LEADING THE CHANGE At BU Wheelock, we’re transforming human potential by putting knowledge to work.
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LET’S LEAD THE CHANGE
Transforming human potential by putting knowledge to work.
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We’re leading the change Policy Early Childhood Special Education STEM Deaf Studies Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Partnerships Let’s lead the change
WE’RE LEADING THE CHANGE Thank you for your interest in Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. You have chosen an opportune moment to explore our plans for the college.
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ocated at the heart of a great research university in Boston, the birthplace of American education, BU Wheelock combines intense scholarly rigor and deep community engagement. Our roots support a broader focus: to support policymakers, educators, and human development professionals with research and analysis that can inform their efforts to advance learning and human development. Many of the nation’s youth lack access to effective systems available to others. Disproportionately, our systems fail to support children from communities of color, those from families whose first language is not English, and those with special needs. The strategic plan that maps BU Wheelock’s path addresses this reality in its opening words, our Guide Star:
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BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development is dedicated to transforming the systems that impact learning and human development for a thriving, sustainable, and just future in Boston and beyond. Now, we are building on our commitment to help lead the transformation of human potential. BU Wheelock has three newly endowed chairs, and the college has attracted numerous new faculty from an array of related disciplines: economists, educational psychologists, applied linguists, child development experts, and more. Among them are Fulbright Scholars, a member of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers, and award-winning school leaders. Our outstanding faculty makes tremendous contributions toward our strong
One of BU Wheelock’s great strengths is our way of educating students, which combines top-tier scholarship with practical experience in schools, clinics, early childhood programs, state education agencies, and other real-world settings. Our students don’t just read about innovative programs—they work in them. Meanwhile, our faculty models the best approach to facilitating effective change: rather than dreaming up plans and imposing them, they invite our many local and global partners to bring their ideas and needs to the table, then collaborate to find solutions. This is true partnership, true innovation, and true education.
LEADING the CHANGE
position among the nation’s top 50 graduate programs in education and human development.
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Our holistic approach to education A revised undergraduate program, which combines a unified major of foundational courses with specialized pathways in the later years, and a recently introduced doctoral program in educational studies are just two indicators of our ambitious growth and direction. A few more: • International programs for school leaders in countries where there are limited education opportunities. • A new master’s degree in Education for Equity & Social Justice, focused on fostering the understanding of deep inequities in education and human development systems and how to change them. • A new EdD program in Educational Policy & Leadership Studies, created to prepare scholars who will carry our passion for system transformation to other institutions. • The Performance Recovery & Optimization (PRO) Lab, designed to bring our faculty’s experience in sport psychology, linking mental and physical health, into practice with local athletes and BU’s sports teams. We take the perspective that education is embedded in human development. This informs our conviction that building stronger and more equitable systems for children and their communities depends upon thinking about the whole child, from birth onward, as more than just a student in a classroom. We never lose sight of the many factors that influence that child’s life: family structures and supports, economics, racial justice, community networks—and, significantly, the policy decisions that affect these elements and more.
Our collaborative approach to research and policy We don’t just teach about teaching. We conduct rigorous research, develop and share evidence-based policy recommendations, strengthen communities and their schools, and build the next generation of leaders in education. Here’s just a sampling of our recent research and policy work: • We’ve launched the Wheelock Educational Policy Center, which brings together top-flight researchers and seasoned policymakers to study policy and advocate for evidence-based policy change that improves outcomes for historically marginalized students. • In the BU Wheelock Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being, researchers from across the University come together with local and global community partners, all focused on finding evidence-based ways to help children thrive. • We’re partnering with experts from BU’s transdisciplinary Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences to tease out fresh insights from a vast array of data sets and to explore the implications of artificial intelligence for education. • The Wheelock Institute for the Science of Education (WISE), with funding from numerous federal agencies, is home to two US Department of Education centers: the National Center on Improving Literacy and Lead for Literacy. • The Center for Future Readiness designs and implements research-based career and workforce development programs, especially for high-need, high-opportunity children and youth. • The Center for Educating Critically collaborates with educators at every level to design and deliver customized ways for schools to meet their equity, diversity, and inclusion goals; it also partners with advocates doing anti-oppression work.
