Research-Related Courses

SOC 496: Research to Enhance Equity in Education

This is a hands-on course in which students will apply social scientific research skills to support the Madison Metropolitan School District in addressing relevant problems of practice the District confronts. This course is co-led by two directors of the Madison Education Partnership, one from UW-Madison and one from MMSD. This course was offered in Spring 2024 and Fall 2025.

Students will work in small teams on projects that we define early in the semester in consultation with our District partners. All students will develop skills in synthesizing and presenting information for an audience of policymakers, using visual displays, producing accessible and engaging slide presentations, and writing executive summaries. Each team will also collaborate to produce a 15-25 page full report that may include reviews of relevant literature and/or empirical analyses of original or secondary data.