Don’t worry Virginia teachers, Amy Hutchison feels your pain and is here to help. The associate professor at George Mason University and director of Mason’s Division of Elementary, Literacy and Secondary Education understands that teaching the new mandatory Standards of Learning for computer science in Virginia’s public schools can seem daunting to those who do not have a computer science background. Read more...

Mason LIFE focuses on academics, employment, independent living, and community integration for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Life Sherpa is an app that aims to help students with disabilities become more independent in employment settings by creating routines for the students to follow while offering help, if needed. Read more...

Given a chance to use role-playing to solve real-world problems, middle schoolers who might be overlooked for advanced academic programs can perform just as well as their high-achieving peers, research by George Mason University assistant professor Anne Horak has shown. For the third consecutive year, the curriculum written for that research has won an award. Read more...

When Callie Brownson became quality control coach for Dartmouth’s football team, she had no idea she was making history as the first full-time female Division I football coach. Even now, after all the attention, including stories by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated and The Washington Post, Brownson said the whirlwind is still difficult to believe. “To me, it was kind of crazy there hadn’t been another female coach at this level,” she said. That Brownson was the first did not surprise those who knew her at George Mason University, from where she graduated in 2016 with a degree in Health, Fitness and Recreation Resources. Read more...