Philip D. Zelazo, Ph.D.Professor
Institute of Child Development
University of Minnesota
“Executive Function and the Developing Brain”
Friday, August 19
Norman Hall Terrace Room
9:30 – 11:30 am
No reservations required
Made possible with grant funding from the
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.
For more information contact Dr. Stephen Smith at swsmith@coe.ufl.edu
Welcome to “My World”–a sculpture by Seward Johnson on exhibit in the Norman Hall courtyard at the University of Florida College of Education. The painted bronze statue depicts a life-sized (and unnervingly life-like), school-aged girl reading a children’s book. It’s one of 25 statues by Johnson installed last week around the UF campus and Gainesville. The UF Foundation arranged for the public exhibit, which runs through Oct. 14. If you seek a quiet reading partner and locale, check out My World. (Staff photo by Larry Lansford)
May 20, 2011 The Friday Post Vol. 6, No. 6
You’re reading coE-News, an electronic newsletter produced several times a year by the College of Education News & Communications Office to keep faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends up-to-date on college news, activities and achievements.
GOT NEWS? We want to hear it. Submit individual or unit news and calendar events of collegewide interest to llansford@coe.ufl.edu for publication consideration. All submissions must be in writing or via e-mail and must include contact information for follow-up questions. (Include full titles and program areas of featured faculty and staff; for featured students, include their program area, degree status and major or concentration area.)
Ponjuan
Education and community leaders and Latino male students from Alachua County and around the state will gather at a University of Florida-hosted, interactive symposium June 13 to discuss strategies for helping Latino males overcome the overwhelming barriers they face in Florida’s schools and colleges. The “Latino Boys in Peril” workshop will be at UF’s Emerson Alumni Hall. UF’s College of Education is hosting the event, led by faculty researchers Luis Ponjuan, director of the college’s Institute of Higher Education, and counselor education scholar Mary Ann Clark. Attendance is by invitation only. (more)
A recent study by the University of Florida’s Lastinger Center for Learning was key in helping a south Florida community divide nearly $8 million in charitable grants among local social service agencies to meet the needs of more than 50,000 underprivileged and at-risk children. The Naples (Fla.) Children and Education Foundation had commissioned the UF study to evaluate the current conditions and needs of children in Collier County and to document the impact of the group’s previous investments on the children’s lives. (more)
Pinellas elementary school principal Thea Saccasyn presents her inquiry-based research project.
More than 1,300 public school educators presented 1,100 problem-shooting research projects this month at University of Florida showcases around the state. The UF Lastinger Center for Learning staged the showcases with its partner school districts in Miami-Dade, Duval, Pinellas and Collier counties as part of its award-winning Florida Master Teacher Initiative. The events highlighted educator-conducted, classroom-oriented inquiry projects designed to boost student achievement.
The number of fans following the College of Education’s Facebook site topped 1,600 in late April. That’s 3.5 times more than the 457 followers of a year ago. Much of the growth occurred over the past five months, nearly doubling from 839 fans in mid-December. The site was created in August 2009. Becoming a fan on Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with fellow students, alumni, faculty and staff, and our FB fans are among the first to get the latest news from the College.
Special ed researcher is first to receive provost’s junior faculty awardUniversity of Florida special education researcher Joseph Gagnon recently became the first College of Education faculty member to receive the UF Provost’s Excellence Award for Assistant Professors.The annual honor recognizes up and coming junior faculty members from several colleges across campus for excellence in research. (more)
UF professor and former chair of special education James McLeskey is one of 15 educators and clinicians listed in the Special Education Professional Hall of Fame on the website “Special Ed. From A to Zed.” The list cites McLeskey’s “lifetime of research productivity, masterly teaching and inspirational leadership” in the field which earned him the prestigious 2010 TED/Merrill Award for Excellence in Teacher Education, awarded by the Council for Exceptional Children. McLeskey headed UF’s nationally ranked special education department for 10 years through 2008 and currently directs the College of Education’s new Center for Disability Policy and Practice.
Math education professor Thomasenia Adams has been appointed interim associate dean of research for 2011-2012 as the college transitions to a new dean. She has previously served as COE director of graduate studies and also as a Fellow in the UF provost’s office. In her new position, Adams will oversee development of a database of all active contracts and grants in the College that will yield a comprehensive picture of all research and development activity underway. She also will assess and improve the infrastructure of the Office of Educational Research to support faculty seeking external funding. Adams will work with outgoing associate dean John Kranzler over the summer on transition issues and will assume her new position Aug. 15.
