the most important drivers of Illinois’ entrepreneurial ecosystem. Their discoveries create opportunities for new technologies, companies, and solutions to important problems. We are proud to recognize both the promise of emerging innovators and the extraordinary accomplishments of faculty who have made research translation a sustained part of their work.”

Justin Seno, Ed.M. '17 EPOL, has been named assistant dean for advancement for the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois. 

Seno rejoins AHS, where he started his Illinois advancement career in 2014 as associate director of advancement. He also served as associate director and director of gift planning for the University of Illinois Foundation.

In more than nine years in gift planning, he earned his Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and worked with colleagues across all three universities to secure over $260 million in private support. 

Justin will succeed Jean Driscoll, who retired as AHS assistant dean for advancement in August.

Join the Education Justice Project for an author talk with Rebecca Neusteter, author of 911, What’s Your Emergency?: The Promise and Peril of Crisis Response. She will discuss her research on the 911 system, its impact on communities of color, and challenges of relying on police as the default emergency response. Dinner will be served and as well as copies of the book. Email policy@educationjustice.net with any questions or accessibility requests 

RSVP: https://educationjustice.jotform.com/262185317547866  

The Education Justice Project is hosting an info session on Wed Oct. 21, from 2-3 p.m. in Room 22, for anyone interested in learning more about opportunities to work with EJP at Danville Correctional Center, either on our policy team or through our pathway program. 

Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to attend to learn more about our internship program. 

Course instructors are compensated; other roles are not. More information is available on our website: https://educationjustice.net/work-with-ejp/. All are  welcome!

Megan Best, Ph.D. '25 SPED, has been named the recipient of the Early Career Teacher Educator Award from TASH.

The recipient of the Teacher Educator Award has a clearly defined university-level teaching philosophy that aligns with TASH’s mission and values, including a clear emphasis on inclusive practices that integrate current research and evidence-based practices. In addition, the nominee has a well-established record of scholarly and/or creative work that effectively bridges research and practice.

Best is an assistant professor of Special Education at the University of Kentucky. She was named the Alice H. Hayden Emerging Leader from TASH in 2025.

TASH advances equity, opportunity and inclusion for people with disabilities, with a focus on those with the most significant support needs, in the areas of education, employment and community living through advocacy, research and practice.

Saad Shehab, Ph.D. '19 Curriculum & Instruction, has been named a fellow in the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE). Fellows represent excellence in design and development in education from the designer, design group leader, or funder perspectives. 

Shehab is part of the NSF-funded project "Engaging Teachers in Integrating Human-Centered Design for Geometry Problem-based Instruction," which began in 2023. He serves as Senior Associate Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives for the Siebel Center for Design. He conducts research that informs the design, implementation, and evaluation of Human-Centered Design programs and activities in formal and informal learning environments. 

ISDDE focuses on mathematics and science education to improve design and development processes used in educational design, build and support a community among educational designers, create transformational training opportunities for new educational designers, and increase the impact of educational designers on educational practice worldwide.

Hsiu-Wen Yang, a visiting research scientist with the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM), has received a $451,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

"Building Bridges: Collaboration and Partnership to Support Late-Talking Bilingual Toddlers," for which Yang will serve as PI, aims to improve collaboration and connection between Early Intervention providers and parents of late-talking toddlers. 

Yang hopes to identify strengths, needs, and priorities when setting goals for families and EI providers, and strengthen intervention planning for these children. The project also aims to shed new light on how families and EI providers work together to set meaningful language goals.

Mirelsie Velázquez, associate professor of Latina/o Studies and Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, has published an article for the Latino News Network. 

Her article, "The Future of Puerto Rico: Consider Needs of the Children," examines the challenges facing her native Puerto Rico amidst an education and migration crisis.

"Since Hurricane Maria in 2017, there has been a dramatic shift in the population numbers across the archipelago, with the number declining to about 3.2 million according to reports from the Pew Research Center," says Velazquez. " This outmigration of teachers and students does not just reflect an opportunity but a necessity. Between 2017 and 2021, Puerto Rico has seen numerous school closings and schools sold to private organizations."

"And for those schools that remain open, disinvestment in schools and services across the archipelago has made it imperative that families make the decision to leave Puerto Rico to meet the needs of their children."

Velázquez wrote the article in connection with her appointment as an Op-Ed Project Public Voices Fellow.

Emily Harrington, assistant professor, and Matt Lambert, professor and department head of Special Education, have collaborated on a $427,000 NIH-funded study from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Their project, titled Leveraging Extant Data to Characterize Language Growth and Optimize Caregiver-Implemented Interventions for Children with Late Language Emergence, explores the strategies caregivers use with children ages 30 to 45 months with spoken language delays.

