For the third year running, a Penn Alexander School student will represent the City of Philadelphia in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, held in Washington, D.C., in May.

Penn GSE is hosting the "Educational Well-Being of African-American Boys: A Philadelphia Story of Challenges and Possibilities" Thursday, April 30, at 3 p.m. at the Inn at Penn. Penn GSE Professor John Fantuzzo will present this lecture with discussants Arlene Ackerman, the superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, and Don Schwarz, Deputy Mayor for Health & Opportunity.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education announced today that they have received a $700,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to study the relationship between an accelerated high school curriculum, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, and college-related outcomes. The study involves analyses of 12 years of data from the Florida K-20 Data Warehouse and the National Student Clearinghouse.

In response to the current economic downturn, the Penn Graduate School of Education is increasing the financial aid offered to outstanding candidates.

According to Penn GSE Dean Andy Porter, "With turmoil in the economy and an unstable job market, some potential applicants are more interested in graduate study, but they're also worried about whether or not they can afford it. So we launched our own ‘stimulus package' to help - which nearly triples the amount of financial aid for master's students."

Penn GSE Dean Andy Porter recently announced a reduction in tuition cost for full-time, 11-month students in elementary or secondary education. The rate is reduced from $44,695 to $35,000.

As part of its commitment to urban education, Penn GSE has adopted this new tuition rate to help ensure a high-quality, diverse applicant pool and to make its teacher education program more affordable for those wanting to teach in urban settings.

As faculty, students and policy makers from around the world gear up for the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in San Diego, Penn GSE faculty and students have received a number of accolades from the organization, which is the most prominent in educational research.

Penn GSE is hosting a March 12-13 workshop, "Taxonomy of Virtual Worlds for Education," designed to bring together teachers, students, researchers and technology providers to brainstorm the ideal virtual world software system for science, technology, engineering and math learning.

The conference goal is to ensure that this ever-changing medium is informed by educators, who have found that each virtual-world system has its own pros and cons, especially when it's considered for use in K-12 educational settings.

Penn GSE Associate Professor Marybeth Gasman has been named one of the eight faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania to the inaugural class of Penn Fellows, a leadership-development program that recognizes faculty in mid-career.

Penn Fellows have the opportunity to build networks across the University, meet with distinguished academic leaders, think strategically about university governance and participate in monthly dinners with prominent speakers from within Penn and beyond.

On February 27 to 28, 2009, the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania will host the 30th Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum, the largest such meeting of qualitative researchers in education in the world.

Shirley Brice Heath, a professor of education and anthropology at Brown University, will deliver the opening address on Friday morning. Her keynote speech will kick off two day's worth of presentations given by researchers, practitioners, and graduate students in the fields of education and anthropology.

PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania Project for Civic Engagement is hosting four community forums across the city to gather citizen input that can be incorporated into developing the city’s proposed budget for 2010.

"The City Budget: Tight Times, Tough Choices, Citizen Priorities" was developed by the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, as part of the Great Expectations project, using a grant from the William Penn Foundation.