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Tom Dana has been selected as a Fellow in the 2011-12 Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium’s academic leadership development program. He is one of three UF associate deans chosen. The trio will participate in regional workshops over the next year with other SEC Fellows exploring a wide range of state, national and international leadership issues in higher education. They also will participate in local initiatives to learn more about UF’s organizational structure and relationship to other state and regional institutions. The program is designed to prepare selected faculty as academic leaders for the participating universities.
Staley (center) celebrates her award.
Tracy Staley, a fifth-grade teacher at Ponce de Leon Elementary in Clearwater and a graduate student in the COE’s Master Teacher Initiative (run by the Lastinger Center for Learning), is one of five finalists for Florida Teacher of the Year. She was named Pinellas County’s 2011 Outstanding Educator in March. When Staley was being observed by the Teacher of the Year judges, she was teaching a lesson she learned in one of her job-embedded Master Teacher courses.
Dean Emihovich (center) presents award to Rivera (l), Rowe.
Rowe and Rivera. No, they are not senior partners in a personal-injury law firm. And they’re not the middle infielders on the Florida Gators’ baseball team. Rowe and Rivera are Angela Rowe and Donna Rivera–the College’s 2011 Staff Members of the Year. Rowe is the graduate secretary in the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education, and Rivera is the office manager in the School of Teaching and Learning. Here’s why their co-workers thought they deserved the honor. (more)
COE alumna Amalia Alvarez (BAE ’68), the first Hispanic woman to receive a doctorate from UF, was presented the 2011 Gran Caiman Award May 14 by the University of Florida Association of Hispanic Alumni. She was honored for her many efforts to improve education and for her continuing support of UF. Alvarez, a Spanish teacher at Gainesville High School, worked with the Alachua County Public Schools to create a first-of-its-kind bilingual education program that helped both Hispanic and non-Hispanic children integrate into the public school system. The ESOL program soon became a model for public schools statewide. Alvarez, a Cuban immigrant, also helped found the UF AHA and La Casita, the Institute of Hispanic Latino Cultures. (Her 1974 Ph.D. degree was in Spanish language from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.)
News from P..K. Yonge Developmental Research School, UF’s K-12 laboratory school . . .
Research head Lynda Hayes named school’s new directorLynda Hayes, director of research and outreach at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School and an affiliated university school professor at the College of Education, has been named the K-12 school’s new director. She will assume the UF laboratory school’s top administrative post July 1. (WUFT-FM radio news report) (more)
Below is a sampling of recent news media reports featuring the College of Education and its faculty, students and alumni.
May 16, 2011
UF’s public radio station reported on the appointment of Linda Hayes as the new director of P.K. Yonge, UF’s renowned K-12 laboratory school since 1934. Hayes is the school’s current director of research and outreach. (Audio report)
May 10, 2011
(Also reported in: Old Northeast-Downtown St. Pete PATCH (e-newsletter); insideEDGE (Pinellas County Schools monthly newsletter; State of Florida Facts news highlighting website)
More than 1,300 public school educators are presenting 1,100 problem-shooting research projects this month at University of Florida showcases around the state. Pinellas County educators will present 746 of the projects at a showcase scheduled at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Wednesday, May 11 beginning at 3:45 p.m. The UF Lastinger Center for Learning is staging the showcases with its partner school districts around the state. (The Clearwater Current is an online newspaper for Clearwater Beach, Old Clearwater Bay and Dunedin communities.)
May 12, 2011
Pinellas County teachers lead the state in classroom research projects, and on Wednesday they had the chance to showcase their work at an event sponsored by the school district and UF’s Lastinger Center for Learning. Bay News 9 covered the story.
May, 2011
The graduate degree component (Teacher Leadership for School Improvement) of the Florida Master Teacher Initiative, offered to Pinellas teachers at area schools partnering with UF’s Lastinger Center for Learning, received the 2011 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award by the Association of Teacher Educators.
(Visit “COE In-the-News” Archives for more listings of media hits)
GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Education and community leaders and Latino male students from Alachua County and around the state will gather at a University of Florida-hosted, interactive symposium June 13 to discuss strategies for helping Latino males overcome the overwhelming barriers they continue to face in Florida’s schools and colleges.
Ponjuan
The “Latino Boys in Peril” workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at UF’s Emerson Alumni Hall. Attendance is by invitation only.
UF’s College of Education is hosting the event, led by faculty researchers Luis Ponjuan, director of the college’s Institute of Higher Education, and counselor education scholar Mary Ann Clark.
