Penn State Brandywine’s and Penn State Berks’ LaunchBoxes, powered by Penn State, collaborated with Penn State Great Valley to hold the fall 2024 Idea TestLab Pitch Competition on Nov. 4. Six startup entrepreneurs participated in the competition, which was held at Great Valley.

Education Week asked three 8th grade teachers to evaluate real student responses to an open-ended question on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in social studies. Here's what they said.

"When the day came to administer the first test I had designed," writes Brandon Lewis, "my heart sank."

AP has managed to dodge the partisan pitfalls that have felled other ambitious curricular efforts—so far, write Chester E. Finn Jr. and Andrew E. Scanlan.

Here's a handy glossary on terms like project-based learning, competency-based learning, and standards-based grading.

The arts, geography, economics, and foreign languages will lose their place in the testing line-up as the National Assessment of Educational Progress is being streamlined to cut costs.

As the two big groups of states craft common-assessment systems, experts warn that the smallest details could undermine their work.

The U.S. Department of Education sees two specific challenges potentially undermining the quality of the international assessment program, writes Mark Schneider.

The collection and use of data about just how prepared individual children are to enter kindergarten can be a ticklish proposition.

Penn State New Kensington will honor its fall 2023 and spring 2024 graduates on May 6 with an in-person ceremony at 10 a.m. The ceremony will also be livestreamed. Adis Juklo, alumnus and current meteorologist at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, will serve as the event’s keynote speaker.

Robert Howard and John DeRiggi inducted to the New Kensington Athletics Hall of Fame on April 17. 

As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 14 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.   

Five Penn State Commonwealth Campus leaders will be retiring from the University in the coming weeks and months, Penn State Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses and Executive Chancellor Margo DelliCarpini has announced.

Penn State students are experiencing a transformative way of learning thanks to a collaboration between Teaching and Learning with Technology Media Commons and Maker Commons, part of University Libraries, and College of the Liberal Arts faculty in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Together, they have developed project-based assignments that incorporate hands-on maker technologies, giving students a unique opportunity to enhance their technical and creative skills while promoting social justice and community values.

Penn State World Campus will accept credits from certain courses offered by the Community College of the Air Force that can be transferred toward a bachelor of science in organizational leadership. The degree is offered online through Penn State World Campus by the School of Labor and Employment Relations in the College of the Liberal Arts.

The science major in the Penn State Eberly College of Science has been renamed integrative science as part of a modern refresh to reflect its interdisciplinary nature.

Three Penn Staters were selected as finalists for the prestigious and competitive Rhodes Scholarship. Anshuta Beeram, Nate Carey and Kueyoung Kim will participate in final interviews on Nov. 15 and 16. 

The Eberly Family Special Collections Library at Penn State University Libraries has announced that the application period for 2025-26 research grants is now open. Awards are available to support travel and research expenses while utilizing the Eberly Family Special Collections Library at Penn State’s University Park campus. The application deadline is Dec. 10.

Jennifer Jewell, teaching professor in the physical therapist assistant program at Penn State Shenango; Pamela Pologruto, teaching professor of physical therapist assistant at Penn State Fayette; Laura Cruz, research professor at Penn State's Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence; and faculty members from Penn State Lehigh Valley presented at the 2024 Lilly Conference in Austin, Texas.

Roger Myers, recent graduate of Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, has accepted an internship with Walt Disney World Resort.

Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus is dedicating September to raising awareness about suicide prevention through a series of events and activities. This initiative follows the official proclamation by the Fayette County Commissioners, recognizing September as Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month.

Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus will host the 52nd annual Shakespeare Festival on Oct. 22-23. This event will feature an 80-minute production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" by The Linny Fowler WillPower Tour, followed by a Q&A session with the cast. The festival, free and open to the public, will be held in the Maggie Hardy Magerko Auditorium, located in the Community Center.

Penn State Fayette students are invited to meet Estelle Belko, student aid coordinator, from 9-10 a.m. on Oct. 16 inside the Williams Building Student Success Center.