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Putting knowledge to work for children, youth, families, and communities At BU Wheelock, we share what we learn. As a result, our academic work is driving advancement and promoting changes to unjust and ineffective policies. And we listen when our partners tell us they’ve found approaches that work better. What’s more, we help develop ways to use our findings to shape better policy—another emphasis that sets us apart from many of our peers. We don’t just think; we act. This document delves into more detail on some of our key initiatives. We hope you’ll find them inspiring, and we look forward to hearing how they connect with your own philanthropic goals.
Where to begin? It’s really quite simple. If you want to see more inclusive, diverse, equitable systems where everyone belongs and thrives … If you believe that communities can build the systems they need, and that access to the best research and tools will help them do it … If you believe that education should be pursued with curiosity, openness, integrity, humility, and courage …
Join us. And help us lead the change.
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POLICY
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We do a lot of work to make sure that the learning that comes from our research not only influences the policymakers and partners that we’re working with directly but has a broader implication within the national conversation.” Meagan Comb (Wheelock’07), executive director of the Wheelock Educational Policy Center
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Let’s lead the change in policy and leadership BU Wheelock is helping to create real transformation in many areas. But there’s one overarching priority that we believe can drive change throughout education systems: our focus on policy and leadership. We prepare educators to assume leadership positions in K–12 schools and higher education. But we also offer a Master of Arts in Educational Policy Studies, which provides a comprehensive grounding in the skills and knowledge that equip our graduates to analyze policies, craft better ones, and advocate for reform. We also help improve policy through our collaborations with community institutions. Our Wheelock Educational Policy Center partners with state and local education systems and nonprofits, analyzing data and helping them use it to write policies aimed at making systems more equitable. At the same time, we incorporate our partner organizations’ experience into future research, creating a mutually beneficial ecosystem of knowledge. Meagan Comb (Wheelock’07), the center’s executive director and Wheelock’s assistant dean for executive affairs, came to BU after serving as the director of educator effectiveness in the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. She knows exactly how wide the gap can be between researchers and policymakers. Comb is determined to help narrow that gap by building partnerships between BU researchers and policymakers, both locally and nationally. “Part of what we often bring to the partnership is some additional guidance about what good research questions could be and how research could support a policy agenda,” she says. “We help navigate those two worlds, which often don’t immediately intersect.” The BU Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS) will be of immeasurable help in our work. We are already forging partnerships to leverage our combined expertise in education and data analytics, and we are excited to see where this collaboration will lead.
how you can lead • Endow the Wheelock Educational Policy Center • Create a doctoral fellowship focused on policy research
• Provide essential staff support for managing partnerships and research assistance • Help support a particular research project or projects of interest to you
LEADING the CHANGE
• Establish a Policymaker in Residence program
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EARLY CHILDHOOD
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We have to propose solutions that address the needs of the whole child, and our research must be transformative, impactful, and responsive to the immediate needs of the community.” Bahamdan Professor Dina Castro, director of the BU Wheelock Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being
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Let’s lead the change in early childhood “Equity is at the core of everything we do,” says Professor Dina Castro, director of the BU Wheelock Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being and Bahamdan Professor for Early Childhood Well-Being. “That’s our commitment: to transform the ecosystems surrounding children that perpetuate inequities.” The Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being fosters collaboration and innovation among researchers, scholars, and practitioners across disciplines, at BU and beyond. Its work focuses on five key areas: conducting research, building local and global community partnerships, convening experts on early childhood well-being, leading public discussion and policy development, and educating early childhood practitioners through student fellowships, joint degree programs, and professional development. We consider it essential to use a holistic approach to early childhood development, one that takes into account family health, nutrition, economic security, social supports—all the factors that contribute to child well-being and general public health. Naturally, then, BU Wheelock strives to take an equally holistic approach to preparing educators, counselors, and others who will work with young children and their families, and to conducting research in this essential field. We also collaborate with our community partners to explore new models of caring for children and helping to ensure that they grow up to be strong, healthy adults. We also know that the expertise required to solve pressing problems in early childhood is already emerging in multiple fields of study. But disciplinary silos and a lack of coordination make it hard to apply that expertise in practice. So, in addition to the multidisciplinary projects at the Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being and our Center on the Ecology of Early Development (CEED), our collaborations include work with colleagues in BU’s School of Social Work, its Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, and more. All of this work has the potential to transform children’s and families’ lives, and we are committed to finding reliable sources of support to ensure that it does.
