CSPP student receives Minnesota School Counseling Association Potential Counselor Award

May 8, 2015

Marin Thuen, Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology student, is a recent recipient of the Minnesota School Counseling Association Potential School Counselor Award. She was recognized at the MSCA Conference in early May and selected over graduate school counseling students from across the state.

Thuen joined the University of Minnesota’s CSPP Educational Psychology program because she heard great things about the program and wanted to live in Minneapolis. Thuen is becoming a school counselor because she wants a job where she can make a difference.

Thuen is passionate about social justice and hopes to help close the educational achievement gap. She likes to help young people navigate adolescence, support them through their academic careers, and discover their talents and strengths. Thuen finds school counseling “very rewarding” and “an excellent opportunity to work with great students, families, and colleagues.”

During her time in the CSPP program, Thuen has worked with Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman. This year, she focused her studies on school counselor effectiveness. Thuen will graduate in May with a master’s degree. Following graduation, she will pursue her dream of becoming a school counselor.

We are pleased to honor this deserving recipient and wish Marin Thuen the best in her future endeavors!

CSPP student, Emily Colton, awarded Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle Scholarship

May 7, 2015

Emily Colton, M.A. student in the Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology program in the Department of Educational Psychology, was selected to receive a Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Award, which will provide $2,000 toward her tuition next year.

For many years, Colton has volunteered to tutor children and adolescents. During her undergraduate career at Middlebury College, she mentored elementary school children, volunteered as a tour guide, and co-instructed a preschool Sunday school class at a church in Minneapolis. As a senior, Colton was became head peer writing tutor at Middlebury, supervising 80 other tutors.

In May 2016, Colton will graduate with a master’s degree and plans to become a school counselor. “I want to build a sense of school community and help students pursue their interests – no matter the gender roles typically associated with them,” she said.

Colton will receive her award in a ceremony at the Town and Country Club in St. Paul on June 16. She was nominated by her advisor, Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, Director of School Counseling.

The Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle, founded in 2002, supports women’s leadership and philanthropy through the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development. Each year, the Circle selects students for educational scholarship awards based on their exemplification of the Circle’s mission.

University hosts first-ever multicultural student leadership retreat

May 7, 2015

Some of our state’s brightest high school students got an up-close and in-depth look at the University of Minnesota at the U’s first-ever multicultural student leadership retreat.

Six dozen high school juniors spent the first weekend of May on campus, making friends with students from other diverse backgrounds, engaging in interactive projects, and developing leadership skills that will serve them well as they approach their college years—and beyond.

Read the full article.

APA-CoA renews school psychology program accreditation

May 5, 2015

The school psychology program in the Department of Educational Psychology has once again been accredited by the APA Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA). According to the APA, this accreditation recognizes doctoral programs that provide broad and general training in scientific psychology and in the foundations of practice, and have as a goal to prepare students for the practice of professional psychology. The program will undergo its next accreditation review in 2021.

“The seven year accreditation is a credit to the department, college, and university, and particularly to the school psychology program and faculty – especially program coordinator, Dr. Amanda Sullivan – who has worked hard both to redesign and explain the program to APA. The APA’s decision is gratifying and affirming of the quality of our program,” said Department of Educational Psychology chair Geoffrey Maruyama.

In 2014, the Department of Educational Psychology trained 13 school psychologists 100% of whom found jobs after graduation.

Dr. Sullivan attributes the program’s success to a number of key partners, “The renewal of the program’s APA accreditation reflects the faculty’s continued commitment to the highest quality training for psychologists, as well as department and college’s ongoing support to make this possible. We are grateful to the faculty throughout the department who help to ensure our students are provided with cutting edge, research-based curriculum consistent with the commission’s standards and to the school psychologists throughout the community who are the backbone to our field training.”

APA-CoA is recognized by both the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, as the national accrediting authority for professional education and training in psychology.

“With the program’s dedication to this training and research, we will surely remain a leader in the field,” said Dr. Sullivan.

Kohli published in three prestigious educational psychology journals

May 4, 2015

Nidhi Kohli, assistant professor in quantitative methods of education in the Department of Educational Psychology, has had research published in three highly regarded journals this year. These studies, published in the Journal of School Psychology, Psychological Methods, and Psychometrika, focus on the development and application of statistical models to examine nonlinear patterns of change in individual behavior over time.

“I’ve always been interested in development. I haven’t experienced a constant rate of change in my own learning; we all learn at different rates,” she said.

Dr. Kohli’s Psychological Methods and Psychometrika articles explore the estimation of nonlinear functions to track student development that exhibits distinct phases of growth. Her School Psychology article, co-authored by associate professor in school psychology, Dr. Amanda Sullivan, applies this research to study differences in mathematics achievement trajectories for students with or without learning disabilities.

“What if a child doesn’t behave like the majority?” said Dr. Kohli, “If we can predict when students are ready for the next phase, we can time our interventions to ensure students get the most out of their education.”

