UW–Madison Project Joins With MMSD to Meet Pressing Student Needs

May 15, 2026   |   By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research & Scholarship Communications

When the Madison Education Partnership (MEP) launched in 2016, its goal was simple but ambitious: bring together researchers and educators to address real problems facing Madison’s public schools to contribute to change locally and inform research nationally.

Today, UW–Madison researchers and Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) teachers and administrators can point to a decade of doing just that, with changes in policy and practice to address some of the district’s most challenging issues, from student mental health and math performance to early learning and inclusive school climates. MEP’s work has gone beyond informing local solutions to informing the field, leading to multiple conference presentations and journal articles with UW–Madison and MMSD as co-authors.

This 10-year record of successful collaboration, shared learning, and community impact has reshaped how the district and university work together to improve student outcomes, and it shows no sign of slowing.

“We share a common foundation,” said Eric Grodsky, a professor of sociology and educational policy studies, and one of MEP’s four co-directors — two from UW–Madison and two from the school district. “Both organizations are deeply committed to improving educational excellence, to training the next generation of educators, and to delivering equity of opportunity and ideally equity of outcomes for our students.”

Based in the School of Education’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), MEP is organized as a research-practice partnership meant to engage in high-quality, locally based and nationally relevant research projects on topics of mutual interest. MEP unites researchers from UW–Madison with educational practitioners from the district to inform policy, build capacity and strengthen education for Madison’s K–12 public school students.

“We wanted to have a partnership that benefited both sides,” said Beth Vaade, the senior executive director of research, assessment and improvement for the district, during a recent celebration event at Gordon Commons. The event, attended by about 70 people, featured a panel discussion, presentations and small-group talks designed to review the last decade’s accomplishments, share current work and plan for the future.

School of Education Dean Marcelle Haddix stressed the reciprocal importance of research‑practice partnerships. She noted that MEP’s work grounds research in the lived experiences of students and families while helping educators reflect critically on their work.

“Research and practice don't just go hand in hand,” said Haddix. “They need one another to be successful.”

MMSD Superintendent Joe Gothard highlighted the value of the partnership from the district’s perspective. He said evidence-based research strengthens policy recommendations, providing information the district can use that is “accurate,” “tells a story,” and “forces change.”

The event showcased five areas where MEP’s work has been influential over the past decade:

Bolstering student mental health: Starting in 2019, MEP researchers refined an intervention for students showing early signs of internalizing concerns over anxiety, depression or withdrawal in grades four through eight. The intervention, including cognitive-behavioral instruction and strategies to help families become more resilient, was revised to improve cultural relevance, clarity and engagement and was tested across nine schools, resulting in reduced behavioral concerns and fewer social difficulties for students.

Improving math fact fluency: This project began in 2025 after teachers in grades four and five reported that many students were struggling with grade-level math because they hadn’t been able to memorize multiplication tables and other math facts. MEP researchers developed a six-week, ten-minute-per-day practice tool and piloted the intervention with three teachers in two schools, leading to improvements in students’ computational fluency with multiplication problems.

Evaluating the benefits of full-day versus part-day 4K: MEP has worked with the district’s early learning program since 2016, conducting over 25 studies. Starting in 2021, when the district added full-day four-year-old kindergarten (4K), work included evaluating the benefits of full-day 4K versus half-day 4K. In their most recent evaluation, researchers found evidence that students attending full-day 4K learned more, especially those entering 4K with lower levels of achievement.

Supporting LGBTQ+ students: Since 2019, MEP-affiliated researchers have been examining the effect of several districtwide supports for LGBTQ+ students, including staff training in the Welcoming Schools program. They found that schools using the program reported lower rates of suspension, assault and endangering behavior than comparison schools, with a 2022 staff survey showing that participants believed their training had saved student lives.

Strengthening graduate student participation: Starting in 2023, MEP developed an internship program to give graduate students working as MEP researchers more school-based experiences. MEP connected doctoral student researchers with district staff, created an Intern Community of Practice, and supported co-development and completion of joint projects by intern/district teams, increasing capacity on both sides of the research-practice equation.

Looking forward, MEP advisor Katie Eklund said MEP should explore working with local community organizations, nonprofits and philanthropies to grow funding as federal grants wane. Eklund, a professor of school psychology and former MEP co-director, also recommended elevating youth voice across academics in MEP research and said MEP needed to develop equitable practices to meet the sharply increasing mental health needs of students.

Additional future work identified by MEP co-directors includes new research on school enrollment, expanded training for UW–Madison students and continued participation in a national network of research-practice partnerships.

About the Madison Education Partnership (MEP)

MEP researchers mutually define and investigate problems relating to student learning, equity, and district-wide concerns, then collaboratively identify responsive policies and solutions based on results. For more information, visit mep.wceruw.org.

About the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)

WCER at UW–Madison’s #1-ranked School of Education is one of the world’s oldest and most productive education research centers. WCER has supported researchers and scholars in developing, submitting, conducting and sharing grant-funded education research for over 60 years. Visit wcer.wisc.edu for more information.