• Build endowment for the Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being • Support research fellowships, practicums, and early-stage community-based projects • Fund research projects that bring together scientists from across BU focused on early childhood well-being
LEADING the CHANGE
how you can lead
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SPECIAL ED
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Special education is at a precipice right now with personnel shortages. Students are going without services. But we have the capacity to address that problem through our systems focus—and we have one of the only faculties in the country that is equipped to do this.” Elizabeth Bettini, associate professor of Special Education 12
Let’s lead the change in special education Much of the research in special education has focused on improving the interactions between special education teachers and individual students. “But that’s a kind of myopic lens,” says Elizabeth Bettini, an associate professor of special education. “It ignores everything around that teacher and student that makes those interactions possible. So we focus on systems research.” That emphasis leads BU Wheelock faculty to explore such issues as policy, preparing leaders as well as teachers in special education, and addressing such critical issues as workforce shortages and inequities in special education services—specifically, how these services are provided to students of color compared to their white peers. Students of color are often under-identified for special education support, and they are more frequently misdiagnosed and receive harsher disciplinary treatment than white students. Our “grow your own” programs, conducted in partnership with area schools, aim to remedy both staffing shortages and racial disparities in the field. Since paraprofessionals are more likely to be people of color, we offer courses for paraprofessionals and teachers working on their certifications that are located in the schools where they work. Similarly, because reading instruction in schools that serve underrepresented minorities tends to be of lower quality and not based on research, BU Wheelock has a tutoring program in reading that sends our students to these schools—providing valuable practicum experience for the students, and free, high-quality tutoring for school districts. We also conduct high-potential research into, for example, the connections between mental health and educational success and how parents and educators work together to support family members with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
how you can lead • Support the recruitment of special education teachers from underrepresented communities by endowing a graduate scholarship with a preference for these students
• Fund practicums in reading instruction or other areas of special education • Underwrite a “grow your own” program for special education paraprofessionals in a local district
LEADING the CHANGE
• Create research fellowships in an area of interest
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STEM
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My vision for education is not for teachers to solely disseminate knowledge, but to teach students how this knowledge can be applied in their world. We have the opportunity to create new innovative experiences that will enable pre-service teachers to explore standards rather than be taught standards.” Greg Benoit, assistant director, Earl Center for Learning & Innovation
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Let’s lead the change in STEM education One field where BU Wheelock’s strengths and our commitment to equity particularly intersect is in preparing teachers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We’re consistently ranked one of the top preparers of high school teachers in the sciences—and in the top five when it comes to preparing physics teachers. In addition, many middle-school science and mathematics teachers learn to teach at BU Wheelock. We have a host of projects, funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, that focus on ways to reach students in those crucial middle years, when they’re deciding whether to stay in school … and what to study while they’re there. Why is this an equity issue? STEM careers are the careers of the future—and if that future isn’t open to all students, we’re doing them a grave disservice. Historically, women and members of underrepresented groups have been less likely to take advanced STEM courses, less likely to seek jobs in STEM, and less likely to attain top positions in the field even if they do enter it. Clearly, something must change. At BU Wheelock, change will require taking a deep look at how teachers talk about STEM—and how we teach them to talk about it. Our approach is rooted in a history of encouraging curiosity and play, something that grows out of our expertise in human development and the realities of how children and young people learn. This perspective helps teachers and students realize that “getting the right answer” is no more important than asking good questions, trying creative solutions, persisting in answering a question, and not worrying about failing. Science and math teachers need to reach students where they live. That means finding ways to connect their subjects with students’ lives. Our courses reflect this, by continually reinforcing a focus on the language and ways of thinking that scientists, mathematicians, and engineers use, not just the subjects they explore. And our Earl Center for Learning & Innovation brings teachers and learners, youth and adults, together to explore and develop creative new approaches to education, particularly in STEM fields.
