coE-News: May-June, 2006, VOL. 1 ISSUE 9
VOL. 1 ISSUE 9
MAY-JUNE, 2006
The coE-NEWS is an electronic newsletter produced monthly during the academic year by the College of Education News & Publications Office to keep faculty and staff up to date on College news and activities.
GOT NEWS? Don’t be shy. Submit individual or unit news and calendar events of Collegewide interest for publication consideration to news@coe.ufl.edu. All submissions must be in writing and include contact information for follow-up questions.
GOING FISHIN’. The coE-News will take a brief sabbatical during the summer months, resuming distribution in August with all the buzz about the start of fall semester. Got bait?
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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DEAN’S MESSAGE
Centennial kickoff. International education. Year-end conference.
Dean Catherine Emihovich contemplates pertinent events, issues and news of the academic year just ending and the new one just around the corner.
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TOP STORIES
Bell South’s $600,000 grant funds UF study
to strengthen online learning for K-12 students
Under the five-year grant, UF education researchers headed by education technology specialist Richard Ferdig will develop standardized methods for evaluating the effectiveness of online education for students. In collaboration with BellSouth’s virtual high school partners, the researchers will then use the new evaluation tools to determine the best teaching practices and strategies for online instruction, particularly to students of diverse backgrounds.
School-improvement showcase draws 300 Florida educators
More than 300 teachers and administrators from 14 school districts in North Central Florida converged upon P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville recently for the second annual Teaching, Inquiry and Innovation Showcase, staged by the Center for School Improvement at the UF College of Education.
COE honors local educators, students for scholarship done ‘for public good’
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 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.
Lastinger Center receives DOE’s schools-partnership award
The college’s Lastinger Center for Learning recently received the Florida Education Foundation and the Florida Department of Education Commissioner’s Business Recognition Award for helping the Education Foundation of Collier County develop a new master’s degree program in the high-needs community of Immokalee in southwest Florida. The award cites organization-school district partnerships that demonstrate noteworthy commitment, creativity and innovation in producing positive change in local education. The center was nominated for the honor by Susan McManus, president of the foundation. In a separate ceremony, the Lastinger Center recently received a plaque from the Collier County School Board for outstanding community involvement.
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FACULTY-STAFF HONORS & APPOINTMENTS
New Education Psychology chair appointed
Mark Shermis, professor in educational and psychological studies and associate dean of research at Florida International University, has been named the new chair of UF’s Department of Educational Psychology. The appointment becomes effective July 7. His research interests are in the intersection of measurement and technology, and he has served on many national accreditation site visits. Shermis is also a licensed psychologist in several states, including Florida. He will be formally introduced along with all new faculty at a fall reception.
Following are some highlights of recent College faculty and staff honors and appointments:
- Clark is B.O. Smith Research Professor. Mary Ann Clark in Counselor Education is this year’s recipient of the B.O. Smith Research Professorship. Her research will focus on the topic, “Male achievement in public education: Examining data and developing systemic interventions.” The research professorship, which focuses on associates preparing to go up for full professor, has the potential for three years of funding, renewed year to year. Clark joins Maureen Conroy and Kristin Kemple, last year’s selections for the Smith professorship.
- FPC elects new members. The following faculty members were recently elected to the COE Faculty Policy Council: In COUNSELOR EDUCATION—Sondra Smith (representative) and Edil Torres Rivera (alternate); EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY—Bernard Oliver (rep) and David Quinn (alt.); EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY—John Kranzler (rep) and Jamie Algina (alt.); SCHOOL OF TEACHING AND LEARNING—Zhihui Fang (rep) and Elizabeth Yeager (rep); SPECIAL EDUCATION—Diane Ryndak (rep) and Holly Lane (alt.) New members will serve two years. Returning as representatives for their final year are Mary Ann Clark (Counselor Education), Jim Doud (EAP), Rod Webb (Ed Psych) and Cynthia Griffin (Special Education).
