In the pages that follow, we’re honored to demonstrate your impact on the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), on the field of education, and in the lives of our students and the communities they serve.
The HGSE fiscal year 2023–2024 (FY24) ran from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
Dear Friends,
Putting learning at the center is what the Harvard Graduate School of Education is all about. This past year has offered our community opportunities for reflection and growth while we pursue an ambitious agenda. Our work, we’re constantly reminded, requires humility alongside focus. So often in the learning process, when we acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers, we open up new possibilities for progress.
In the pages of this report, we not only celebrate all that our donors and friends have made possible but all we have yet to do and learn. It’s complex, but it’s also invigorating. I hear this in the voices of our faculty and staff, who call for both boldness and mutual respect at this pivotal moment, as we keep learning at the center of our work in society and as a community of learners. You can read some of their reflections in this report.
There’s no question the past year presented challenges at HGSE, and for the larger Harvard community. Yet in my new role as interim dean, I’m inspired by the growth I have witnessed, the conversations I’m having, and the prospect of what we can achieve in the months and years ahead.
At HGSE, we have a history of not shying away from difficult conversations. We know our students, as both practicing and future educators, want to create environments where people are heard and valued. This year, we have renewed our dedication to engage with each other with compassion and mutual respect as we take on vital and challenging work.
As always, we are committed to the work of preparing exceptional students to become educators who will improve opportunities and outcomes for learners all over the world. We continue to pursue research with focus and rigor. We will innovate in teaching and learning and ask new and better questions to shrink the gap between what we know and what we do.
There might be comfort in having all the answers. But that’s not the point of education. Our students know that. Our faculty and staff know that. And we’re grateful to our generous donors who support the entire HGSE community as we put into practice this complicated, exhilarating work of being lifelong learners in the fullest sense.
Nonie K. Lesaux, Ph.D.
INTERIM DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION
ROY EDWARD LARSEN PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
is that we are all still learning.
We live in a complicated world. This is not new or breaking news. And last year at Harvard we faced challenges that tested us. Yet the uncertainty also strengthened our resolve to find improved ways to work, connect, and continue — as we have always done — to prepare students to become the educators the world needs them to be.
We asked HGSE faculty and staff to reflect on how the past year shapes the work that lies ahead.
Ebony N. Bridwell-Mitchell
HERBERT A. SIMON PROFESSOR IN EDUCATION, MANAGEMENT, AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR FACULTY CO-CHAIR, EDUCATION LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZATIONS, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
What did last year teach us about change?
Last year was an example of one of the most studied forms of institutional change, something called exogenous shock. It represents some form of a dramatic, calamitous event over which no one has any control, and it shifts the way things have always been done. As a researcher, I have been thinking about how we use this shakeup in the status quo in service of institutional changes that typically happen at a very slow pace. We have so little practice with rapid and dramatic change in our institutions that our first impulse is to get things back to the way they were. There’s a tendency to rein things in and retreat rather than be OK with the discomfort of the moment and use it as an opportunity to do something better.
You say we’ve been here before. What do you mean by that?
When John Dewey wrote Democracy and Education in 1916 to make the case about the central role education played in a democracy and the development of its citizens, the world was changing in dramatic ways, too. Then, it was clear to leaders, and the public generally, that education was central to corralling the chaotic forces that could drive divisions in our country so that the country instead developed in the direction consistent with our ideals. And I think that’s just as true — even more true — now. In the public sphere, there’s an increasing concern about what public education can contribute to the future of our society. I think now’s the time to double down on that. History has shown us that education is critical for a thriving democracy.
Timothy Patrick McCarthy
LECTURER ON EDUCATION
FACULTY
CHAIR, GLOBAL
Why is contention a good thing in your view?
I’ve spent my entire career trying to understand how people build communities and movements to cause trouble, good trouble, to change the world. History doesn’t move through consensus, but rather through conflict and contention, challenges to the status quo. This is a particularly hard moment in history. I want to rise to this moment to help students become braver leaders and communicators by developing the courage, compassion, ferocity, generosity, and all the things that are necessary for someone to commit to living a life of integrity and intention.
Your course, REAL TALK: The Art and Practice of BRAVE Communication, sounds challenging. How do you teach bravery?
