At two events—one in the fall and another in the spring—SWE brings 100 to 150 high-school girls and their families to campus for a day of panel discussions, tours, activities (such as making toothbrush robots), and one-on-one time with female College of Science and Engineering students. Read more.
Last week, I was honored to be a keynote speaker at Educational Equity in Action, a first of its kind event held at the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). I have spent my career blurring the lines between academic, teacher, and school leader while advocating that our country shift toward an equity-based educational system. I was encouraged that the event attracted more than 670 education professionals from across the country and the state of Minnesota. It gives me hope that the concept of educational equity – as opposed to educational equality – is gaining momentum in America today.
Making this shift in our thinking and educational policy is vital if we are serious about fulfilling America’s promise of a pluralistic, multi-racial democracy. Read more.
Asha Jitendra, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s special education program, was recently honored with the 2016 University of Oregon College of Education Distinguished Alumni Award.
Dr. Jitendra was selected for her significant contributions to the field of special education, especially her work with schema-based instruction. In a letter to Dr. Jitendra, Randy W. Kamphaus, dean of the University of Oregon’s College of Education, praised Dr. Jitendra’s “direct impact on the lives of children with, or at risk of, disability” and called her work a “blending of high quality scholarship with direct connection to practice… one of the hallmarks of our work at the College of Education.”
The University of Oregon’s Distinguished Alumni Award is given in recognition of alumni who have achieved significant professional, community service or personal accomplishments more than ten years from their graduation date.
The WPLC award is for women graduate students to recognize their achievements and successes in their field of interest. The criteria for the award includes academic achievements, community involvement, leadership, and passion for the academic and professional career of choice.
Kelsey worked as a literacy tutor through the YMCA and St. Paul Public Libraries during her undergraduate career. She credits those experiences to what sparked her interest in supporting students’ learning and development related to reading. During the past couple of years, Kelsey has worked with preschool and elementary-age children who have been diagnosed with autism, which has furthered Kelsey’s interests in reading and comprehension skills in children.
As Kelsey explores career paths, she is interested in supporting children in reading and comprehension skills. She would like to not only support children at an individual level, but would also like to offer resources to teachers to understand the best methods to support students in the classrooms. As a result in receiving this award, Kelsey will be able to present her research at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Society of Text and Discourse in Kassel, Germany in July 2016.
Nora Durkin, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Psychology’s counseling and student personnel psychology program, was recently featured in the University of Minnesota’s Graduate School newsletter, Synthesist, for her work to improve understanding about the causes and consequences of eating disorders and to inform better treatment programs for the broad range of people who suffer from them.
“There is compelling evidence that eating disorder behaviors are used to help regulate strong negative emotions,” Durkin told the Synthesist. “For example, if an individual is feeling ashamed or sad, binge eating might help to reduce such feelings temporarily. This helps to explain why someone might continue to binge eat over time despite many consequences, including weight gain.”
Durkin is this year’s recipient of the Emily Program Fellowship which is given to Ph.D. students in the College of Education and Human Development with a preference for studying eating disorders.
Dr. Kendeou was interviewed for the article and told FABBS, “The factor that carries the largest variability in reading comprehension is reader’s knowledge.” She recommended that children be encouraged to make inferences from a very early age. According to Kendeou, their ability to make inferences and connections assists them in everything from identifying words to extracting meaning from written text.
Nidhi Kohli, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s quantitative methods in education program, and Irene Duranczyk, associate professor in Post Secondary Teaching and Learning are part of a team of researchers who were recently awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study algebra instruction at community colleges. The project investigates the conditions under which algebra courses can be associated with improvements in student learning and performance. It involves six community colleges from three states and focuses on three key algebra topics: linear equations, rational equations, and exponential equations. The results will be used to design programs to improve instruction and to support student success in algebra.
The National Science Foundation invests in evidence-based and evidence-generating approaches to understanding STEM learning; to designing, testing, and studying instruction and curricular change; to wide dissemination and implementation of best practices; and to broadening participation of individuals and institutions in STEM fields. The goals of these investments include: increasing the number and diversity of STEM students, preparing students well to participate in science for tomorrow, and improving students’ STEM learning outcomes.
