2025-2026: A Year of Learning, Leading, and Policy
From our highest-ever U.S. News & World Report ranking to the first graduates of two news master's programs, it was a breakthrough year at the School of Education and Social Policy.
In 2025-26, the School of Education and Social Policy:
Earned its highest-ever U.S. News & World Report ranking — No. 2 among graduate schools of education in the nation. The recognition extends a remarkable run: SESP has placed among the top 15 graduate schools of education for 24 consecutive years. The ranking arrives as the school prepares to mark its centennial, with celebrations beginning July 1.
Celebrated 138 undergraduates who earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and Social Policy, 198 students who earned master’s degrees from four programs, and 15 newly minted PhD’s. Alumnus Jamie Sahara was our featured speaker.
Welcomed three new faculty members: Angela Dixon, Zenzile Reddick and alumna Carrie Tzou.
Hosted John Palfrey, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, for the 2025 Ray and Nancy Loeschner Lecture Series on Leadership.
Received a three-year, $2.6 million grant from The Baxter Foundation to continue work with the Baxter Center for Science Education (BCSE), a SESP initiative to support educators through cutting-edge science, supply classrooms with lab equipment, and inspire the next generation of STEM leaders.
Created the Center for Responsible Technology, Policy, and Public Dialogue with a $1 million gift from the Kapor Foundation. The center hosted two major conferences: Well-Being in a Wired World and Creativity and AI.
Cheered on the first graduates of two new master's programs:
- Jackson Carsello is the first student to earn his master's in organizational dynamics, a program for recent college graduates who want to become leaders in learning, change and innovation across complex workplaces.
- Junyi Han, Michaiah Ligon, Lily i Ng, Brendan Ogden, Zachary Rosenblum, Lucas Wesonga, Zoe Lewis-Woodson, Yang Yang and Yunyun Zhang were part of the inaugural cohort of the master's in technology, people and policy program, which connects technology to ethics, law, the environment, people and public policy.
Established the eLEAP scholarship, which builds on research by faculty members Nichole Pinkard, Michael Horn, Matt Easterday and others. It provides $500 per eligible student for after-school or summer programming across Evanston.
Expanded the practicum to give it more global reach than ever. Undergraduates can complete their practicum through the Global Engagement Summer Institute (GESI) study abroad program. In addition to GESI options — which include South America and Asia — undergrads can study in Sydney, Milan or Dublin as part of SESP's Global Practicum Abroad offerings.
Established the Northwestern Collaborative for Applied Research in Education (formerly E4).
Placed four faculty members and an associated scholar on the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings for bringing research out of academic journals and into everyday life.
Collaborated with Evanston schools on coding and music, an initiative that culminated in the second annual BitCrush showcase, where fifth graders presented music projects created with Python code.
Unveiled the SESP Well-Being Initiative under the direction of Professor Claudia Haase, associate dean of well-being. It included:
- Special events, such as a half-day conference on social and emotional well-being and documentary screenings
- A new well-being internship for an undergraduate
- Therapy Dog Thursday (featuring Winnie, Professor Mindy Douthit's golden retriever, who holds regular office hours and has a weakness for belly rubs)
- The SESP Love Pantry, funded by an anonymous donor to provide food staples for students
- Support groups led by trained clinicians, chair massages and sound
- Collective art-making, community bowling and listening sessions
Organized research conferences on topics ranging from early childhood education, teaching and computational thinking to longevity, including:
- The third annual summit of the Chicago Consortium on Longevity, co-organized by Claudia Haase. The theme was Connection and Community Voices.
- The second annual Chicago Early Childhood Research Conference, co-organized by Terri Sabol.
- The NetLogo conference, featuring educational workshops for researchers and K-12 teachers, organized by Uri Wilensky and Jacob Keltner.
Mourned the loss of instructor Gail Darlow and Professor Emeritus Allan Collins.
Faculty Awards and Honors
- Alumnus Connor Bain, the first graduate of the CS-LS doctoral program, received the Charles Deering Professor of Teaching Excellence Award.
- Dean Bryan Brayboy was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. Brayboy also delivered the AERA Distinguished Lecture at the 2026 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.
- Cynthia Coburn, the Margaret Walker Alexander Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, was awarded the Martin E. and Gertrude G. Walder Award for Research Excellence.
- 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.
- Paul Goren, executive director of the Northwestern Collaborative for Applied Research in Education, was named chairman of the board of the New Teachers Center, a national nonprofit that focuses on recruiting, mentoring and sustaining the teacher workforce.
- Claudia Haase delivered a TEDx Northwestern talk and was a 2026 finalist for the Fletcher Prize for Excellence in Research Mentorship. She won the Fletcher Prize in 2022 and received Northwestern's Karl Rosengren Faculty Mentoring Award in 2024 and 2025.
- Jolie Matthews co-authored Trailblazers: The Unmatched Story of Women's Tennis, Young Readers Edition with tennis legend Billie Jean King and illustrator Alexandra Badiu. The book features inspiring biographies of more than 20 trailblazing women in the sport and is "ideal for young readers who dream big."