The BRAVE framework is actually an acronym for a set of intentional and ongoing practices. The B is “become bigger and bolder,” a practice of confidence to envision a fuller version of yourself. The R is “keep it real,” which focuses on candor: speak directly, stop using euphemisms, name the elephant in the room. The A is “acknowledge risks and consequences,” and that’s a practice of clarity, figuring out what’s at stake and when it’s worth speaking up. The V is “lead with values,” and this is the practice of conviction, where students name their non-negotiables and answer the “why?” question. And finally, the E is “engage with power” — structures of power, people of power, institutions of power, but also your own power. I find that when you give people permission to speak — and ask people to listen deeply — everyone has something to say. Every term, this is truly transformative to witness. I see the class as a kind of community that becomes an incubator of bravery so that we’re more likely to be brave when we’re out there doing the work of education.
Jennifer Perry Cheatham, Ed.M.’06, Ed.D.’10
SENIOR LECTURER ON EDUCATION
FACULTY CO-CHAIR, EDUCATION LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZATIONS, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
How can HGSE prepare future education leaders to enter a more divided society?
One of the basic assumptions in the courses that I teach is that it’s not enough for educators to learn about best practices in teaching and learning. We need to teach how to do these things in a political environment where people have conflicting opinions about the core of what students learn in the classroom. I lead an initiative called the Collaborative on Political Leadership in the Superintendency. The collaborative came together because we believe that to make a positive change in local school systems, superintendents need to function as civic leaders. The role requires a skill set that’s well-rounded and inclusive of instructional knowledge, but their external role as political leader is paramount.
How do you begin?
We completed the first phase of research to define the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for successful political leadership in education. And now we are focused on how to teach these skills to aspiring and sitting superintendents. To that end, we’ve launched a new institute through Professional Education at HGSE called Leading During Turbulent Times: Civic Leadership in the Superintendency. We are developing teaching tools for use with superintendents in the field and with our own students. We’re really trying to do all that we can to bring these resources to the field with some urgency while introducing a paradigm of leadership that will ignite the next generation.
Kevin Boehm, Ed.M.’07
ASSISTANT DEAN FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS AND STUDENT LIFE
What did last year teach you?
One thing I learned is that there should not be an expectation that there is a right answer at the very moment something needs an answer. I think that’s especially true here. People think, “Oh you’re Harvard. You should know this already.” At HGSE, not everything we tried necessarily went the way we hoped, and we learned from that. Now, it’s a question of how we quickly pivot to either address what didn’t work or to make sure we don’t make that same mistake.
What makes you excited about this year?
At our Student Affairs retreat this summer, we talked about our team’s core values and beliefs. It just so happened to work itself into a nice acronym: CAUSE — Compassionate. Approachable. Unapologetically Human. Student-Centered and Empathetic. When students see us in Gutman Library, we want them to just come up and ask us a question and not feel like they need to schedule an appointment. In thinking about last year, one thing that became very clear is the importance of relationships and building relationships regardless of what is going on in the world. I won’t say we were able to avoid everything that was going on at Harvard, but when things did come up, we already had contact with students and could say, “Can I just have a conversation with you?” before it became an issue. This is not work that can be done during times of crisis. Our students are smart. They can see if there are ulterior motives, so it’s all about being genuine.
Houman Harouni, Ed.M.’08, Ed.D.’15
LECTURER ON EDUCATION
FACULTY DIRECTOR, EQUITY AND INCLUSION FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
You talk about a new approach to DEI at HGSE. What does that look like?
The work of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is not about finding a moral high ground and creating more guilt and shame for others. In reality, it’s the work of changing systems so that people can thrive together. This is why we need leaders who are trained to listen to stakeholders that they don’t agree with, and to understand that these people are not crazy. They’re not amoral. You can’t just bulldoze over people because you think you’re right. Our Equity and Inclusion Fellows, who are selected through a competitive process, are trained to lead these types of difficult conversations across Harvard and at practicum sites across the Boston area, including public schools. We help our fellows implement strategies that are more pluralistic. This can be very hard because many have been told that they need to be activists and not compromise on their values, and others have been told that they should always toe the line and never be controversial. We teach them to be both strong and strategic.
How do we proceed from here?
