Stories

Making a Difference

Read the latest stories featuring students, faculty, and alumni, from Loyola's School of Education, who are making their mark in the field of education.

freshman celebrates during welcome weekend on Loyola campus

Loyola Future Teacher Club

The Loyola Future Teachers Club, an affiliate of Illinois Education Association (IEA), engages teacher candidates in professional development, social networking, and service projects with local schools. See what club members have to say about their positive experience with with the organization.

Counseling Psychology student Tiffany Fang’s OP-ED published in Chicago Tribune

In March 2021, author Tiffany Fang was profoundly affected when six Asian women were killed by a white gunman in the Atlanta spa shootings. Writing was her tool to reclaim the narrative and tell the story from her vantage point.

Creating a meaningful education.

Sayani is pursuing her master's degree through Loyola School of Education’s Language, Culture, and Curriculum program while working as a teacher at Chicagoland’s Old Orchard Junior High School.

Fostering a spirit of collaboration

Amidst a national shortage of culturally and linguistically diverse school psychologists, Loyola School of Education faculty aim to alleviate the stressors of this shortage, felt by students and schools, in three Illinois districts.

students and teachers sitting around a table talking

Field-based, Intentional Preparation

Students have real world experiences embedded in real world needs which fosters real world growth.

Inclusive Texts in Elementary Classrooms

Inclusive Texts in Elementary Classrooms demonstrates how to put children’s diverse and storied experiences at the center of classroom curriculum.

Nicholas Senn High School Summer Science Internship

Thirteen public high school students had the experience of a lifetime.

SOE Summer Updates

SOE students and alumni are drawing on their science skills this summer.

SOE Students Lead and Support Engaging Summer Programs

This summer, four of our students are working with the McCutcheon Community School Initiative and its Summer Explorers Camp for Pre-K - 8th grade students.

Building Tomorrow's Science Teachers

School of Education's Dr. Lara Smetana will present at the National Science Teaching Association's web seminar in the series, Preparing the Next Generation of Science Educators.

Loyola Professors recognized with Outstanding Book Award

The Curriculum Foundations Reader, co-authors by Drs. Tocci & Moon, were awarded the 2022 Outstanding Book Award from the Society of Professors of Education.

School of Education alumni Sydney Delghingaro and Alyssa Hoffman in the LUC Biology greenhouse

School of Education and Biology collaboration secures National Science Foundation funding

Congratulations to Drs. Mike Grillo (Biology) and Lara Smetana (Education) on securing funding from the National Science Foundation for the 5-year project entitled Pre-service Teacher Research Experience in Biodiversity Studies.

EL-Focused Graduate Program Centers Teachers’ Practice Above All

The Language, Culture, and Curriculum MEd program is an online degree program seeking applicants from the United States and around the globe for its next cohort, slated to begin in August 2022. This program prepares educators for multilingual learners, commonly referred to as English learners, in a variety of contexts from prekindergarten through higher education.

Congratulations to Dr. Seungho Moon on newest book release.

The School of Education at Loyola University of Chicago is excited to celebrate the work of Dr. Seungho Moon for his book publication entitled, The Flows of Transnationalism: Questioning Identities and Reimagining Curriculum (Routledge, 2022).

Grant awarded to Big City Social Studies Group (BCSS) which was co-founded by Loyola professor Dr. Charles Tocci.

Big City Social Studies Group (BCSS), co-founded by Loyola’s own Dr. Charles Tocci, receives grant from William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

School of Education students receive DFI Fellowship

We are pleased to announce that Sharnequa Hunter and Janese Nolan received the Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Fellowship (DFI Fellowship)!

Celebrating the work of Loyola University School Partners initiative

The School of Education is honored to celebrate the work of Mitch Hendrickson, Dr. Jon Schmidt and, and Dr. Dave Ensminger supporting community schools.

