The School of Education is in mourning following the passing of its beloved Dean, Penny L. Hammrich, PhD. Dr. Hammrich died on Thursday, August 11th, 2022. In her tenure at Drexel, Penny made an indelible impact on the School of Education and was admired and loved by her colleagues and students across the university.

In a continuous bid to elevate the faculty and student experience, the School of education is proud to announce a new partnership with Abu Dhabi University (ADU). 

I am most excited about our various projects in the Justice-oriented Youth (JoY) Education Lab. Getting to collaborate with incredible youth and community members as well as working with amazing SOE students, faculty, staff and other colleagues at Drexel on inspiring research and programs brings me great “joy”!

I am currently working with the Centre for Equity and Quality in Universal Education (CEQUE), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in India, that upskills public and private school teacher practices. To improve classroom practices, CEQUE coaches and mentors teachers to engage in reflective practice.

Working with colleagues Valerie Klein and Wesley Shumar at Drexel, as well as partners at 21st Century Partnership for STEM Education, and SoE alum Anthony Matranga at California State University – San Marcos, much of my attention this year will be on our NSF-funded ORCIDS project. The project brings together teachers, researchers and other math educators to focus on ways to engage more meaningfully with students online.

As a Research Professor and Co-Director of The Methods Lab, I am part of many exciting new projects this year! In addition to building interdisciplinary research teams and partnerships, the most current project is a collaborative project among Drexel University, Bowling Green State University, and Clarity Assessment Systems.

Dara Bright, a doctoral researcher from Drexel University’s School of Education, has been selected for one of 15 highly competitive annual fellowships with the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE), a resource network for STEM education researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) granted accreditation to Drexel University School of Education educator preparation programs. Drexel is the only university in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs to be approved under the CAEP Accreditation Standards – rigorous, nationally recognized standards that were developed to ensure excellence in educator preparation programs.

Drexel University and the Brandywine Workshop and Archives (BWA) have partnered to extend and improve Brandywine’s Artura.org, the nation’s first free online database of contemporary diverse art and artists. A recent $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will fund the project that will be managed by Drexel’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships with participation from the School of Education and the Arts Administration & Museum Leadership graduate program in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.

Drexel University faculty and staff will participate in a new hybrid version of the B.PHL Innovation Fest, a citywide celebration of innovation now in its third year. From Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 the event will welcome scores of creative thinkers from around the city and across the country, including headliners CNN’s Don Lemon, Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and Grammy-winning recording artist Eve.

Before the University-wide ceremony at Citizen’s Bank Park on June 11, commencement for Drexel’s colleges, schools and students of the African diaspora were held virtually though celebrated wholeheartedly.

To celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, here are 10 great ways you can thank teachers.

Two graduate students tell DrexelNow about their experience participating in the Graduate College’s Remote Course Facilitator program, in which they aid faculty and students in the remote learning environment and gain valuable contacts and insight along the way.

Just over $100,000 was awarded to 22 faculty and professional staff through Drexel's Rapid Response Research & Development Fund.

Drexel University's partnership with the TEACH Pennsylvania Scholarship from the the Pennsylvania Child Care Association is helping teachers at childcare centers across the state earn teacher certification without having to take out loans and other debt to pay for their education.

Though forced to celebrate from afar this year, the University’s colleges and schools created diverse, robust and meaningful virtual celebrations for their 2020 graduates

The Class of 2020 is an historic one. Here are their thoughts during graduation week.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused dramatic changes in our everyday lives. Dr. Penny Hammrich, Dean and Distinguished University Professor has this special message with students.

Drexel University and The School District of Philadelphia held a ceremonial groundbreaking today for a building that will house two public schools in West Philadelphia. The School District of Philadelphia will lease the building from Drexel and the facility will house both the Samuel Powel Elementary School, currently at 36th Street and Powelton Avenue, and the Science Leadership Academy Middle School, which opened in 2016 at Drexel's Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships and recently moved into a space at 3600 Market Street.

Drexel University School of Education Assistant Professor Christopher Wright is a 2019 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). This award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.

Global architecture and design firm Perkins Eastman and Drexel University, a Tier 1 Research university in Philadelphia, PA, are pleased to announce the Consortium for Design and Education Outcomes (CDEO), a joint research collaboration that will study the impact of environmental design on educational outcomes.

Merck & Co., Inc. Chairman and CEO Kenneth C. Frazier will address the class of 2019 at Drexel’s University-wide commencement ceremony on June 14. In what has become a Drexel tradition, the University will once again hold its University-wide ceremony at Citizens Bank Park. Frazier’s contributions in the business, legal and humanitarian fields are especially notable.