For almost 10 years, and not just at HGSE but across the United States, cancel culture was very real. The signal students and faculty received from society was to not say anything that’s going to be controversial because people can turn on you and quickly destroy your career, your credibility, your peace of mind. I believe that we’re coming out of that period, and I want HGSE to lead that transformation. By looking at DEI differently we don’t lose what we have learned about women’s rights, in the workplace especially, or about the ways institutions have implicitly or unconsciously excluded Black people or working-class people. It’s a question of how we maintain this progress in such a way that still allows for a vibrant democratic life.
Richard Weissbourd, Ed.D.’87
SENIOR LECTURER ON EDUCATION FACULTY DIRECTOR, MAKING CARING COMMON
What do students need that they are not getting from us?
I worry that we pathologize teenagers and young adults and treat them as if they’re too coddled, fragile, or riddled with vulnerabilities and problems. There are elements of that, of course, but they’re also an impressive generation in a lot of ways. I mean high school and college kids are leading the charge on things like gun control. They are leading the charge on a lot of work around climate change. They’re probably the most psychologically minded and articulate generation in history. And they may be the generation that is finally breaking the stigma that we have about mental health in this country. We tend to focus on their deficits, not their strengths. They have their deficits, and they also really have their strengths.
How can we better support students?
What we need is an emphasis on taking care of each other. At the beginning of the year, schools need to focus on building strong communities to make sure every student feels anchored to at least one adult or has at least one friend. Building strong communities is certainly important at the college level too. A lot of people also do better when they help other people — this is where they find meaning and purpose. The irony is that our increased attention to our own happiness isn’t making people happier. On the other hand, when you care about other people, you’re going to have better relationships throughout your life. You’re going to be a better friend, parent, romantic partner, uncle, aunt, mentor, and those relationships are the most durable source of happiness that we have.
Meira Levinson
JULIANA W. AND WILLIAM FOSS THOMPSON PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION AND SOCIETY FOUNDER AND FACULTY DIRECTOR, EDETHICS/JUSTICE IN SCHOOLS
How do we remain calm when work in education can feel like a constant state of crisis?
I think students and educators must accept that we’re not going to be able to “Fix Things” with a capital “F” and capital “T” and to recognize we live in a period of increasingly complex challenges. What we need is systematic, thoughtful, long-term action to support learners, educators, families, and communities in a sustained and sustainable way. I believe a lot of people working hard to make measurable change can be a recipe for optimism.
Every year I have master’s students who come to me and say they left teaching because they thought policy work would make a bigger impact. Then they realize policy doesn’t solve everything, so now they don’t know what to do. And my response year after year is that we need people making a difference at every level, in every domain. We need people in the classrooms. We need people figuring out how to support educators and superintendents. And we need amazing out-of-school programs where there are opportunities for learning and growth. It takes the pressure off from having to figure out the one best return on investment. All are essential.
You lead an initiative to create a global field of educational ethics. What would that do?
I think many people are familiar with bioethics, particularly since the pandemic. In bioethics there is a robust system of experts who are consulted when there are ethical challenges: for example, a disagreement between doctors and guardians over the course of treatment in a hospital. Education is faced with the same number of ethical challenges, but we don’t have a system by which educational ethicists are invited into the conversation. How much should we focus on mental health and socialemotional learning versus academic learning? How do we respect students’ civil liberties but also keep them safe from gun violence? We want to help our graduates recognize that the ethical dimensions of their work are important and complex and that you can’t just say, “I believe in social justice,” and think you’re done.
Martin West
ACADEMIC DEAN
HENRY LEE SHATTUCK PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION
In keeping with our theme, what did you learn last year?
One positive that came out is a recognition of the importance of higher education institutions like Harvard striving to maintain a position of institutional neutrality on contested social and political issues. I served on a faculty task force convened by the provost to consider how Harvard should use its institutional voice to best serve our mission. Our recommendation, which has now been adopted, was that the university and its leaders refrain from taking formal positions on matters that don’t directly implicate our interests as a university. The role of a university is to debate the most important questions we’re facing as a society. We can better provide that environment if we’re not at the same time weighing in on one side or the other of those issues.
What did the HGSE community learn?
