Penn GSE is proud to highlight and celebrate the recent accomplishments and honors of their faculty.

Ed Brockenbrough, associate professor and Calvin Bland Fellow, received a Body of Work Award from the American Educational Research Association’s Queer Studies Special Interest Group. This group periodically awards a scholar who has contributed a significant body of work that produces important scholarship in the area of LGBTQ studies and/or Queer Theory in education and has shaped the field of LGBTQ studies in education and/or Queer Studies in education.

Charlotte Jacobs, co-director of the Independent School Teaching Residency program, was awarded a fellowship by the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women and the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools to conduct a pilot study exploring the experiences of adolescent girls of color in all-girls schools.

Michelle Neuman, lecturer in the International Educational Development program, was a guest co-editor of Early Years: An International Research Journal, Volume 39, Issue 3, a special issue about early childhood policy in low- and middle-income countries.

Sharon M. Ravitch, professor of practice, has been named a Fulbright Specialist to work with BMN College of Home Science in Mumbai, India, on creating the conditions for protective pluralism for scheduled tribe and scheduled caste first-generation female college students. Dr. Ravitch also recently served as a scholar-in-residence at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies, where she was asked to be the board chair for the University’s Center for Research on Storytelling in Education.

Marsha Richardson, senior lecturer, was selected by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in collaboration with Bloomsburg University’s McDowell Institute, to become trained as a Youth Mental Health First Aid Trainer. The organization is aiming to certify early career educators and pre-service students in YMHFA, in response to the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s mandates to include trauma-informed pedagogy in training curricula.

Howard C. Stevenson, Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, was named the 2020 Gittler Prize recipient by Brandeis University. “Not only has Howard Stevenson brought a better understanding of the detrimental effects caused by racial stress and trauma through his scholarship, he actively leads the way in improving the lives of people affected by these issues,” Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz said. The Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize was created in 2007 to recognize outstanding and lasting scholarly contributions to racial, ethnic and/or religious relations.

Sharon Wolf, assistant professor, is the recipient of the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness outstanding article award for her article, “Experimental Impacts of the ‘Quality Preschool for Ghana’ Interventions on Teacher Professional Well-Being, Classroom Quality, and Children’s School Readiness.” The paper reports on the results of a randomized controlled trial of a teacher professional development program for public and private kindergartens in Ghana, examining impacts on teacher professional well-being, classroom quality and children’s readiness during one school year.

Jenny Zapf, senior fellow, served as a panelist and a finalist judge for the Reimagine Higher Education Global Innovation Awards in London in December. Reimagine Education rewards innovative approaches to enhance student learning and employability, offering $50,000 in funding and 16 “Oscars” of Education. Dr. Zapf also delivered a keynote address on “Education Entrepreneurship: 3.0” at the European EdTech Network in Finland in February.