Debra Ingram, research associate at CAREI, and Tessa Flynn, Manager of Community Engagement at The Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, presented a workshop on the assessment of student-driven, critical discussion at the American Alliance for Theatre & Education National Conference in Lexington, KY. The workshop focused on a new observation protocol for measuring students’ speaking and listening comprehension skills in the theatre’s Neighborhood Bridges program. The protocol was designed by Ingram in partnership with staff at The Children’s Theatre Company, and is aligned with state and national language arts standards. (Photograph courtesy of Nancy Wong).
C&I’s Patsy Vinogradov receives Doctoral Dissertation Grant
The Department of Curriculum and Instruction would like to congratulate Ph.D. candidate Patsy Vinogradov for receiving a Doctoral Dissertation Grant from the The International Research Foundation for English Language Education. This non-profit foundation was started in 1998 by the international TESOL association.
Each year the highest rated Doctoral Dissertation Grant proposal is awarded in the name of the late Russell N. Campbell. Dr. Campbell, a Past President of TESOL, was one of the founding fathers of the Foundation. Vinogradov also receives this honor.
Back to School: Kyla Wahlstrom Discusses Teen Sleep and Learning
Kyla Wahlstrom’s research on school start time and its connection to student learning is a particularly hot topic right now, as teachers, students, and parents prepare for the beginning of a new school year. Wahlstrom has recently been invited to discuss her research on Missouri Public Radio’s morning news program, “Up To Date,” and also with WCCO-AM’s Jordana Green. The interviews highlighted Wahlstrom’s research findings, including the positive effects of sleep on students’ learning and the political difficulties of changing school start times. Related outcomes for family life and teen behavior were also discussed. Wahlstrom is the Director of CEHD’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI). The interviews are available in the archives for the radio stations and Wahlstrom’s published reports on this subject are available on the CAREI website.
C&I’s Dr. Joel Donna receives Bush Fellowship
Dr. Joel Donna (Curriculum and Instruction) has been named a 2012 Bush Fellow by the Bush Foundation. The 2012 class is part of the second cohort of the foundation’s redesigned program. Bush Fellowships are awarded to individuals in order to increase their capacity for and improve their practice of leadership while working with others to solve tough problems in their communities.
Donna’s research focus is on professional development for new science teachers through online learning. During his tenure as a Bush Fellow, Donna intends to “bring together science teachers, educational researchers and other stakeholders in the region to share, refine and make available online the collective instructional wisdom of our science education community to support science teachers and improve science learning for all students.”
To learn more about the Bush Fellowship program please visit their website.
PsTL faculty member Karen Miksch on team that files brief with US Supreme Court: Fisher v. University of Texas
Scholars from 172 universities and research centers in 42 states joined together in a brief summarizing key research on affirmative action for the U.S. Supreme Court. The creation of this Brief of American Social Scientists was a truly collaborative effort among scholars from around the county, who are experts in the field of affirmative action and college access. The project began when Gary Orfield, director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, contacted expert researchers and asked if they would be willing to collaborate in preparing the brief. Karen Miksch, one of the experts contacted, joined the team of 20 researchers convened by the Civil Rights Project to research, draft, and review the brief which was signed by 444 social scientists.
In Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the Supreme Court must decide two central constitutional questions in reaching its ruling, both of which can be addressed by research. This brief focuses on evidence from across the country relating to the University’s consideration of race, as one of many factors in evaluating applicants, and as an essential tool to producing a diverse and integrated educational community. It shows that the University and other institutions would lose educationally critical diversity without such policies given the inequality of opportunity in America’s unequal schools and communities.
C&I’s J.B. Mayo featured in MN Daily Article on Faculty of Color Writing Group
The Minnesota Daily interviewed Curriculum and Instruction’s J.B. Mayo, Jr. for an article on the UMN’s Faculty of Color writing group. Mayo, an assistant professor in the social studies education track, researches multicultural and global education, GLBT Studies, and social justice.
Read full article at the Minnesota Daily.
