“Teachers don't feel like their working conditions are conducive to success,” @jackschneider.bsky.social said. “They're highly motivated ... [and] they are telling us that we need to do better in terms of investing in schools.” Read more: www.wbur.org/news/2026/09...

New survey of Mass. teachers show a dislike of statewide exams as a replacement for MCAS

The survey of nearly 1,200 Massachusetts educators by UMass Amherst’s Center for Education Policy also found that teachers consider their biggest challenges in the classroom to be student disinterest ...

wbur.org

77% of Massachusetts’ K-12 teachers say public education in the United States is on the wrong track, a new Annual Massachusetts Educator Survey suggests. @umasspoll.bsky.social @umasseduc.bsky.social https://bit.ly/46KXchV

Distinguished Professor Stephen Sireci @sireci.bsky.social is featured on Tried and Tested, a podcast published by PSI Services, in a conversation about AI and current challenges facing educational testing. Listen to the podcast: www.psiexams.com/knowledge-hu...

AI and the new challenges facing educational testing with UMass Amherst’s Stephen Sireci | PSI Exams

In this episode of Tried and Tested, host Isabelle Gonthier, PhD, ICE-CCP speaks with Stephen G. Sireci, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Educational Assessment…

psiexams.com

Congratulations to the 281 College of Education undergrads who made the Spring 2026 Dean's List! The list recognizes the outstanding achievement of earning a 3.5 GPA or higher while completing a minimum of 12 graded credits. See the full list here: www.umass.edu/registrar/de...

Dean's List Honors : University Registrar : UMass Amherst

Dean's List Honors

umass.edu

Writing in the Boston Globe, Distinguished Professor @jackschneider.bsky.social argues that Governor Healey and Massachusetts should turn down federal money offered through Trump's privatizing education tax credit program.

The real cost of Trump’s ‘free money’ for Massachusetts schools - The Boston Globe

Governor Healey should reject the Education Freedom Tax Credit.

buff.ly

The Trump administration wants its hands on your state’s schools. @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social and I weigh in.

The real cost of Trump’s ‘free money’ for Massachusetts schools - The Boston Globe

Governor Healey should reject the Education Freedom Tax Credit.

bostonglobe.com

“Enacting Democratic Processes at the District Level” — my piece with @derekgottliebphd.com — is one of School Administrator magazine’s “Best of 2025-26.” Free access below.

Like so many education policies, Massachusetts new reading law fails to account for a critical ingredient: teacher time. Instead, it leaves teachers to figure it out. Because we've seen this movie before, we can tell you what will happen: www.masslive.com/opinion/2026... @jackschneider.bsky.social

State’s new reading law ignores a crucial ingredient: time | Ashley Carey & Jack Schneider

In our research, we’ve talked with hundreds of teachers just like her — teachers who are just barely making it through each day. For them, time is a zero-sum game. Any new demands on their time come a...

masslive.com

PhD candidates Jana Pickart and Niyanthini Kadirgamar (pictured), and PhD student Rachel Bond, have authored a new paper in Equity & Excellence in Education reflecting on the impacts of authoritarianism and imperialism on education communities and the field. Read the paper: buff.ly/ozege5N

@jackschneider.bsky.social, @katieumass.bsky.social, and Rebecca Woodland of the Center for Education Policy have published an opinion piece in @masslive.bsky.social, “Here’s what the public actually wants from AI in schools.” Read the article: buff.ly/RaKwvUT

Professor @sallypirie.bsky.social has been awarded a 2026 Strong Research Fellowship to do archival research this summer at the 264,000 volume Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play, located at the National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. www.museumofplay.org/collections/...

Research Fellowships - The Strong National Museum of Play

Researchers from around the world have used The Strong's collections & archival materials to inform dissertations, books, & other scholarly works.

museumofplay.org

Assistant Professor Katrina Calhoun has co-authored a new paper in Journal of College and University Student Housing, “Pieces of Us: A Collaborative Critical Autoethnography of Black Women’s Experiences and Professional Work Cycle Within Residence Life.” Read the article: buff.ly/RBwPQcO

Joel Arce ’26PhD was selected to receive the 2026 Antonia Pantoja Award by the Latino Scholarship Fund of Western Massachusetts, recognizing the contributions of his community-building scholarship. Read more: buff.ly/0ENI1qM

Congrats to Assoc. Prof. Marialuisa Di Stefano, who has received a Fulbright Global Scholar Award. ✈️ She will travel to Colombia, Spain, and Italy for a comparative ethnographic case study on how STEM teachers engage with dual language bilingual teacher preparation. www.umass.edu/education/ne...

