2025 Unwrapped: How GSE shaped conversations about education this year

HuffPost reported on a new anti-bullying tool launched by Instagram. Stephanie Fredrick, associate professor of counseling, school and educational psychology and the associate director at the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, said that Instagram’s school partnership program sounds promising―but only if the social media platform really does expedite reports from school administrators. “Students often tell us that reporting [on apps] is not helpful and that nothing happens,” she said. “Moving forward, I do hope that reports from students themselves are taken just as seriously. Students are often the ones that witness these posts, and I’d love to see students feel empowered to report, as well.”

POLITICO Pro featured Katheryne Leigh-Osroosh, assistant professor of counseling, school and educational psychology, in its Morning Tech e-newsletter. In the piece on school cell phone bans, Leigh-Osroosh explained that recent surveys of districts with cell phone restrictions already in place show that teachers are frustrated with the time spent policing cell phones, and that little is known about how it affects student outcomes. “The assumptions are that if we remove the device, then we’ll re-engage [students], and there’s really no research that we found to support that,” Leigh-Osroosh said.

WBTV shared comments from Amanda Nickerson, SUNY Distinguished Professor and director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, about how metal detectors might impact students. The news piece focused on random metal detector screenings taking effect for Lancaster County Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Metal detectors and clear backpacks are more likely to cause young children to be fearful and feel criminalized,” Nickerson previously told the Associated Press. “Many of the strategies being suggested do not have any research evidence, and they may actually erode a healthy school climate,” Nickerson said.

Times Higher Education quoted Nathan Daun-Barnett, associate dean for faculty and student affairs and associate professor of educational leadership and policy, about the Trump administration’s plans to cut federal education and research grants. In the longer term, Daun-Barnett warned that it will undermine the infrastructure the sector relies upon to conduct federal research, both scientific and administrative. “We can ride out a pause, but an extended reduction will result in diminished capacity and less publicly funded research,” he said. “Colleges will turn to the private sector when they can, but public dollars are best utilized for basic research and the private sector has been reluctant to spend on those early discovery phases of research.”

In a Volt article, Stephen Santa-Ramirez, associate professor of higher education, underscored the vital role of DEI initiatives in dismantling systemic oppression and creating opportunities for historically marginalized groups. He argued that recent political actions against DEI are direct attacks on those who benefit from these programs, including students of color, LGBTQ+ individuals and people with disabilities, stating, “If you’re attacking DEI, you’re attacking the people who benefit from DEI.”

Buffalo Spree magazine quoted Corrie Stone-Johnson, professor of educational leadership and policy, in a story about how indie bookstores are thriving in Buffalo. Stone-Johnson spoke about her dual roles as a professor and the owner of Black Rock Books, which opened in 2023. “Behind both of these roles is a commitment to helping people make sense of their world,” she said

Africa Hands, assistant professor of information science, was quoted in a Time magazine article about how libraries across the nation are faring under Trump administration budget cuts. “Think about what it says to future librarians, the folks that I teach, to see all that's happening in their communities,” Hands said. “It can be demoralizing for faculty and students to know that their field, their life's work, is being dismantled. It has a personal, emotional, and mental impact.”

Hands was also featured in The Buffalo News in a story about a parent’s attempt to ban books from a Ken-Ton schools’ libraries.

Women in Academia reported that Heidi Julien, professor of information science, received the Association for Information Science and Technology’s 2025 Award of Merit.

Saguna Shankar, assistant professor of information science, was featured on the Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York website for her webinar “Stories from the Field: Revealing Restricted Voices, A Love Canal Interview Redaction Project.”

The Buffalo News' Sunday Viewpoints section published an op-ed by Tiffany Karalis Noel, clinical associate professor of learning and instruction, about post-pandemic teacher attrition and the growing phenomenon of “moral injury” among U.S. teachers. Karalis Noel wrote: “To teach in the post-pandemic United States is to inhabit an increasingly incoherent system that proclaims education as a cornerstone of democracy but treats its stewards as disposable. The condition often labeled ‘teacher burnout’ is more accurately described as a moral crisis. It’s not stress or fatigue; it’s the psychological toll of being asked, day after day, to participate in practices that contradict the very values that drew educators to the profession in the first place.”

BET quoted LaGarrett King, professor of learning and instruction and director of the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education, in an article about states that are passing laws that could prohibit the teaching of Black history. King believes that teaching Black history is important because it allows children to see humanity in each other. 

The Buffalo News and Education Week quoted Amanda Winkelsas, clinical associate professor of learning and instruction and director of the teacher residency program, in stories about cuts by the U.S. Department of Education to UB’s teacher residency program. “We’ve got really good data that suggests our alumni—people prepared through our pathway—are more effective than other first-year teachers not prepared through our pathway,” Winkelsas told The News. “These programs are focused at their core on addressing teacher shortages and professional learning for teachers,” she told Education Week.