There were a lot of moments last year where members of our community experienced harm — because of something that was said by another in the community, things that were being said about Harvard, or watching painful events unfold in the world. It became clear that sometimes there is no formal, visible step that we can take as a school to make that harm go away. But there was tremendous value in sitting down with the people who were impacted, listening to their stories, and even apologizing for what they were going through. Developing relationships in that manner went a long way toward helping people feel included in the community. Over time we found ways to help more of our students feel heard and ultimately included in a way that we can look back and be proud of.
Frank Barnes, Ed.M.’95, Ed.M.’07, Ed.D.’15
SENIOR LECTURER ON EDUCATION FACULTY DIRECTOR, DOCTOR OF EDUCATION LEADERSHIP (ED.L.D.) PROGRAM
You just completed your first year as faculty director. How was that experience for you personally?
Last year was certainly a year of many challenges for the university, HGSE, and the program. This year presents new opportunities, and in many ways feels like a breath of fresh air. I’m inspired by the fact that we still have a growing number of individuals who want to serve, despite how challenging it is for public servants to be in the education sector. The number of applicants for the Ed.L.D. Program was up 101%, which was encouraging. We were able to craft an incoming class that is diverse, collectively has amassed an array of achievements and professional experiences, and is aligned with the focus of our program, which is developing system-level leaders focused on transforming U.S. preK–12 public education.
How can HGSE prepare leaders to enter this more divisive world?
The United States is divided on many fronts. However, I’ve found that all families, no matter how advantaged or disadvantaged, no matter their citizenship status, no matter the composition of their family or political affiliation, all want the best for their children. The charge of our nation’s public school system is to accept all who come. All of us working in U.S. public education have an opportunity and obligation to build broad-based coalitions on behalf of the diversity of students and families that we serve. At HGSE we must help our future system leaders learn to see, value, and communicate effectively with these communities. We also need to equip our students with the tools and insights necessary to build school systems that emphasize a core belief in the intrinsic value and potential of every child. HGSE has an opportunity and an obligation to support our students in grappling with challenging topics, across lines of difference, while exploring what they believe about communities, about students, and even themselves. We bring students on simultaneous journeys of both system- and self-transformation. To have them focus on one without the other would be to do them a disservice.
Our community thrives — because of our students
HGSE might be a small school, but it’s a big community. Our students come from all over the U.S. and around the world, bringing with them a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. And yet they all share a singular purpose: to improve lives and communities through education.
It’s not easy work — the rigorous classes, the research projects, the teaching fieldwork. But no one here is interested in easy.
PHOTO: TAYLOR ROSSI PHOTOGRAPHY
“I truly believe there is no program that can better prepare me to be a teacher to this current generation. The level of preparation provided at HGSE is astounding.”
CRISTINA GUTIERREZ, ED.M.’24
2023–2024 Entering Class
632
Residential Master’s in Education (Ed.M.)
18
93 Online Master’s in Education Leadership (Ed.M.)
Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.)
24 Doctor of Philosophy in Education (Ph.D.)
1,022
Total Enrollment (new and continuing students)
History made! In May, we celebrated the first graduating class of the online master’s program. Here, faculty cochair Irvin Scott poses with a student.
21% LGBTQ+
31%
First-Generation College Students
55% Self-Identified Students of Color* *Share of U.S. citizens and permanent residents
63 countries, 44 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico
Average Years of Work Experience
4
15
15
4
Your support strengthens us
Our donors showed us, in gifts large and small, that they will step up for students and educators on Appian Way and beyond.
And this year brought us not only steps forward, but huge leaps. On top of incredibly generous contributions to support financial aid for master’s students, donors made significant gifts for case-based learning — a teaching method that uses real-world scenarios to help students develop critical thinking skills — and a new professorship in teacher preparation and practice.
Discover financial aid’s impact on an HGSE graduate who now teaches elementary school science.
$36.3 million raised in FY24
$21.5 million Sponsored research
$14.8 million Gifts from individuals and foundations
72% Research and program support
22% Financial aid
6% Other, including unrestricted and discretionary
The majority of gifts made to HGSE are $1,000 or less. Unrestricted giving might not sound exciting at first, but these gifts let us do seriously big things. Over the years your collaborative generosity to the HGSE Fund has helped launch our advising program, renovate classrooms and Gutman Library spaces, staff our diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging activities, and support financial aid.
Chief Minister of Sierra Leone David Sengeh — a 2023–2024 Chen Yidan Visiting Global Fellow — marked International Education Day at HGSE in January.