- Torres Rivera to head CSJ. Edil Torres Rivera, associate professor in Counselor Education, will start his tenure in July as president of the Counselors for Social Justice, a division of the American Counseling Association. UF this year formed its own, mainly student-run CSJ chapter with the help of Counselor Ed faculty members Torres Rivera and Kitty Fallon. More than 40 counselors have already joined the UF chapter. Members are required to be active in a variety of community mental health and outreach activities.
- Correa named Distinguished Alum. Georgia State University’s College of Education presented Vivian Correa, UF professor in Special Education, with its Distinguished Alumnus Award at the college’s 2006 Honors Day Ceremony in late April.
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STUDENT HONORS
Following are some recent announcements of student honors:
- UF ECC is No. 1. The COE’s Education College Council won the Best Council of the Year Award for 2005-06 from the Board of College Councils. The ECC is an umbrella organization for all COE student organizations. ECC president for the award-winning group was Megan Connaughton. Theresa Vernetson, assistant dean for student affairs, is the council’s faculty adviser. New ECC officers for 2006-07 are: Sarah Ryals, president and technology chair; Meredith Serneels, vice president; Stephanie Heart, treasurer; Dannielle Smith, secretary; Teala May, historian; and Kelly Anne Hage, professional development.
- Another Hall of Famer. Jessica Klahr, a May bachelor’s graduate in elementary education, was recently inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame—the second straight year that a COE student has entered the Hall. Katie Fredericks, a 2005 M.A.E. ProTeach graduate in elementary education, was inducted last year.
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ALUMNI HONORS
Following are some recent announcements of alumni honors:
- Math Teacher of Year. Kristen Springfield, who received her Ed.D. degree in educational leadership from the College of Education in 1999, recently represented the state as Florida’s math nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and Science. One math and one science teacher from every state receives this honor. Springfield was due to travel to Washington D.C. in early May for the award ceremony. She teaches math at Sanford Middle School in Seminole County. Springfield earned her doctorate in the college’s ECPD (East Coast Professional Development) Program, an off-campus doctoral cohort program delivered in the Orlando area by UF EAP faculty.
- Outstanding Young Alumnus. David Shelnutt, a member of the college’s Education Alumni Council since 2001, is one of 40 charter members of the UF Alumni Association’s inaugural class of 2006 Outstanding Young Alumni. The new Outstanding Young Alumni Award recognizes UF graduates who have graduated within the past 10 years and who have distinguished themselves in their profession and community. Shelnutt, an assistant principal for curriculum at Gainesville Buchholz High School, received his M.Ed. in social studies education from the college in 1998 and an Ed.S. in educational leadership in 2003. He was the 2004 Alachua County Teacher of the Year.
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PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
A sampling of recent national publications and presentations by COE faculty and graduate students, and related news briefs:
Publishing honor for Sadler. Troy Sadler, STL assistant professor in science education, has received the 2006 Journal of Research in Science Teaching Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. His research article was rated highest among those published in Volume 42 of the journal. Sadler’s article explored how students negotiate and resolve complex, social issues with conceptual ties to science—such as cloning, stem cell research and intelligent design.
Adams on editorial board. Thomasenia Adams, STL associate professor, will serve on the Fourth Monograph Editorial Board committee of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE).
A poet in our midst. Eileen Swearingen is an accomplished poet and now the world will know it. Swearingen, a program assistant in Educational Administration and Policy, has been notified by Noble House Publishing of London, England, that they will publish at least one of her previously published poems as well as a new submission this summer in a book titled Songs of Honor. This will be her first international publication of her poetry. For a sampling of Eileen’s poetry, click here.
Diana Joyce, lecturer, Education Psychology, participated in the following research presentations at the recent National Association of School Psychologists Annual Conference:
- “Schoolwide Behavioral Intervention for Emotionally Disturbed Self-contained Program” (co-presenter: J. Gallant)
- “Schoolwide Reading Intervention for Emotionally Disturbed Self-contained Program” (co-presenter: J. Gallant)
Linda Serra Hagedorn, professor and chair, Educational Administration and Policy, has recently logged the following publications and presentations:
- Hagedorn, L.S., Perrakis, A. I., & Maxwell, W. (2006). “The Positive Commandments: 10 Ways Community Colleges Help Students Succeed.” Community College Journal (April/May 2006), 58-61.
