Katie Pekel, Executive Director of Educational Leadership, will be a featured guest on MPR News with Angela Davis on MPR News on Thursday, Dec. 22, from 9-10am. The topic of the show will be reading instruction.
As the Executive Director of Educational Leadership, Dr. Pekel serves as the department’s direct connection between the fields of research and practice in PK-12 education. She leads the Minnesota Principals Academy, the University’s executive development program for school leaders that leads toward doctoral work Dr. Pekel also teaches courses for aspiring school principals and co-coordinates the Executive Ph.D. cohort for educational leaders within the department of Organizational Leadership, and co-directs the U of M’s Urban Leadership Academy.
Dr. Pekel has also worked with the University’s College Readiness Consortium guiding school principals and leadership teams from over 150 schools across the state on their implementation of Ramp-Up to Readiness™, the University’s school-wide college readiness program for students in grades 6-12. She has coordinated two federal research studies at the University through the American Institutes of Research studying Ramp-Up to Readiness™ in approximately 75 schools. Dr. Pekel has served at all levels of K-12 education first as a high school English teacher, as an elementary principal and most recently as a middle school principal for six years in Austin, MN.
Professor Joan DeJaeghere was an invited speaker at Engaging Women in Markets, an online seminar series sponsored by Australian Aid with more than 150 participants from across Southeast Asia. The event, which took place in mid-August, provides an opportunity for attendees and speakers to discuss approaches and models for fostering gender equality, particularly through changing market systems of development. DeJaeghere spoke about the longitudinal research she and her colleagues are conducting for the Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT) project in two regions in Vietnam.
Preliminary findings from the research highlight the importance of understanding women’s aspirations—not only for themselves but also their families and communities—as a critical but overlooked component of most development and gender equality work. The research study has also found that minoritized women have a critical role to play in engaging market actors for more equitable and sustainable development—but many development projects often emphasize provision of resources without engaging women and the local knowledge they already have of market systems. The research is also funded by Australia Aid and will conclude next year.
Congratulations to Alex Klapperich (PhD student, CIDE), who has been awarded the Graduate School’s prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Her dissertation, titled “Contending Purposes of Pre-Kindergarten: A Comparative Case Study of Early Childhood Education Policy in Minnesota,” aims to address a gap in research that explores how investment discourse with respect to Early Childhood Education (ECE) operates as a policymaking strategy that undermines the social justice imperative for ECE. She plans to explore how policymakers employ investment discourse and contrast their vision of ECE with that of educators, parents, and pre-K students. She will share the findings from this dissertation research to demonstrate the unique insights and transformative possibilities that emerge from consulting children regarding their schooling.
Klapperich became interested in engaging children in research after teaching kindergarteners English in Korea. She holds a master’s in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and a master’s in Early Childhood Studies from Ryerson University. After graduating, she plans to continue to pursue research as a tenure-track faculty member, whose work focuses on comparative studies of ECE and seeks to expand strategies for engaging in research with young students regarding education policy.
Klapperich, whose primary advisor is Roozbeh Shirazi, is the third OLPD student to receive the DDF in as many years (Tiago Bittencourt and Lisa Kaler received the award in 2019 and 2020, respectively).
Peter Demerath, Sara Kemper, Eskender Yousuf, and Bodunrin Banwo
A group of CEHD faculty, staff, and graduate students recently published an op/ed in Minnpost which aims to emphasize the importance of building trust between students and educators as K-12 schools return to in-person learning.
Peter Demerath, OLPD Associate Professor; Sara Kemper, CAREI Research Associate; Eskender Yousuf, OLPD PhD student; and Bodunrin Banwo, OLPD adjunct instructor and PhD alumnus drew upon their qualitative research collaboration at Harding High School in St. Paul to inform their arguments in the op/ed.
In the piece, the authors argue that educators build trust by responding to six unspoken queries they had learned were often on the minds of their students: “Why are you here?,” “How much do you know and care about me?,” “How much do you respect me?,” “How real are you?,” “Do you know how to help me learn?,” and “What are you willing to do to help me?”
The award recognizes dedicated support of public education and outstanding research in areas of great importance to the member school districts of AMSD. The organization specifically cited Rodriguez and Alexander for their research in support of Reimagine Minnesota, social emotional learning, English learner funding, and geographic cost differentials as having been tremendously valuable in advancing the discussion to reform education systems and ensure each and every child receives an equitable and excellent education.
The awards will be formally presented on October 2 by the AMSD Board of Directors.