24 hours can make all the difference
During HGSE’s Annual Giving Day, 228 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the school came together to raise more than $54,000 for financial aid. Save the date for March 26, 2025, when our community will unite again for a day that feels like one big hug for HGSE.
What do 1,634 recent graduates, decadeslong alumni, long-time faculty, dedicated staff, and new friends have in common? They’re members of the 1920 Society, donors who are recognized for their loyalty, leadership, or legacy gifts to the Ed School. HGSE’s giving society grew by more than a third in FY24, proof positive of the powerful collective that surrounds and supports HGSE.
A total of 242 members of the class of 2024 paid it forward through the annual class gift campaign, which supports future students.
Financial aid: An investment in people and promise
Recent graduate gratefully pays it forward
Most everyone is familiar with the term financial aid. But Greg Galemore, Ed.M.’24, will tell you these two words fail to capture the scope of their life-changing capacity.
He likes to offer himself up as proof.
In May, Galemore graduated with a master’s degree in education from HGSE, his “dream school” as he calls it. Today he works as principal at an urban charter school in Rochester, New York, that operates under the mission, “Change the narrative for young men.”
He wants people to understand how financial aid from generous HGSE donors dramatically changed his story. Without it, he said, he never would have been able to cover tuition no matter how hard he worked the numbers.
At the time of his acceptance, Galemore’s fiancée had suffered a traumatic brain injury and could no longer work. Taking on the burden of large private student loans seemed irresponsible, and his family didn’t have the resources to help.
“I will always remember how HGSE made me feel accepted, welcomed, and supported, with financial aid specifically, but also all the people who reached out to me and checked in on me during my time here,” says Galemore. “I am going to be forever grateful for that.”
Every day, he thinks about the advice from Senior Lecturer Irvin Scott: “Chase change, not titles.”
“Being in education, to me, is my form of activism,” says Galemore. “Even though it gets frustrating working in public education because you see it fail people left and right, I don’t want to walk away if I can impact even the slightest bit. We are trying to be on the ground floor to really transform the world. I know it takes a long time and there are a lot of roadblocks, but all that’s needed is a spark, and that spark could come from someone who is given an opportunity like I had.”
“I am the mother of three children, and the reality is, if not for financial aid, I would not have been able to attend Harvard. I think it’s really important that people know this funding is making the impossible possible.”
SHANI
SHAY, ED.M.’24
A driving vision realized thanks to our donors
Financial aid at HGSE has had no greater champion than Bridget Terry Long. During her six years as dean (2018–2024), her highest priority was making the Ed School more affordable to more students.
Her vision inspired the community to step up in unprecedented ways. Nearly 650 gifts have been made to HGSE’s current financial aid initiative since its launch, with major contributions supporting teachers and our students with the greatest need.
When Long, the Saris Professor of Education and Economics, announced her plans to step down as dean in June 2024, alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends came together to raise $2.7 million in her honor, establishing an endowed financial aid fund in her name that will support educators for years to come.
Financial aid progress during Dean Long’s tenure
$84 million raised
25% increase in the maximum needbased grant funding, benefiting the highestneed HGSE applicants
70% increase in half-tuition or full-tuition financial aid recipients, ensuring more students have a meaningful portion of their tuition covered
11.5% decrease in student loan use, meaning students graduate with less debt
The HGSE community came together in the spring to toast Dean Long’s leadership. Long is pictured in the center with Linda Hammett Ory, Ed.M.’93 (left) and Mindy Sick Munger, Ed.M.’01, Ed.D.’12 (right).
Online master’s program delivers — and then some
In a historic moment for her family — and HGSE — Stacey Coonsis, Ed.M.’24, walked across the stage in Radcliffe Yard last May to accept her diploma as a member of the first graduating class of the Online Master’s in Education Leadership (OEL) Program.
Launched three years ago, OEL allows educators from across the U.S. and around the world to study with core HGSE faculty as they remain working in the field.
“There is a magnitude of dedicated educators out there who are in the same situation I’m in,” says Coonsis. “They can’t uproot. They can’t move to Cambridge, so the fact that OEL exists is an amazing opportunity.”
Attending HGSE as she continued to teach fourth grade at the Native American Community Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, meant Coonsis could apply what she learned in her evening class the very next day with her students.