Eric Wicklund, co-author of "Through a Convict’s Eyes: An Overlooked View of the Criminal Justice System," will visit Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus at 12:15 p.m. on Oct. 29 to discuss his insights on criminal rehabilitation. He will be joined by his co-author, Lavarr McBride, who has worked in the criminal justice field for 39 years and serves as a professor of criminal justice at Penn State Fayette.

Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus will host 24 basketball games inside its Community Center Main Arena between Nov. 5, 2024, and Feb. 11, 2025.

Virtual reality goggles with a choice of soothing environments or guided meditations, a color-changing bubble wall, a prayer area, Zen garden and massage chair: These are all options provided by Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s Counseling Services to help students relax and stay calm.

They first met in kindergarten, and now they’re in college together. Caleb Balas, Nikolas Kistner and Alexis McGrady were educated at Hanover Area schools throughout elementary, middle and high school. Coming from a graduating class of 111 students, they frequently saw each other throughout school. Since they each made their college choice individually, they didn’t know they would continue to see each other at Penn State Wilkes-Barre — and all three said it’s nice seeing familiar faces.

High school students interested in science, technology, engineering, the arts or mathematics (STEAM) are invited to a day of hands-on STEAM activities at Penn State Wilkes-Barre at no cost. “Exploring STEAM Careers” will be held at the campus on Nov. 6. Sessions will be held in the areas of chemistry, engineering, information technology, mathematics and surveying engineering.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre will host a popular community craft show coordinated by Arts at Hayfield on Nov. 3.

Students who meet transfer requirements at Lehigh Carbon Community College are guaranteed admission to Penn State Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and Wilkes-Barre.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre has received a donation from the Pennsylvania Land Surveyors’ Foundation, enabling the program to purchase additional equipment.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni, family and friends all gathered in Eisenhower Auditorium on Saturday, May 11, for a commencement ceremony to celebrate the Penn State Law in University Park class of 2024.

Rebecca Mattson, head of faculty and research services and professor of legal research at Penn State Law in University Park, was recently awarded the prestigious 2024 Service Award by the Research Instruction & Patron Services Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Penn State researchers explain what election and campaign finance laws say about Kamala Harris becoming the presumed presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket.

Theresa Tarves, interim associate dean for library and information services and professor of legal research, and Rebecca Mattson, interim director of the Law Library and professor of legal research, were invited to speak at the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 21 through July 23.

Penn State Law welcomed the LL.M. (master of laws) class of 2025 to the University Park campus for orientation on Aug. 20, kicking off another year of one of the largest and most diverse LL.M. programs in the United States. The class of 2025 includes 163 LL.M. and 13 exchange students, coming from 31 countries across the world.

Second and third-year law students enrolled in the Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic at Penn State Law in University Park honed their advocacy skills while assisting five Vietnam veterans and their families, and two other veterans, to win disability and/or survivor claims before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Penn State Law in University Park welcomed 131 first-year juris doctor students to the Lewis Katz Building on Aug. 21-22 for J.D. Orientation.

The Penn State Law Minority Mentor Program held its 10th annual kickoff reception on Sept. 6 at Toftrees Golf Resort in State College.

Michael Helbing, executive director of the Center for Energy Law and Policy and adjunct professor of law at Penn State, will give the talk, “Flying into the future: sustainable aviation fuel and the policies impacting its development,” at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, in 112 Walker Building at Penn State University Park.

Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law have entered the critical final steps of reunification with the recent submission of Applications for Acquiescence in a Substantive Change of Program or Structure to the Council of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the recognized accreditor for law schools.

In August 2024, Pennsylvania resident Max Justice launched Setas Eternal Living. His flagship product, MyCoffin, is a biodegradable coffin made from mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms. Justice has utilized resources provided by Penn State Law's Entrepreneur Assistance and Intellectual Property clinics and Happy Valley LaunchBox to grow his business. 

Faculty and staff in Penn State’s Law, Policy, and Engineering (LPE) initiative were recently tapped by the governor’s office to lead a two-day training program in September in Harrisburg on science and technology policy. The faculty and staff are part of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Science and Technology Policy Program, which is run by LPE and aims to improve public and environmental health, economic and social equity, and public scientific discourse in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.