how you can lead • Fund research and collaborations in STEM • Support STEM practicums • Support fellowships for teachers, artists, designers, and scientists in the Earl Center
LEADING the CHANGE
• Endow a chair in STEM teacher preparation
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Andrew R. Bottoms, Deaf Studies program director
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DEAF STUDIES
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A lot of people very often don’t know that as Deaf folks, we have to fight a lot and come up against an awful lot of challenges to make sure that we can produce highquality teachers.”
Let’s lead the change in Deaf Studies When Bob Hoffmeister founded BU’s modern Deaf Studies program in 1980, it was one of the first of its kind. Hoffmeister committed from the start to providing bilingual education, in American Sign Language (ASL) and English, for Deaf students. Today, the program focuses on research, community programs, and the development of curricula and other resources, all advancing the recognition of Deaf people as a linguistic minority, one with its own unique and valuable culture. Everything we do in the program takes place in that context. Our holistic approach has earned us the trust of the nation’s leading schools for Deaf students. When they want the best teachers, they turn to us. We’re also increasingly known for the resources our faculty and students have developed for teachers and families: video ASL storybooks, ASL lesson plans in K–12 subject areas, and other essentials that are surprisingly hard to find anywhere else. And we don’t just educate educators. BU Wheelock is the sole provider of ASL instruction for BU students who wish to learn the language, and our ASL courses are among the University’s most popular in any subject. One challenge unique to research and teaching in Deaf Studies is also a source of strength: faculty who are not fluent in ASL must always partner with Deaf colleagues to do their work. Of our program’s six faculty members, three are Deaf and two others are bilingual in English and ASL. We recognize and embrace the urgent need to build a stronger pipeline for Deaf scholars, at every level from undergraduates to postdocs and tenure-track faculty. Our work is critically important to the Deaf community as well as to educators. And BU Wheelock is ideally situated to pursue it, with all the resources that a top-tier research institution like BU brings to bear. Our faculty is already developing projects with BU’s Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences—projects that draw on our researchers’ expertise in Deaf Studies as well as CDS faculty’s skills in structuring, analyzing, and visualizing data.
how you can lead • Endow a scholarship in Bob Hoffmeister’s honor, with a preference for native ASL speakers who are pursuing teaching careers
• Support the development of ASL curricular and assessment tools, databases, and video publications • Help our research teams work with sometimes widely dispersed Deaf communities by endowing a fund for travel and communication with families • Support the relaunch of the Center on Sign Language & Deaf Education
LEADING the CHANGE
• Build the graduate-level pipeline and help support research by funding stipends for research assistants, PhD candidates, and postdocs in Deaf Studies
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EDI
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We’re changing the community standard of what good scholarship and research and teaching really means. If we can’t teach with this focus, then we are doing damage, because we are supposed to be teaching beyond what we have.” aura Jiménez, associate dean for equity, L diversity, and inclusion
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Let’s lead the change in equity, diversity, and inclusion Boston University has a proud tradition of opening its doors to all. Indeed, the University’s founding mission was built upon inclusion, regardless of gender, race, or religion. BU was the first in the nation to admit women to medical school, to graduate a Native American physician, to choose a Black woman as chief editor of its law review, and to award a PhD to a woman. BU Wheelock is committed not just to extending that tradition, but to making all of education more accessible, more inclusive, and more equitable for all. One key means of attaining this goal is to bring people of more diverse backgrounds into teaching, research, and leadership roles. So we’re working to broaden the path to leadership positions, faculty appointments in higher education, and policymaking roles to include gifted educators from every background. In addition, we are reviewing our syllabi through the lens of equity and inclusion and bringing in outside speakers to engage with faculty in conversations about social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. “We’re a college of education and human development,” says Laura Jiménez, associate dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion. So we are striving to create a college where equity and inclusion are not a topic unto themselves, but essential principles that underlie everything we do. “It’s a cultural shift for the college that we’re all going to be doing these things,” Jiménez says. Another key equity initiative is increasing financial aid for our future educators. At BU Wheelock, we see a profound need for more graduate-level support, especially for students from underrepresented or marginalized communities: financial aid for tuition, research fellowships, stipends for practicums, and other means of ensuring that no student will avoid going into education out of fear that it will lead to a lifetime of debt. Transforming oppressive systems will be a long and complex process. But making education accessible and equitable for all is an excellent place to start.
