Congratulations to Tom Post for receiving honorary membership to the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Honorary membership is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in mathematics education to help advance the mission of the Council.
International School of Sweden recruits CEHD teacher licensure students
For the past two years, CEHD Career Services has collaborated with the International School of Sweden (IES Sweden) to recruit CEHD teacher candidates to work at their 17 schools throughout Sweden. Representatives from IES Sweden have come to campus in the spring to interview teacher candidates, and several UMN students have received job offers. Robin Kirk Johansson, a principal with IES Sweden, says they are impressed with the UMN teacher licensure program because of its emphasis on learning communities and the teacher candidates’ full-year placement in schools. Success stories of some of the students who have been hired at IES Sweden are posted on the Career Services blog.
Early-education project leaders meet in St. Paul
A powerhouse of early childhood education leaders from Illinois and Minnesota met in St. Paul May 9 to work together on the Midwest Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program Expansion. The program strengthens pre-kindergarten education and the transition to school through third grade and includes such components as greater parent involvement.
A longitudinal study conducted by Institute of Child Development professor Arthur Reynolds has shown lifelong benefits of the first CPC, founded in Chicago in the 1960s. The expansion is now putting the model to the test in more settings–five school districts and 30 sites from Chicago to St. Paul–funded with a five-year federal innovation grant.
The steering committee is a large group of representatives from all the schools, including head teachers, parent resource room teachers, and more. St. Paul Public Schools Superintendent Valeria Silva was among those who joined discussions with Reynolds and former Federal Reserve research director Art Rolnick from the U and Barbara Bowman from Chicago’s Erikson Institute.
Read more about the Midwest Expansion of the Child-Parent Center and the i3 grant to the Human Capital Research Collaborative.
Photo by Greg Helgeson
Larry Yore receives University’s Outstanding Achievement Award
For his pioneering work in science education, Larry Yore received one of the highest awards bestowed on alumni of the University of Minnesota at a ceremony on campus May 22. The U’s Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes graduates who have attained unusual distinction in their chosen fields — appropriate for Yore, an internationally known expert on the role of language in science and science education and on how language affects scientific inquiry.
“Larry has international teaching and research accomplishments that go beyond what most teachers and educators could even dream of,” said Jean Quam, dean of the U of M’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), which nominated Yore for the award. “But his generosity of spirit and tireless commitment to students, colleagues, and learning is even more impressive.”
Yore is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, but his roots run deep in Minnesota. A native of Delavan, in the south-central part of the state, Yore earned his bachelor’s degree (’64), master’s degree (’68), and Ph.D. (’73) in education at the University of Minnesota. Teaching science and studying its connection to reading and literacy became his specialty early on, including positions where he excelled as both a teacher and administrator in the Eden Prairie Public Schools and University High School (’64 to ’70) before joining the faculty at the University of Victoria. Over 41 years of service at Victoria, he taught science, technology, and science literacy and research courses, and he chaired the Departments of Social and Natural Sciences and of Curriculum and Instruction. He also served as president of the university’s faculty association and a member of the Board of Governors.
His accomplishments in higher education include 76 research articles in national and international journals, service on the board of directors of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, participation on review panels for 20 education research journals, and founding membership on the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. At Victoria and other universities, he has mentored and advised more than 175 graduate students, worked with numerous researchers whose second language is English, and led studies on scientific literacy in many countries around the world.
Yore has been honored as “Science Teacher Educator of the Year,” by the Association for Science Teacher Education; awarded with highest honors for contributions to science education through research, by the National Association for Research in Science Education; recognized with the Distinguished Contributions Award, by both the reading and science education communities; and named the University’s first Distinguished Professor at the University of Victoria.
Photo credit: University of Victoria Photo Services.
TERI Curriculum and Performance Assessment Summit
Forty faculty and staff from across the teacher preparation programs met in the North Star Ballroom on the St. Paul Campus to discuss the curriculum and performance assessments of teacher education. This was the 5th annual teacher education summit in the College of Education and Human Development. These cross program/cross department and college workdays provide an important opportunity for the academic community to review what we’ve accomplished and further infuse practice and theory in the candidates’ coursework.
