College honors educators and students from UF, local schools for 'outreach scholarship'

The University of Florida College of Education recently honored
educators and students from UF and the Alachua County school district
whose scholarly outreach activities contribute to improved schools and
increased student learning or address important social and community
issues.

The honors are based on the "scholarship of engagement" philosophy, or
outreach scholarship done for the public good. The research-intensive
concept is a burgeoning movement in higher education that UF education
Dean Catherine Emihovich is infusing as a core principle of a
faculty-led transformation of the college’s research, teaching and
public service programs.

The college recently hosted its third annual Scholarship of
Engagement banquet to recognize several local teachers, principals,
school district administrators, university faculty and UF education
students whose scholarly activities are yielding an immediate positive
impact on teaching and learning in the classroom. Emihovich also
recognized this year’s College of Education student scholarship recipients and the donors who fund their endowed scholarships.

Those receiving Scholarship of Engagement Awards are:

Katherine Dixon, Principal at Williams Elementary (second from left)
receives the Scholarship of Engagement School District award from Dean
Catherine Emihovich and her nominators, Holly Lane and Alyson Adams.

• School District Scholarship of Engagement Award
  Katherine Dixon, principal of Williams Elementary School

  Dixon has used her position as principal of Williams Elementary School
  in east Gainesville as a vehicle for educational reform. She led her
  school in improving from a state-designated D grade to a B. Williams
  Elementary was recently recognized as the top Success for All school
  for having the highest gain in scores among all Florida schools, as
  reported by the Success for All Foundation. She has established several
  partnerships with literacy and school-improvement programs at the UF
  College of Education.

• P.K. Yonge School Faculty Scholarship of Engagement Award
  Nancy Dean, teacher and UF assistant professor of education at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School

  Dean was cited for helping teachers improve student achievement in
  their classrooms by assessing and changing their own teaching methods.
  Reading-related research projects she’s led have drawn more than
  $900,000 in grant support for literacy issues. She created and teaches
  a leadership-through-reading program in which high school students are
  trained to tutor younger children in reading, while improving their own
  reading abilities.

Dean Catherine Emihovich, and nominator Mary Ann Clark, present the
Scholarship of Engagement Community Award to Bill Goodman, Supervisor
for Guidance, Student and comminity Services for the School Board of
Alachua County.

• Community Scholarship of Engagement Award
  William Goodman, supervisor of guidance, student and community services for the School Board of Alachua County

  Goodman has
  implemented cutting-edge database management systems with information
  that school counselors can use to identify high-risk students to link
  with counseling and financial aid services and education training
  options. Goodman and UF’s counseling education department have jointly
  established a series of workshops explaining financial aid
  opportunities for low income seniors and their parents, held at each of
  the local high schools.

Dean Catherine Emihovich, Jim Brandenburg and Buffy Bondy present the
Scholarship of Engagement Graduate Student Award to David Hoppey.

• Graduate Student Scholarship of Engagement Award
  David Hoppey, UF special education graduate student

  As part of his doctoral studies at the College of Education, Hoppey has
  collaborated with teachers and administrators in several elementary and
  middle schools in Alachua County to develop programs to include
  children with disabilities in regular classrooms. He works part-time as
  an inclusion specialist at the School Board of Alachua County. He has
  used his direct involvement with inclusion in local schools in his
  graduate teaching of education students and of practicing teachers in
  professional development seminars.

Dean Catherine Emihovich presents the Scholarship of Engagement
University Award to Dr. Russell Robinson, director of the UF School of
Music. He was nominated for the award by Dr. John Duff, far right,
faculty member in the school of music.

• University Scholarship of Engagement Award
  Russell Robinson, UF music professor

  Robinson’s music teaching clinics on effective teaching strategies for
  the classroom and choral rehearsal attract standing-room-only groups of
  teachers. As a conductor, his rehearsals with school music groups
  worldwide model techniques for teachers that improve classroom behavior
  and musical performances. He serves as choral advisor for the Musical
  Educators National conference and has been an invited clinician,
  speaker and conductor at numerous national and international
  conferences.

Dean Catherine Emihovich presents the Scholarship of Engagement,
College of Education Faculty Award to Dr. Dorene Ross. Dr. Ross was
nominated by Alyson Adams, far right, and Donald Pemberton (not
pictured).

• College of Education Faculty Scholarship of Engagement Award
  Dorene Ross, UF College of Education professor

  Ross is in her second year as the UF "professor-in-residence" at
  Rawlings Elementary School in east Gainesville, spending one day a week
  in the classroom observing teachers and demonstrating new
  research-based teaching methods. She leads a teacher fellows program,
  sponsored by the UF Lastinger Center for Learning, and is helping
  Rawlings teachers develop self-evaluation methods to help them improve
  their teaching practice. She and other Lastinger Center faculty are
  developing a toolkit for other education schools around the nation to
  use in their local school-improvement partnerships.

"Many people talk about taking action for change, but very few can
document how they made a difference as these outstanding recipients
have done. We strongly believe not only in the discovery of new
knowledge, but also in applying and integrating that knowledge in
productive and meaningful ways to impact practice in the field. This
commitment illustrates professional education at its best," said Dean
Emihovich.

The outreach scholarship award recipients were chosen by a selection
committee of College of Education faculty members Danling Fu, Dale
Campbell, Silvia Echevarria-Doan, Cynthia Griffin, Rodman Webb,
Assistant Professor Lynda Hayes with P.K. Yonge, and Michael Rollo, UF
interim vice president for student affairs.