Category: News

New research, published in a peer-reviewed journal by researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD), shows that children as young as 4 years old begin forming social networks shaped by shared characteristics, offering new insight into how early peer relationships develop. The study, published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly, …

When the Madison Education Partnership (MEP) launched in 2016, its goal was simple but ambitious: bring together researchers and educators to address real problems facing Madison’s public schools to contribute to change locally and inform research nationally. Today, UW–Madison researchers and Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) teachers and administrators can point to a decade of …

Since 2016, the Madison Education Partnership (MEP) has brought together researchers from UW–Madison and educational practitioners and policymakers from the Madison Metropolitan School District to engage in high-quality, locally based but nationally relevant research projects on topics of mutual interest. Our MEP team works to inform policy, build capacity, and improve outcomes for Madison’s students. 

A new report by the Madison Education Partnership (MEP) is helping guide efforts by the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) to strengthen elementary mathematics fluency by providing insights on students’ math performance during the 2024–2025 school year. “This report provides a clear baseline,” the document notes, “for understanding where students are in elementary math and …

This article, written by Erin Gretzinger, originally appeared in The Cap Times. A University of Wisconsin–Madison class started the fall semester with a big question to tackle: Which families are opting not to enroll their children in the Madison school district, and why? After a semester of conducting background research, analyzing data and reaching out …

For the first time since full-day, four-year-old kindergarten (4K) began in the Madison Metropolitan School District, a new evaluation by researchers from UW–Madison and the district shows “strong evidence” suggesting students in the full-day 4K program learn more over the school year than their peers attending half-day 4K. The report from the Madison Education Partnership (MEP) — …

This article originally appeared in NNERPP Extra. It was written by Laura Wentworth, Erin O’Hara and Beth Vaade. One of the most commonly cited influences leading to the research-practice divide in education is academics’ lack of motivation or incentive to research topics that are relevant to the educational challenges faced in practice, policy, and communities. …

This article, written by Scott Girard, originally appeared in The Cap Times. One-fifth of Madison’s kindergartners missed at least 18 days of school in 2012-2013, meaning they were chronically absent. The problem was worrisome enough for United Way of Dane County to launch the “Here! Every Student Every Day” campaign focused on improving attendance rates. But a …

This article, written by Grace Ulch, originally appeared on 27 WKOW. The Madison Metropolitan School District is changing the way they handle suspension. While it’s been common practice since October 2021, the school board has officially done away with out-of-school suspensions for elementary students. “Out-of-school suspensions are really ineffective at addressing student misbehavior,” Associate Professor …

This article was written by Scott Girard and originally appeared in The Cap Times. Students in the Madison Metropolitan School District will have more mental health support over the next five years as part of a partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Using a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, UW–Madison will recruit …