Archive for category: Press Releases

People often think of science as a business of numbers. Researchers, they think, render experience into data that can be viewed objectively, dispassionately – and sometimes impersonally.

Not Mirka Koro-Ljungberg. As the College of Education’s resident expert on qualitative research, she teaches young scholars how to look beyond the numbers to the human element of science and to investigate social phenomena holistically.

“Science, as usual, deals in generalizable knowledge and aims for predictions,” said Koro-Ljungberg, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. “I’m much more interested in specifics and locality. Situated knowledge – the sort of knowledge you gain from hearing an in-depth description of someone’s life – can be very revealing and powerful.”

Qualitative research is an investigative technique and research approach often used in the social sciences. Qualitative researchers look closely at narratives and cultural artifacts to gain insights about things that are complex and can’t be easily measured. For instance, a wildlife researcher might study the memoirs of hunters throughout American history, looking for information on how bird populations have changed over time.

In education, the qualitative approach has proven to be a powerful tool for understanding the student experience and divining the reasons why some students succeed academically, while others opt out of the educational system.

Koro-Ljungberg got her start as a qualitative researcher in her native Finland, interviewing members of an elite scientific organization to find out what life experiences they had in common. According to Koro-Ljungberg, members of the Academy of Finland shared belief in creativity, a history of international study, lots of support from family members and close mentoring from older researchers.

“Mentoring was really the crucial issue,” she said. “Many of them reported mentoring that was very hands-on. For instance, if the younger researcher was applying for a grant, the mentor might go over the grant application line-by-line to make sure everything was right.”

Now Koro-Ljungberg is doing her own mentoring, serving as the “go-to” person for graduate students in the College of Education and across campus who want to learn qualitative methods. Her enthusiasm and active interactions with students during her lessons no doubt played a role in her selection as the college’s 2006 Graduate Teacher of the Year.

She is also co-principal investigator on a five-year, $2.3 million National Institutes of Mental Health study on the detection and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

In that study, Regina Bussing, a UF professor of child and adolescent psychiatry, and Koro-Ljungberg are following a cohort of students at high risk for ADHD and a matched group of low risk peers through their school careers, looking at the ways different students seek help and the ways they are treated when they do seek help. Among other things, they are searching for the reasons why white males are more likely to receive proper medical treatment for ADHD than girls or African American peers.

Koro-Ljungberg and Bussing’s outside-the-box thinking has already allowed the study to overcome major hurdles. Teens are often difficult to observe in long-term studies, because they don’t like to fill out forms or share their feelings in face-to-face interviews. The research team got over that hurdle by adopting a technology that made teens comfortable.

“We gave them cell phones and told them to call and leave a message every time they had a help-seeking event,” she said. “We came up with a really rich data set describing their problems in detail.”

A qualitative approach is vital in areas like ADHD research, Koro-Ljungberg said, because the patients and their families can often go unheard during the treatment process.

“With a more traditional approach, the voice of the individual can get lost,” she said. “The kids and families are the experts on their own experience, and they can provide an insight we can’t get anywhere else.”

Imagine a school dedicated to helping the “have-nots” catch up to the “haves.”

A place where first-generation college students could learn how to navigate university bureaucracy. A place where young people who “blow” their first chance at a college education can try again. A place where a working parent with a stalled career can get a fresh start.

Linda Serra Hagedorn has found that place, and it’s closer than you might think—at your nearby community college.

“The community college is really one of the most amazing institutions in America,” said Hagedorn, professor and chair of UF’s Department of Educational Administration and Policy. “This system has opened up higher education to millions of people who didn’t have access to it before, and that’s an astounding success story.”

As head of the educational administration program at a top-tier college of education, Hagedorn has a hand in the education of leaders at all levels of the school system – from K-12 schools to four-year colleges.

Her own research, however, is focused on that distinctly American, and often underrated institution – the system of community colleges that places an affordable postsecondary education within driving distance of almost everyone.

Hagedorn, who came to UF in 2005 from the University of Southern California education faculty, is principal investigator on the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students Project (or TRUCCS), a longitudinal study of 5,000 Los Angeles community college students. One of the goals of TRUCCS is to find out why the students who most stand to gain from attending community college – first-generation, urban and minority students – often seem to drop out of school after a couple of semesters.

“Community college students are very different from students at a four-year university,” Hagedorn said. “They don’t leave their former identities – or their responsibilities – behind. They’re often working or raising children, and may not think of themselves primarily as students.”

The good news is that not everyone who leaves community college is a “dropout.”

