Russell Warnberg (A.A. ‘67), longtime teacher of 41 years, published the novel Edge of Redemption.
Israelson awarded Robert Schreiner Reading Fellowship
C&I Ph.D. candidate Madeleine Israelson (Literacy Education) has had a busy spring. Earlier this year, she was awarded a Robert Schreiner Reading Fellowship to support her dissertation research in reading education. Awardees are selected based on the importance of the research, the clarity with which it is described, and the potential the work has for making a significant contribution to the field. Madeleine’s dissertation research has already been cited in an Education Week article examining the effects of e-books on building reading comprehension skills. In addition to this work, Madeleine is working on a blog to help teachers select appropriate apps for the classroom.
We recently interviewed Madeleine to learn a little bit more about her experiences and what she’s enjoying about her research.
What is most exciting about your work/research/studies?
My dissertation research explores how kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are using tablets and apps in early literacy instruction. I’m really excited about this work! Since these tools for learning are so new, there is so much potential to use tablets and apps in innovative and transformative ways. More and more, we are seeing tablets in early elementary classrooms. However, there are an overwhelming number of apps that purport to teach literacy, and the process of finding quality apps can be challenging and time consuming for teachers. My hope is that my research will help early elementary teachers who are seeking to do innovative and exciting things with learning technologies in their literacy instruction.
How did your path lead to the University of Minnesota and to C&I in particular?
I earned my initial elementary teaching license through C&I. While I was working as a teacher I enrolled in the reading specialist program at UMN. Those 5 courses were really life-changing for me. I was able to learn from eminent scholars and take research-based instructional practices back to my classroom. This course of study let me be a much more effective teacher for my students; they learned and enjoyed reading and writing much more because I was improving my instruction. As I saw first hand the exciting potential to improve educational experiences for students through scholarly research, I was inspired to pursue my doctorate.
What has surprised you along the way?
Probably how fast graduate school went… I remember watching a colleague defend her dissertation the week I started my program. I thought, “Well, that won’t be me for a long time,” and here I am, getting ready for my dissertation defense!
What have you most enjoyed about your experience in your program?
I’ve been really fortunate to be part of several research and instructional teams during my time in the program. These opportunities to collaborate with faculty members and graduate students on both research projects and curriculum development have been invaluable to me. I learn so much from everyone I’ve had the privilege to work with over the past four years.
What’s most challenging?
For me, it was overcoming self-doubt. There have been times over the last four years when I thought, “Oh, I probably can’t get a paper accepted to that conference,” or “Oh, I don’t know if I can present on that topic.” But luckily I’ve had incredible mentors and amazing friends. Their encouragement and support has helped me do things I thought I couldn’t do. So I’d encourage prospective or new graduate students to go for it and try things that are new, scary or daunting. I’ve found graduate school is a great time to take risks, experience failures, grow and learn, then take some more risks and celebrate successes!
Any memorable forks in the road, or surprising turns?
My daughter was born when I was writing my preliminary exams! My committee was incredibly understanding and supportive. I was able to take time to stay home with my little girl after she was born and still stay on track to finish my program as planned.
Do you have hobbies or activities that you do outside of work?
I spend as much time with my husband and our daughter as I possibly can! We take swim classes, draw and paint, and read lots of books together. We also like to travel and go to parks, playgrounds and zoos.
Do you have a motto or a set of words to live by?
I’ve been really inspired by this quote from John Dewey since I first read it in one of my classes:
“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”
– John Dewey
In fact, this quote prompted me to think and ask questions that led to the conception of my dissertation study.
To read “Researchers Voice Concern Over E-Books’ Effect on Reading Comprehension,” the article that cites Madeleine’s research, please visit Education Week’s website. Visit the Literacy Program Area webpage to learn more about our academic programs in Literacy.
Pioneer Press taps King for expertise in English Language Learning
This weekend, the Pioneer Press published an article on English Language Learners (ELL) entering mainstream classrooms to tackle learning English while simultaneously learning other subject matter. The article, “St. Paul English learners sent into mainstream, ready or not,” touches on some of the hopes and concerns for the shift from first developing fluency and then catching up on subject matter to a more integrated approach.
