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A growing body of research suggests that children’s socioeconomic well-being is fundamentally important to their healthy and productive development. This finding implies that college, career and civic readiness is tied to better socioemotional skills and well-being.

Marc Isseks, a doctoral student from the Department of Learning and Instruction, wrote the book “Forward Fast: Making Sense of Education in an Era of Rapid Change,” which documents the changes that have occurred over the past two decades regarding education and technology. “When I first started teaching, I was making exams on a machine that was cranked by hand,” Isseks said. “Now, I watch teachers airdrop packets of information into their students’ iPads and it is just unbelievable.”

The Fisher-Price Endowed Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC) hosted its 6th Annual Kids Fun Run and Obstacle Course on June 15 at UB Stadium. “The Fun Run is one of the few running/obstacles events tailored specifically for young children in the Western New York area.” said X. Christine Wang, director of ECRC in the Graduate School of Education. A record number of 185 children participated in the event.

Mathematical literacy is a necessity to be a functioning member of society. However, there are significant racial and gender gaps in math achievement in the United States. More than half of low socioeconomic status, Black and Hispanic students have demonstrated below average math skills, and women remain underrepresented in many STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

Students, parents and administrators gathered at the Allegany–Limestone High School on May 9 for the Third Southern Tier Annual Film Festival. The festival highlighted grades 9–12 student work completed in academic coursework during the 2018–19 school year. The festival submission categories were video poems, video themes and narratives.

After earning her PhD in curriculum, instruction and the science of learning from UB in 2016, Monica Ridgeway (Science Education ’16) wanted to focus on the educational disparities that create barriers to minorities. Ridgeway first noticed the obstacles minorities encountered when she was teaching middle school science. “The school I was teaching in was very ethically and richly diverse,” Ridgeway said. “However, the classes were not as the classes were being sorted out based on how well the students were performing on their English language and arts, and math assessments.”

Douglas Hoston, a PhD student from the Department of Learning and Instruction (LAI), received a scholarship award from his international fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, for his research evaluating how stress affects underrepresented students. Hoston is collaborating with Richard Lamb, associate professor from LAI, regarding the impact of John Henryism, a belief that low socioeconomic groups may not have the resources to successively cope with psychological stressors.