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Learning and Leading with Purpose

Our students, faculty, and community believe in improving lives and transforming society.

SESP students become

We value interdisciplinary training and hands-on experiences.

Join us and explore all you can do.

Programs

Get to Know Us

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Since 1926, our school has been a close-knit community of students, faculty, and staff committed to improving lives for individuals and communities. See what makes us special.

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Ranked Education School, U.S. News & World Report
Faculty members elected to the National Academy of Education
%
Undergraduates employed or completing graduate school or fellowships after graduation
K+
Service hours provided to local communities through the Civic Education Project

Making an Impact

At SESP, we partner with the community, where our research findings can make the greatest difference. These mutually beneficial collaborations let us to test new ideas, develop better practices, and spread discoveries to benefit as many people as possible.

Student walking in Chicago by train

Morton Schapiro Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools

The Morton Schapiro Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools increases access and successful matriculation of underrepresented, academically motivated Chicago Public Schools students. Thanks to the Academy, these talented students are put on a path to attend some of the country’s top-tier colleges and universities. To date, graduates have attended more than 115 different colleges and universities, including Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Marcello Worsley working with high school student

Black Kids Predict

Black Kids Predict gets students interested in data science to revamp the pipeline of talent. The  curriculum expands 6th-12th grade kids' idea of data and computer sciences from a geeky desk job they don’t want, to a superpower. Led by college-aged students from diverse backgrounds, the program emphasizes the practical uses of STEM education and learning to see data differently.


 

Nichole Pinkard working with student

STEAMbassadors

STEAMbassadors trains college-bound 18 to 24-year-olds from under resourced communities to work with youngsters whose neighborhoods lack learning opportunities and role models in the fields of computer science, engineering, and the arts. STEAMbassadors are assigned to a neighborhood organization that partners with Chicago Department of Family Support Services programs in parks, libraries, and schools to help build an out-of-school learning ecosystem across the city.

Evanston Township High School Partnership Office

Northwestern-Evanston Township High School (ETHS) Partnership Office

The Northwestern/ETHS Partnership Office is part of the Good Neighbor, Great University Initiative. The Partnership Office work is supported by Neighborhood and Community Relations and the Office of Community Education Partnerships in the School of Education and Social Policy. Northwestern has more than 100 substantial partnerships with Evanston Township High School. The relationship between the two communities spans disciplines and boundaries, crossing into academics, athletics, health and wellness, identity and social consciousness, college and career education, cultural events, mentoring, arts, and community engagement.

News and Events

Teachers on Tik Tok: 'I Quit'

Teachers on TikTok: ‘I Quit’

September 6, 2024 5:28 PM

Disillusioned American teachers use the social media platform TikTok to portray the profession as fundamentally unsustainable, according to a new case study by Melanie Muskin, a graduate student at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy.

Addison Feldman

Undergrads Win Voyager Scholarships

September 5, 2024 2:06 PM

Addison Feldman (pictured) and Ally Peak, both juniors at Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy, have been selected for the 2024 Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, also known as the Voyager Scholarship.

David Rapp

David Rapp: 'Reading Made Me Who I Am'

August 30, 2024 12:38 PM

When David Rapp was in high school, he worked in one of his favorite places in the world: The public library. There, the teenager was put in charge of literary classics, magazines, science fiction, and humor sections, all genres he still adores.

Jonathan Guryan

Study: Tutoring + Tech Can Accelerate Learning

August 20, 2024 12:25 PM

Frequent, in-person tutoring sessions combined with the strategic use of technology can reduce costs and help overcome pandemic-related learning loss, according to new research co-authored by Northwestern University’s Jonathan Guryan.

Events

Sep
9
2024

Preparing Students for Life Beyond College: Embracing AI as Essential Learning

2:00 PM Rebecca Crown Center, 633 Clark Street
Talk by C. Edward Watson, national expert on digital innovation in higher education. Co-sponsored by the Office of the P...
Sep
9
2024

Family Action Network (FAN) - 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People

7:00 PM , 1600 Dodge Ave.
Neuroscientists have discovered that around age ten, puberty spurs the brain to crave socially rewarding experiences, su...
Sep
11
2024

Family Action Network (FAN) - 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People

7:00 PM , 1285 N. McKinley Rd.
Neuroscientists have discovered that around age ten, puberty spurs the brain to crave socially rewarding experiences, su...
Sep
11
2024

Information Session: Dual Master’s Degree in Applied Economics and Social and Economic Policy

7:00 PM
Experience two campuses, two cultures and earn two masters degrees! Join us to learn more about our pathbreaking dual-de...
Sep
16
2024

Family Action Network (FAN) - Math Mind: The Simple Path to Loving Math

7:00 PM
In her national bestselling book, Math Mind: The Simple Path to Loving Math, Shalinee Sharma, one of the world’s top exp...
Sep
20
2024

New Undergraduate Fall 2024 Registration

All day
New Undergraduate Fall 2024 Registration