Media advisory: UW-Madison experts address back-to-school topics 

Get your backpack ready. School is almost in session. Experts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison can discuss a variety of subjects related to the start of a new school year.

Helping teachers and students harness the power of AI 

Shamya Karumbaiah, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology from UW–Madison’s School of Education, is partnering with colleague Sadhana Puntambekar to explore how artificial intelligence could be made more useful for students and teachers. Puntambekar, a Sears-Bascom Professor of learning sciences, has for several years examined how well an artificial intelligence tool called PyrEval can help students learn to write better essays. This year Karumbaiah joined the effort to evaluate PyrEval’s feedback and how it compares to language models like ChatGPT. Just one element in a broad swath of artificial intelligence research, Karumbaiah is also developing a tool to support teachers in understanding the benefits and harms of using an AI tool in their classrooms, and examining how large language models can be made more equitable for multilingual students. 

Contact: chodumadakar@wisc.edu  

Understanding polarization’s effect on young learners 

Jeremy Stoddard, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in UW–Madison’s School of Education, studies how political polarization is impacting young people and civic education in K-12 schools. In June he helped organize a research convening to examine this issue with scholars from around the country. He has also published studies examining how teachers engaged their students in the 2018 and 2020 elections. As we enter another contentious election cycle, Stoddard says building a better understanding of how polarization is changing classrooms is more important now than ever. “We need to dig into the research we already have on these important subjects to figure out what else we need to know and what we can do about it,” he says.  

Contact: jdstoddard@wisc.edu  

Engaging multilingual students in learning 

Mariana Castro, the qualitative research director for the Multilingual Learning Research Center in UW–Madison’s School of Education, has dedicated her career to supporting the learning of bilingual and multilingual students. This past May, she joined education leaders at the Every Day Counts Summit hosted at the White House, where she spoke about comprehensive approaches to engaging English learners in learning, developing two-way partnerships with families and community, and creating extended opportunities beyond classroom walls. 

Contact: mariana.castro@wisc.edu 

Improving students’ mental health across Wisconsin 

With funding from UW–Madison’s Wisconsin Rural Partnership initiative, Andy Garbacz is leading a three-year project that aims to build capacity for sustained and integrated family-centered and family-school-community mental health support for children in rural Wisconsin communities. Other projects he is working on focus on promoting students’ mental health in suburban and urban schools across Wisconsin. Garbacz is a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Psychology. He also serves as co-director of the School Mental Health Collaborative, a center focused on conducting research that informs policy and practice to promote the social-emotional and behavioral success of all students. 

Contact: andy.garbacz@wisc.edu 

Disrupting bullying of transgender students 

A new study by Mollie McQuillan is shedding light on preventing bullying of transgender and gender-expansive students, with a focus on the crucial role of school administrators. An assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis in in UW–Madison’s School of Education, McQuillan’s research shows four distinct ways elementary through high school leaders model support for bullying, and also reveals ways they can interrupt it. Broadly, McQuillan’s research examines the intersection of educational policy, social relationships, and health of LGBTQ+ students and educators. 

Contact: mmcquillan@wisc.edu 

Teacher Pledge: Developing potential solutions to address the educator shortage 

With staffing challenges straining schools across the nation, the UW–Madison School of Education Wisconsin Teacher Pledge is an innovative, donor-funded program that’s designed to help bolster the teacher workforce. The initiative “pledges” to pay the equivalent of in-state tuition and fees, testing, and licensing costs for all teacher education students. In return, graduates “pledge” to teach for three or four years at a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school in Wisconsin. The Teacher Pledge was extended through the 2029-30 academic year in April, thanks to $8 million in new donor support. Contact Tom Owenby, the School of Education’s associate dean for teacher education and director of the Teacher Education Center, to learn more. 

Contact: owenby@wisc.edu 

Supporting Black males in STEM education 

As Black men continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in the United States, Brian Burt is shedding light on the best ways to encourage Black males to engage with STEM subjects and succeed in those subjects in school, from primary school to doctoral studies. In September, he will launch a new website, five instructional videos, and complementary handouts based on his research on Black males in engineering.  Burt is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and director of the Wisconsin Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) in UW–Madison’s School of Education. He is also one of two School of Education faculty who will help lead the new Wisconsin Sloan Center for Systemic Change, an initiative aimed at removing barriers and improving equity in STEM doctoral programs across the country.  

Contact: brian.a.burt@wisc.edu 

Communication and preparation key for student mental health 

Starting a new school year can be stressful for kids, but planning and communicating can help reduce anxiety, according to Dr. Megan Yanny, a UW Health Kids pediatrician and an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. First day of school nerves are common and it helps children to check in with teachers, see the school and go over routines in advance to mentally prepare for the start of the school year, according Yanny. 

 A recorded interview with Yanny is available. She is also available for interviews. 

Contact: Emily Greendonner, (608) 516-9154,  egreendonner@uwhealth.org. 

More experts on news and current events can be found on the UW–Madison Experts Database.