UW-Madison Department of Educational Policy Studies

08/25/2026

Our world-renowned faculty and their work are showcased in the Summer 2026 edition of Learning Connections. Read about our department is engaging with tough policy issues on campus and in communities in Wisconsin and around the world to help shape a better tomorrow.
https://bit.ly/4qoQKGk

From campus to around the world, Department of Educational Policy Studies faculty are building the future of education. Improving education for all is a momentous task, but like anything worth building, the process starts with a solid foundation -- and continues step by step.

https://bit.ly/4qoQKGk

07/15/2026

Check out the July 2026 edition of the EPS Bulletin at go.wisc.edu/epsbulletin! This month's Bulletin highlights recipients of the One School Innovation Fund Awards, new publications from EPS scholars, and the annual Higher Education International Dialogue that occurs between UW-Madison and Peking University.

06/17/2026

Check out the special June 2026 edition of the EPS Bulletin at go.wisc.edu/epsbulletin! Today’s Bulletin highlights Professors Lesley Bartlett and Erica Turner for receiving the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorship and Vilas Mid-Career Investigator Award respectively. It also includes new publications from Teaching Faculty Matthew Wolfgram, EPS Alumna Antonella Pappolla, and PhD student Kyoungjin Jang-Tucci!

05/31/2026

Today on the last day of May, May We Celebrate achievements from our faculty during the 2025-26 school year!
• Lesley Bartlett was elected President of the Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE) of the American Anthropological Association (AAA).
• Stacey Lee was elected to the National Academy of Education (NAEd) in recognition of her significant contributions to education research and policy.
• Ran Liu was awarded the Japan Grant from the Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) of the Association for Asian Studies, with support from the Japan U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC).
• Diana Rodríguez-Gómez was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Comparative & International Education Society.

05/29/2026

Today, May We Celebrate Teaching Faculty Anthony Hernandez and Jonathan Marino, who were recognized as Honored Instructors for the Fall 2025 semester! Each semester, University Housing residents are invited to nominate instructors who've made a significant positive impact on them while challenging them, inspiring them, and fostering their learning.

Anthony Hernandez was also selected as a Media Fellow with the Scholar Strategy Network (SSN). As a Media Fellow, Hernandez was able to collaborate with experienced mentors and SSN staff to expand the reach and impact of his scholarship.

05/28/2026

May We Celebrate Assistant Professor Rachel Williams who was named one of the seven 2026 Southern Education Foundation (SEF) Research Fellows! The SEF Research Fellows program supports the work of Fellows engaged in actionable, evidence-based research to inform policy and practice. This year’s fellows were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants and are exploring critical issues such as educational access, desegregation, educational technology, curriculum, and student well-being, helping to bridge the gap between research and real-world impact.

05/27/2026

May we Celebrate today the recipient of the 2026 Outstanding Project in Educational Policy Studies Award, Nate Donovan for a group podcast that dove into the debate of what an ethnic studies course is, their importance as a graduational requirement, and the effects of Act 15. This award recognizes excellence in all student work that advances the public’s knowledge and understanding of educational inequalities. Nate’s podcast discussed different types of requirements at many different UW schools; UW-Parkside, UW-Platteville, and MATC, along with their differences in offerings and mandates. As the problems unravel in this podcast, the importance and perspectives are embraced through student and administrative point of views.

05/26/2026

Assistant Professor Taylor Odle who was the recipient of the 2026 Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) Early Career Award, named in the Top 200 of the 2026 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, and named an inaugural Postsecondary Education & Economics Research (PEER) Fellow at American University

05/24/2026

Today May We Celebrate PhD student Sky Duke who was named a 2025 APPAM (Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management) Equity & Inclusion Fellow and a SREE (Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Summer) Fellow! As an APPAM Equity & Inclusion fellow, Duke attended the APPAM Annual Fall Research Conference in Seattle, WA and was introduced to the world of public policy and APPAM. As a SREE fellow, Duke will spend the summer working on a ‘real world’ research project answering a question posed by the philanthropic community that helps inform their work.

05/22/2026

On this fantastic Friday, May We Celebrate PhD student Farah Basit for receiving the NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, Arvil S. Barr Fellowship and a Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant! The NAED/Spencer Dissertation fellowship supports projects that address critical issues in the history, theory, or practice of education at national and international levels. The Barr Fellowship is an annual fellowship awarded to a SoE graduate student whose major program of studies and research projects focus on teacher education. The Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant funds doctoral or thesis research that advances anthropological knowledge.
These fellowships/funds will support Farah’s dissertation research, which sits at the intersection of education, gender, sexuality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), with a particular focus on how schools shape young women’s understandings of the body, morality, safety, and belonging.