- “Critical Mass: The Effect of Latino Representation in Urban Community Colleges.” Council for the Study of Community Colleges. Long Beach, CA. April 2006.
- “Looking in the Rearview Mirror: A Retrospective Look at the Factors Affecting Transfer for Urban Community College Students.” American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, April 2006.
- “Increasing Access for Low Income Students.” Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC). Long Beach, CA. April 2006.
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RESEARCH-GRANTS
A sampling of new faculty research and grant activities:
Linda Lamme – Internationalizing the Curriculum
Linda Lamme, professor in the School of Teaching and Learning, has been awarded an Internationalizing the Curriculum grant from the UF International Center to infuse international issues into children’s literature courses.
Linda Jones – UF Center for African Studies
Linda Jones, STL associate professor, has received one of two development travel grants from the UF Center for African Studies. She will work with an environmental education professor at the University of Botswana in Gabarone and teachers and students at the Okavango International School in Maun, Botswana.
William Conwill – UF International Center Award
Also receiving an Internationalizing the Curriculum grant is William Conwill, assistant professor in Counselor Education and in African American Studies. He will leave in early June for several African locations. In Bamako, Mali, he will work with an international group of African women dedicated to the reduction of family and community violence. In Dakar, Senegal, he will study the practice of Western and traditional psychological counseling in a number of mental health service delivery settings. Upon returning, Conwill plans to develop a multimedia teaching module on counseling Africans in the United States for incorporation into his courses.
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P.K. YONGE NEWS
Lab school students visit NYC to tout student-tutoring program
P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School has an exemplary cross-age tutoring program called Succeeding in Reading. The six-year-old program trains high school students to tutor kindergarten and first grade students in reading and writing. Five P.K. Yonge students, along with teachers Nancy Dean (program developer) and Betty Richardson, recently traveled to New York City to report on the program at the National Association of Laboratory Schools National Conference. The students—Mykhael Brown, Heather Crocker, Ryan Griffin, Valerie Landry, and Stephanie Mollison—had to submit the application to be part of the presentation and participated in lengthy rehearsals to be certain the presentation was well planned and polished. Succeeding in Reading has been implemented in several other districts in Florida for both ESL students and native English speakers. A Succeeding in Reading Program Leader’s Guide and two different kinds of tutoring manuals (Buddy Reading and Buddy Coaching), co-authored by Nancy Dean and Candace Harper from the College of Education, have been published by Maupin House Publishing.
Blue Wave chorus plays D.C., Big Apple
Members of the P.K. Yonge Concert Chorus, under the direction of Sherwin
Mackintosh, traveled to Washington, DC to perform at the prestigious Kennedy
Center April 6-9 as part of the Keynote Choral Festival. They then traveled to New York City in May and performed at Carnegie Hall. Broadway, here they come!
PKY faculty present at national lab school conference
PKY faculty recently made the following presentations at the 2006 National Association of Laboratory Schools annual conference in New York City:
- Mickey Macdonald, Theda Buckley and Marisa Ramirez co-presented “Using Digital Portfolios in Student-led Conferencing.”
- Lynda Hayes presented “Research in Action: Professional Development That Works.” Her session highlighted Research in Action, a program that draws teachers from all over North Florida to visit classes at PKY and reflect on best practices in K-12 literacy education.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sponsorships opportunities for Centennial conference
Corporate and organizational sponsorship opportunities are now available for the College’s year-end Centennial conference, “Closing the Achievement Gap Through Partnerships,” in St. Petersburg. For information on the conference and sponsorship opportunities, please visit the conference Web site at http://www.doce-conferences.ufl.edu/gap/speakers.asp.
COE website URL changes
The College’s website address, or URL, has changed to education.ufl.edu. The old URL (www.coe.ufl.edu) will still get you to the same website. The change was made to avoid confusion with other colleges with a name beginning with E, such as Engineering, and to make it clear in URL listings and directories what college the link is for. Please make this change accordingly in your unit’s future publications and college URL listings.