If you're within driving distance of @umassamherst.bsky.social, mark your calendars. The inimitable @johannneem.bsky.social will be speaking on Sept. 16 in a public event at @umasseduc.bsky.social

Johann Neem: The Daily Life of Democracy : College of Education : UMass Amherst

In this talk, Prof. Neem will discuss who contributed to the public good during the founding of our country: men and women, free and enslaved, rich and poor.

umass.edu

Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Justin Coles has been elected to the @ncte.org ELATE (English Language Arts Teacher Educators) Executive Committee. Read more: ncte.org/get-involved...

Elections

NCTE is guided by elected leaders at all levels of the organization. Leaders are chosen by current members with voting privileges.

ncte.org

Elizabeth Broderick '26, early childhood education, is one of eleven seniors to receive a UMass Amherst Alumni Senior Leadership Award, honoring contributions by students to student organizations, campus jobs, academic excellence, and community service. Read more: buff.ly/4owBLj4

In April, with the assistance of @umassamherst.bsky.social Chancellor Javier Reyes and UMass Cheerleaders, we hosted 4th graders from Springfield International Charter School, with EDUC 508 students conducting demonstration lessons. See all photos: buff.ly/2mYMVbc

In its third annual Civic Summit, the Center for Education Policy invited MA residents to discuss AI in the classroom. Panelists included PhD student April Camuso, Professor Torrey Trust, Rebecca Mazur ‘17PhD, and former DESE commissioner Jeffrey Riley. See all photos: buff.ly/21oxVI9

Professor Carey Dimmitt has received a 2026 UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Award. Nominators praised her proactive mentoring, particularly for Women of Color, and her lasting gift of collaborative, relational, and justice-oriented mentorship. See the list of winners: buff.ly/lAYRLIP

Congrats to Associate Professor Ysaaca Axelrod for receiving the College Outstanding Teaching Award, and to Information Technology Manager Jim Smith for receiving the College Outstanding Staff Award! Read more: buff.ly/LEVjQ4l

Associate Professor and Associate Dean for DEI Justin Coles won two awards at the @AERA annual convention—an Early Career Award and an Outstanding Book Award for his first book, Resisting Antiblackness in Education: A Pedagogy of Black Youth Aesthetics. Read more: www.umass.edu/education/ne...

The first-ever bilingual Hub Dialogues 2026 Inaugural Workshop was hosted by the UMass Amherst Bilingual Hub in partnership with Southbridge Public Schools at Southbridge High School on March 28, 2026. Read about the event: buff.ly/y5XWjwb #EDUC #UMassAmherst #BilingualEducation

We are celebrating UMassGives today and tomorrow (April 29–30) and hope you will join us with a gift of any size to support our programs and students in need. Your gift today could be doubled or even tripled—see gift matching details and more on how to give: buff.ly/E6hMAVU

Celebrating excellence in higher education 🎉 Festus Cobena Ainoo, a second-year M.Ed. student in Higher Education, earned TWO awards at the 2026 ACPA Conference for his leadership, research and commitment to global student success.

The UMass Amherst Bilingual Hub and Southbridge Public Schools hosted the first-ever Bilingual Hub Dialogues 2026 workshop, bringing educators and community partners together for reflection, collaboration, and shared learning in bilingual and dual language education. Learn more:

The Bilingual Hub Dialogues 2026 Inaugural Workshop : College of Education : UMass Amherst

The UMass Amherst Bilingual Hub, in partnership with Southbridge Public Schools, hosted the first-ever Bilingual Hub Dialogues 2026 Inaugural Workshop.

umass.edu

Congratulations to faculty members Torrey Trust and Robert W. Maloy, and doctoral student Chenyang Xu, who received an outstanding paper award at the 2026 Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) National Conference! >> Read more about their work! buff.ly/NlSb3II

Distinguished Professor Jack Schneider and second-year doctoral student Breanne Lucy have published a feature article in KAPPAN titled “Time Well Spent? Teachers’ Perspectives on Time-Saving Reforms” with co-author Ashley J. Carey. 👉 Check it out! buff.ly/AywmDSi

Dr. Jia Zhang has been selected as a 2026-2027 ISSR Scholar, recognizing her contributions to research and interdisciplinary collaboration at UMass.

We’re proud to share that LLC PhD candidate Gretchen Hohmeyer has co-authored a practitioner article highlighting the important role of backmatter in historical fiction and how it can enhance students’ engagement with history and social studies. Check it out: buff.ly/0Pbkasn