Female deans from Drexel University will soon gather to discuss professional and emotional empowerment at the Dean’s Panel during the Women’s Empowerment Summit hosted by the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship. In advance, DrexelNow asked them each to share their one key empowerment tip for students.

Drexel University’s School of Education boasts a Field Placement Office which spares no time or expense putting Dragons in student teaching placements all over the country and the world.

The board members of the newly formed Drexel Postdoctoral Association (DPA) are aiming to bring more visibility, resources to Drexel’s postdoctoral community.

“ESTM 201” — also known as “Step 1” of Drexel University’s DragonsTeach program — gives STEM majors instruction and experience teaching in the Philadelphia School District.

PECO and the Exelon Foundation awarded a $300,000 grant to the Drexel Exelon Foundation/PECO Community Education Collaborative – a program that supports and enhances the work of the School District of Philadelphia at the Morton McMichael and Samuel Powel elementary schools in West Philadelphia. The purpose of the program is to improve educational outcomes for local students with a particular focus on STEM education.

More Drexel University undergraduate students will have the opportunity to earn teacher certification in science and mathematics thanks to the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Scholarship program, which recently awarded Drexel’s School of Education a 5-year, $1.2 million grant. The new grant will allow 24 Drexel students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a major related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics to earn pre-service teacher certification in middle grades (4-8) science or mathematics through Drexel’s DragonsTeach Middle Years program.

Drexel University’s School of Education is partnering with the School District of Philadelphia to support Drexel’s Philadelphia Teacher Residency program, which will provide salaries, benefits and scholarships to aspiring STEM teachers.

Hollywood legend M. Night Shyamalan will address the class of 2018 at Drexel’s University-wide commencement ceremony on June 15 at Citizens Bank Park. The director, producer, screenwriter and actor — whose breakout hit, “The Sixth Sense,” appeared nearly 20 years ago — is known for filming and setting his movies in and around Philadelphia, hiring locally and utilizing area vendors, and showcasing some of the region’s best-loved attractions and locales.

As part of Homecoming 2018, the faculty and professional staff at Drexel University competed in a contest to show who had the most spirit.

In the wake of a series of devastating hurricanes, Drexel faculty and students came together to help an EdD student get her elementary school up and running and speed along the recovery process.

A partnership between Drexel University’s School of Education and the School District of Philadelphia Office of Specialized Services (OSS) will result in the development of aspiring special education leaders, poised to address the unique challenges facing students and teachers in the complex urban education environment.

Graduate and undergraduate students in Drexel’s School of Education are working together to deliver a four-week literacy crash course to elementary students in Philadelphia.

Jetting off to a foreign country to teach sounds like the dream of bright-eyed young college graduates and corporate America burnouts looking for a fresh start. But Nathalie Chica, MS in Global and International Education ’16, doesn’t quite fit these stereotypes. As a divorced mother working in education, Chica wasn’t looking to escape her day job or take a gap-year adventure; she was looking to further her career.

Bringing coaches together in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel University’s Sport Coaching Leadership program, in the School of Education, will host its third Philadelphia Coaches Conference on Tuesday, May 16 from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. This year’s conference, organized “for coaches by coaches” will bring together aspiring coaches of all levels in a variety of sports for the purpose of professional development and growth through a series of education sessions led by a diverse group of experienced and knowledgeable coaches. 

Supported by a $1.2 million grant from the Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP), Drexel University’s School of Education will create a new pipeline of dual-certified, Middle-Years teachers, trained specifically for the challenges of Philadelphia classrooms. 

Computational design guru John Maeda will address the class of 2017 at Drexel University’s commencement, which will be held on June 13 at 7:30 p.m. Maeda is the global head of Computational Design and Inclusion at Automattic, the parent company of Jetpack, WooCommerce, Longreads, WordPress.com and more. The University-wide ceremony will be held at Citizens Bank Park for the second consecutive year.

Drexel University President John Fry, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Superintendent William Hite, PhD, community members and area elected officials gathered at Morton McMichael Elementary School on Dec. 21 to officially announce that the community surrounding Drexel in West Philadelphia has won the 2016 Promise Neighborhoods Program Implementation Grant Competition. Drexel was the lead applicant of the grant, on which the City of Philadelphia, The School District of Philadelphia and several other area groups and non-profits also partnered.