The researchers will lead an interactive discussion of their findings from a recent, year-long investigation of Florida’s educational system. “We will actively discuss the challenges and the potential partnerships we could forge to develop new interventions that may assist Latino students in their educational journey from high school completion to college enrollment and degree completion,” Ponjuan said.
Clark
Ponjuan, Clark and co-researcher Victor Saenz from the University of Texas at Austin, who will also participate in the UF symposium, have been active in educational and political circles nationwide over the past couple years raising awareness of the plight of Latino male students in education, especially in higher education.
“An emerging trend shows that young men of color—particularly Latino Americans—are far less likely to attend or stay in college than other young men and women,” said Ponjuan, who last year participated in a national briefing on the topic on Capitol Hill. “Considerable attention has been given to the plight of African-American males, but declining enrollment among young Latino men is even more pronounced. It’s a silent educational crisis because young Latino males are vanishing in higher education and no one is noticing.”
Latinos are now 15 percent of the U.S. population. Yet Latinos, or Hispanics, earn only 6 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, according to the American Council on Education. This is significantly less than whites, blacks and Asians. Latino males also have one of the lowest high school graduation and college enrollment rates in the country.
The research and UF symposium is supported by a grant from TG Foundation, a public, non-profit scholarship and educational support organization based in Round Rock, Tex.
CONTACTS
SOURCE: Luis Ponjuan, director, University of Florida Institute of Higher Education, UF College of Education, 352-273-4313; lponjuan@coe.ufl.edu
WRITER: Larry Lansford, director, news & communications, UF College of Education; 352-273-4137; llansford@coe.ufl.edu; 352
April 29, 2011 The Friday Post Vol. 6, No. 5
You’re reading coE-News, an electronic newsletter produced several times a year by the College of Education News & Communications Office to keep faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends up-to-date on college news, activities and achievements.
GOT NEWS? We want to hear it. Submit individual or unit news and calendar events of collegewide interest to llansford@coe.ufl.edu for publication consideration. All submissions must be in writing or via e-mail and must include contact information for follow-up questions. (Include full titles and program areas of featured faculty and staff; for featured students, include their program area, degree status and major or concentration area.)
Gagnon
UF special education and psychiatry faculty are teaming up to help African American adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their families. Joe Gagnon, assistant professor in special education, is the co-principal investigator of the project with Melanie Sberna Hinojosa (PI) and Regina Bussing (Co-PI). The project is funded by a $15,000 grant from the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute, an NIH-supported program. The researchers will work with at-risk adolescents, and their families, enrolled in special after-school programs at the Reichert House Youth Academy in Gainesville, creating culturally-appropriate photo novels to improve their ADHD treatment compliance.
More than 1,300 public school educators are presenting 1,100 problem-shooting research projects this month at University of Florida learning showcases around the state. The UF Lastinger Center for Learning is staging the showcases with its partner school districts in Miami-Dade, Duval, Pinellas and Collier counties as part of its award-winning Florida Master Teacher Initiative. The events highlight educator-conducted, classroom-oriented inquiry projects designed to boost student achievement. (more)
Visit the college home page for links to these and other reports about College activities, accomplishments and faculty-staff-student-alumni news and achievements.
Mount…headed video project
A brief video overview of the College of Education, titled EduGator Nation, is now available online for viewing and downloading. EduGator Nation, just over 4 minutes in length, is posted on the Video page of the COE website and can be viewed online or downloaded for viewing on computer or embedding into PowerPoint slide shows and other presentations. The video highlights the college’s history, points of pride, key initiatives, organizational structure and other key facts and figures. EduGator Nation was produced by the COE’s offices of Development-Alumni Affairs and News & Communications, in conjunction with the broadcast section of the UF News Bureau. Alumni affairs coordinator Jodi Mount was project manager.
UF’s Office of Sustainability has chosen the College of Education’s Green Team to receive its Sustainable Solutions Award for engagement in promoting energy conservation. COE Green Team captain Chris Cook hosted a number of fun and engaging programs in 2010-11 that not only reduced waste but rallied faculty, staff and students to get involved in sustainability efforts. She coordinated a collection drive of office and school supplies to donate to Alachua County Tools for Schools, and hosted the second annual “Drop, Shop & Swap Recycle Fest.” Last summer, she staged an educational campaign to reduce cigarette butt waste to coincide with UF going tobacco-free. Her office partnered with the college Staff Council and the English Language Institute on a litter cleanup of the Norman Hall parking lot.