The WPLC award is for women graduate students to recognize their achievements and successes in their field of interest. The criteria for the award includes academic achievements, community involvement, leadership, and passion for the academic and professional career of choice.
Abigail’s career aspirations are to become employed as an urban high school counselor in the Twin Cities. She is passionate about equity and closing the achievement gap in education. Abigail’s previous community engagement included volunteering abroad in England, selected as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at a middle school in Minneapolis, and offering her time as a mentor for tutoring programs in college.
LeAnne Johnson, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s special education program, recently was awarded the Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle (WPLC) “Rising Star Faculty Award.”
Dr. Johnson was nominated by her colleague, professor and special education program coordinator, Kristen McMaster. In her nomination letter, Dr. McMaster recognized Dr. Johnson for her work to “improve the quality of service delivery to children at risk of long-term behavioral problems – which can have tremendous social, emotional, and academic consequences.” According to Dr. McMaster, Dr. Johnson’s work “seamlessly links research and practice to ensure that critical knowledge is translated successfully into action.”
The WPLC Rising Star Faculty Award recognizes a pre-tenure women faculty member in the College of Education and Human Development who has demonstrated leadership and creativity in an academic area as shown by research, teaching, and service. The recipient receives a $1,000 award for professional development.
Michael Rodriguez, Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s Quantitative Methods in Education program and co-director of the Educational Equity Resource Center, and Julie Sweitzer, director of the College Readiness Consortium and co-director of the Educational Equity Resource Center, recently wrote a commentary featured in MinnPost, “Educational Equity is Minnesota’s most important challenge.”
Julie Sweitzer
In the article, Rodriguez and Sweitzer argue that if we fail to replace the state’s aging “baby boomer” workforce by helping our increasingly diverse student body graduate, “the state economic forecast is grim.”
The co-directors told MinnPost readers that there is no one way to bring about educational equity. The key, they say, is to “focus on what works for whom, in what context and conditions, and develop a culture of continuous improvement that adjusts and tailors effective practices to each setting.”
Rodriguez and Sweitzer invited community members from across the state to be part of the solution by attending the first Educational Equity in Action convening hosted by the University of Minnesota.
Mollie Link has accepted the Robertson Diversity Graduate Fellowship. She was nominated by Amanda Sullivan who will also be her advisor when she begins the school psychology program in the fall.
The Robertson Diversity Graduate Fellowship is a new CEHD new foundation fund that will be used each year to support one additional DOVE nominee who is not awarded at the University level.
Pang Xiong, a new special education student for fall 2016, has accepted the Diversity of Views and Experiences (DOVE) fellowship. Pang was nominated for this award by Dr. Veronica Fleury who, along with Dr. Rose Vukovic, will be her adviser in the program.
“Pang is committed to improving access to educational opportunities for underserved and underprivileged students with autism and their families with a particular focus on educational inequities and the effect of bilingualism in children with autism,” said Dr. Fleury in her nomination. “She is particularly focused on conducting research that has direct implications for Hmong-speaking individuals and other minority populations, which she is uniquely positioned to be able to accomplish given her personal experiences, background, and skills.”
The DOVE is awarded to students based on the strength of their application, the challenges overcome to excel academically, undergraduate research experiences, volunteer experiences that required a long-term commitment, experiences with other communities, honors, academic performance, strength of references, and the strength of the program’s commitment to provide financial support beyond the fellowship year.
Hannah Jacobs, a master’s student in the school psychology program, has accepted a Minority Fellowship Program Fellowship in Services for Transition Age Youth (STAY)! with the American Psychological Association (APA). Through this fellowship, Hannah will receive a $6,000 stipend for one year in addition to trainings, professional development, mentoring, and lifetime access to the APA’s network of over 1,700 fellows.
Now in its third year, the MFP STAY! Fellowship is awarded through a federal grant to the APA form the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Counseling and student personnel and psychology students represented the University of Minnesota at the Minnesota School Counselor Association Annual Conference (MSCA) May 1 – 3, 2016. Over 30 students attended the conference with more than 500 counselors from across the state of Minnesota present. These students engaged in professional development activities and presentations, as well as networked with other school counselors. Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, director of school counseling, attended with her advisees, and currently serves on the MSCA board as the vice president of post-secondary institutions, representing all school counseling training programs in Minnesota.