Four hundred local fourth, fifth and sixth grade students will have the opportunity to become urban scientists with resources made possible through a new, three-year $1.17 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

With Commencement right around the corner, May is time for getting deserved recognition and finishing up lingering projects before the heat of summer kicks in.

Middle school students in West Philadelphia will learn strategies to achieve better physical and emotional health through a new collaboration between Drexel University and the Sixers Youth Foundation, a charitable initiative of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Drexel Joins Carnegie

New Year New SoE Faces

Drexel School of Education Associate Dean of Research Dr. Dominic Gullo was quoted by WHYY  Newsworks regarding the signing of the Every Student Succeeds Act and new federal funding to expand Pre-K.

 Drexel’s DragonsTeach program was recently recognized among three schools in the nation who are meeting the need for future STEM teachers by providing students with the resources they need to educate our next generation of children.

Summer employment opportunities for teenagers is stagnant despite the nation's job growth, as revealed in a new study from Drexel University’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy.

A diverse group of educators, organizations, parents, students and researchers who are interested in education in Philadelphia will come together at Drexel University on Monday, Nov. 17 from 6 – 8 p.m. Attendees will collaboratively define “urban education” and determine how that shared understanding informs the promise, potential and possibilities in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone neighborhood bordering Drexel and beyond. The discussion is part of the Critical Conversations in Urban Education series hosted by Drexel’s School of Education.

Late last May, Drexel opened a new office in the middle of Washington, D.C. More than a year later, the office’s strategy is still evolving. But one thing is clear: It has opened up new worlds for Drexel. 

Drexel University City Development, LLC, the joint venture between Drexel and Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, officially closed today on the purchase of a 14-acre site from the School District of Philadelphia that formerly housed the University City High School, the Charles Drew Elementary School and The Walnut Center.

Preparing students to think like creative professionals is the goal of Drexel University Online’s master of science’s degree program in creativity and innovation, offered through the School of Education. While many colleges and universities are beginning to offer individual courses in creativity, Drexel’s master's degree program is one of only a few full creativity degree programs in the country. Drexel also offers graduate and undergraduate certificate programs in this subject.

The United States needs more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers. And Drexel has a wealth of bright students studying in those same fields. Now, a new program will connect Drexel’s strength with the nation’s need.

What if businesses could respond in real-time to schools’ needs for supplies, or offered extensive shadowing or internship programs to introduce students to career opportunities? To encourage greater impacts from collaboration between the business sector and local K-12 educational institutions, Drexel University’s School of Education partnered with America’s Promise Alliance to host the first-ever “Business-Community Innovation Lab” in Drexel’s Washington, D.C. office last month.

Four talented high school students from the Philadelphia Scholastic Debate League will debate the merits of college versus career readiness on Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., as part of the Critical Conversations in Urban Education lecture series hosted by Drexel University’s School of Education. 

Dr. William Lynch has notified University leadership and School of Education colleagues that he will step down as dean of the school at the end of his current term of service on June 30, 2014.

Two students from the College of Education have been working at the Math Forum as part of the Drexel co-op program. Read how they not only got into classrooms to observe teacher-student interactions, but also got to come up with methods for teachers to try in their very own classrooms.

The School of Education hosted a discussion on higher education reform on September 9, featuring Andrew Kelly as the speaker.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a grant nearly $93,000 to the Math Forum for the project, “Online Collaboration to Understand Preservice Teachers' Developing Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT).”

Dr. James Connell, who joined Drexel last year as the clinical director of the A.J Drexel Autism Institute, shared with DrexelNow some of the latest developments at the institute since its launch last year.

As the share of employed teens across the nation has plummeted over the last decade, a new study from Drexel University’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy and the Commonwealth Corporation reveals some practical solutions to the challenge of declining teen employment.

Drexel University has joined Montgomery County Community College’s (MCCC) University Center initiative and will soon offer doctorate, graduate and professional development programs in Pottstown through its School of Education.

Last week, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission ordered the closing of 23 Philadelphia School District schools. Drexel's Tina Richardson spoke with DrexelNow about why the public has reacted so strongly to the closings, whether the process was flawed, and how the remaining schools can best welcome the reassigned students.

Drexel University’s School of Education has formed a unique partnership with McGraw-Hill School Education Group (SEG) to improve math education in classrooms through the Math Forum @ Drexel, the leading online math education community.

Drexel University will celebrate its 125th commencement on its University City campus with five separate ceremonies honoring Drexel’s graduating class, June 15 and16. More than 5,000 students will receive a degree from Drexel this year. Drexel will award honor 17 honorary degrees to prominent individuals distinguished in their fields.