Jacob Puthipiroj

Graduate student Jacob Puthipiroj will discuss his work using a spiral curriculum as a formal model of learning at Northwestern’s third annual Computation and Data Exchange (CoDEx) symposium at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 21.

Read more about CODEx: spr.ly/6183BB6OX9.

SESP Grad Wins $100,000 on Shark Tank Alumna Sloane Barry (BS22) and partner Brennan Hellmers appeared on Shark Tank, pitching SOMNIA+, a dorm bed expander kit.

Alumna Sloane Barry (right) sealed a deal on Shark Tank, pitching SOMNIA+, a bed expander kit designed to make narrow dorm beds more functional and comfy.

Read more: 🔗 spr.ly/63322B62PFn

Claudia Haase

Professor Claudia Haase explore the idea that every breakthrough begins with a single spark in a TEDxNorthwesternU talk Saturday, April 18 at Lutkin Hall. From 2 to 5 p.m.

🔗 More info: spr.ly/63329B6ITG7.

Cynthia Coburn and spider man

AERA 2026

Lois Trautvetter and Chris Neary

You just never know who you'll run into at the @aeraedresearch.bsky.social annual meeting! #AERA2026

Tim Huff

Senior Timothy Huff was named a Northwestern Student Employee of the Year in Community and Belonging for his leadership work with Black Men LEAD. 👏 👏

Read more: 🔗 spr.ly/63320B62Epo

Bryan Brayboy

Dean Bryan Brayboy @bryanbrayboy.bsky.social championed abundance over scarcity during the @aeraedresearch.bsky.social Distinguished Lecture.

Read more: 🔗 spr.ly/63320B62O2M

#AERA2026

Chris Neary and Lois Trautvetter

Sunday at AERA: Professor Lois Trautvetter and Chris Neary discuss whether requiring a research project makes graduate students more career-ready.

🗓️ April 12, 7:45 a.m. PDT
📍 JW Marriott, Gold 1

Sepehr Vakil

Today at @aeraedresearch.bsky.social: Professor Sepehr Vakil chairs a session exploring laughter as a form of resistance.

🗓️ April 11, 1:45 p.m. PDT
📍 Los Angeles Convention Center, Level Two, Room 409AB

Emily Lester

Emily Lester

Emily Lester

Always a joy when our alumni come -- especially when they see themselves on the first floor video wall! Emily Lester, one of our most inspiring alums, stopped by Annenberg Hall + was greeted by her larger than life video.

🔗 More about Emily in SESP Magazine: spr.ly/6186B6LIeY.

📸 Grace Lee

Dean Bryan Brayboy

Today! Dean Bryan Brayboy delivers the AERA Distinguished Lecture at 4:15 p.m. PDT.

📍 Los Angeles Convention Center, Floor: Level Two, Room 408B

🔗 spr.ly/63323B6xdvT.

Zenzile Riddick

Today at #AERA: Professor Zenzile Riddick will be participating in the session New Directions in Black Educational History at 1:45 p.m. PDT.

📍 Los Angeles Convention Center, Floor: Level Two, Room 504
🔗 More SESP highlights: spr.ly/6183B6xGKP.

#AERA2026

SESP No. 2

We're proud to announce we've earned our highest-ever ranking — No. 2 among graduate schools of education in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. 🤸

🔗 spr.ly/6180B6vjeo

Carol Lee

Professor Emerita Carol Lee and dozens of other SESP scholars will be presenting at the upcoming 2026 @AERA_EdResearch Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

🌟 Highlights of SESP presenters: spr.ly/63322B6W7oq

Sepher Vakil

Professor Sepehr Vakil helped shape a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on bringing data and computing into K-12 classrooms.

Read more 🔗 spr.ly/63320B6WABq.

#AI

Destin Joins Carnegie Foundation Push to Improve High School Destin and other cross-disciplinary scholars are tasked with informing "skills progressions" — guides that map how abilities like teamwork, communication, and critical thinking develop over time. The goal is to help educators better understand and measure student growth.

Social pyschologist 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.
Read more 🔗: spr.ly/6181B6W4Uz.

Oz Ecford

Congratulations to Ozivell Ecford, a learning sciences graduate student who has been selected for the 2026 Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society! 🎓 🎉

🔗 spr.ly/63328B6wYYn.