Born and raised on the Navajo Nation reservation, Coonsis sometimes battled imposter syndrome, and questioned if she belonged at HGSE. “My cohort was amazing and really supported me,” she says. “I came to realize that I really benefited from being at HGSE and they benefited from hearing my perspective on Indigenous education.”
Coonsis, whose mother and brother are also educators, says she knows her career will always involve educating Indigenous students. Her own grandmother had to hide when federal agents showed up at her home to take her to an assimilation boarding school and never got the opportunity for a formal education.
In her new role as elementary head of school, Coonsis says she thinks about what she learned at HGSE: You can’t expect people to follow you if they don’t know you. She wants her story to encourage others. “Now I get to tell my students, ‘Hey Ms. Coonsis was a little Rez girl, but she went to Harvard. You can do it too.’”
At a glance
We are grateful to our donors for believing in the promise of this program from the start.
2022–2024 (Cohort 1): 88 graduates
Currently enrolled: 181 students
OEL students choose a program pathway in either preK–12 education or higher education.
2023–2024 entering OEL class (Cohort 2)
70% received some form of financial aid
70% are first-generation graduate students
43% are first-generation college students
Stacey Coonsis graduated in May from the online master’s program. She poses outside the Native American Community Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she serves as head of school.
The impact of HGSE alumni spans the globe
Students come to HGSE to learn to change the world. Then they do. HGSE’s far-reaching network includes more than 31,000 alumni working in 113 countries and all 50 states. From classroom teachers to White House advisers, they impact every realm of education.
MOSHI, TANZANIA
Mandy Stein, Ed.M.’19
NONPROFIT FOUNDER
Mandy Stein first traveled to Tanzania in the summer of 2011 when she was 19 years old. Within one week of being there, she had met the children who would change the course of her life. In 2012, she founded Neema International, a nonprofit that supports the education, healthcare, and basic needs of more than 250 children and families, and provides jobs for over 60 Tanzanian men and women.
LOS ANGELES
Jason Torres-Rangel, Ed.M.’04
AWARD-WINNING ENGLISH TEACHER
Jason Torres-Rangel was teaching English at a public high school in Los Angeles when he was recognized as the 2023 California Teacher of the Year. The son of two teachers, he recently took on a role as professor of English at a nearby community college.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Mekka Smith, Ed.M.’16, Ed.L.D.’23
STEM EDUCATION ADVOCATE
Growing up, Mekka Smith went to STEM camps. She loved biology. But somewhere along the way, like many students, she convinced herself maybe she wasn’t a “STEM person.” Then she went to the U.S. Department of Education as part of her Ed.L.D. residency and worked on an initiative to ensure all students — no matter their background — can feel like they belong in STEM. After graduating, Smith returned to the department where she works as a senior policy adviser.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
Matthew Kraft, Ed.D.’13
ECONOMIST OF EDUCATION
MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS
Molly Dutton Sanderson, Ed.M.’23
HIGH SCHOOL MATH TEACHER
Molly Dutton Sanderson is in her second year teaching students pre-calculus and integrated math at the public high school in Medford, Massachusetts, a diverse, small city outside Boston. Last year she helped to plan and teach at the school’s firstever Saturday Academy, a program for ninth- and tenthgrade students struggling to pass math. This year she will serve as the co-adviser for the class of 2028.
For more than a decade, Brown University Associate Professor Matthew Kraft has been using economics as a lens to study the teacher recruitment labor market and public education. His resume keeps growing. Over the summer, he was elected to his local volunteer school committee — and joined the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
BOSTON
Patrick Tutwiler, Ed.M.’00 STATEWIDE EDUCATION LEADER
It didn’t take long in Patrick Tutwiler’s teaching career to see how decisions made at the top shaped every aspect of the classroom. He wanted a seat at the table. He’s now at the head of the table — as Massachusetts Secretary of Education, the governor’s top adviser on high-priority issues like chronic absenteeism, teacher shortages, and student mental health.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA
Iman Usman, Ed.M.’22
EDTECH ENTREPRENEUR
Iman Usman wants to help kids realize their dreams. In 2014, he launched Ruangguru, an app that brings quality learning to K–12 students in his home country of Indonesia. Today it’s the largest edtech company in Southeast Asia, serving 25 million learners in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
PHOTO: SEAN ALONSO HARRIS
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
Carnell Chosa, Ed.M.’96
EDUCATOR FOR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY
For more than 25 years, Carnell Chosa has led an array of initiatives that support the lives of Indigenous people in his home state of New Mexico. Today he serves as cofounder and co-director of the Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School.