Redesigned curriculum for teacher candidates debuted this summer
New Common Content courses for CEHD’s initial licensure students debuted this summer as part of the Teacher Education Redesign Initiative (TERI).
The new courses were redesigned from “foundation” courses that teacher candidates typically took before clinical work and student teaching. Common Content courses now span two to three terms, so field experience is embedded in each. Teams of faculty across CEHD departments are developing the courses.
Initial licensure teacher candidates gave positive reviews as they completed the first sequence of three of the redesigned courses this summer:
- EDHD 5000 Cultures, Schools, and Communities
- EDHD 5013 Child and Adolescent Development
- EDHD 5015 Teaching Special Needs Students in Inclusive Settings
EDHD 5000 Cultures, Schools, and Communities, for example, is an energetic, student-focused, active-learning experience. On the first day of the class in June, part of the lesson was delivered by Harriet Bishop, Minnesota’s first public school teacher (played by historical re-enactor Kathryn McKee, in the photo, from the Minnesota Historical Society). Bishop brought the 150 teacher candidates back to her makeshift classroom of 1847, where her students’ languages included English, French, and Ojibwe.
“Teachers are joining a profession with a long history,” says Michael Goh, associate professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, part of the team that developed the course. “We ask the questions: Why schools, and why teach? And how can a teacher lead in a culturally diverse classroom? The course reflects what we believe to be the foundational philosophy of teaching and human relations qualities and behaviors that will be the hallmark of teachers who graduate from CEHD.”
Learn more on the TERI blog about curriculum redesign and the new Common Content courses.
CEHD Alumni Prize Drawing Winners
In the last alumni eConnect newsletter, a prize drawing was announced for Golden Gopher football tickets, U of M t-shirts, and 6″ plush Goldy Gophers. Thank you for the tremendous interest in this drawing! We heard from alums all over Minnesota and around the country, even as far away as California and Florida. We heard from educators, government officials, social workers, business leaders, professional athletes, engineers, and many, many more who are CEHD’s diverse pool of alumni.
Congratulations to the following CEHD alums!
Golden Gopher Football Tickets: Chris D., Ronald A., Blair P., Kerrie S., Patrick D., Paul K., Christy M., Josh S., Cody H., Mary H., Amy S., and Dan C.
U of M T-Shirts: Naheed K., Janet D., Ingrid J., Mike M., Susan M., Brenna S., Roger R., Brian N., and Ryan M.
6″ plush Goldy Gophers: Jules B., Maurice G., Ann D., Jill M., Matthew M., Steve S., Cheryl S., Ann V., Jill J., Lee V., and Katie W.
***alumni prize winners have been notified
Bigelow works with English teachers in Costa Rica
Associate Professor Martha Bigelow was invited by Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) alumna Emilena Rodriguez (M.Ed.) to work with English teachers this summer at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica. Earlier in August, Bigelow conducted a two-day workshop on curriculum design for 40 professors who teach English to undergraduate students of majors other than English.
After the workshop, Bigelow led teams of professors in the development of new syllabi guided by the Common European Framework and relevant themes and genres. These new courses are expected to be revised and implemented in the next academic year.
TRiO McNair Scholars presented impressive research
The 2012 U of M TRiO Ronald E. McNair Scholars presented their research this month at the annual Poster Symposium and U of M Research Symposium. President Kaler and Mrs. Kaler attended the poster symposium along with staff from area senate and congressional offices. Photos from the event are posted here.
The poster sessions highlighted the research efforts of 20 McNair scholars, including eight CEHD undergraduates, and their U of M faculty mentors. The McNair Scholars Program is one of three U.S. Department of Education funded TRiO programs housed in CEHD. The program seeks to increase the doctoral program application, matriculation, and degree attainment by underrepresented and first-generation college students.
