EXPERTS ADVISORY

University of Michigan experts can address the most pressing education topics of the school year, including AI in the classroom, teacher shortages and retention, school violence prevention and safety, student mental health and well-being, pandemic learning loss, digital wellness, immigration crackdowns, cuts to school meals, increasing housing instability, concussions, the benefits of electric school buses, and more.

Literacy, challenges and opportunities for schools, educators and students

Elizabeth Birr Moje is the dean of the Marsal Family School of Education and the George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Education. Her research examines young people’s culture, identity and literacy learning in and out of school in Detroit, where she leads Marsal Education’s participation in the Marygrove Learning Community, a Detroit P-20 Partnership. Moje also directs the Michigan Education Teaching School on the Marygrove campus.

“As we head into the 2025-26 school year, school leaders, teachers, professors and families will grapple with many questions and challenges as they lead the education experiences for all learners,” she said. “Do our schools have enough well-prepared teachers? How should we use artificial intelligence and other technology tools to advance learning? What do we do about cell phones in schools? How do we use social media in productive, rather than destructive, ways? Can our research continue to generate new knowledge in the face of uncertainty? What do we do to ensure that schools are preparing all of our children for the future? In the Marsal School, we are using our research to develop education professionals who will craft the future of learning, work and play in ways that transform possibilities and ensure that all can thrive.”

Contact: [email protected]

Jean Mrachko is the associate director of Michigan Alternate Route to Certification, an accelerated certification-only teacher preparation program at the Marsal Family School of Education.

“M-ARC opens the opportunity for nontraditional teacher candidates, such as those seeking a second career or those who have worked in other roles in education, to be prepared to teach through the Marsal Family School of Education,” she said. “We’re not sacrificing the integrity or quality or even the content of their training; we’re flipping the model. After their initial, accelerated pre-teaching coursework and field experiences, we walk beside them into their first teaching job and support them through their first three years.”

Contact: [email protected]

Chris Torres, associate professor of educational policy and leadership at the Marsal Family School of Education, can discuss how state policies and the K-12 school budget might affect teacher recruitment and retention, and how and why districts might be differentially impacted by new policies.

“Some critics argue that working conditions matter more than pay. But that’s only part of the story,” he said. “You can’t improve working conditions without stabilizing staffing. Shortages and chronic turnover create the very working conditions that push teachers out—disrupting staff relationships and instructional continuity and ultimately harming students. Recent research finds that increasing pay not only helps recruit and retain quality educators, but it also fosters stronger conditions, such as improved teacher collaboration.”

Contact: [email protected]

Samantha Keppler, the NBD Bancorp Assistant Professor of Technology and Operations at the Ross School of Business, can discuss key issues for the upcoming school year regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence by teachers and students; the considerations that district officials, school leaders and teachers should have regarding generative AI; and potential changes in technology use in schools driven by generative AI.

“The impact of AI on productivity doesn’t translate neatly to education,” she said. “In learning, productivity is measured in depth and retention—not just speed of completion. The real question is whether, and how, AI can help foster deeper, longer-lasting learning.”

Contact: [email protected]

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Teaching practice

Deborah Loewenberg Ball is the Jessie Jean Storey-Fry Distinguished University Professor of Education at the Marsal Family School of Education, research professor at the Institute for Social Research and director of TeachingWorks. Her research focuses on the practice of teaching, using elementary mathematics as a critical context for investigating the challenges of helping children develop understanding and agency and to work collectively, and on leveraging the power of teaching to disrupt patterns of racism, marginalization and inequity.

Contact: [email protected]

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Instructional practices with technology

Liz Kolb, clinical associate professor of education technologies at the Marsal Family School of Education, can address how teachers can continue to use what they learned during remote and hybrid learning to teach using online methods.

Contact: 734-649-2563, [email protected]

Rebecca Quintana is an assistant professor of education practice at the Marsal Family School of Education. Her research centers on topics concerning the evolving role of technology and AI in contexts of teaching and learning. She can also address subjects related to resilient teaching.