DOHA, QATAR
Janhvi Maheshwari-Kanoria, Ed.M.’10
EDUCATION INNOVATOR
DETROIT
Darienne Driver Hudson, Ed.M.’06, Ed.D.’14
NONPROFIT LEADER
It’s a point of personal pride. Before she was a CEO, Darienne Driver Hudson got her start as an elementary school teacher in Detroit. Today she heads the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, where she mobilizes the community for the common good.
To understand the concept of density, Pakistani children from flood-prone areas are making life jackets from used plastic bottles. Flip-books are teaching Afghan refugees practical survival English skills. These are among the offerings available on the Internet Free Education Resource Bank, a project run by Education Above All where Janhvi Maheshwari-Kanoria leads innovation. The organization’s work has reached more than 6 million learners in 18 countries.
Everything we learn at HGSE is meant to be shared
What happens at HGSE never stays at HGSE. It’s a priority of the school to share research from the field’s leading experts to help educators in their local communities. From podcasts to professional education programs to our Askwith Education Forums in historic Longfellow Hall, what we learn here reaches far beyond Appian Way.
A full-house crowd heard Chelsea Clinton speak on the effects of climate change on students and families around the world during an Askwith Education Forum last winter.
COURSES
100+
professional learning courses and offerings, serving 15,000+ educators and education advocates worldwide
PODCAST
149K
downloads of the Harvard EdCast, HGSE’s podcast about the ideas shaping education today
WEBINARS
26K
people tuned into Education Now, HGSE’s free online discussion series
RESEARCH
185K+ people read Usable Knowledge articles, which translate relevant education research into easy-to-use strategies for educators and parents
FORUMS
1,700 guests attended Askwith Education Forums on campus and 3.3K viewed online
One of our most attended professional learning courses last year, Creating Cultures of Thinking, offered by Project Zero, teaches educators to develop empowered learners in a world that is constantly changing.
AI is a hot topic. It’s no surprise then that one of the most-read Usable Knowledge stories last year was all about embracing artificial intelligence in the classroom
At an Askwith Education Forum this spring, a panel of four HGSE faculty gave voice to how divisiveness takes a toll on students and teachers, and offered advice (with a side of hope) for the role of education in polarized times.
Professional Education at HGSE serves the second largest number of executive education participants of any Harvard school.
Relationships with tech need better approaches
Meet Emily Weinstein CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PROJECT ZERO’S CENTER FOR DIGITAL THRIVING
Smartphones make for an easy scapegoat for all the ills of society. They’re everywhere, all the time. They compete for attention, spread misinformation, and are even linked to health problems like poor posture and eye strain. Emily Weinstein, Ed.M.’14, Ed.D.’17, the co-director of HGSE’s new Center for Digital Thriving, hears the collective lament and understands where it’s coming from. But the knee-jerk tendency to demonize phones — and technology as a whole — pits adults against teens, teachers against students. And it’s not working.
Weinstein and her team are leading a new national conversation about technology that takes a critical and optimistic look at its harms and benefits, especially for young people.
What do teens wish we understood better about their tech use?
One thing we hear is that adults tend to blame everything on the phones. This sort of default stance often crowds out conversations that could be more helpful.
What should the approach be?
We encourage the principle of asking over assuming — so you can better understand what’s going on with tech but also in their lives more generally. It’s not easy to be a teen today. We say to kids, “The best is yet to come and making mistakes is a part of growing up,” and then simultaneously say, “Every mistake you make online will stay with you for the rest of your life.” Then we wonder why they are feeling so anxious about what is happening online.
It sounds like the scolding about screen time is counterproductive.
I don’t subscribe to the broad narrative that this is a ruined generation. There are real challenges, and we need to address them head-on. I also know firsthand that teens have awareness and thoughtfulness about many of those challenges, and about the way tech fits into their lives. There are so many ways that we have undercut their agency, so our team is interested in solutions that help rebuild it.
