Eric Firstenberger was busy with a corporate job in banking when he began to feel restless. He wanted to make a difference somehow. That wish to make an impact led him to make a career change to teaching.
A new volume written by IU School of Education researchers will help teachers align science of reading requirements with their science curriculum. “Teaching Science with Reading Strategies” includes research-backed ways to focus on teaching science while using reading strategies.
A study room in the Education Library has been dedicated to alumna Kelli Paul in honor of a donation from her and her husband. Paul grew up in Northwest Indiana and came to IU to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher.
A new project will develop an AI assistant to help middle school students better understand scientific data—and provide tools for teachers to use in their classrooms.
Dasha Carver has won the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs 2025 Outstanding Graduate Student Award, one of the most prestigious student awards in the field of counseling psychology.
Associate Professor Kyungbin Kwon has received a four-year grant from the National Science Foundation to study semiconductor science and manufacturing. The project will design and test low-cost, tangible, and mixed-reality (MR) learning tools to help students understand how semiconductors work.
Nora Bonomo’s journey at the IU School of Education began before she even arrived at IU. Last May, she participated in the Future Teacher Signing event at her high school, West Vigo High School in Terre Haute, where she and her family celebrated her plans to become a teacher.
Three alumni of the IU School of Education have received the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor for graduates of the school which recognizes alumni who have enhanced the reputation of the school by distinguishing themselves in their careers.
Alexis Briggins, a doctoral candidate in counseling and educational psychology, has been named the Holmes Scholar of the Month from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
A new program at the IU School of Education will provide students with an opportunity to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years, setting themselves up for a bright future in education.
The new school year is well underway, and we are celebrating milestones and achievements with our new students—and those returning.
Brian A. Burt, an alumnus of the Secondary Education program (B.S., 2004), has won the Dr. Charlie Nelms Distinguished Alumni Award, the most prestigious honor presented to a Neal-Marshall Alumni Club alum whose achievements reflect exceptional professional excellence, leadership, and community impact.
Two faculty members of the IU School of Education were among a select group from Indiana University Bloomington selected to participate in three leadership programs offered by the Big Ten Academic Alliance.
Supporting students’ critical thinking and designing computer science curriculum: two challenges from local teachers that are getting help through AI—and an IU School of Education team.
As we start a new academic year, we also welcome eleven new faculty members to the IU School of Education. These educators bring with them a wealth of knowledge in their fields, including expertise in vocational psychology, multicultural education, and many other specialties. We’re excited to welcome them to our community.
As AI grows in importance and use around the world, one doctoral class at the IU School of Education hopes to harness it as they work with local educators to help them solve a problem or address a need.
A landmark collaboration between Indiana University and Benemerita Universidad de Oaxaca (BUO) has expanded the Helping Offenders Prosper through Employment (HOPE) mentoring program to Mexico.
Three recent graduates share advice on what helped them along the way. Cate Hansen, Cecilia Venegas, and Hannah Warren reflected on the lessons and support that helped them succeed.
At the Indiana University School of Education’s Learning and Developmental Evaluation Clinic (LDEC), clients of all ages receive high-quality neurodevelopmental evaluations that can lead to life-changing diagnoses for autism, ADHD, mental health, learning differences, and more.
Professor Valarie Akerson has been selected for the Association for Science Teacher Education AWARD III: Outstanding Lifetime Service.
As students return to the IU School of Education for another academic year, a new program is now available to help them build a meaningful connection with experienced professionals.
Each semester we recognize students who have demonstrated academic excellence through the Dean's List. Students on this list have been certified to the School and have carried at least 12-credit hours of graded or S-F courses with a 3.7 GPA or above for the semester.
Many IU students feel the pressure to get good grades. Leo Cavinder thinks about grading for an entirely different reason: he’s working on several research projects analyzing grading and the high school graduation rate.
When science educators across Indiana and the country seek guidance on creating robust biology and environmental science lesson plans, they can connect with Indiana University experts through professional development programs led by the P-12 Engagement team to help reconceptualize their curriculum using the latest scientific discoveries.
High school seniors spent a week on the IU Bloomington campus, where they immersed themselves in learning more about college life - and learned more about becoming a teacher.
Sui Hnem Par came to the U.S. as a child, quickly adjusting to a new culture, language, and way of life. Now, as a doctoral education student, she is on a mission to develop literacy materials to better serve her community.
Dean Emeritus Gerardo Gonzalez joined the 2025 AACTE Leadership Academy, one of the nation’s leading professional development experiences for rising and established leaders in educator preparation.
For four days, robotics activities and challenges filled the IU School of Education, where local fourth through eighth graders participated in Robocamp.
Professor Serafín Coronel-Molina has won the 2025 Quechua Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to Indigenous languages.
Six faculty from the IU School of Education in Bloomington have been officially promoted by the IU Board of Trustees at their annual meeting in June.
Professor Elizabeth Boling has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award for a project to create and fund cultural tourism projects in Guatemala.
Graduate student Sojung Jang has received the John H. Edwards Fellowship, one of the most prestigious fellowships awarded at Indiana University.
“The Golden Waffle Principle: Finding Meaning in Teaching” is a compilation of Perkins’s 34 years of experience in the classroom and the joy he’s found as a teacher.