Participants reviewed experiences with new performance assessments that were embedded across the coursework taken by all teacher candidates. These assessments include the Teacher Identity Self Study (TISS), Professional Rotations, and Case Studies of Learners. Instructors for the common teacher education courses in the redesign presented their assessments and discussed how they added value to our professional understanding of teaching and teacher development.
One key task for 2013-14 is to further align the “grading” of the performance assessments with our candidate progress review system. The summit started with concept development work on components of candidate progress that can be assessed that build toward core practices of teaching. Participants examined examples of student work for evidence of one or more core practice. Data gathered from these work groups will inform the development of reliable and valid performance measures.
CEHD faculty review performance assessments and student responses as part of the ongoing curriculum revision process of the redesign initiative.
Congratulations to Ying-Chih Chen: Recipient of a 2013 Faculty and Staff Research Award!
The STEM Education Center would like to extend a congratulations to one of its research scientists, Ying-Chih Chen for receiving a 2013 Faculty and Staff Research Award from the College of Education and Human Development. This award is made available by the Office of Research and Policy to support the development of your research.
Shannon McManimon receives Seashore Fellowship and C&I’s Outstanding Graduate Student Research Paper Award
Doctoral candidate Shannon McManimon (Culture and Teaching) is the recipient of this year’s C&I Outstanding Graduate Student Research Paper Award for her paper, The Practice of Teaching as Blurred Translating. The award was established by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in order to recognize excellence in research and research writing among graduate students.
Shannon is also the recipient of the Seashore Fellowship awarded by the College of Education and Human Development to a doctoral student whose interests focus on issues of broad social inquiry problems, social and cultural change, or social justice.
Shannon’s research and teaching interests include critical pedagogy, critical whiteness studies and school-community partnerships. She works with the Neighborhood Bridges Critical Literacy and Creative Drama Program.
C&I announces 2013 Potts Fellowship Recipients
The Department of Curriculum and Instruction has announced three recipients of the Judy King Potts Endowed Fellowship in Literacy Education for 2013. The endowment was provided by Mrs. Potts, a former elementary reading teacher. Her fund supports fellowships for students who are doing graduate work in literacy and have taken leadership roles in working within the reading program.
Kristi Bergeson, from Edina, MN
Kristi’s interest in education began as a teenage volunteer providing support to students with special needs in Minneapolis. After graduating from college with a major in Elementary Education and Music, she began her career as a first, second and third grade classroom teacher working in Minneapolis, Edina and the greater Chicago area. She also worked for the Center for Reading Research at the University of Minnesota where she provided leadership for schools as they engaged in school-wide improvements in reading. During this time, she completed an MA degree in Curriculum and Instruction and received her Reading Specialty License.
Most recently she’s worked with first through fifth grade students as both a Gifted Education Specialist and Learning Specialist in Edina. Kristi says, “I am excited to pursue my PhD and continue learning about literacy development in children. My doctoral interests are in the area of reading to engage all learners. With a PhD, I hope to either work as a college professor, work in reading research, or work in a literacy leadership position in a school district. I am grateful to have received this award.”
Kay Rosheim, currently living in Eden Prairie, MN; originally from Iowa City, IA
Kay Rosheim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Iowa and a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She started her career working as a clinical researcher for 15 years before deciding to go back to school to get her initial teaching license and an MA in teaching. She first taught middle school science and math; then after earning an MA in Reading and K-12 reading license, she worked as an elementary reading specialist for the past 8 years. She’s enjoys working specifically with struggling students and English learners who come from diverse backgrounds. Kay says, “The reason I’m at the U of MN for my PhD is because of my students.”