Educators representing 409 school districts and charter schools responded to the survey in May and June 2020
A new, statewide examination from CEHD shows primary and secondary educators are concerned about continuing distance learning in the fall, students’ access to technology. However, they also expressed worry about the feasibility or safety of returning to in-person learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minnesota PK-12 Distance Learning Survey, which collected responses from 13,077 teachers, support professionals, and administrators, was conducted in May and June 2020. In the survey, educators responded to questions about the successes and challenges associated with distance learning and provided additional context through open-ended answers.
The survey found that some educators described the end of the 2019-2020 academic year as “emergency work.” However, should distance learning continue, other educators indicated the work they conducted in the spring made them better prepared and equipped to teach and set expectations for the upcoming school year.
“Overall, what we found is that educators in our state are worried, yet optimistic about what fall will look like for them and their students,” said Katie Pekel, lead researcher on the survey. “However, there is an inherent tension within our educators. They know the benefits of in-person learning and challenges that need to be addressed with distance learning, but they want everyone — including their students and their families — to be safe from the virus.”
Distance learning in spring of 2020 Ninety-nine percent of educators who responded to the survey stated they included an online component to their instruction in the spring of 2020. Educators reported solely utilizing real-time instruction via an online setting; only assigning online learning tasks the students conducted at their own pace; and a mix of both methods of instruction.
Reflected in the survey results are three primary areas educators say they and families need additional assistance in:
To address these concerns, educators suggested limiting the number of online platforms to make it easier for families to support students; provide dedicated training and technical support to families and students who need additional support in using platforms; and clearly communicating expectations for attendance or participation in distance learning.
“Educators also expressed worry about the inequities distance learning highlighted and if these inequities would become larger,” said Kimberly Gibbons, director of CEHD’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement and researcher on the survey. “Access to technology was the most frequently cited concern, but educators also named a number of other challenges, including providing services to special education students and English as a second language learners.”
“While teachers selected technology and connecting with students and families as their most successful areas during distance learning, these were areas educators expressed an overwhelming desire for more support in the answers to their open-ended answers,” said Gibbons. “This could be the result of a mindset where educators felt successful, but also feel like they could improve in this area.”
Support professionals and administrators expressed similar challenges with supporting the needs of students with disabilities, supporting students’ mental health needs, and assessing student learning as challenges during distance learning.
“Ninety-four percent of the educators who responded to our survey have some level of worry that the pandemic is interfering with their ability to do their job,” said Pekel. “If distance learning is to continue in the fall, it can be more effective if educators can obtain the resources they need to better connect with students and their families.”
The Minnesota PK-12 Distance Learning Survey was funded by the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development (CEHD).
Rashné Jehangir, OLPD Associate Professor of Higher Education and Director of Undergraduate Studies, was invited to give the keynote address at the First Generation Student Success Conference held virtually by NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators) on June 27. Her talk used PhotoVoice Participatory Action Research Data to inform praxis from programs, pedagogy, and policy that better supports and engages the capital of students who are first in their family to go to college.
Additionally, Jehangir was invited to give the plenary address at the Conference on Student Success in Higher Education, also hosted by NASPA, on June 30. This event convened the student success-focused community to engage in important conversations around four key themes: Assessment, Persistence, and Data Analytics; Closing the Achievement Gap; First-Generation Student Success; and Student Financial Wellness.
Jehangir’s plenary was titled “Toward Full Citizenship for All Students in Higher Education: Mapping a Path Forward.”
Rashné Jehangir, OLPD, was recently named to the national Center for First-generation Student Success Advocacy Group. Part of NASPA, The Center Advocacy Group is comprised of scholars and practitioners, referred to as Advocates, deeply knowledgeable about and committed to the success of first-generation college students. An official entity, Advocates are actively engaged in the development of the Center for First-generation Student Success and support the Center staff through service, liaison roles, and representation as local, regional, and national events.
Jehangir is the CEHD faculty chair and leads the Steering Committee for the 2020 First Gen Institute, which will take place in November 2020.
Sang Won Byun, PhD student in OLPD (Human Resource Development), received an award in August at the annual conference of the Academy of Management, held in Boston, for having the most promising dissertation proposal.
His project, “Ethical Leadership Development: An Examination of the Effects of Spiritual Practices and Intercultural Sensitivity,” investigates the effects of spiritual practices on ethical leadership and the moderating effects of intercultural sensitivity on the relationship between spiritual practice and ethical leadership.
Trygve Throntveit and Tania Mitchell have been awarded $35,000 from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) to support a two-day, international workshop for scholars committed to weaving civic purpose throughout the academic enterprise.
“Civics Studies: The University as Civic Catalyst” (November 13-14, 2020) will scrutinize, criticize, and build upon the emerging field of Civic Studies to explore the potential of higher education to support anyone and everyone seeking to promote the exercise of self-determination, self-governance, and civic agency (i.e., the capacity for co-creative, publicly significant work).
