Interdisciplinary Training Program in Education Sciences

Training researchers whose evidence-based results will help inform education policy and practice.

Mission

The Interdisciplinary Training Program in Education Sciences (ITP) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of a network of pre-doctoral training programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The ITP is preparing a new generation of outstanding education science scholars by training them in methods of causal inference in the social sciences, engaging them in a weekly seminar and supporting their translational research through a variety of internship opportunities. The community of faculty and Ph.D.-level researchers that work with ITP Fellows come from academic departments in education, social work and across the social sciences. Fellows join an interdisciplinary research community including doctoral students in economics, political science, psychology, social welfare, sociology, educational leadership & policy analysis, educational policy studies and educational psychology.

Upcoming Events

October 18, 2024
  • ITP Seminar: Meghan McCormick

    October 18, 2024  12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
    rm 259 Educational Sciences, 1025 W Johnson St, Madison, WI 53706, USA

    Meghan McCormick, Research & Impact Officer, Overdeck FamilyFoundation
     
    Title: Long-term Effects of Social-EmotionalLearning: ExperimentalEvidence to Inform Policy and Practice 
     
    Abstract: Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programsare school-based preventive interventions that aim to improve children’ssocial-emotional skills and behaviors. Although meta-analytic research hasshown that SEL programs implemented in early childhood can improve academic andbehavioral outcomes at the end of treatment, there is limited work examiningprogram effects on children’s math and language skills in the longer-term.Moreover, few studies have considered variation in impacts by children’spre-intervention academic skills or examined how subsequent learningenvironments do or do not sustain initial impacts. Using an experimentaldesign, the current study leveraged administrative data available throughschool records to examine the impacts of one SEL program—INSIGHTS intoChildren’s Temperament—implemented in early elementary school on math andlanguage standardized test scores from third through sixth grade. Findingsrevealed positive average treatment effects on English/Language Arts (ELA) testscores in third and fourth grade, but not in fifth and sixth grade. Studentswho had higher academic skills at study enrollment showed lasting impacts onELA scores in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. There were no treatment impactson math skills, and no variation in effects on math achievement by baselineskills. Implications for policy, practice, and continued research on lastingeffects of early interventions will be discussion. 

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October 25, 2024
  • ITP Seminar: No Seminar Meeting

    October 25, 2024  12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
    rm 259 Educational Sciences, 1025 W Johnson St, Madison, WI 53706, USA

    No ITP Seminar in lieu of the Midwest Society of Education annual meeting

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Coursework: ITP Seminar

This project is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the U.S. Department of Education.