Her immediate educational and career goal is to continue learning ways to best teach students how to read and motivate them to want to read. It is that goal that prompted her to apply to the Reading to Engage All Learners (REAL) doctoral program here at the U of MN. She is interested in effective instructional practices that support struggling readers and assessment of English learners. She looks forward to investigating what motivates students, and she wants to learn ways to help children remain engaged with reading and learning as they move through the K-12 educational system and beyond.
Megan Van Deventer, from Salt Lake City, UT
Megan earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Portland in English and Secondary Education. After graduating in 2008, she returned to her alma mater, Judge Memorial Catholic High School in downtown Salt Lake City to begin her teaching career. For the past two years, Megan has earned a Masters of Education from the University of Utah while still enjoying teaching English to ninth and tenth graders. Megan is excited to join the Curriculum and Instruction Department at the University of Minnesota in the Literacy Education Program Area. Dr. David O’Brien is her adviser and she plans to pursue her interest in Reading Education and Adolescent and Children’s Literature. Megan’s passions include advocating for literacy across the curriculum, teaching comprehension strategies and motivating adolescents to read and enjoy literature.
Wahl named Post-Secondary Counselor Educator of the Year
Educational Psychology professor Kay Herting Wahl was named Post-Secondary Counselor Educator of the Year at the recent MN State School Counselor (MSCA) Conference. Jim Bierma, CSPP doctoral student, was installed as President Elect of MSCA for the 2014-15 academic year.
Closing the achievement gap: Best Academy receives School Award
Ezra Hyland, teaching specialist in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, is pleased to work with Best Academy serving as chair of the school’s Board of Directors. Best Academy is a K-8 Minneapolis based school and one of five schools to be awarded the 2013 Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC) School Award. COSEBOC is a national organization of schools and respected educators, researchers, policy makers, and advocates who focus on promoting and sharing innovative approaches that improve education at schools with significant populations of young men of color. The annual COSEBOC School Awards are awarded to schools with proven success for closing the achievement gap among boys of color. In the award announcement, it was noted that “Best Academy has succeeded in creating an environment that promotes academic success, self-respect, and self-determination for its male students of color”. Using a “gap-closing” educational framework, 82% of Best Academy’s male students scored proficient in reading and 83% scored proficient in math. Best Academy was also recognized because it considers student learning a high priority and a school-wide matter. Everyone takes responsibility and initiative to ensure the well-being of the entire school community. In addition to the award, Best Academy will receive a $10,000 grant. Congratulations to Ezra, the students, and the many stakeholders who have made Best Academy the successful school it is.
Global seminar students publish book and digital stories on South Africa
Since 2010, Nate Whittaker, an academic adviser in CEHD’s TRiO student support services, has taught a global seminar in South Africa over winter break. Students learn about social justice firsthand by participating in service learning at South African youth organizations. Each year Whittaker publishes a book of photographs and narratives documenting the students’ experiences. The 2012-13 book is now available, and Whittaker has created a website for the students’ digital stories.
Along with service learning and excursions in and around Cape Town, the course incorporates significant time for reflection through evening talking-circles, journals, and a class blog. Feedback from students has been consistently positive, with many expressing that the trip is a life-changing experience.
Details on the 2013-14 seminar are posted on the Learning Abroad Center website.
Congrats to the N60 team on another successful Arctic expedition
Congratulations to the North of 60 Expedition team on completing the N60 Arctic expedition in Nunavut, Canada!
From the entire North of Sixty° Expedition team – Aaron, Jeni, Chris, Brad, and Matthew, thank you for following along with our journey. We hope you’ll continue to follow along as students begin posting their own video stories from around the circumpolar Arctic at n60.co.
The North of Sixty project, with it’s mission to collect a tapestry of Arctic Voices have been in the news lately sharing their Arctic expedition and the success of the project. To get an inside glimpse, below are just a few of the interviews and media features.
The North of 60 team includes members of the LT Media Lab and faculty in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Find out more at n60.co.
