Latest Announcements

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.

Three faculty members from the College of Education were named OpEd Project Public Voices Fellows by the Office of the Provost.

Rochelle Gutierrez, professor Curriculum & Instruction, Jon Hale, professor Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, and Mirelsie Velázquez associate professor Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, were all selected to be fellows.

The Public Voices Fellowship is a year-long program that provides a cohort of 20 thought leaders with extraordinary support, leadership skills, and knowledge to improve representation in the field, ensuring their ideas shape not only their fields but also the broader public conversations of our age.

Faculty members in this cohort will attend four sessions during the 2026-27 academic year and will be paired with a journalism mentor who provides one-on-one editing and coaching. Fellows will publish two or more op-ed pieces during the program.

P. David Pearson, eleventh Dean of the College of Education, passed away on August 30.

Pearson served as Dean from 1989-1995. During his tenure, he also served as Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Reading and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction from 1978-1995.

A prolific scholar of reading research, Pearson wrote and co-edited several books about research and practice, most notably the Handbook of Reading Research, now in its fourth volume. He served multiple terms as editor of 3 major research publications-Reading Research Quarterly, NRC Yearbook, and Review of Research in Education. His 300+ books, articles, and chapters, written with over 200 co-authors, appear in a range of outlets for a wide range of audiences—teachers, scholars, and policy makers.

He served as an advisor to the National Academy of Sciences, the Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), the National Assessment of Educational Progress, myriad school districts and state agencies, and many public and private educational institutions.

Pearson's honors include the 1989 Oscar Causey Award for outstanding contributions to reading research from the NRC and the 1990 William S.Gray Citation of Merit. He received the Alan Purves Award from the National Council of Teachers of English, and in 2005, the Albert J. Harris Award from the  International Reading Association for scholarship on reading difficulties. 

In 2003, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Education, and in 2009, he was named an AERA Fellow. Earlier this year, Pearson was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2010, he received the AERA Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award. The Literacy Research Association (formerly the NRC) created the P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award in 2012 to honor scholarship that impacts literacy practice.

In addition to Illinois, Pearson served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Aigul Rakisheva, a Ph.D. Candidate in Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, has earned the Strategic Data Project (SDP) Fellowship at Harvard University.

Rakisheva will join the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) as Manager of Impact Evaluation.

The SDP Fellowship is a two-year capacity-building program that places data strategists in education organizations to support evidence-based decision-making and improve student outcomes. The fellowship provides extensive training in measurement and analysis, leadership and change management, and education policy.

CEPR at Harvard University has developed a distinctive approach to fulfilling its mission to transform education through high-quality research and evidence.