Students presented several presentations at the Minnesota School Counselor Association Annual Conference (MSCA). Jessica Depuydt, Laura Keogh, and Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman presented on Making the Most of Your Office Space. Emily Colton, Sarah Cronin, and Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman presented on Use Your Noodle When You Use Google. Lastly, Sarah Cronin, doctoral student in CSPP, presented with Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman on the research from her MinnLINK fellowship, Improving the Achievement Gap. Over 500 school counselors attended the conference from across the state of Minnesota.
CSPP students also participated in many activities at the Minnesota School Counselor Association Annual Conference (MSCA) at Madden’s Resort in Brainerd May 1 – 3, 2016. Camille Merwin, Katy Steinbach, Jeanette Vyhanek, Tony Minaglia and Zach Gill ran in the race and represented the University of Minnesota. Tony Minaglia placed first in the event. Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, Director of school counseling, and Jim Bierma, doctoral student, also participated in the event.
Over 60 students, alumni, and supervisors gathered together for an alumni event. Many former students from the counseling and student personnel psychology who are practicing counselors in Minnesota and Wisconsin met and networked with over 30 of the current CSPP students. In addition, practicum supervisors who work or have worked with CSPP students came to the event.
Counseling and student personnel and psychology program student, Tom Allen, was the winner of the Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA) poster competition. Allen is a CSPP doctoral student and presented at the Minnesota Psychological Association Annual Conference (MPA) spring 2016. His poster was entitled, The Changing Landscape of Rural Minnesota: An Examination of Rural Health Clinics and Providers in Minnesota.
Tech start-up FastBridge Learning provides the next generation of classroom assessments—twice as fast and half the cost.
“FAST is made to empower teachers,” says Theodore J. Christ, professor in the school psychology program. “They don’t have to rely on experts form somewhere else — they can collect data and discover what works in their classrooms, with their students, in real time.” Read the full article.
On April 27, the Department of Educational Psychology held its fourth and final colloquium of the 2015-2016 school year. Dr. Art Graesser, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis and is a senior research fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, presented on his research in : cognitive science, discourse processing, artificial procedures, text comprehension, human and computer tutoring, design of educational software, and human-computer interaction. Specifically, Dr. Graesser discussed intelligent systems, conversational trialogues, the Center for Study of Adult Literacy, and PAL3.
Dr. Graesser shared his work with AutoTutor.This intelligent learning system holds conversations with humans in their natural language. This form of one-on-one instruction was created to inspire tutoring strategies, pedagogical agents, and technology that supports learning in the natural language.
He also addressed the conversational trialgoues and the conversational agents which must be considered when designing intelligent learning systems. Some key points Dr. Graesser discussed included the implementation of 20 universal conversational patterns, staging arguments to prompt deeper learning and modeling action, and thought and social interaction.
Finally, Dr. Graesser explained how intelligent pedagogical agents help students learn by holding a conversation in their natural language. Dr. Graesser and his colleagues have developed and tested many of these agent-based learning environments for nearly two decades. When designed well, these agents are sensitive to the learners’ emotions, subject matter knowledge, and other psychological attributes.
The Educational Psychology colloquium series is funded in part by the Yackel Endowment.
The counseling and student personnel and psychology program students participated in the University of Minnesota’s Relay for Life. Relay for Life is an event supporting the American Cancer Society. The goal is to raise money, which goes to supporting patients and families during doctor appointments and treatments and funding cancer research. The University of Minnesota has many researchers funded by the American Cancer Society and this particular event is organized by the student group, Colleges Against Cancer.
At the award ceremony last week, the Council of Graduate Students explained why Dr. Burke was chosen for this award. “Dr. Burke went out of her way to support additional advisees as the program’s number of faculty shrunk. Even with this extra load, her advisees are impressed by her willingness to regularly meet. One nominator wrote, ‘As a result of our advising meetings, I have a heightened confidence in my academic abilities, as well as my ability to serve the needs of others through counseling work.’ She likes to say ‘I am holding your hope for you, until you can hold it yourself.’”