The College feted its top students, introduced its 2011 scholarship recipients to their benefactors, and honored departing dean Catherine Emihovich at the COE’s 2011 Recognition Banquet (formerly known as the Scholarship Banquet), held April 15 at the UF Hilton. The College last year awarded $109,000 in scholarships and fellowships to 64 of our most deserving students. Pictured, right, are Outstanding Student Award recipients Daisy Pua, Dana Gustafson, Daniela Otero and Mary Theresa Kiely, with Associate Dean John Kranzler. See photo album of event on the COE Facebook page.
Griffin
University of Florida special education professor Cynthia Griffin, recognized nationally for her research on teaching mathematics to students with disabilities, has been named a UF Research Foundation (UFRF) Professor for 2011-2014. Griffin, a top-funded research professor in the College of Education, is one of 33 UF faculty scholars selected for the prestigious professorships. (more)
Jacobbe
Mathematics education instructor Tim Jacobbe has been named the 2010-11 Undergraduate Teacher of the Year at the University of Florida’s College of Education, with a faculty selection panel citing his outstanding ability to help his students see the connection between research-based math concepts and their use in teaching practice. (more)
Lane
Having earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in special education from the University of Florida, it’s understandable how Holly Lane, an associate professor in special education, can relate so well with her UF students at any stage of their college experience. Her commitment to her students also explains why she was selected as the 2011 Outstanding Graduate Teacher at the College of Education. (more)
Robbie & Bill Hedges
Longtime, retired UF education professor William D. Hedges, who with his wife Robbie made the second largest donation ever to the College of Education, has published his autobiography. Titled “From Life in the Hamptons to a Life of Poverty in Arkansas,” his book is published by Xlibris, one of the pioneering print-on-demand publishing firms. The 142-page book can be purchased on the Xlibris web site as an ebook ($9.99) and in paperback ($19.99) and hardback ($29.99).You can read an excerpt from his book online about “The Teenage Years.” Hedges, 86, spent the final 20 years of his academic career at UF until his retirement in 1991 at age 67. The Hedgeses in 2005 pledged nearly $2 million to the college to create a research fund in their name, dedicated to helping marginal K-12 students get the help they need.
Two UF doctoral candidates from the college’s Leadership in Educational Administration Doctoral program (LEAD) in Higher Education Administration have been selected to participate in a national leadership-training workshop for promising Latino educational leaders. Lisandra De Jesus and Angel Rodriquez were selected for the highly-competitive National Community College Hispanic Council’s Leadership Fellows program. De Jesus is dean of admissions at Albany (Ga.) Technical College; Rodriquez, a marine biology and environmental science specialist, is an assistant professor in science at Broward Community College. The fellowship awards cover the $1,800 registration fee for the workshop.
News from P..K. Yonge Developmental Research School, UF’s K-12 laboratory school . . .
Drama and theatre instructor Kathy Byrne recently presented a paper at the fifth annual Summer Institute Alumni Symposium of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Participants took on “the most challenging and enduring archetype in the human experience–the Mother figure.” Byrne spoke on “The Mother Figure in Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis: Clytemnestra: the Mother that cannot separate from her daughter.”
The PKY Middle School Combined Chorus and the High School Concert Chorus both received Superior ratings in performance and sight-reading recently in the Florida Vocal Association Choral Festival in St. Augustine . . . In the state competition of the Florida State Vocal Music Association at Stetson University, the PKY Vocal Ensemble sang their way to straight Superior ratings, with perfect scores in the men’s, women’s and mixed groups.
The Blue Wave high school and 8th grade debate teams won a record eight awards at the BDI Speech and Debate Competition at Buchholz High.
Below is a sampling of recent news media reports featuring the College of Education and its faculty, students and alumni.
April 11 & 12, 2011
Ross
Professor Dorene Ross was quoted extensively in segments one and two of a five-part series in the Gainesville Sun about the value and impact of standardized testing in Alachua County public schools.
March 1, 2011
Christopher Sessum, a postdoctoral associate in educational technology, was quoted in a March 1 Gainesville Sun story about proposed Alachua County School Board policies that would discourage teachers from engaging students on social media networks without administrative approval.
(Visit “COE In-the-News” Archives for more listings of media hits)
Cynthia Griffin
University of Florida special education professor Cynthia Griffin, recognized nationally for her research on teaching mathematics to students with disabilities, has been named a UF Research Foundation (UFRF) Professor for 2011-2014.