The 2012 cohort included students from the U of M Duluth and Rochester campuses, Carleton College, and the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. A complete list of the 2012 scholars and their faculty mentors can be found here.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work and commitment of the 2012 scholars,” says Anthony Albecker, McNair Scholars director. “Scholars not only articulately and confidently shared their research with a wide audience, but had fun doing so. I am also thankful to the many outstanding faculty who have volunteered their time, talent, and research expertise to make graduate school a reality for the McNair Scholars they mentored.”
Albecker notes this is a challenging time, as the U.S. Department of Education has cut $10 million in funding for the McNair programs. This dramatic cut will eliminate a third of all McNair programs across the country. Information about the efforts to restore McNair funding can be found here.
CAREI to evaluate an extensive new education initiative with Twin Cities United Way
The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) was selected as the external evaluator for an extensive new education initiative of Twin Cities Strive in partnership with Greater Twin Cities United Way. The United Way and Strive received a $5 million grant to support a portfolio of replicable, evidence-based youth programs designed to improve kindergarten readiness, third-grade reading proficiency, ninth-grade readiness for upper-level math, four-year graduation rates, and college enrollment rates for between 1,500 and 2,000 low-income youth each year.
This grant was awarded as part of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s national Social Innovation Fund (SIF) competition. CAREI will provide evaluation services for the overall project, as well as for each of the to-be-awarded subgrantee programs. Dr. Michael Michlin will be the principal investigator for this evaluation project.
C&I Ph.D. Candidate, Sam Tanner connects research and instruction in Youth Participatory Action Research
Last Friday, Ph.D. candidate, Sam Tanner (Curriculum and Instruction) invited two students from Roseville Area High School to a “Teaching Multicultural Literature in the Secondary Schools” class. The students, Zach Schroeder and Maggie Strahan spoke about their experiences in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) theatrical investigation into whiteness at their high school. At the event on Friday facilitated by Sam Tanner, the students participated in the class as it worked through discussions of cultural pluralism, critical whiteness, and the literary imagination.
As both the instructor of the course and primary researcher organizing the student project, Tanner found an intersection between the work that he was doing in the high school and his doctoral pursuits. The project is the site of his dissertation and will attempt to understand how YPAR might be utilized through the artifice of theater in order to investigate the study of whiteness in a suburban, public high school.
Mozambique: working with teachers
Jill Trites, senior teaching specialist in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, is spending her summer in Mozambique working with private and public school teachers. She has been observing the 15 primary teachers at the non-profit elementary RAIS School in Mafarinha, Mozambique, and then conferencing with the teachers and the school director.
Some of the issues they are working on include class discipline, lesson planning (organization and preparation), and the use of authentic materials. Many of the teachers have completed a nine-month teaching certificate program, but they did not have many opportunities to student teach during their training. In addition to the work with the RAIS School, Trites will be conducting the same type of observation-conferencing opportunities with several teachers at a nearby public school. It will be very different because the average class size at the RAIS School is 28 while it is 60-65 at the public school.
Students raise money for nonprofit organizations in South Africa
Nate Whittaker, an academic adviser in CEHD’s TRiO student support services, leads a global seminar to South Africa, where students learn about social justice firsthand by participating in service learning with South African nonprofit organizations. Students who participated in last winter’s seminar were inspired to give back to these organizations, and through creative fundraising activities they collected $1,475 for Educo Africa and Afrika Tikkun.
Educo Africa works to reconstruct a culture of human rights and dignity, redirect young people towards positive life-goals, counteract the impact of HIV/AIDS, serve survivors of crime and violence, and support attitudes around the environment. They worked with the University students in developing group cohesion and thinking about best ways to “come in right” to South African townships as American students. Afrika Tikkun is an international NGO that provides education, health, and social services to children, youth, and their families through centers of excellence in South African Townships. The students did 20 hours of service with Afrika Tikkun in Delft Township during the global seminar.
Whittaker is traveling to Cape Town this month and will deliver the funds to the organizations.