how you can lead • Endow a graduate scholarship
• Endow an access fund for non-tuition expenses that scholarships don’t cover
LEADING the CHANGE
• Support research fellowships
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PARTNERSHIPS 20
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What is it that only BU Wheelock can do? Research. Convening. Bringing people together.” Mary Churchill, associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement
Let’s lead the change in our communities BU Wheelock’s location at the heart of a great research university, in a city that has led the way in education for more than a century, bolsters our commitment to combining rigorous scholarship with community engagement. Our wide-ranging research informs our understanding of best practices; our long-standing partnerships with local schools and organizations help us see the promise and challenges of adopting those practices in real-world settings. And we’re now expanding our vision of community partnerships to support education leaders around the world, with programs like the one we launched in fall 2022 with Bahrain Teachers College. Our work with community partners includes helping to evaluate their programs and apply for grants to improve them, offering technical assistance and research, and forging thought partnership on policy. “We’re always making sure the research we do has real-world application,” says Mary Churchill, associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement. “We conduct research with an eye toward informing policy.” Boston offers many particularly rich opportunities for such research, and our decadeslong partnership with Boston Public Schools (BPS) informs much of our work. Because we know these schools so well, we know what some academics too often forget: that trying to improve schools will never work without a deep understanding of everything around schools that affects learning, from poverty to trauma to systemic racism. These aren’t just Boston problems; they play out in school systems across the country. And so the research we do with our partners here can make a difference for students everywhere. The programs we support for Boston’s schools can also serve as a model for systems elsewhere. BPS educators receive a 33 percent scholarship in our programs, for example, and we place a special emphasis on recruiting future leaders from underrepresented groups. We also develop projects aimed at improving students’ future lives, such as the Boston Career and College Pathways Partnership. Our community engagement isn’t just about what’s happening at BU Wheelock. It’s about what we want to see happen in communities around the world.
• Endow a graduate scholarship for teachers and education leaders • Support mentoring and internship programs for students • Fund a research project in partnership with a community you care about
LEADING the CHANGE
how you can lead
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Let’s lead the change.
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e hope you are inspired, as we are, by the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Changing established systems of education and human development is a complex and multifaceted task, one that will require courage, creativity, and openness to new ideas. Fortunately, those are precisely the qualities that the most visionary leaders in our field share. Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development seeks not just to prepare such leaders, but to lead the way ourselves. With your help, we believe we can chart a course to a brighter, stronger, and more equitable future. A future where education policy is coherent, just, and effective. A future where all education and human development professionals receive the support, resources, and recognition they deserve. A future where all students—all people—can thrive. Change isn’t always easy. But it’s easier when we work together. We hope you’ll join us.
David Chard, PhD Dean Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development
Bobbi Woldt Assistant Dean bobbiw@bu.edu Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development Two Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215
LEADING the CHANGE
To discuss how you’d like to help BU Wheelock lead the change, please contact:
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