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coE-CALENDAR
JUNE 1-3
Alliance Career Explorations
Leadership Retreat for 9th-11th Graders Interested In Teaching
Contact: Wanda Lastrapes, 904-386-5212 or wlastrapes@coe.ufl.edu
JUNE 3
Saturday Summit: Literacy, Media and the Arts
9 a.m., Terrace Room
To register, e-mail: saturdaysummit@yahoo.com
JUNE 12-16
Summer Holocaust Institute for Teachers
A five-day workshop on the history of the Holocaust and its aftermath. Includes visit to Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. Sponsored by UF Center for Jewish Studies in cooperation with the UF COE.
Contact: UF Center for Jewish Studies, 392-9247; or, STL Professor Linda Lamme, 392-9191, ext. 251 or lammel@coe.ufl.edu
JUNE 13-16
Alliance Summer Institute
Alliances partner schools’ administrators and teachers join together to share ideas, concerns and successes.
Contact: Wanda Lastrapes, 904-386-5212 or wlastrapes@coe.ufl.edu
JUNE 14
Staff Council meeting
9 a.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Sabrina McLaughlin, 2-0726, ext. 262
JUNE 16
Alumni Lunch and Lecture
Featuring Paul George speaking on “Florida Education: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
11:30 a.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250
JULY 28
Alumni Lunch and Lecture featuring Colleen Swain
Technology & Social Justice: Teaching in the 21st Century
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250 or jmount@coe.ufl.edu
AUGUST 12
SUMMER COMMENCEMENT
10 a.m., O’Connell Center
AUGUST 18
Alumni Lunch and Lecture featuring Holly Lane
Access to Books for Children
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250 or jmount@coe.ufl.edu
AUGUST 23
Fall classes begin
AUGUST 25
Welcome and Orientation for Fellows (new and old)
2 p.m., Terrace Room
Refreshments will be served.
Contact: Kay Curcio at kcurcio@coe.ufl.edu
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IN THE NEWS
A sampling of recent College of Education “media hits”, most resulting from News & Publications news releases and media requests:
- Chronicle of Higher Education/Magazine and Journal Reader – Dale Campbell, EAP (3/13/06)
The Chronicle summarized Campbell’s recent article, “The New Leadership Gap,” in Community College Journal in which he reports on the administrative shortage facing community colleges.
- Education Week – Paul Sindelar, Special Education (5/3/06)
Associate Dean Paul Sindelar was quoted in an article exploring the viability of alternative teacher-certification routes for special education teachers, saying several alternative routes offer a fairly substantive program of training.
- The Gainesville Sun – David Miller, Educational Psychology (5/24/06)
Miller was featured in a top-of-front-page story about the shortage of psychometricians—specialists who develop and analyze standardized tests such as the FCAT. Click here to view this article online.
- WCJB-TV (local ABC affiliate) – Cynthia Griffin, Special Education (5/15/06)
Griffin was quoted in a news report on a study showing the high percentage of novice teachers who leave the profession within their first five years on the job. Griffin cited some of the issues and frustrations that novice teachers face.
- WCJB-TV (local ABC affiliate) – Nancy Dana, Center for School Improvement (4/29/06)
An evening news report featured the CSI/PKY-sponsored Teaching, Inquiry and Innovation Showcase held April 29 at P.K. Yonge. CSI Director and showcase coordinator Nancy Dana was quoted describing the process of teacher inquiry as a primary method of school improvement.
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QUICK LINKS
UF: www.ufl.edu
College of Education: education.ufl.edu
coE-News: Publications
Education Times magazine: Publications
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coE-News is produced by:
College of Education, University of Florida
Dean’s Office/News & Publications
Dean: Catherine Emihovich
Director, Managing Editor: Larry Lansford (llansford@coe.ufl.edu)
Writers:
Larry Lansford
Correspondents:
Marta Pollitt, P.K. Yonge