C&I Alum accepts assistant professorship at Morgan State University
Dr. Tanetha Grosland (Ph.D. ’11) has accepted an assistant professor position at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. Her research focuses on issues of social justice, equity, and antiracist pedagogy. Grosland recieved her Ph.D. in Culture and Teaching from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
C&I’s Betsy Maloney featured in MPR’s Art Hounds
Each week, Minnesota Public Radio’s Art Hounds features three people from the Minnesota arts community who talk about an upcoming arts event he or she is excited to see.
This week, art education doctoral student Betsy Maloney (Curriculum and Instruction) reminds us that the annual Minnesota Fringe Festival is a great showcase for dance. The Fringe Festival work she’s most looking forward to is Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw’s “Happy Hour” at the Southern Theater.
Maloney teaches dance at the Main Street School of Performing Arts in Hopkins, MN.
Go here for the full MPR story.
Alumna Jerri Evans earns regents outstanding achievement award
Alumna Geraldine “Jerri” Evans received the University of Minnesota Board of Regents Outstanding Achievement Award for her lifetime of work in higher education on Aug. 2 in a ceremony at Eastcliff. This award, bestowed by regents and President Kaler at the ceremony, is conferred only on graduates, or former students of the University, who have attained unusual distinction in their chosen fields or professions or in public service, and who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and leadership on a community, state, national, or international level.
Evans received three degrees from the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), including her Ph.D. in educational administration (’68), M.A. in educational psychology (’65), and B.A. in social science education (’60).
Over the course of her distinguished career, Evans served as president of Rochester Community College, was the first female chancellor of the Minnesota State Community College system (a predecessor to the MnSCU system), state executive director for the Illinois Community College System, and chancellor of the San Jose Evergreen State Community College System in California.
Among her many accomplishments, Evans created unique educational partnerships in Minnesota, earned the highest national leadership positions and awards from the American Association of Community Colleges, and transformed higher education systems and opportunities for students in Minnesota, Illinois, and California.
Photo caption: (left to right) Rebecca Ropers-Huilman, chair, Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development; John Evans, Jerri’s husband; Jerri Evans; Jean Quam, CEHD dean; Regent Maureen Ramirez; President Eric Kaler.
C&I’s Misty Sato discusses new system for measuring student performance
This week the Minnesota Department of Education released statewide assessment results for student proficiency in grades three through eight. The data show incremental but consistent improvement in reading and math scores, particularly for students of color, though wide gaps remain.
Minnesota Public Radio spoke with several experts regarding the state’s efforts to more accurately assess student performance and to close the achievement gap. Associate Professor Misty Sato (Curriculum and Instruction) spoke of the new system’s goals: “This is not just raising students of color up to a level of white students or higher socioeconomic status students. This is moving all kids from moving where they are now to high levels of performance.”
Sato, leader of the college’s Teacher Education Redesign Initiative, was appointed to the state’s Teacher Evaluation Working Group in December. The group was selected by Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius to develop a new evaluation system for teachers. As these assessments are released, the teacher evaluation working group will be examining the state’s systems and will be providing recommendations.
Go here for the full MPR story.
McNair Scholars present their research
Eight CEHD undergraduate students are presenting their research and posters at the U of M TRiO Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program’s Twentieth Annual Poster Presentation and Reception. A total of 20 students have participated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Duluth, and Rochester campuses; the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point; and Carleton College. The students conducted research this summer under the direction of University faculty research mentors. CEHD majors represented include Business and Marketing Education/Human Resource Development, Family Social Science, Kinesiology, and Youth Studies.
All are invited to attend the event on Thursday, August 2, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Coffman Memorial Union – Mississippi Room.
Elementary education’s Carly Smith named Queen of the Lakes for 2013
The Department of Curriculum and Instruction congratulates elementary education student Carly Smith, who has been recognized as the Queen of the Lakes for the 2013 Minneapolis Aquatennial Festival. Produced by the Minneapolis Downtown Council, the Aquatennial Festival is a civic celebration of the City of Minneapolis.
CBS Minnesota featured a story on Smith and others. For more information on the Minneapolis Aquatennial, please visit their website.