Skip to main content

News

Undergraduate Named Student Worker of the Year

April 10, 2026

School of Education and Social Policy senior Timothy Huff was named a Northwestern University Student Employee of the Year in Community and Belonging for his leadership work with Black Men LEAD, a mentoring program at Evanston Township High School.

Shark Tank

SESP Grad Wins $100,000 on Shark Tank

April 9, 2026

Alumna Sloane Barry (BS22) and partner Brennan Hellmers appeared on Shark Tank, pitching SOMNIA+, a bed expander kit designed to make narrow dorm beds more functional and comfortable without replacing the mattress or using tools.

SESP Ranked No. 2 by U.S. News

April 6, 2026

Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) has earned its highest-ever ranking — No. 2 among graduate schools of education in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Sepehr Vakil

Vakil Helps Shape National AI Curriculum

March 31, 2026

Northwestern University Professor Sepehr Vakil contributed to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that offers strategies for integrating data and computing into K-12 education.

Mesmin Destin

Destin Joins Carnegie Foundation Push to Improve High School

March 31, 2026

Professor Mesmin Destin was named a senior fellow with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, joining a national effort to bridge the gap between what young people need to thrive and what high school currently delivers.

Carol Lee

SESP Scholars Head to Los Angeles for AERA 2026

March 30, 2026

Scholars from Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy will address Indigenous futures, AI justice, climate, democracy, and the ongoing effort to improve education at the 2026 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

Ozivell Ecford

Ecford Named to Bouchet Honor Society

March 23, 2026

Ozivell Ecford, a learning sciences graduate student at Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy, has been selected for the 2026 Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, which recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and excellence in doctoral education.

Kirabo Jackson

More Money, Worse Results?

March 6, 2026

Mississippi spends less than half of what New Jersey does on education. Yet its fourth-graders perform better on standardized reading and math tests. Kirabo Jackson explains why.

Sally Nuamah

Nuamah Earns Coveted Bellagio Residency

March 6, 2026

Northwestern University professor Sally Nuamah has been selected as a 2026 Bellagio Center resident by the Rockefeller Foundation — a prestigious 26-day residency on the shores of Lake Como, Italy.

Dan McAdams

Life Isn't a Stage. It's a Story

March 4, 2026

Humans have a habit of dividing life into stages, but are these categories really useful or meaningful? In a recent New Yorker piece, SESP psychologist Dan P. McAdams tells writer Shayla Love that traditional life stages are limiting.

Bree Groff

Are We Having Fun Yet?

March 3, 2026

They call it work for a reason: It’s drudgery, something to slog through until payday. Or maybe you love your job—work is your passion, your identity and nearly all you do. Alumna Bree Groff (MSLOC14) offers a third way to think about how we spend five-sevenths of our week: What if work were simply more fun?

Students on Lauren Tighe's Bronzeville Trip

Seeing Social Policy Up Close in Bronzeville

March 2, 2026

Professor Lauren Tighe’s Child and Family Policy class took one of Dilla’s Mahogany Tours through Bronzeville on the South Side, connecting the policy they learned in the classroom with the communities those ideas shape.

Bryan Brayboy

Brayboy to Deliver AERA Distinguished Lecture

February 17, 2026

School of Education and Social Policy Dean Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy has been selected to deliver the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Distinguished Lecture, one of the signature events of the 2026 Annual Meeting.

Fungi

Fungi: Web of Life

February 17, 2026

Fungi and their vast, unseen networks can teach us a thing or two about relationships and well-being, professor Carrie Tzou (PhD08) said after a free screening of the documentary “Fungi: Web of Life” in Annenberg Hall.

Robert Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald Wins Academic All-American Honors

February 9, 2026

Northwestern redshirt junior safety Robert Fitzgerald earned College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-American honors. Fitzgerald, who is studying learning and organizational change, is the first Wildcat football student-athlete to receive Academic All-America honors since Josh Priebe was named to the first team in 2023

Emotional Well-Being in a Wired World

February 5, 2026

Smartphones and social media are making our emotional lives “choppier” by speeding up and intensifying the information we receive, stress researcher Emma Adam said during a recent Northwestern University conference on social and emotional well-being in a digital world.

Juniper Shelley: Around the World in 70 Days

February 4, 2026

Juniper Shelley once thought the “cool” research happened in windowless STEM labs, not in the social sciences. But after joining Professor Sally Nuamah’s lab, she realized research can also mean getting out into the world, talking to people, and exploring challenging questions.

Learning in Places

Research-Practice Partnerships: Stories of Impact

February 3, 2026

The National Network of Research-Practice Partnerships in Education highlighted the impact of a School of Education and Social Policy initiative as part of its annual look at the work of members.

Carrie Tzou

Carrie Tzou Joins SESP Faculty

January 27, 2026

Alumna Carrie Tzou (PhD08), whose career has focused on helping students and educators feel connected to science and place-based learning, has joined Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy as a professor of learning sciences and associate dean.

Block Associates

Undergrads Named Block Student Associates

January 19, 2026

Undergraduates Keya Soni Chaudhuri and Symone Harris have been named to the 2025-2026 cohort of Block Museum Student Associates at Northwestern University.

James Spillane

Faculty Influence Recognized in Annual Rankings

January 13, 2026

Four faculty members and an associated scholar with Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy were named to the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings for their work bringing research out of academic journals and into everyday life.