“When we talk with our learning experience design students about the potential of GenAI to support design practice, we encourage an experimental mindset for exploring tools like ChatGPT, which can be used to draft learning outcomes, course outlines, content and assessments, as well as to evaluate course design,” she said. “We ask students to identify the strengths and limitations of using these tools and develop strategies for when and how to use them. Equally important is students’ ability to engage with a range of stakeholders about the pros and cons of the tools, responding to legitimate concerns and questions.”

Contact: [email protected]

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Adjustments for children

Pamela Davis-Kean is a professor of psychology at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and director of the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research. She has examined the various pathways that the socioeconomic status of parents relates to the cognitive achievement outcomes (particularly mathematics) of their children. To help students navigate the pandemic’s impact on lower achievement scores, she recommends starting mentoring programs and creating individualized education plans for each student.

Contact: [email protected]

Sandra Graham-Bermann, professor of psychology at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, can discuss how parents can help their children cope with stress/time management as they return to school.

Contact: [email protected]

Jennifer Erb-Downward is director of housing stability programs and policy initiatives at U-M’s Poverty Solutions. Her research explores the connections between student homelessness and school discipline rates, academic proficiency, graduation and dropout rates, chronic absenteeism, receipt of public assistance, and placement in the foster care system.

Contact: [email protected]

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Health and wellness

Rebecca Hasson is the Victor L. Katch Collegiate Professor of Kinesiology and director of the Childhood Disparities Research Lab at the School of Kinesiology. She can discuss ways to promote physical activity both inside and outside of the classroom.

“Back-to-school season is the perfect opportunity to build active habits that stick,” she said. “Whether it’s movement breaks in the classroom, joining a sports team, walking or biking to school, or playing outside after homework, daily physical activity helps kids stay healthy, sharpen focus, boost mood, and feel ready to learn and thrive all year long.”

Contact: [email protected]

Laura Gultekin, clinical assistant professor at the School of Nursing, has spent the past several years partnering with community agencies to improve the well-being of families experiencing homelessness.

“We are seeing a steady increase in the number of youth and families experiencing housing instability and loss of housing,” she said. “This really impacts classrooms and learning. With so many children headed back to school in the coming weeks, there is an increasing awareness that children and youth that are unhoused are often missing out on educational opportunities, or not able to fully engage in a classroom experience. Helping children and families connect with resources that can help them establish safety and stability, and providing basics such as free meals in schools can help keep children who are unhoused in the classroom and ready to learn.”

Contact: [email protected]

Laura Richardson is a clinical associate professor of applied exercise science and movement science at the School of Kinesiology. Her expertise focuses on using behavior modification strategies and exercise to help treat a wide array of health conditions.

“As students return to school, keeping fitness a priority is more important than ever,” she said. “Research shows that regular movement not only strengthens the body but also boosts brain function, improves focus and supports emotional well-being. Encouraging kids to move more, whether it is taking the stairs, walking to school or stretching between lessons, can make a big difference in their energy, mood and learning. Parents and educators play a key role by modeling healthy habits. When adults are active, kids are more likely to follow. Making fitness fun and part of daily routines helps children develop lifelong healthy habits.”

Contact: [email protected]

Steven Broglio, director of the Michigan Concussion Center and professor at the School of Kinesiology, currently serves as the president of the international Concussion in Sport Group. He can discuss concussion research and prevention and concussion in sports.

“Concussions can present in many different ways and parents are often the best to judge changes in their child’s normal state,” he said. “While headache is the most commonly reported symptom, it’s not uncommon to see unusual levels of fatigue, mental fogginess or a hard time concentrating and remembering. If a parent ever has a concern, early care from a qualified health care professional gives the best chance for a positive outcome.”

Contact: [email protected]

William Lopez, clinical associate professor of health behavior and health equity at the School of Public Health, specializes in the effects of immigration policies and the health impacts of law enforcement on individuals. This school year, he says, brings heightened concerns and fears as federal law enforcement forces increase deportations.