The study hopes to optimize and evaluate developmentally aligned interventions that reach more caregivers and children with late language emergence. 

Harrington and Lambert are joined by Pamela Hadley, professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Illinois, as a co-PI on the project. 

The Office of Advancement at the College of Education invites all faculty and staff to the first-ever Salute to Education event on Saturday, October 17, at the I Hotel and Conference Center from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Bringing together the College’s Student Recognition Brunch and annual Alumni Awards program, this new fall tradition celebrates our 2026 Alumni Award recipients, student scholarship recipients, and the generous donors who make scholarships and fellowships possible. Enjoy a brunch buffet as we honor achievements in education and the community helping shape its future.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP by October 2.

Hyun-Sook Kang, associate professor of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, served as an invited panelist for the Universitas 21 (U21) Graduate Researchers in Education Community of Practice (GRE CoP) webinar, “Demystifying Peer Review.”

During the international webinar, Kang shared her expertise and experiences with graduate researchers from U21 institutions, offering insights into the peer-review and academic publishing process. The panel explored challenges graduate researchers commonly encounter, including navigating contradictory reviewer feedback, prioritizing revisions, responding effectively to reviewers, deciding when authors can appropriately push back against reviewer recommendations, and understanding the review process from an editor’s perspective.

Martin Lehrer, a doctoral student in Curriculum & Instruction, represented the College of Education in the U21 Graduate Researchers in Education Community of Practice. As part of the GRE CoP leadership team, Lehrer invited Kang to participate in the panel and helped organize the webinar.

The webinar was part of the U21 PGR Success Series, “From Published to Funded,” an international professional development initiative that brings together graduate researchers and academics from U21 universities to exchange knowledge and perspectives on research, publishing, and academic development.

Through Professor Kang’s contribution to the panel and Lehrer’s involvement with the GRE CoP, the College of Education was represented in an international U21 initiative supporting the professional development of emerging education researchers.

Congratulations to Gayithri Jayathirtha, assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction, who has won a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to better understand artificial intelligence (AI) literacy development within computing classrooms. Her project, "Co-Designing, Implementing, and Researching Computing Learning Experiences about AI (CIRCLE-AI)" has been awarded a five-year, $715,000 grant.

Specifically, Jayathirtha says CIRCLE-AI will "explore and develop the fundamental computing concepts underlying AI such as problem-solving, algorithms, and data science and create applications by writing programs." The work will be situated in introductory high school computing classrooms, involving students from a wide range of rural and urban regions of Alabama, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon and Wisconsin. As a crucial component of the project, Jayathirtha will partner with supporting teachers to co-design CIRCLE-AI curricular materials and professional development sessions.

The highly selective CAREER award recognizes early-career faculty with the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or institution.

Le'Passion Darby, Ed.M. '22 EPOL, has published a chapter in a new book examining the heritage messages conveyed by statuary monuments, focusing on statues and monuments of women and exploring the challenges of depicting women's key roles across different societies.

Her chapter, Why Katherine Johnson? Why Now? The Shifting Symbolism in Black Women Statuary at HBCUs examines the motivations behind West Virginia State University's decision to honor NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson and explores the monument’s symbolism and timing through insights from university presidents, staff, students, and the sculptor.

The book, published by Routledge, is titled Monuments, Statues, and Commemorations of Women. 

Sarah Zehr Gantz, Ph.D. '16 EPOL and associate vice president for academic affairs for the University of Illinois System, was honored by the Executive Club of Champaign County with the Athena Leadership Award.

Gantz’s career reflects an extensive commitment to education, leadership development, and public service. During more than two decades with the University of Illinois, she has held leadership positions spanning academic affairs, public engagement, corporate relations, engineering career services, communications, and business education. She serves as an adjunct faculty member in the College of Education, teaching graduate-level courses and advising master’s and doctoral students.

Gantz has served as President of the Executive Club of Champaign County, held numerous leadership roles with Leadership Illinois and the United Way of Champaign County, and initiated major community service efforts addressing issues including hunger and volunteer engagement. One initiative she proposed and led grew to involve more than 1,500 volunteers packaging 160,000 meals for the local food bank.

Gantz is also a former ATHENA Young Professional Award recipient, having received the honor in 2012. Her other recognitions include the University of Illinois Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence Award, the United Way Spirit of Caring Outstanding Volunteer Award, and recognition among Champaign-Urbana's Top Forty Under 40.

The ATHENA Awards celebrate leadership that strengthens communities while creating opportunities for women to reach their full potential. A panel of community leaders selects recipients based on the materials submitted through the nomination process.