ELL students are co-taught by the classroom teacher and an educator with special skills and training to support English language acquisition. The St. Paul School District was an early adopter of the co-teaching model to integrate subject learning and English learning in elementary schools. The goal of this is strategy is to prevent ELLs from falling behind in other subjects while they are learning English.
C&I Professor in Second Languages and Cultures Education, Kendall King is quoted in the article for suggesting, “While this model has a lot of potential, it will not work for all English learners.” King recommends that districts begin with small scale pilots, and involve guidance counselors, among others to evaluate who might be successful in these classes.
Read the full Pioneer Press story here. To learn more about Kendall King’s research, please visit her profile page, and to learn more about SLC academic programs, please visit the SLC program area page.
Magnuson recommends, “start adventuring young,” in Men’s Health article
In an interview with Men’s Health, Connie Magnuson, Ph.D., director of recreation, park and leisure studies in the School of Kinesiology, offered many tips on how to start bringing children on adventures from a young age. From hiking to riding river rapids, Magnuson suggests starting young, picking the difficulty appropriate for the child’s age and ability, and encouraging children along the way.
The article, titled “7 Adventures to Do With Your Kids – Safely,” features seven activities to do with your children and offers both easy and more difficult options.
CEHD student featured in Education Minnesota video
University of Minnesota CEHD alum Lindsey Bryant, a first-year teacher at Jenny Lind Elementary in Minneapolis, is featured in a video on the Education Minnesota “Ed Moments” website. Lindsey was one of our 2012-13 teacher candidates placed in a yearlong co-teaching placement last year at Highlands in Edina- one of our partner school sites in TERI.
Jenny Lind Elementary was chosen for the project because of its work to narrow the achievement gap and Lindsey is featured in the first and third video. See how this first year teacher from CEHD’s redesigned elementary education program is helping to do her part with her colleagues at a great school! Watch video.
TERI Annual Milestone Visit with the Bush Foundation
Each spring CEHD welcomes representatives from the Bush Foundation and our project coach, Ivan Charner, from FHI 360 to a full review and update of TERI progress and partnerships. The visit provides CEHD and school partners leaders with an opportunity to engage directly with the foundation’s leadership team in generative conversations specific to the work in TERI in the larger NExT initiative.
School representatives from our six partner districts contributed to the day by sharing evidence of impact on students, teachers, schools, and districts. School district partners provided updates organized around the pillars in NExT: Recruit, Prepare, Support, Employ. Each district provided overviews on the partnership’s impact. Here are a few samples of the information shared: SPPS, MPS, Roosevelt High School (MPS), and Forest Lake Area Schools.
Michael Bradley, RHS principal in MPS catches up with Michael Lovett, White Bear Lake Area School’s superintendent.
Dengel serves as co-investigator on Veterans Affairs Grant
Donald Dengel, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology, and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology is a co-investigator on a grant funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The 3-year grant titled, “Development of Adaptive Prosthetic Ankle-Foot Systems,” will develop a new energy efficient prosthetic ankle-foot system.
Dengel co-authors article on risk of abdominal fat in children
Donald Dengel, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology, and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology, is a co-author of an article published in, Clinical Obesity. The article titled, “The Relative Contributions of the Abdominal Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat Depots to Cardiometabolic Risk in Youth,” examined the effects of abdominal fat in children on the development of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors.
Lead author of this article is Dr. Aaron Kelly, School of Kinesiology alum (Ph.D., ’04).
KIN alum publishes article from UROP research
Rebecca Gusmer, School of Kinesiology alum (B.S., ’12) and current U of M physical therapy student, is the lead author of an article published in the journal, Open Sports Medicine Journal. The article titled, “Comparison of FitBit® Ultra to ActiGraphTM GT1M for assessment of physical activity in young adults during treadmill walking, ” examined the accuracy of the FitBit Ultra to assess physical activity and calories consumed. The research for this article was part of Gusmer’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Project (UROP).
Co-authors on this article include: Donald R. Dengel, professor of kinesiology, and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology, and School of Kinesiology graduate students, Tyler Bosch, Joe Ostrem, and Ashley Watkins.