Throntveit and Mitchell are working with Harry Boyte of Augsburg University and Shigeo Kodama of the University of Tokyo and have secured commitments from participants in Japan, South Africa, and several US states.
Members of the 2019 Twin Cities Cohort of the MNPA celebrate completion of their work.
Three cohorts of students—from Fergus Falls, Staples, and the Twin Cities, respectively—recently graduated from the Minnesota Principals Academy. Participants, who are principals and administrators at schools across the state, presented their Action Learning Projects at mini-conferences held in Fergus Falls on June 12 and in Burton Hall on June 21.
New cohorts (one in the Twin Cities and one based in Marshall, Minnesota) will begin in August and continue through June, 2021.
The Academy, directed by Katie Pekel, OLPD, also recently received a legislative appropriation of $200,000 per year for 2020 and 2021 during a special session of the Minnesota State Legislature.
The Minnesota Principals Academy was created in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association, the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals, and the University of Minnesota. The Academy partners with the National Institute of School Leadership, utilizing their robust and research proven curriculum in addition to units created at the U of M. Participant registration fees are supported through funding from the Minnesota Legislature and participant districts. The Academy has been based in OLPD since 2013.
To learn more about the Academy, see “The Power of Principals,” from CEHD Connect magazine, spring 2019.
Beth Lewis, PhD, professor and director of the School of Kinesiology and director of the Exercise & Mental Health Laboratory (EMHL) has been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to serve as a member of the Psychosocial Risk and Disease Prevention Study Section, Center for Scientific Review. Her term will begin July 1, 2019 and end June 30, 2023.
Members review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations on these applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory council or board, and survey the status of research in their fields of science. These functions are viewed to have great value to medical and allied research in this country. Lewis was selected on the basis of her demonstrated competence and achievements in her scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors. Membership represents a major commitment of professional time and energy as well as a unique opportunity to contribute to the national biomedical research effort.
“I want to take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of Dr. Lewis’s participation in assuring the quality of the NIH peer review process, and to express the NIH appreciation of your institution’s support of its activities,” said Noni Byrnes, PhD, director of the Center for Scientific Review.
Richard Michael Paige, associate professor emeritus of international and intercultural education, passed away on November 9 at the age of 75. Paige co-founded the innovative and ground-breaking comparative and international development education master’s and PhD programs in CEHD.
R Michael Paige
Paige was born in
Madison, Wisconsin, and grew up in Los Angeles. After college, he served in the
Peace Corps and worked as a Peace Corps trainer in Hawaii. He went on to
receive a master’s and PhD from Stanford University before joining the
University faculty in 1977. He first served as associate director of the
international student adviser’s office and played a critical role in shaping
what became International Student and Scholar Services.
Paige excelled at research and training. He contributed to several of the most renowned research studies on study abroad outcomes, including the landmark Study Abroad for Global Engagement (SAGE). His leadership was central to development of the Maximizing Study Abroad series of books and materials used around the world, which emphasize the role of intercultural and language learning in study abroad.
Over the years, Paige served as a gregarious adviser, colleague, and friend to many in the field of international and intercultural education. He was an instructor for the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) qualifying seminar, advised many graduate students in CEHD’s Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, and worked with colleagues around the world to advance the field. In 2017, Paige received the University’s Award for Global Engagement: Distinguished Global Professor.
Paige is survived by his wife, Barbara King of Dallas, his brother Steven in California, and many more relatives and friends around the world. Services were held in Pennsylvania on February 22, and a celebration of his life for the Twin Cities community was held Sunday, March 31, 2019, in St. Paul.
Hayley Niad, PhD student in the CIDE program, was recently recognized by the International Literacy Association as a member of their global “30 Under 30” class for 2019, which celebrates the rising innovators, disruptors, and visionaries in the field.
“I have always been very passionate about the study of languages, and the ways in which the ability to read can be an enjoyable activity that opens up pathways for further life opportunities,” Niad stated to the ILA. “I take great joy in witnessing young children across Maputo province enthusiastically learning to read using materials I have helped to write, and in training teachers to develop confidence in teaching literacy.”
Niad began as a project manager with Cambridge Education in 2016, and took on more responsibilities with technical delivery over time: “I was inspired through my work in the field to undertake further study (hence the PhD) that would allow me to offer more expertise on international development education in practice, now focusing on the inclusion of children with disabilities in low-resource school settings.”
Department of Educational Psychology school psychology faculty Amanda Sullivan and alum Daniel Osher recently published a study on policy analysis on minority disproportionality in special education. The study, appearing in Exceptional Children, explores the tensions in federal policies and resultant interpretations in the government and courts, offering recommendations for schools and districts to support equity.
