Research Professor Philip Altbach, former director of the Center for International Higher Education, discussed the growth of private higher education with Voice of America in April.

Boisi Professor Henry Braun received the Division D Robert L. Linn Distinguished Address Award from the American Educational Research Association at its annual meeting in New York City. The award honors a scholar whose work bridges educational measurement and either assessment policy, learning theory, or curriculum and instruction, resulting in a widespread, positive impact on the field. Braun also co-authored an article in the April issue of Science where he argued that a media-driven focus on country rankings in international large-scale education assessments can be misleading and serves as a poor basis for informing educational policy.

Cawthorne Professor Marilyn Cochran-Smith received the 2018 American Educational Research Association’s Division K Legacy Award at its annual meeting in New York City. The award recognizes scholars’ significant and exemplary contributions through research, teaching, and professional service in teaching and teacher education.

Internationalization perceived solely in terms of mobility across borders ignores the fact that most students and faculty will not have an opportunity to travel, writes Center for International Higher Education Director Hans de Wit for University World News.

Associate Professor Audrey Friedman received the 2018 LRSA Outstanding Faculty Award from Boston College for her years of service fostering the intellectual and personal growth of undergraduate students. 

Augustus Long Professor Janet Helms received the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award in Mentoring from the American Psychological Association’s Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 17. Helms, who is director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture, also co-authored “Let’s Talk About Race: Evaluating a College Interracial Discussion Group on Race,” an article in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development in April 2018. Helms also presented:

  • the keynote address at the Youth Empowerment and Career Development for Graduate and Undergraduate Students in Nigeria symposium at the University of Nigeria in January 2018
  • an invited talk at Charles Murray and the ALT Right as History, an event at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in January 2018
  • “Racial Identity Development in the Post-Racism Era,” a talk at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in February 2018
  • on a panel discussing “Racial Healing: Dismantling Racial Trauma in Research, Policy, and Practice in Social Work,” at the Racial Justice Symposium at Boston College’s School of Social Work in March 2018.


Buehler Sesquicentennial Assistant Professor David Miele received a Review of Research Award in recognition of his article “Students’ Thinking about Effort and Ability: The Role of Developmental, Contextual, and Individual Difference Factors” in the Review of Educational Research.

The Migration Policy Institute published a report, “The Language of the Classroom: Dual Language Learners in Head Start, Public Pre-K, and Private Preschool Programs,” by Associate Professor Mariela Páez and Megina Baker, Ph.D. ’17 (Curriculum and Instruction), in March 2018. Baker is a lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Boston University.

Laura Rumbley, associate director of the Center for International Higher Education, co-edited The Future Agenda for Internationalization in Higher Education: Next Generation Insights into Research, Policy, and Practice (Routledge, 2018).

The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy published “#SoundingOutMySilence: Reading a LGBTQ Youth’s Sonic Cartography as Multimodal (Counter)Storytelling” written by Assistant Professor Jon Wargo in its March 2018 issue.

The challenge of recruitment and retention of teachers of color is a statewide issue. On WBUR News, Director of Urban Outreach Initiatives Catherine Wong, among experts discussing the subject, said the school has partnerships in place to help young teachers make it through the pipeline. 

A comprehensive, coordinated, and school-based effort to connect students to specific district supports, enrichments, and services has shown promise in promoting low-income students’ academic achievement and life chances, according to a report issued by Boston College’s Center for Optimized Student Support. BC News