- Jen Munson received a five-year, $815,789 CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation to design spaces that make math as enjoyable as recreational reading. Her project, in collaboration with Evanston/Skokie School District 65, challenges traditional views of math by offering playful, hands-on activities in after-school programs.
- Dan P. McAdams received the International Society for Self and Identity's 2025 Distinguished Lifetime Career Award — his third lifetime achievement award. He presented a distinguished address at the 2026 annual SPSP Self and Identity Pre-Conference in Chicago.
- Professor Emeritus Doug Medin received the David E. Rumelhart Prize, the most important award in the field of cognitive science.
- Sally Nuamah was selected as a 2026 Bellagio Center resident by the Rockefeller Foundation — a prestigious 26-day residency on the shores of Lake Como, Italy.
- Professor Emerita Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, former director of the Center for Talent Development, received the Ann F. Isaacs Founder's Memorial Award from the National Association for Gifted Children.
- 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.
- Shirin Vossoughi was elected a fellow of the International Society of Learning Sciences for her work studying how and why people learn. She was also named co-editor of the journal Cognition and Instruction.
- Uri Wilensky, a preeminent scholar in computer modeling and simulations, shared his vision for making computational thinking more accessible during the Yidan Prize Awards Ceremony in Hong Kong, where he received the 2025 Yidan Prize for Education Research. Wilensky is the second Yidan Prize winner in Northwestern history; SESP's Larry Hedges received it in 2018.
- Michelle Yin was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance, the nation's leading nonpartisan organization focused on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, disability policy, and related areas of social insurance, workforce and economic security.
Staff Awards
Kate Cichon, assistant director of programs for the Center for Talent Development, was named 2026 Staff Member of the Year.
Susan Corwith, director of the Center for Talent Development, was elected to the NAGC Board of Directors and appointed as a U.S. delegate to the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children.
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. Huff, from San Antonio, Texas, was a key member of the program, which was formed in collaboration with the Northwestern/ETHS Partnership Office to help Black men develop leadership skills, build strong connections and embrace their identities.
Research
- Research co-authored by Professor Hannes Schwandt suggests germs may be part of the reason firstborns tend to earn more and do better in school.
- Research suggesting negative perceptions about block-based programming can be challenged won a "best paper" award.
- Faculty members Megan Bang, Cynthia Coburn and Professor Emerita Carol Lee co-authored the Spencer Foundation Report Enhancing the Preparation of Research for Transformative Research in Education.
- Professors Kirabo Jackson and Terrie Sabol were featured speakers at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. Professor Zenzile Reddick also participated in a panel.
- California has not rebounded to pre-pandemic life expectancy, based on early data obtained from the state, according to new research by Hannes Schwandt published in the medical journal JAMA. The analysis examined how California life expectancy varied by year, income, race and ethnicity, and contributing causes of death.
- A working paper by economist Kirabo Jackson and doctoral student Julia Turner finds that universal pre-K can deliver substantial economic benefits. In nine states and cities, the programs increased employment — especially among women — and raised earnings.
- A research note co-authored by Sneha Kumar suggests that, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, some mothers were inspired to grow and strengthen their families after witnessing loss in their communities.
- Ritu Tripathi co-authored "Combating Survey Bots in Online Research" in AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction. Her video, "Using Gen AI to Explore and Decode Cultural Artifacts," was shortlisted for the 2025 Academy of International Business conference in the AI in International Business Teaching and Research competition.
- A video annotation tool used in an online professional development course helped teachers better notice and reflect on how students think about math — but the ways teachers noticed varied widely, according to research co-authored by Sarah Larison, Miriam Sherin and Jennifer Richards.
Media
Faculty experts commented on a range of issues, from how birth order can affect your future to the importance of spatial development for children.
The Washington Post — Your Birth Order Affects Your Future, But Not in the Way You Think (Hannes Schwandt)
The Atlantic — Raising Kids Shouldn't Be This Hard (Hannes Schwandt)
Inside Higher Education — Replicating Affluence Is Not the Path to Equity (Cassandra Salgado)
The New York Times — Do You Really Need Closure? (Dan McAdams)
Chicago Sun-Times — Comedy Clubs Offer Safe Spaces for Thoughtful Inquiry on Iran War, Current Affairs (Sepehr Vakil)
The New York Times — Life Expectancy in California Has Not Rebounded After COVID (Hannes Schwandt)
HuffPost — Trump Called MAGA Supporters 'Stupid' — But Do They Even Care? Experts Weigh In. (Dan McAdams)
Forbes — The Importance of Spatial Activities for Children's Development (David Uttal)
HuffPost — Trump Says He Doesn't Like This 1 Kind of Person... He Might Be Telling on Himself (Dan McAdams)
WBEZ — How Head Start Programs and Families Are Being Impacted by Ongoing Government Shutdown (Terrie Sabol)
WTTW Chicago Tonight — The Education Department Is Dismantling. Here's What That Means (Kirabo Jackson)