Dan is a school psychologist in South Washington County Schools and a former fellow of Project PRIDES, a federally funded leadership grant, led by Sullivan and assistant professor Faith Miller, to prepare school psychologists for research-based practice to support equity in diverse settings.
Amanda Sullivan, associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s school psychology program, along with school psychology PhD student Jordan Thayer and alum Shanna Sadeh recently published a study on involvement of teens with disabilities in school, health, social service, and juvenile justice sectors.
The study appears in the journal Remedial and Special Education and shows the continued role of schools as the primary, and often sole, provider of services for these adolescents along with high rates of involvement with health, social services, and juvenile justice. The study points to the need for coordinated collaboration among systems and providers to support positive outcomes for these students.
Susan Walker is an associate professor in the Dept. of Family Social Science.
Susan Walker, associate professor of Family Social Science, will have a major role at the European Early Childhood Research Association conference in Budapest.
She will present her research and chair a symposium on technology integration in family education and engagement, as well as give a “PED” (a TED-styled talk) on “The Evolution of Trust” about building relationships with parents in education.
EECERA is an independent, self-governing, international association which promotes and disseminates multi-disciplinary research on early childhood and its applications to policy and practice and its annual conference is the largest early childhood research conference in Europe.
A critical approach to technology’s impact
Walker is among several Family Social Science faculty members who study technology and its impact on families and family relationships. Her research supports her teaching on the topic in her class, “Technology in Parenting and Family Relationships.” In the course students examine the role of information and communication technologies in family life and assess their use of technology as individuals, members of families and as future family professionals.
“The course emphasis incorporates current events so students really get an understanding of ethics, data security, and digital equity,” says Walker. “There’s a lot of in-class discussions and activities so students are able to see technology use from community-building and social justice perspectives.”
Walker’s course meets the requirements for the “Technology and Society Theme” and prepares students to understand, evaluate, and respond effectively to current and future technological changes that will shape their personal and work lives.
Lynne Borden, Ph.D., professor of Family Social Science.
Lynne Borden, professor in Family Social Science, is being honored with a 2018 College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences (ACES) Alumni Association Career Achievement Award from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The Career Achievement Award recognizes graduates from the College of ACES who have had exceptional professional achievement and/or made extraordinary humanitarian contributions. This award recognizes her outstanding record of achievements as a scholar and leader in her field. She will receive the award on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at the College of ACES College Connection reception.
Lynne Borden joined the University of Minnesota in 2013 to Head the Department of Family Social Science and returned to the FSoS faculty in July 2018. She previously had served at the University of Arizona, Tucson, as the Thomas W. Warne Professor of Excellence in Youth Development in the Norton School of Family Consumer Sciences, and as a faculty member and extension specialist in the Division of Family Studies and Human Development. She also served at Michigan State University as a member of the faculty and extension specialist as well as the State Leader of 4-H Youth Development, Children, Youth and Family Programs.
“Lynne’s scholarship stands out as an exemplar of building and sustaining productive and impactful partnerships with community-based programs,” said Jodi Dworkin, Professor and Interim Head of the Department of Family Social Science. “Her work improves the ways families live and work and contributes to the training of the next generation of scholars to be innovative as their research improve families’ lives.”
Driven to Discover
Borden’s research and discovery endeavors to better understand the relationships young people have in various contexts and how those relationships affect their overall development. Over the course of her academic career, she has been awarded government, private and foundation grants in excess of seventeen and a half million dollars to support her work.
Specifically, her research agenda has focused on community-based programs and the role of these organizations in promoting the positive development of young people and their families. Working in partnership with community-based programs, Borden’s research helps organizations enhance their ability to better meet the needs of those they serve with data that allows them to make programmatic and policy changes.
Publications and presentations
She has written numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, conference presentations, and extension materials, as well as technical reports and newsletters for the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture. Borden has also edited or contributed chapters to 23 books on youth development, youth programming, and public policy. She has addressed youth development issues at national and international conferences, including the International Conference on Experiential Learning Conference in Finland, the Annual International Conference on Advances in England, and the International Agricultural and Extension Education conference in Dublin, Ireland.
Community service and honors
Currently, Borden is a member of the Board of Human Science and the Sub-Committee on Social Science for the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy for the Association for Public and Land Grant Universities. Previously she served on the U.S. Interior Department’s Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council and chaired the Society for Research on Adolescence’s Special Interest Group on Youth Development Programs as a Context for Adolescent Development.
She has been honored with an Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Outstanding Engagement Award, a University of Arizona Alumni Association Honorary Alumnus Award, and the University of Arizona’s Extension Faculty of the Year Award.