“Immigration enforcement has been shown to have detrimental impacts on absenteeism, test scores and graduation rates. For many families, fear of deportation means they pull their students from school altogether, moving to another district where they are less likely to be detained and deported,” he said. “This results in achievement gaps between Latino and white students, and enormous burdens to educators, who must counsel students when their parents are detained, change curriculums to address achievement gaps and prepare district level policies for ICE enforcement. It’s clear to me that as the school year starts, teachers are planning not only how to teach, but how to prepare for the impact of deportation on their students’ lives.”

Contact: [email protected]

Kate Bauer, associate professor of nutritional sciences at the School of Public Health, has researched nutritional security and related policies, and engaged in community projects to understand and improve those policies. Her expertise touches on SNAP benefits, school meals and other nutritional aid for people struggling to afford food.

“Because we don’t have a state budget, several Michigan school districts are preemptively removing universal school meals for students. Others are giving a heads up that they’ll offer free meals until Oct. 1 and then have to cut them,” she said. “This is a huge loss for Michigan families. School meals are the most healthy meal that many children get each day. Losing healthy school meals for all is going backwards from what Michigan families want and need. We owe it to our kids to invest in universal meals for another school year.”

Contact: [email protected]

Emily Martin, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, is co-director of the Michigan Center for Respiratory Virus Research and Response and the Michigan Public Health Integrated Center for Outbreak Analytics and Modeling. She can speak to contagious disease trends, vaccines, vaccine waiver requests, and what parents and schools need to know to best protect students, teachers and families.

Contact: [email protected]

Sara Adar, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, and Meredith Pedde, assistant research scientist in epidemiology at the School of Public Health, have researched the benefits of replacing diesel-fuel-powered school buses with electric ones. They can share their findings and knowledge on differences in grades and absenteeism between students who ride gas-powered buses vs. electric-powered vehicles. Their research revolves around an ongoing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rebate program that randomly awards funding to school districts to replace old buses with cleaner models that produce less pollution.

Contact: [email protected] and [email protected]

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School safety

Justin Heinze is an associate professor of health behavior and health equity at the School of Public Health and director of the School Safety section at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. He is also principal investigator of the annual Healthy Minds Study and director of the National Center for School Safety. He can discuss a range of school safety and student mental health topics and can explain the recommendations in a recent national report on the impact of active shooter drills on student health and well-being.

“Schools should consider a coordinated and comprehensive strategy to mitigate active shooter drills’ potential emotional, mental and behavioral harm to students and school staff,” he said.

Contact: [email protected]

Sarah Stilwell, research investigator at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, can discuss aspects of student and school safety outside of firearm violence prevention.

“School safety is not just about preventing shootings. It is about creating environments where every student and staff member feels emotionally, socially and physically secure each day,” she said. “It means focusing on positive youth development by supporting the emotional, mental and physical well-being of every child. This includes both psychological safety, such as building mental health resilience and fostering a sense of security, and physical safety, such as preventing harm in school environments. If we want students to thrive, we must prioritize prevention, mental health, strong relationships and the use of evidence-based practices just as much as emergency response.”

Contact: [email protected]

Elyse Thulin, research assistant professor at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, can discuss school safety, technology, confidential reporting systems, social media and school violence risks, bullying, suicide and mental health concerns.

“The school year brings greater exposure to some of the most prevalent concerns facing contemporary youth, including spikes of suicidality that typically occur in October and November, bullying and cyberbullying, interpersonal threats or experiences of injury with a weapon at school, and fears of over the potential for a mass harm event at school,” she said. “Creating a safer school climate, which means that students and staff feel respected, that anyone in the school community is safe to speak up if they notice that something is wrong, is critical. While there are many ways a youth can try to proactively help, letting a trusted adult know either through direct communication or through an anonymous or confidential reporting system can help get resources to the person in need.”

Contact: [email protected]