Kirabo Jackson

Mississippi spends less than half of what New Jersey does on education. So why are Mississippi 4th-graders performing better? Prof Kirabo Jackson ,whose research reframed the school spending issue, explains.
🔗 spr.ly/63322B6KIQA.

Dan McAdams

Life isn't a stage, it's a story, SESP psychologist Dan P. McAdams tells Shayla Love, who recently wrote "When Do We Become Adults, Really?" in The New Yorker.
➡️ More about McAdams: spr.ly/63328B6EDBe.
➡️ McAdams in The New Yorker: spr.ly/63329B6EDB5.

Sally Nuamah

Congrats to professor Sally Nuamah, who 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.

Read more ➡️ spr.ly/6184B6E8fA.

SESP junior Jayden Pean ‘nails’ artistry through nail art After witnessing the process of getting acrylic nails, SESP junior Jayden Pean is honing his artistry through nail art.

Undergrads Tone Jackson and Jayden Pean are making waves and getting noticed for their art and creativity!
Read more about Tone: spr.ly/63320hCqzi.
Read more about Jayden: spr.ly/63327hCqz5.

Bree Groff

What if work were actually...fun? 🤸

In her new book "Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously)," alumna Bree Groff argues that life is too short to spend the week pining for Friday. "We deserve to love all our days," she writes. "Even Mondays."

✅ Read more: spr.ly/6184hCRnY.

Students touring Bronzeville

Professor Lauren Tighe’s Child and Family Policy class recently 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.

✅ Read more! Story by Medill's Grace Gormley. spr.ly/6181hAUmV.

Brayboy to Deliver AERA Distinguished Lecture Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, dean of Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy, will present the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Distinguished Lecture, one of the signature events of the 2026 Annual Meeting. The conference, centered around remembering history and rethinking the future vision of education research, will be held April 8-12, in Los Angeles.

Dean Bryan Brayboy will present the American Educational Research Association's Distinguished Lecture, one of the signature events of the 2026 Annual Meeting from April 8 to 12 in Los Angeles.

Claudia Haase, Bryan Brayboy, Sepehr Vakil

Emma Adam

Lucia Noriega Blondet

Sanad Alshubbak

Our recent half-day conference, “Social and Emotional Well-Being in a Digital World,” brought together Northwestern researchers, students, parents, therapists, and community leaders to examine how digital tools and AI are reshaping emotional health.

➡️ spr.ly/63321hjKTS.

Fitzgerald Wins Academic All-American Honors Northwestern redshirt junior safety Robert Fitzgerald earned College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-American honors.

Congrats to Northwestern redshirt junior safety Robert Fitzgerald, who was named First Team Academic All-America by the College Sports Communicators. 🎉 Fitzgerald is studying learning + org change at the School of Education and Social Policy. #Leaders

🏈 Read more: spr.ly/6185hpiGL.

Learning in Places

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

Read more-->spr.ly/6187hOBYS.

Juniper Shelley

Junior Juniper Shelley is the 2026 winner of Northwestern's $10,000 Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant! This summer, she'll study the emotional lives of men in five countries — Mexico 🇲🇽, South Africa 🇿🇦, Sweden 🇸🇪, Japan 🇯🇵, and Australia 🇦🇺.

Read more! spr.ly/6180hMFzs.

Keya Chaudhuri

Symone Harris

Congrats to School of Education and Social Policy undergraduates Keya Soni Chaudhuri and Symone Harris, who have been named Student Associates at Northwestern's Block Museum! 💜

➡️ spr.ly/63328hBrwe

Winnie

Winnie

Winnie

Winnie

If you missed Winnie's first day of work, stop by to share some #SESPLove with her at the next Therapy Dog Thursday, 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 in the Annenberg lobby. Sporting a purple SESPLove t-shirt, Winnie happily introduced herself to everyone before demanding some belly rubs. #WellbeingWithWinnie

Carrie Tzou

Welcome back Carrie Tzou! An alumna, professor of learning sciences and associate dean, Carrie's career has focused on helping students and educators feel connected to science and place-based learning.

➡️ Read more: spr.ly/63323hBTGB
📸 Eileen Molony Photography