The 2013 Golden Femur Competition
Murray Jensen, associate professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, recently hosted the spring 2013 Golden Femur competition. The competition is a culminating event for students participating in the PsTL 1135: Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology College in the Schools program. The UCare grant supported program is a year-long curriculum designed to raise awareness about how dietary and life style choices impact health and disease. Nearly 600 juniors and seniors from 20 high schools across Minnesota gathered at the University to compete for the coveted Golden Femur Award. Teams of students presented to judges via table-top displays on the relationships between food choices, obesity, and public health issues such as type II diabetes and atherosclerosis. After evaluating each team’s work, the judges announced the winners. Congratulations to Dover-Eyota High School, the 2013 Golden Femur recipient. Eastview High School was awarded the Silver Scapula and Minnehaha Academy was awarded the Bronze Ulna.
CEHD partners with new Austin school on professional development
For the past 12 months, the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) has partnered with the Austin, MN, school district (APS) to prepare a new STEAM-focused school for all local fifth and sixth graders. CEHD has provided customized professional development — drawing from multiple departments and centers — to support teachers in developing an integrated, trans-disciplinary approach to instruction, with engineering being the thread that ties teaching and learning together.
“While more districts are moving to incorporate STEM-focused instruction [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math], few are integrating the arts in a meaningful way,” says Kara Coffino, coordinator of CEHD’s field-based professional development partnerships. “APS, along with the U of M as its university partner, are building this school from the ground up — literally — with the district supporting physical construction of the school building and the University of Minnesota supporting teacher development and curricular discernment.”
The goals of this innovative partnership include:
- Creating an integrated, trans-disciplinary curriculum.
- Supporting teacher development and preparation to teach in a specialized, high-tech environment by U of M staff and faculty.
- Engaging with community partners to support teaching and learning in and out of the classroom.
“It’s almost unheard of for a Research 1 institution to engage with partners in a truly collaborative manner like this, and it’s something we hope to do much more of in support of our land-grant mission and outreach across the state,” says Coffino.
The final “All Teacher Professional Development” meeting for the 2013-14 academic year, will take place on May 8 in Austin, where teachers who will teach at IJ Holton Intermediate School, school and district leadership, and U of M partners will roll up their sleeves, link theory to practice, and begin the work on aligning instruction across the disciplines to develop rigorous integrated thematic units that focus on a single engineering design problem.
This is phase two of the partnership. Last May, approximately 70 Austin teachers earned master’s degrees in education from the U, taking all classes on-site in Austin.
The Hormel Foundation is providing funding for this project and hopes to use it as an example for other foundations to improve education.
The school opens for classes Sept. 3, with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for Sept. 28.
See recent coverage in the Austin Daily Herald.
Improving student experiences in school: The African American Student Network
Simone Gbolo, MA student in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, presented her thesis research, “Improving student experiences in school: The African American Student Network,” at the Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA) Annual Convention. The African American Student network (AFAM), originally developed to support African American students at the U of MN, was implemented at the high school level to support and create a stronger sense of belonging for African American students. AFAM provided space for 9th-12th grade African American students to discuss their experiences, address concerns, and build community. AFAM participants met once a week for 45 minutes in group discussions that were facilitated by African American administrators. The core outcomes that emerged from the qualitative data suggest that AFAM supports students in a way that affects their ability to cope in their school environment. The data also indicates that AFAM creates a strong sense of belonging for African American students that could potentially influence their academic outcomes.
STEM Colleagues acknowledged at the CEHD’s Assembly and Recognition Ceremony!
Congratulations to STEM Colleagues that were acknowledged at the CEHD’s Assembly and Recognition Ceremony!
Service Recognition
Roger T. Johnson, Retirement
Thomas Post, 45 Years of Service
College Awards
Lesa Covington Clarkson, Community Outreach and Engagement Faculty Award
Bhaskar Upadhyay, Matthew Stark Civil Rights And Civil Liberties Faculty Award”
Congratulations Devarati Bhattacharya- recipient of the Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle Award!