The Council of Graduate Students (COGS) recognizes faculty members for their exceptional contributions to graduate education. Only COGS awards express the appreciation of the graduate student body. The awards are created, nominations made, and winners selected by graduate students. The Outstanding Advising and Mentoring Award is co-sponsored by the Council of Graduate Students and the Student Conflict Resolution Center.
A recent article by School Psychology Quarterly identified the faculty and students in the school psychology program as the most productive in the field for over 100 years of scholarship.
“The emergence and evolution of school psychology literature: A scientometric analysis from 1907 through 2014” reviewed articles from 20 school psychology journals, including: Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology International, and School Psychology Quarterly. The results showed that 10 percent of all articles written were authored by researchers at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of South Carolina, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Austin Texas.
Emeritus professor Sandra Christenson, former University of Minnesota professor (now associate dean for research at the University of Missouri) Matthew Burns, and alumnus Shane Jimerson (now professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara) were noted for their exceptional contributions to the field.
According to program coordinator Amanda Sullivan, “This study is a powerful reminder of the University of Minnesota’s enduring legacy of exceptional scholarly contributions to school psychology. The school psychology program has clearly been a leader in the field for many, many years and our students and faculty continue to do outstanding work.”
Asha Jitendra, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s special education program, was recently honored with the 2016 University of Oregon College of Education Distinguished Alumni Award.
Psychological foundations student, Kelsey Will, has been awarded the Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle Award (WPLC) for graduate students.
Counseling and student personnel psychology student, Abigail Buuck, has been awarded the Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle (WPLC) award for graduate students. 
Hannah Jacobs, a master’s student in the school psychology program, has accepted a Minority Fellowship Program Fellowship in Services for Transition Age Youth (STAY)! with the American Psychological Association (APA). Through this fellowship, Hannah will receive a $6,000 stipend for one year in addition to trainings, professional development, mentoring, and lifetime access to the APA’s network of over 1,700 fellows.
Counseling and student personnel and psychology students represented the University of Minnesota at the Minnesota School Counselor Association Annual Conference (MSCA) May 1 – 3, 2016. Over 30 students attended the conference with more than 500 counselors from across the state of Minnesota present. These students engaged in professional development activities and presentations, as well as networked with other school counselors. Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, director of school counseling, attended with her advisees, and currently serves on the MSCA board as the vice president of post-secondary institutions, representing all school counseling training programs in Minnesota.
CSPP students also participated in many activities at the Minnesota School Counselor Association Annual Conference (MSCA) at Madden’s Resort in Brainerd May 1 – 3, 2016. Camille Merwin, Katy Steinbach, Jeanette Vyhanek, Tony Minaglia and Zach Gill ran in the race and represented the University of Minnesota. Tony Minaglia placed first in the event. Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, Director of school counseling, and Jim Bierma, doctoral student, also participated in the event.
Over 60 students, alumni, and supervisors gathered together for an alumni event. Many former students from the counseling and student personnel psychology who are practicing counselors in Minnesota and Wisconsin met and networked with over 30 of the current CSPP students. In addition, practicum supervisors who work or have worked with CSPP students came to the event. 
Counseling and student personnel and psychology program student, Tom Allen, was the winner of the Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA) poster competition. 
Tech start-up FastBridge Learning provides the next generation of classroom assessments—twice as fast and half the cost.
On April 27, the Department of Educational Psychology held its fourth and final colloquium of the 2015-2016 school year. Dr. Art Graesser, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis and is a senior research fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, presented on his research in : cognitive science, discourse processing, artificial procedures, text comprehension, human and computer tutoring, design of educational software, and human-computer interaction. Specifically, Dr. Graesser discussed intelligent systems, conversational trialogues, the Center for Study of Adult Literacy, and PAL3. 
The counseling and student personnel and psychology program students participated in the University of Minnesota’s Relay for Life. 
Caroline Burke, a faculty member in the Department of Educational Psychology’s counseling and student personnel psychology program, was recently awarded the Outstanding Advising and Mentoring Award by the Council of Graduate Students.