Be a Catalyst for Change
More people than ever are actively working to right social injustice. BU Wheelock leads the movement to promote equity and social justice. Our academic programs prepare professionals who dismantle systemic barriers and create positive change for all children and families.
BU Wheelock responds to events in Uvalde, Texas
“How Should Teachers and Parents Talk about the Uvalde School Shooting with Their Children?” a Q&A with Jennifer Greif Green, a child clinical psychologist and BU Wheelock associate professor
“We Must Keep Striving to Do Better,” a message from Dean David Chard
Both articles include resources for parents and educators
Postdoctoral research associate Nneka Ibekwe-Okafor of the Center on the Ecology of Early Development received a W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant to promote anti-racist practices in early care and education.
Learn moreLeslie Dietiker, associate professor of mathematics education at BU Wheelock, has been awarded the 2022 Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Learn moreHow can teachers best support their students' mental health? Several recent BU Wheelock studies explored how prepared teachers actually are to provide this critical support.
Learn moreWhere research becomes action
BU Wheelock conducts innovative, relevant, and timely research. We work with our partners to use that knowledge to address the challenges they face. And we provide graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to engage in this work.

Deaf studies scholar Naomi Caselli and a team of researchers found that American Sign Language (ASL) signs that are challenging to perceive are made closer to the signer’s face and common ones, and those with more routine handshapes, are made further away from the face. The findings suggest that ASL has evolved to be easier for people to recognize signs.
Learn more about this study
With the COVID-19 pandemic spanning multiple schools years, concerns regarding what some called a “mass exodus” of teachers began to rise. Despite these fears, a recent report by BU Wheelock's Olivia Chi and Andrew Bacher-Hicks, who studied the teacher workforce in Massachusetts, shows that it was actually fairly stable throughout the first year of the pandemic.
Read a Q&A with Olivia ChiA more just world for all
BU Wheelock’s students, faculty, and alumni develop and sustain long-term partnerships with communities and organizations. Let’s build a community of respect, friendship, collaboration, and action. Join us.
Bullying dropped during pandemic, new study shows
In a new study, researchers at Boston University’s Wheelock Educational Policy Center found rates of bullying fell dramatically in the United States when schools shut their doors in spring 2020—dropping between 30 and 40 percent. Surprisingly—given all those Zoom lessons and spikes in screen time—levels of cyberbullying also fell by a similar rate when children were stuck at home.
Kirsten Slungaard Mumma, a postdoctoral research associate at the Wheelock Educational Policy Research Center, will work with a team of educational policy experts to explore new directions for K-12 education research.
Learn moreA new study explores how schools can offer critical support for transgender and gender diverse youth. Katie Parodi, a PhD candidate in counseling psychology, explains the study.
Learn moreHannah Morris Mathews, Jennifer Lillis, and Elizabeth Bettini examined the factors shaping the effectiveness of teachers’ instruction in self-contained special education classrooms.
Learn more