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About WCER

Under the direction of Adam Gamoran, the Wisconsin Center for Education Research is one of the oldest, largest, and most productive education research centers in the world. A part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's School of Education, WCER provides a productive environment where some of the country's leading scholars conduct basic and applied education research. The WCER roster includes research centers and projects that are currently investigating a variety of topics in education.

A place for research

• Teaching, learning, and professional development
• Educational policy and accountability
• Student learning and achievement in mathematics and science
• English and writing instruction
• Child care, family, and community programs
• Higher education
• Assessment and intervention in special education, and
• Educational technology

WCER employs some 350 faculty, staff, and graduate students. They work on more than 60 research projects spanning the full scope of education, from the effects of infant child care and after-school programs to undergraduate curriculum reform.

Established in 1964, WCER is one of the oldest and largest university-based education research and development centers, with annual extramural funding of approximately $25 million. WCER's research awards come from a variety of federal agencies and private foundations. Federal funding sources include the National Science Foundation; the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (formerly the Office of Educational Research and Improvement) and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; and the National Institutes of Health. Private foundation funding has come from The Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Hewlett Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Mott Foundation, and Spencer Foundation.

Throughout its history, WCER has maintained a commitment to improving American education by studying the nature of varied learning environments and interventions and their effects on students. Of primary concern to this mission has been the question of how educational processes and social policy can best meet the needs of students from different cultural and educational backgrounds.

WCER researchers have continually asked how educational "best practices" can be made more efficient, better supported, more strategic, and thus easier to implement.

An instrument of change

Disseminating research to advance educational practices. Characterizing WCER from its inception is a commitment to disseminating research findings and products for improving educational practice. WCER researchers share their findings through Web sites, the staff of the Comprehensive Center-Region VI (part of the Comprehensive Centers Network and funded by the US Department of Education), national entities like the Council of Chief State School Officers, as well as through traditional scholarly meetings and publications. WCER projects further extend their reach by inviting school teachers and district staff to participate in their research.

Training tomorrow's researchers. WCER employs more than 100 graduate students in varied fields who learn research techniques from leading investigators. Graduate students gain valuable experience in research and development through their internship-like experiences at WCER, where they publish collaboratively with senior researchers on their projects.

Collaborating across disciplines. WCER combines the talents of scholars from many disciplines to focus on the problems of learning, teaching, assessment, and policy, in today's education systems. Researchers come from most areas of specialization within the UW–Madison School of Education, as well as from such diverse disciplines as biology, sociology, English, law, mathematics, engineering, astronomy, and social work.

Using technology to facilitate research. Many WCER projects study the application of technology to education and use innovative technology as a central part of their research. For example, one project aims to improve mathematics learning for adolescents with learning disabilities by using lessons on video, delivered on CD-ROM. Another project employs an innovative Web-based learning environment to support instruction in learning sciences for teacher education. Researchers increasingly rely on video and electronic media to gather and store data on classroom activities and dialogue, student work, test scores, and observational notes. One WCER project pioneers new ways to notate and analyze elements of video data.

A commitment to improving outcomes for diverse learners. WCER research seeks to improve educational outcomes for all of the nation's increasingly diverse students-those from low-income families, minority groups, and students with disabilities. For example, nearly a dozen projects work to improve the educational experiences of students with cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities. One such project has created a Web course for in-service and preservice teachers, administrators, school counselors and psychologists, and parents who want to better understand educational testing. The course helps them facilitate the meaningful participation of all students-including students with disabilities-in state and district-wide assessments. Another project's widely replicated intervention brings together low-income students, their families, and school personnel for weekly gatherings. Here they participate in activities that enhance family functioning and cohesion, improve children's behavior and achievement, reduce social isolation, and increase parental involvement with their children's schools.

The UW–Madison School of Education and WCER foster a scholarship of diversity here on the UW–Madison campus by sponsoring a Visiting Minority Scholars Lecture Series. Over the past decade and a half, nearly 80 scholars from universities around the country have visited WCER to speak on a range of education topics and to consult with individuals and campus groups.

A history of bringing research to practice

A great challenge to an education research organization is to substantially influence practice. WCER develops education products that are research based, putting the research into the hands of practitioners in usable ways. Second, WCER researchers do a great deal of their work in classrooms and collaboratively with practitioners. This ensures that their research focuses on important problems of practice. Third, WCER engages in aggressive dissemination-not just to other researchers, but to policymakers and practitioners, as well.

An exciting future

WCER research has an important role to play in the future of American education. WCER researchers, in collaboration with hundreds of other researchers and educators, are studying the problems of today and creating the evidence-based solutions for tomorrow.

The future of education starts with sound research and development. From learning and teaching in mathematics and science to educational policy and accountability, education is being shaped, in part, by research at WCER. Stay connected and think about the future with us.