Loyola Faculty receive BLOOME Award

The School of Education at Loyola University of Chicago congratulates Drs. Mike Grillo (Assistant Professor in Biology) & Lara Smetana (Associate Professor in the School of Education) on their Plant Biology Learning Objectives, Outreach Materials & Education (BLOOME) Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists

Dr. Hui Xu awarded grant from American Psychological Foundation

The School of Education is excited to celebrate the continued work of Dr. Hui Xu, assistant professor of counseling psychology at Loyola University Chicago.

Dr. Eunju Yoon and students publish work in The Counseling Psychologist

The School of Education is honored to celebrate the work of Dr. Eunju Yoon and her students. They recently published - A meta-analysis of acculturation and enculturation: Bilinear, multidimensional, and context-dependent processes in The Counseling Psychologist.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education

Join us in celebrating the work of Dr. Tavis Jules and colleagues on their publication of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education

Loyola Researchers Receive Spencer Grant: Supporting English Learners and Immigrant-Origin Youth and Families

The School of Education is excited to announce that Dr. Amy Heineke and Dr. Liz Vera were award a grant from the Spencer Foundation. The grant is titled: English Learner and Immigrant-Origin Youth and Families: A Comparative Case Study of Learning Experiences During and Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Lara Smetana with Scholars Audrey Brinkers and Scarlett Chan at the Midwest Noyce Regional meeting in St. Louis.

LUC-Noyce Scholars launches a new Mentoring Program for Science & Math Teachers

Loyola is one of the recipients of the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program’s competitive grants, thanks to the hard work Dr. Lara Smetana, Associate Professor in the School of Education, put into securing it.

Critical Scholarship for Social Justice in Higher Ed Through Student-Run Journal

Graduate students across the country, under the leadership of current editor and Loyola PhD student Sydney Curtis, are running a successful peer-reviewed journal that takes aim at power, privilege, and oppression in higher education and student affairs, providing actionable scholarship that can affect meaningful change in higher education. They are also running the journal in a way that embodies the Jesuit value of cura personalis.

Greeley Center Thought Leader on Excellence and Equity

Michelle Lia and Debra Sullivan, newly appointed co-directors of the Greeley Center, are delighted to be taking the reins as COVID and a renewed focus on equality in the US has put Catholic schools in a unique position to deliver on their mission as never before.

School of Education and School of Law Join Forces to Reform School Discipline

Pamela Fenning and Miranda Johnson move in two different worlds, but their passions intersect around reforming school discipline—moving from a punitive to a restorative model and addressing practices that disproportionately affect students of color and students with disabilities. So a few years back, they decided to join forces and bring the best of both the School of Education and the School of Law together to offer a certificate in School Discipline Reform—the first interdisciplinary certificate to be offered at Loyola.

Administration and Supervision Programs Moving Online

“Schools are open, leaders are leading, and the business of school is still going on,” said Debra Sullivan, the Administration and Supervision Program Chair for the School of Education. “The whole crux of this program, regardless of how it’s delivered, is that it’s grounded in job-imbedded learning. The core assignments are all real-world leadership activities that real principals do, and so online coursework is a really valid delivery method.”

School of Education named as one of the nation's top teacher prep programs for strong training in classroom management

Loyola’s undergraduate elementary teacher preparation program has been named among the top in the country for strong training in classroom management strategies by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research and policy organization.

MEd. and Ed.D in Curriculum and Instruction now The 3Cs—Curriculum, Culture, and Communities

For years, Loyola has maintained strong partnerships with neighborhood schools and community organizations in the Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhood. Through insight gained from that work and the fundamental question they were considering, Seungho Moon and David Ensminger have transformed the traditional Curriculum & Instruction programs into what they’re informally calling The 3 Cs—an MEd and EdD in Curriculum, Culture, and Communities.

Krolikowski Chair Using Video to Combat Trauma from Racism

Matt Miller, the newly named recipient of the Father Walter P. Krolikowski, S.J., Endowed Chair, has a deep passion for making mental health services relevant and accessible, and an equal passion for addressing the impact of racism on People of Color.