Roehrig wins CEHD Marty and Jack Rossman Award
The STEM Education Center would like to congratulate Dr. Gillian Roehrig, Associate Director of Research on Teacher Development in the STEM Education Center and Associate Professor of Science Education in the School of Curriculum and Instruction, for receiving the Marty and Jack Rossman Award presented at the CEHD Spring Assembly. This prestigious award recognizes a tenured faculty member who has “demonstrated a truly exceptional level of creativity and productivity in scholarship, teaching and service, and who shows great promise of continuing such achievement.” Dr. Roehrig will receive an $8,000 award over two years to support research, travel, or professional development.
Avoiding estate-planning mistakes, it’s not just about the money advises FSOS Marlene Stum
Department of Family Social Science professor Marlene Stum, author of “Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate?” talks with Consumer Reports in the article “How to spare your heirs a battle over your estate.”
“The biggest estate-planning mistake is that people think it’s only about the money,” said Stum in the article. She goes on to explain distribution methods that work.
Bigelow quoted in MPR story on English Language Learners and new legislation
This year, faculty in the Second Languages and Cultures Education program area in C&I have been called upon for their expertise in several bills going forward to reform education practices for English Language Learners (ELL). Their hard work is paying off.
After several testimonies at the State Capital education committee hearings, a new bill is moving through the legislature. This bill would encourage multilingualism among all students and foster the maintenance and development of immigrant students’ home languages as a resource for learning academic content throughout their school day. This bill supports an additional year of funding for English learners who need it with a focus on developing multilingualism and ensuring academic success.
Quoted in a report on Minnesota Public Radio, Professor Martha Bigelow states, “What the research shows is that truly being able to use their home language, in a lot of the ways that this legislation is supportive of, will make them better English speakers and able to learn content more quickly.”
Read the MPR story here, and catch up on SLC work with the legislature here and here. To learn more about SLC academic programs, please visit the SLC program area page.
Elison article recognized as scientific advance by US Department of Health and Human Services autism research coordinating group
Jed Elison, assistant professor, ICD, and co-authors have been recognized by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) of the US Department of Health and Human Services for their article, White matter microstructure and atypical visual orienting in 7-month-olds at risk for autism. Annually, the IACC disseminates a list of scientific advances that “represent significant progress in the field,” producing the 2013 Summary of Advances. The IACC has selected these studies to recognize because they show new insight into the “complex causes of autism and potential risk factors, studied clues that could lead to earlier diagnosis, and evaluated promising early intervention strategies.”
In his article, Jed Elison and co-authors studied 7-month-old infants’ patterns of visual orienting to understand how atypical development of these patterns may affect later cognitive and social-cognitive development and which may represent an early feature indicating an autism spectrum disorder.
Elison JT, Paterson SJ, Wolff JJ, Reznick JS, Sasson NJ, Gu H, Botteron KN, Dager SR, Estes AM, Evans AC, Gerig G, Hazlett HC, Schultz RT, Styner M, Zwaigenbaum L, Piven J; IBIS Network. White matter microstructure and atypical visual orienting in 7-month-olds at risk for autism. Am J Psychiatry. 2013 Aug1;170(8):899-908. [PMID: 23511344]
Arendale Leads Workshops: Universal Design and Developmental Education
David Arendale (associate professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) returns for his fourth summer to provide training workshops at two training institutes. In June Arendale travels to Phoenix to lead a workshop on Universal Design for Learning at the Developmental Education Institute hosted by the Maricopa Community College System. In July he travels to Boone, NC, for the Kellogg Institute for Training of Developmental Educators. Arendale leads a three-day workshop for integration of learning technologies into the curriculum. He will also spend several additional days consulting with the National Center for Developmental Education staff on several collaborative projects including e-publishing.
School-CEHD partnerships in the news
Edina Public Schools recently featured a partnership between Creek Valley Elementary and the University of Minnesota. Read the full story.
Reposted with permission from Edina Public Schools.
Tucker Center announces 2014-15 fellowship & scholarship recipients
We are very proud to announce the following recipients of Fellowships or Scholarships awarded through the Tucker Center. These prestigious awards are made possible by donations made by Friends of the Tucker Center to support the outstanding work of our graduate and undergraduate students. We wish these recipients the best of luck as they pursue their academic and educational careers. Congratulations!
