Monthly Digest | October 2026

New & Noteworthy

School of Education team receives $1.3M NSF grant to expand AI and computing education

UC Irvine School of Education researchers Mark Warschauer (pictured, left), Kylie Peppler (center) and Tamara Tate have received a $1.3 million National Science Foundation grant for Agentic Coding Studio, a three-year project exploring new approaches to AI-based coding in informal STEM learning environments. Working with community partners locally and across the country, the project will directly engage approximately 2,500 youth and 120 educators, with the potential to reach an additional 50,000 youth through participating sites.

Third-Year Doctoral Student Elected AGS President

Peter Liu was elected into the role last spring, and will serve in his position for the 2026-27 academic year. Over the summer he and his fellow UC Associated Graduate Students presidents traveled to the UC Office of the President and met with UCOP president James B. Milliken.


Meet the UC Irvine AGS Executive Officers

Di Xu and Michael Cooper receive $396K grant from Arnold Ventures

UC Irvine School of Education Professor Di Xu and postdoctoral scholar Michael Cooper have received a five-year, $396,511 grant from Arnold Ventures to evaluate a community college reform aimed at expanding access to Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS). The project will use randomized controlled trials to evaluate the reform’s effectiveness and inform opportunities for broader policy implementation. 

School of Education Students Join Campus Leadership Conference

The School of Education sponsored four undergraduate student leaders to attend the 43rd Annual Randy Lewis All-University Leadership Conference, joining more than 150 student leaders from across UC Irvine for a weekend focused on leadership, professional development and connection. Dean Julie Washington also participated as a featured speaker. Learn more about the conference

Spotlight On

Professor Named UC Irvine Chancellor’s Fellow 

The School of Education's June Ahn has been named a UC Irvine Chancellor’s Fellow, a three-year distinction recognizing scholars for their exceptional contributions and promise for continued impact. The honor recognizes Ahn’s innovative research and collaborative work at the intersection of education, technology, and community partnership.


Learn more

Young-Suk Grace Kim Honored with Carol Connor Mid-Career Award

The award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading recognizes the professor's distinguished scholarship and contributions to the science of reading. The award holds special significance at UC Irvine: it was established in memory of the late Carol Connor, a former School of Education professor and influential literacy scholar. 


Learn more

Doctoral Student Receives Saffran Student Scholar Award

Reinaldo Cabrera Pérez was recognized at last month's 20th Annual Eleanor M. Saffran Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience and Rehabilitation of Communication Disorders. Earlier this month, Cabrera Pérez represented the Graduate Division and the School of Education at the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education at San Diego State University.

Learn more about the conference

Community Impact

What happens to student reasoning when AI joins the group?

UC Irvine School of Education Associate Professor Nia Nixon shared early findings from her Spencer Vision Grant research at the Spencer Foundation’s AI and Education Grantee Meeting in Chicago. Her project, “Learning Together in the Age of AI,” explores how working alongside an AI teammate affects students’ reasoning, engagement and sense of ownership over their thinking.

Students Participate in California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education at SDSU

UC Irvine School of Education students connected with more than 90 prospective students at this year's forum hosted by San Diego State University, sharing information about the School and its programs, with particularly strong interest in the new Master of Education Sciences program.

Additional News from Our Colleagues

Center for Research on Teacher Development and Professional Practice Summer/Fall 2026 Newsletter

Read the newsletter

SAGE Scholars

2025-26

Annual Report

Read the report

Published & Presented

• Doctoral Candidate Sina Rismanchian, lead author of a report following a decade-long AI study, found when people become accustomed to skipping the productive struggle of logical and analytical tasks and having the process automated, they are more likely to give up on hard questions (New York Times)
• Professor Richard Arum weighs in on student success research partnership that found students who completed Podium's Accelerator remained enrolled in subsequent semesters at rates 6 to 10 percentage points higher than non-participants year over year (Yahoo Finance)
• Led by Distinguished Professor and PI Mark Warschauer, and co-PI Tamara Tate, the WRITE AI Center will investigate whether college students can become better writers with the help of AI (Orange County Register)
• Watch: Index interviews Professor Gustavo Carlo (Radiofonicos En Vivo)
• Distinguished Professor Emerita Jacquelynne Eccles and Professor Sandra Simpkins co-author Motivation, Achievement, and Situated Expectancy-Value Theory: Making One’s Future (Guilford Press)

Events & Calendar

• Oct 28 – "Incorporating Generative AI into Writing: A View across Three Institutions" with speaker Tamara Tate
• Nov 4 – Faculty Research Seminar: "AI and the New Age of Unstandardized Testing" with speaker Fred Oswald (Zoom starts at 12:00 p.m.)
• Dec 4 – 2026 Literacy Conference: The Art and Science of Writing Across the Content Areas, presented by the UCI Writing Project
• Dec 9 – Faculty Research Seminar: "From Myth to Measurement: Building Better Tests for DLD in Bilingual Children" with speaker Elizabeth Peña (Zoom starts at 12:00 p.m.)

Please visit the Teacher Academy website to view more upcoming workshops.

Other News

Application Deadline Approaching for the SAGE Scholars Program

The Student Achievement Guided by Experience (SAGE) Scholars Program is a 2-year leadership development and business acumen training program for high-achieving, underserved students. Find out if you or your student are eligible, and apply here. Application deadline is Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.