How does the Center for Digital Thriving help educators navigate this territory?
This winter we are introducing a first-of-its kind professional development course for teachers to help adults pivot from the role of referees to coaches. Adults often feel like our job is just to blow the whistle and issue a penalty. Yet teens tell us what they really need is adults who help them think through the hard things that come up with tech, strategize alongside them, and help them build skills.
Emily Weinstein, director of HGSE’s Center for Digital Thriving, and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, at an Askwith Education Forum last fall on teen well-being in a tech-filled world.
Can you share an example of other resources you provide?
One of my favorites is a video we co-created with Common Sense Media. Tech can make it very easy to fall into thinking traps. When a teen (or adult) looks through Instagram and believes, “Everyone is happier than me,” that’s a version of all-or-nothing thinking — a classic example of what in psychology we call cognitive distortions. When you learn this terminology and see that this is such a common phenomenon, we are instantly validated, and we can help ourselves when these experiences come up.
Everyone can benefit from this.
Yes! When I learned about the term “doomscrolling,” I felt validated. It removes some of the power of the negative experience when we can name it, which is what we know from years of research into social-emotional learning.
You suggest that we can all research our relationships with tech.
Absolutely. We encourage adults and teens to try out concrete experiments to try to change something about your tech habits that would support your well-being, then measure it and take stock of how it goes. We have resources to support this formally, but it can be as simple as asking yourself: What’s one tech habit I wish I could change? And what could I try this week to take a step in that direction? We also know it’s impactful for people to ask themselves questions about what they value then figure out how tech helps them live out those values.
Your gifts keep on giving
Throughout the Ed School’s history, unrestricted donor support — allowing HGSE to use your donations where they are most needed — has transformed ideas with potential into real and measurable progress, paving the way for many of the school’s most influential programs and initiatives.
Here we celebrate three powerful examples of how unrestricted donor support has changed the school over the last decade.
Rob Watson, Jr., Ed.M.’18, is the inaugural executive director of EdRedesign.
2014 EdRedesign Lab
2016
Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative
Unrestricted gifts to the Dean’s Impact Fund allowed faculty members Nonie Lesaux and Stephanie Jones to invite a group of the early education field’s leading scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to campus for an event in 2014. The question they posed to their guests: How can we build sustainable, high-quality prekindergarten?
That one-day gathering became the foundation for a major effort right here at HGSE to transform early childhood education in the United States. In 2016, the Ed School announced the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative, led by Lesaux and Jones and supported by a $36 million gift from the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation — then the largest gift in the school’s history. Eight years later, the Initiative’s impact is wide-reaching, encompassing important research, leadership training and professional development, support for policymakers, and financial aid for HGSE students committed to early childhood education.
Ten years ago, unrestricted donations to the Dean’s Impact Fund helped the EdRedesign Lab take shape. Led by Paul Reville, the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration, the Lab was created with the vision of rethinking education in the 21st century so that all children, especially those impacted by poverty, get a fair shot.
Working with partners across the U.S. — from the South Bronx to Birmingham, Alabama — the Lab’s work led to the implementation of individual action plans to make sure every child gets what they need inside and outside of school to be successful. In a time of divisiveness in public education, this program is drawing increased interest from a diverse crosssection of educators.
Lesaux currently serves as HGSE interim dean and is the Roy Edward Larsen Professor of Education and Human Development. Jones is the Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development.
2019 Immigration Initiative at Harvard
The Immigration Initiative at Harvard (IIH) brings together interdisciplinary scholars who advance research on immigration policy and immigrant communities. A university-wide effort, IIH launched in 2019 with unrestricted funding that was directed to the Dean’s Impact Fund.
Today, led by Professor-in-Residence Carola SuárezOrozco, IIH is focused on understanding the effects of migration on immigrant children — currently the fastest growing child population in the U.S. — and providing resources to schools and policymakers that help immigrant children reach their full potential.
The end is only the beginning
The joy of graduation day is contagious regardless of the weather. And yes, that includes drenching downpours. In May, we celebrated with the 755 graduates who walked across the stage for the 2024 Commencement. They are resolute and ready to take what they’ve learned to make the world better.
This we know for sure: Your support is the source of our strength.
HGSE students are driven to improve education. They are empowered because of people like you who believe they will. Thank you.