Frank Wilderson Jr. honored by Turning Point, featured in Star Tribune

April 29, 2015

On April 17, Department of Educational Psychology emeritus faculty member, Frank Wilderson Jr., was honored by Turning Point, an African American social services organization known for its holistic approach to counseling and treatment that has served the Minneapolis community since 1976.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Wilderson was recognized for his efforts to make the University a more hospitable campus for both black students and faculty and for his research of African-American mental health issues.

Read the full article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

CSPP student awarded 2015 Summer Early Career Investigators Fellowship

April 24, 2015

First year Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology (CSPP) Master’s student, Emma Crawford, was awarded the 2015 Summer Early Career Investigators Fellowship by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Personalized Prevention Research (CPPR) in children’s mental health.

Crawford’s project is under the direction of Ken Winters, Professor & Director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research. Her work will examine parent and engagement variables in adolescent drug prevention.

The Department of Educational Psychology would like to recognize Emma Crawford as recipient of this outstanding award.

Kendeou named ‘Most Promising Advisor’ by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly

April 22, 2015

Pani Kendeou, associate professor in psychological foundations of education with the Department of Educational Psychology, has been selected to receive the 2015 Advising and Mentoring – Most Promising Advisor Award by the Graduate Student Assembly (GAPSA). The award will be presented to her in a ceremony on May 7 at Coffman Memorial Union.

According to GAPSA, the Advising and Mentoring award acknowledges University of Minnesota advisors’ efforts to help and advise students. One of the youngest advisors to receive this award, Dr. Kendeou was nominated by her students for her commitment to their personal and professional success.

Kendeou joined the Department of Educational Psychology in 2013 from the Neapolis University Pafos, Cyprus. She is associate editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology and serves on the editorial boards of Scientific Studies of Reading, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Learning and Instruction, Discourse Processes, and Reading Psychology. She is also a member of the European Association of Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the Society for Text and Discourse (ST&D), the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR), and the Psychonomic Society.

Alex Zeibot, teaching specialist in educational psychology, named 2015 Bush Fellow

March 17, 2015

Alex Zeibot, American Sign Language (ASL) teaching specialist in the Department of Educational Psychology, was recently awarded a Bush Fellowship in Education.

Alex recognizes that Deaf students who graduate from high school have a median reading level a few grades behind their hearing peers and learn literacy skills through entirely different brain processes. He plans to use his fellowship to earn his Ph.D. and develop effective curriculum that helps Deaf children overcome this literacy gap.

“I am honored and humbled to be part of this extraordinary achievement and excited about the new journey I am about to embark on,” Alex said.

Alex earned his bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet and master’s in Deaf education from the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota.

The Bush Foundation awards fellowships to leaders who are active learners of outstanding character and a record of success, and who could benefit from intensive development through self-designed or academic programs.

Learn more about Alex’s Bush Fellowship.

CSPP school counseling students partner with Department of Human Services

March 9, 2015

This spring, Educational Psychology’s Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, Director of School Counseling, and the CSPP School Counseling students, have started an initiative with the Minnesota Department of Human Services Foster Care Programs. Dr. Ohrtman and her students developed resources to be used by foster children across the state of Minnesota on topics of “Choosing the Right School,” “Paying for College,” and ” Life after College.” These resources will help students in all 99 counties in the state and will be updated yearly in the future by CSPP graduate students. CSPP students that participated are pictured (front row) Kelly Bloss, Erik Torgerson, and Rebecca Zabinski; (second row) Bianka Pineda, Rachel Bode, Marin Thuen, Megan Morinville, and Tracy Buettner; (not pictured) Lara Woyno.

CSPP students and adviser participate in Minnesota School Counseling Association student task force

March 6, 2015

In late January, Educational Psychology’s CSPP Masters students Rachel Bode, Emily Colton, and Marin Thuen met with other school counseling graduate students from across the state of Minnesota to develop and create ways to have graduate students become more involved in the Minnesota School Counseling Association. Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, director of school counseling and MSCA vice president of post secondary institutions, led the group to collaborate together on ways to involve graduate students more in legislative changes, annual conference activities, as well as develop ways to communicate across the school counseling programs in the state. The group consisted of representatives from St. Cloud State, Adler, Winona, and the University of Minnesota. CSPP students volunteered their time and will continue to work on projects throughout the coming year to help all graduate students across the state.

Rodriguez quoted in MPR article on Minnesota’s lagging graduation rates for students of color

February 19, 2015

Michael Rodriguez, Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development and professor of quantitative methods in education in the Department of Educational Psychology, was recently quoted in the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) article, “MN near bottom in on-time graduation for students of color” by Tim Post.

“When kids drop out of high school their employment opportunities decrease dramatically, their income opportunities decrease dramatically,” said Rodriguez, who has studied the phenomenon. “They’re less likely to engage in good health, and then they become parents and then those children grow up in high poverty.”

“Not only does that hurt individuals, it’s a drag on the entire state economy,” he said.

Read the full article.