The National Academies has appointed Dean Robert Berry as co-chair of its new Mathematical Sciences Education Board. Berry is also a professor of mathematics education and a past president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
Cardona Otero’s dissertation, Taxonomía of a Spicy Espécimen: A Public Performative Pedagogy, is an autoethnographic research project in which the performance art of Taxonomía of a Spicy Espécimen is contextualized within reflexive self-criticality.
Four students are the recipients of the Elder Watson Diggs Scholarship, which will help them become future educators. The scholarship honors Diggs, the first African American to graduate from the IU School of Education in 1916.
The IU School of Education celebrated three faculty members who are retiring at the end of this semester, honoring their many years of dedication to their students and research.
The Provost Professorship was created in 1995 to honor those who have achieved local, national and international distinction in both teaching and research and creative activity.
Over 125 local students gathered this month at the IU School of Education for the K12 Student Geoengineering Summit, a first-of-its-kind event focused on bold, youth-driven solutions to environmental change.
Four research projects from IU School of Education faculty received funding from the Office of Research and Development to work on projects ranging from mental health for teachers to STEM education in the Philippines.
Joshua Danish, Professor and Director of the Center for Research on Learning and Technology, received IU’s inaugural Layered-Learning Program for Undergraduate Researchers award.
Three classes of 50 local kindergarteners and their teachers from Fairview Elementary School filled the WORKshop space in the library, arranging on colorful carpet to hear stories, watch a puppet show, and learn from Early Childhood Education students.
Faculty, staff, and students came together to recognize the amazing work done across the IU School of Education during the annual Celebration of Excellence event.
Associate Professor Myeshia Price has been featured in a new book, A Year of Pride and Joy: LGBTQ+ Voices Share Their Life Passions. In the book, Price discusses how she finds joy in urban hiking, making the most of urban spaces by hiking along city trails, paths, and bridges.
Five IU School of Education students received the Indiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s Outstanding Future Educator Award at the annual recognition day for outstanding future educators’ banquet on Friday, April 11.
The sport of basketball has a huge cultural impact in Indiana. Now teachers can harness that culture into classroom lessons, thanks to a new project from doctoral student Mariah Pol.
The IU School of Education has been recognized again as one of the best graduate schools in education across the country by U.S. News and World Report’s 2025-2026 “Best Graduate Schools,” with seven graduate specialty programs ranked in the top 25.
Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society that aims to inspire and equip future and practicing educators to thrive, has returned to the IU School of Education after a small hiatus.
Cindy Hmelo-Silver has been named to the 2024 fellows’ class for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a lifetime honor within the scientific community.
Whether it’s help building an effective resume or learning about what jobs are available after graduation, the Career Connections office provides an invaluable resource to IU School of Education students.
About 90 people came together at the IU School of Education this month to reflect on the history of the Instructional Systems Technology field and discuss new technologies at the 25th annual IST Conference.
Every Thursday, a group of SoE students leaves campus bright and early for Westlake Elementary School in Indianapolis where they spend the day working in a classroom, then stay after school to tutor Westlake students that need extra help with reading.
William Ware III wanted to pursue a career that would directly make a positive change in the world and through the lives of others. For him, that career will be elementary education.
The IU School of Education in Bloomington has received a top rating from the National Council on Teacher Quality that recognizes our effective preparation of future teachers to use science of reading approaches.
As Black History Month celebrations continue across IU, the IU School of Education looks forward to a special event of our own: the annual concert from the African American Choral Ensemble.
The Transition to Teaching program is designed for adults of all ages who have a bachelor’s degree and would like to become secondary or special education teachers.
Incoming dean Robert Berry was recognized as a distinguished mathematics teacher educator by giving the Judith E. Jacobs Lecture at the annual Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators conference.
After an extensive review process that took two years, the teacher education and educational leadership programs at the IU School of Education have achieved national accreditation through 2031 through the Council for the Accreditation for Educator Preparation.
Dean Emeritus Gerardo Gonzalez recently celebrated the 50th year of Boost Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students at the 2025 NASPA Strategies Conference. Gonzalez founded BACCHUS as a graduate student with then-Dean of Students Tom Goodale at the University of Florida in 1975.
Chris Lubienski has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Education. Lubienski, Professor and Director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, is one of 22 education leaders and scholars from around the country elected to the Academy this year.
The online master’s programs at the IU School of Education have been recognized among the top in the country by the 2024 U.S. News and World Report Best Online Program rankings, led by an overall ranking of #20, a jump of 25 spots compared to last year.
Amy Pickard is the 2024 recipient of the Arthur (Jack) Payne Crabtree Memorial Award from the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education. The award, worth $13,000, will support her partnership with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to improve adult educator preparation across the state.
Professor Christopher Lubienski has been named to the list of the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings from Education Week. The list ranks 200 university-based scholars in the United States who did the most last year to shape educational practice and policy.
Gayle Buck has been named the next Martha Lea and Bill Armstrong Chair for Teacher Education. Buck is currently the Academic Director of P-12 Engagement and Faculty Fellow of P-12 School Engagement at the IU School of Education.