Devarati Bhattacharya, Graduate Research Assistant in Science Education, has been selected to receive an award from the Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle. Devarati’s academic achievements, community involvement, leadership, and passion for your professional career were impressive to the Circle members. The Circle expresses their congratulations in receiving this $2,000 reward.
Founded in 2002, the Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle (WPLC) is celebrating its 10th anniversary during the 2012-13 academic year. The Circle was created to engage interest in philanthropy and channel it into initiatives that support women’s leadership. Its mission is to create a welcoming circle of women that combines its resources to support and develop women leaders and philanthropists through the College of Education and Human Development.
Urban Wilderness Canoe Adventure Program Findings Spotlighted by Mayor and Foundations
Timothy Sheldon, research associate at CAREI, and Dr. Marti Erickson, founding Director of the University of Minnesota’s Children, Youth, & Family Consortium, presented the findings from CAREI’s three-year evaluation of the Urban Wilderness Canoe Adventure (UWCA) Program to Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and several foundation leaders. Over 12,000 Twin Cities youth and their families participated in the program in 2012. Day and overnight canoe trips on the Mississippi River introduce young people to the outdoors, connect them to caring adults, and transform the lives of young people by helping them make lasting connections to the natural world. CAREI’s evaluation of the UWCA program assessed the impact of the program activities on the attitudes and behaviors of participating students. The evaluation found that the program: (a) positively influenced students’ attitudes about the river, the environment, and science; (b) resulted in more positive connections to peers and adults, (c) promoted personal development, and (d) increased leadership skills. For more information, you can access Sheldon’s recent report on the UWCA program evaluation.
Staats receives Morse Alumni Award for outstanding undergrad teaching
Associate Professor Sue Staats is the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning’s most recent winner of the Horace T. Morse University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education. Staats is recognized and respected by her colleagues as a highly innovative and creative scholar, researcher, and instructor.
“Creating pathways for students to discover a personal connection, and then seeing the path they take, is the greatest joy for me as a teacher,” says Staats. “When students can create and explore on their own using math, I know that they’ve learned something.”
Colleagues describe her knack for building assignments that weave skills from different disciplines and give students the chance to experience integrative learning. This, along with her personal warmth, says a former colleague, has a way of “building the confidence of immigrant and refugee students who often [have] difficulties and needs beyond those of other freshmen.” One of the nominators noted that “Sue Staats is a remarkable educator whose teaching is informed by research and whose impact on students goes far beyond the mathematics she helps students learn.”
One of Staats’s many contributions to student success is her work with students in PsTL 1006: Mathematical Modeling and Prediction. “Most of my students are not pursuing a STEM major,” she says. “There is a special responsibility that comes from working with students at the end of their formal mathematical education. For me, the most important experience for these students is to make mathematics personal, to discover ways in which mathematics contributes to their understanding of their own passions.”
Her passion for teaching transcends “a wide range of venues, from personalized classroom activities, to teaching a wide range of classes, to department program development, and increasing statewide opportunities for less-prepared students to enter college,” according to her nomination letter.
“Moments that give me the most happiness are when students find a reason to care about mathematics,” says Staats.
Sue was honored with other University 2012-13 distinguished teaching award winners at a ceremony on April 30 at the McNamara Alumni Center. The award also includes induction in the University’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Congratulations, Sue!
Whittaker earns Josie R. Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice Award
CEHD Student Services adviser Nate Whittaker has been awarded the University’s 2013 Josie R. Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice Award. The award recognizes University faculty, staff, and students who are creating respectful and inclusive living, learning, and working environments.
Whittaker has a long history of working with and advocating for low-income, underrepresented, and disabled people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. He helped develop a new first-year orientation course for TRiO programs, facilitates a global seminar exploring social change in South Africa, and is a community activist fighting for educational access of all people.
He will be honored at a reception on May 7 at the Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) in North Minneapolis. This is the second year in a row that the award has been given to a CEHD Student Services professional.