Edith Mueller Park & Recreation Memorial Award
- Alyssa Marie Schmelling, B.S. student in Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies (Connie Magnuson, adviser)
Eloise M. Jaeger Scholarship at the Tucker Center
- Lauren Elizabeth Billing, Ph.D. student in Kinesiology: Sport and Exercise Psychology (Dr. Beth Lewis, adviser)
Edith Mueller Endowed Fund for Graduate Education in the Tucker Center
- Skylar Schulz, M.S. student in Kinesiology: Sport and Exercise Psychology (Dr. Maureen Weiss, adviser)
Dorothy McNeill Tucker Fellowship Fund
- Andrew Charles White, Ph.D. student in Kinesiology: Physical Activity and Sport Science (Dr. Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, adviser)
Tucker Center Graduate Fellowship for Gender Equity in Sport
- Torrie Hazelwood, M.S. student in Kinesiology: Sport Sociology (Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi & Dr. Jo Ann Buysse, advisers)
If you would like to donate to any of Tucker Center fellowships and scholarships, click here to go to our website and do your part in supporting our outstanding students.
Magnuson receives President’s Award for Outstanding Service
Connie Magnuson, Ph.D., director of the Recreation, Park, and Leisure Studies program, 
is a recipient of the 2014 President’s Award for Outstanding Service. This highly prestigious award is presented each spring and recognizes exceptional service to the University, its schools, colleges, departments, and service units by an active or retired faculty or staff member. Recipients of this award have gone far beyond their regular duties and demonstrated an unusual commitment to the University community.
In the award letter, President Kaler writes, “Your excellence is a model for your colleagues and co-workers to emulate. True to the mission of this great land-grant institution, you have done more than your share to make the University of Minnesota one of the preeminent institutions in the nation.”
Magnuson has directed the Recreation, Park, and Leisure Studies program since 2006 and founded the all-University Gopher Adventure Race. This past January, she led a group of students to Tanzania and to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of her course, REC 4301.
The School of Kinesiology has had one other recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Service. Faculty member and former director Prof. Mary Jo Kane received the award in 2006.
TRIO Upward Bound students attend college affordability roundtable with Senator Franken
Two TRIO Upward Bound students met Friday with Sen. Al Franken and University President Eric Kaler, as part of a college affordability roundtable. Erika Romero-Paguay, TRIO Upward Bound alum and current TRIO Student Support Services student, and TRIO Upward Bound Edison high school senior Salina Vang expressed support for Franken’s Affordable College Textbook Act and his focus on holding institutions accountable for streamlining language around financial aid awards.
Romero-Paguay (pictured right) immigrated to the U.S. in 2011. She described how TRIO programs were instrumental in helping her navigate the college admissions and financial aid process. She also met Sen. Franken as a participant in the 2013 Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) National Student Leadership Congress.
Vang (pictured left) is the first in her family of 11 to pursue higher education. Vang will decide soon where she will go to college, and says much of her final decision will be based on how much aid she’s awarded. She thanked TRIO for guiding her through the college-readiness process.
In addition to Franken’s focus on college affordability, he reiterated the importance of TRIO programming and direct support of students. He suggested that Romero-Paguay and Vang be called upon to testify on the ways in which TRIO impacts student achievement and collegiate success.
Spokesman-Recorder article features Tucker Center Film Festival
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder features an article on this year’s Tucker Center Film Festival entitled, “Women in sport films festival features legendary college hoops coaches.” The article has feedback from three of the many students who attended, and includes commentary by Tucker Center doctoral student and film festival founder Austin Stair Calhoun. This year’s film festival featured “Pat XO” and “Coach”—two films about legendary women’s basketball coaches Pat Summitt and Vivian Stringer—from espnW’s “Nine for IX” film series.
Cicchetti and Curtis article voted as Best Article in Child Maltreatment for 2013 by APSAC
Dante Cicchetti, McKnight Presidential Chair, William Harris Professor of Child Development and Psychiatry, ICD, and W. John Curtis, University of Kentucky (ICD 2002), co-authors of Affective Facial Expression Processing in 15-Month-Old Infants Who Have Experienced Maltreatment: An Event-Related Potential Study, have been awarded the Best Article in Child Maltreatment for 2013. The award is given by the journal Child Maltreatment’s Editorial Board and is meant to recognize the article’s “focus on neural correlates of risk for emotional processing in young children with a maltreatment history.” The award will be presented at the American Professional Society of in the Abuse of Children (APSAC) conference in June, 2014.