Educational Psychology doctoral candidates invited to join prestigious program

February 6, 2015

The Department of Educational Psychology’s doctoral candidates in Special Education Program and School Psychology, Amy Lein & Yvette Anne Arañas, have been invited to join the seventh cohort of the Division for Research Doctoral Student Scholars (DRDSS). Both students are two of 11 scholars selected through a nationally competitive review process. The program is designed to help doctoral student scholars add to their knowledge of research and put them in touch with other scholars across the country. Lein and Arañas will participate in three virtual seminars and on‐line forums during this academic year, culminating in a final colloquium that brings students and researchers together in a session dedicated to graduate student development at the 2015 CEC convention in San Diego, CA.

Dr.McGrew authors two chapters in 2015 AAIDD Death Penalty Manual

January 30, 2015

The Department of Educational Psychology’s Lecturer, Dr. Kevin McGrew, authored the chapters on “Intellectual Functioning” and the “Norm Obsolescence: The Flynn Effect” in the new definitive manual on assessment and diagnosis issues surrounding death penalty cases for individuals with intellectual disabilities (aka., Atkins cases).

This book is the authoritative resource on the application of diagnostic information concerning intellectual disability (ID) in death penalty cases. In a landmark decision in Atkins v. Virginia in 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that executing someone with ID is a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. In its 2014 decision, Hall v. Florida, the Court ruled that, while states have the right to establish their own rules for handling Atkins cases, they cannot ignore scientific and medical consensus regarding intelligence and the nature and diagnosis of ID. The Court rejected the use of an IQ test score of 70 as a bright-line cutoff for determining ID and rules that all evidence pertinent to the claim, including adaptive behavior assessments, should be considered.

This publication provides a comprehensive and cogent resource for the use of the range of professionals involved in the determination process for intellectual disability within the criminal justice system. The following are among the critical topics addressed: foundational considerations, including diagnostic criteria, the definition of ID, the analyses of Atkins cases; assessment considerations; intellectual functioning, including IQ testing and the Flynn effect; adaptive behavior; and related topics, such as cultural and linguistic factors, competence to waive Miranda rights and to stand trial, retrospective diagnosis, malingering, comorbid disorders, educational records, and professional issues.”

To learn more about this topic, visit the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Maruyama featured in article on importance of college, community collaboration for first-generation students

January 30, 2015

Geoffrey Maruyama, chair of the Department of Educational Psychology, describes how community and academic partnerships provide necessary support for first-generation students in an article published by Academic Impressions.

“It’s critical that first-generation students and their families see the connection between their learning and their community. Often, these students arrive at college with idealism: they are going to get an education and then solve the world’s problems. But they don’t see immediate connection between the classes they’re taking and world problems…or their community’s problems,” says Maruyama.

In the article Maruyama shares how, through a $2.8 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Minnesota is working with five other research universities to develop educational programming and curriculum to better serve under-represented students.

Read the full article on Academic Impressions’ website.

Read “$2.8 million grant supports research to bridge cultural divides for underrepresented college students.”

Kendeou receives Early Career Impact Award

January 28, 2015

Panayiota Kendeou, associate professor of Psychological Foundations of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology, has been selected to receive an Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS). The award will be presented to her at the 2015 Society for Text & Discourse Annual Meeting later this year.

Given to FABBS members during their first 10 years post-Ph.D., this award recognizes scientists who have made major contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior.

According to FABBS’s website, “Dr. Kendeou is widely published in the areas of reading comprehension, reading development and conceptual change. She conducts cross-sectional and longitudinal studies with both children and adults, using methods that exhibit an impressive variety and sophistication, including the use of verbal protocols, reading time, and comprehension and cognitive measures.”

Fleury receives Grant-in-Aid

January 14, 2015

Department of Educational Psychology assistant professor Veronica Fleury was awarded a Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship from the Office of the Vice President for Research.

The $39,000 grant will help fund Fleury’s project to understand the shared reading needs of children with autism spectrum disorders and their caregivers.

Fleury joined the Department of Educational Psychology last fall from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Symons named Fellow of American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

January 12, 2015

Frank Symons, Ph.D., associate dean for Research and Policy in the College of Education and Human Development and professor of special education in the Department of Educational Psychology, has been named Fellow of AAIDD for his contributions to the field of intellectual disability. Symons is one of only ten individuals who will receive this designation at AAIDD’s Annual Meeting, to be held June 1-4, 2015, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Formerly AAMR — American Association on Mental Retardation, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) is the oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization of professionals and citizens concerned about intellectual and developmental disabilities.

School Psychology alum recently awarded Senior Scientist Award

December 22, 2014

Robert Pianta, School Psychology Program alum, was recently awarded the Senior Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association’s Division 16. In his acceptance speech, he reflected on the critical role of school psychologists in public education, and the value of this own training here at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Pianta is the dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, the Novartis Professor of Education, founding director of the Curry School’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL), professor of psychology at the UVa College of Arts & Sciences, and director of the National Center for Research in Early Childhood Education. His research focuses on teacher-student interactions and relationships and on the improvement of teachers’ contributions to students’ learning and development. He is the author of more than 250 articles, 50 book chapters, and 10 books, and has been a principal investigator on research and training grants totaling over $55 million.

CEHD News Sarah Jergenson

CEHD News Sarah Jergenson