Griffin, a top-funded research professor in the College of Education, is one of 33 UF faculty scholars selected for the prestigious professorships. The UF Research Foundation awards the professorships annually to tenured faculty who have made recent contributions in research and have a strong research agenda likely to lead to continuing distinction in their fields. The three-year award includes a $5,000 annual salary supplement and a one-time $3,000 grant to support their research.
“Dr. Griffin has risen to national prominence for her scholarly leadership in linking mathematics education and special education, and she brings prestige to our school and college,” said Jean Crockett, director of special education, school psychology and early childhood studies (SESPECS) at the College of Education.
Griffin is building an impressive track record for winning highly-competitive federal grant funding for her studies. She currently holds $2.3 million in research and doctoral training grants from the prestigious Institute for Education Sciences.
She received an $800,000 doctoral leadership training grant in 2008 from the U.S. Education Department’s office of special education programs to prepare four doctoral students in special education and math instruction. That same year, the College of Education awarded Griffin with a three-year, B.O. Smith Research Professorship to study how teachers’ content knowledge and classroom practices in mathematics influenced their students’ learning.
She and co-researchers last year received a $1.5 million grant from IES to develop and refine an online professional development program targeting practicing general and special-education elementary teachers who teach math to students with learning disabilities.
Griffin became a full-time UF education faculty member in 1990 and is the college’s associate director for research and graduate studies in SESPECS.
She is co-author of a text on inclusive instruction due to be published in 2012 by Guilford Press. Since 2006, Griffin has published 18 research articles in leading scholarly journals including the Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Teacher Education and Special Education.
CONTACTS
SOURCE: Cynthia Griffin, professor in special education, ccgriffin@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4265
WRITER: Larry Lansford, director, news and communications, UF College of Education; llansford@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4137
The University of Florida’s College of Education is accepting nominations until April 8 for the 9th annual Scholarship of Engagement Awards competition for college and university faculty and graduate students, educators and education advocates in Alachua County and UF-partnering school districts around the state.
The college annually honors the year’s most noteworthy efforts in engaged scholarship, which involves innovative research and academic activities pursued specifically to make a meaningful difference in education and people’s lives. Engagement often involves partnerships and building connections with schools, families, school districts, community groups and government agencies to lead for change in a world where transformation in education and society is essential.
Nominations are due April 8, and should be sent to:
Jennifer Reeger
UF College of Education
P.O. Box 117040
Gainesville, FL 32611-7040
Or email your nomination letters to: (jreeger@coe.ufl.edu)
The winners (and their nominators) will be invited to attend the college’s Faculty Research and Engaged Scholarship Showcase (FRESS) to be held in the fall, where they will receive a plaque in honor of their work.
The Scholarship of Engagement awards are adapted from renowned 20th century educator Ernst Boyer’s vision that research-oriented universities need to broaden their concept of scholarship to reflect the issues and concerns of society at large.
As Boyer noted: “Scholarship means engaging in original research. But the work of the scholar also means stepping back from one’s investigation, looking for connections, building bridges between theory and practice, and communicating one’s knowledge effectively to students. Institutions should consider broadening the scope of the term ‘scholarship’ to recognize these four activities – discovery, integration, application, and teaching – as separate but overlapping dimensions of scholarship.”
Along with Boyer’s criteria, the College of Education also considers these elements: the impact the scholar’s work has had; wide dissemination through channels other than just scholarly journals; research that is focused on the ‘public good’; an integration of scholarship with teaching; time spent in a site (applies to field-based research); strong collaboration with other partners; a concern for equity and social justice; and, in the case of school/community nominees, effective translation of research results into action.
In the words of the English philosopher Herbert Spencer, “The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.”
Awards will be presented in the following categories:
University
College of Education (three faculty members, one P.K. Yonge teacher)
Graduate student
School district
Community
The 2010 winners were:
University – Francis E. “Jack” Putz, biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences;
College of Education faculty – Tim Jacobbe (School of Teaching and Learning); Joseph Gagnon (School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies); David Miller (School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education); Randy Hollinger (P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School);
COE graduate student: Brian Barber (School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education);
School district – Julie Janssen, superintendent, Pinellas County School District;
Community – Karen Bricklemyer, president and CEO, United Way, North Central Florida
Nomination Process
Each COE school will select a recipient who best meets the intent of this award. P.K. Yonge School will follow a similar procedure. To nominate someone for the remaining categories, please submit a letter (no more than 2 pages) describing the candidate’s accomplishments, and explain why you believe she or he merits this award based on the criteria listed above (Previous nominees may be nominated again). Please do not send additional documentation apart from the nomination letter.
All nominations will be reviewed by a committee and winners will be informed in early May.