“One of the things we’ve found is that the idea of community colleges as ‘two-year colleges’ is a misnomer,” Hagedorn said. “It doesn’t reflect the way students actually use the system. Students will leave and come back as their life situations permit, and they aren’t failures just because they don’t transfer to a university in two years.”

Hagedorn knows, from personal experience, that there is more than one path to educational success. She is herself a first-generation college graduate, and acquired her master’s degree while teaching elementary school full-time and raising children.

After using that master’s degree to teach at the community college level, Hagedorn decided she wanted to pursue a Ph.D. and a career in community college administration. As a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she discovered that she had a knack for quantitative research. Soon she was working under respected scholars such as Ernest Pascarella, a well-known leader in higher education circles.

Today, Hagedorn is herself a respected name in the field, and is sought out by organizations nationwide to speak on the topic of student retention. She has traveled to Vietnam as a Fulbright scholar, where she studied and advised that country’s provincial colleges, which share some similarities with American community colleges. She served on the board of trustees of Sias International University, the first private college in the People’s Republic of China. She also was invited to speak in Moscow by the Russian Federation to address how they might increase college access and adapt the American community college model.

Hagedorn’s reputation for premier research has helped bring promising new research projects to UF. In late 2006, UF’s Institute of Higher Education, a community college research institute now headed by Hagedorn, was awarded $1.6 million by the Lumina Foundation to begin a program that could change the way community colleges use data to make important administrative and instructional decisions.

Under the project, UF will teach institutional research officers – the people responsible for collecting data on student achievement – how to use the numbers to spot students who are at risk of dropping out. Once struggling students are spotted, colleges can tailor their programs to meet their needs.

“With the right interventions – mentoring programs and other initiatives – we can help these bright students go on to transfer to a four year institution,” she said. “That’s an exciting thought.”

By WENDY NORMAN (UF 2008, B.A. in English)
Student assistant, UF College of Education

Anwen “Wendy” Norman, 21, of Malabar, Fla., is a UF sophomore studying English and now works part-time in historic Norman Hall, named after her great-grandfather and former education dean.

“There was a man named Rosenthal, who kept a goat tied in a stall,” James William Norman would sing on family car trips.

“Daddy, that’s enough!” pleaded his three children. “We’ve heard it so many times!”

To his kids, he was Daddy. To his colleagues and students, he was Dr. James W. Norman, the third dean of the College of Education, from 1920-1941. To me he is just Pa, my great-grandfather.

Although he died in 1969 some 16 years before I was born, I grew up hearing about Pa. I knew he had been the education dean at UF and that Norman Hall, the campus home of the College of Education, was named after him. My little claim to fame always surprises people, especially now that I work at the College part-time as a student assistant while attending UF.

I knew that while my dad, James William Norman III (UF ’73, ’74) attended UF, he lived with “Pa,” as our family calls him, and my great-grandmother, Lucile, on Tuscawilla Avenue in the “duck pond area” of northeast Gainesville.

I knew that Pa was a woodworker at some point in his life and made a lot of the furniture that now sits in my grandmother’s house. I knew everyone in my family loved him very much.

But there was so much more to this man I never met.

James W. Norman was always passionate about academia, even while growing up on a farm called Shady Nook in Hartwell, Ga. When he graduated from high school, he thought his chance had come to venture into a new world of knowledge and discovery at a university. His father, William Benson Jefferson Norman, had other ideas.

“A year between the plow handles never hurt anybody,” said Pa’s father.

Pa was forced to stay home and work the farm for a year, frustrated that his deep desire to attend college was delayed.

“As soon as he got away to the university, he was gone from that life forever and into the life of academics,” my dad, James III, said.

Pa may have escaped a life of farming, but he still enjoyed the outdoors. In the winter he would chop firewood. It gave him a chance to be alone with his thoughts and exercise at the same time.

Pa loved anything that let him use his mind. He enjoyed puzzles, whether it was a geometric or a mathematical challenge. He loved playing games. His youngest child Sarah (my aunt) said that he always played to win, whether he was playing against a friend or a grandchild.

Pa used to play chess with my dad through the mail. My dad and my granddad, James William Norman Jr., would send letters to Pa containing a single move. After the match was finished, they found out Pa never once set up a chess board.

“He held it in his mind for months and whipped us!” my dad said.

Pa’s chess victory was evidence of his motto, “Do something supremely well.” My family remembers him saying that often. He challenged himself, his family, and his students to live by that motto.

At age 56, he challenged himself to carve a chess set and in the process discovered a talent for woodworking. He carved beautiful furniture and dozens of grandfather clocks. One clock sits in my grandmother’s living room and another recently found its way back to Norman Hall in the College of Education dean’s conference room.

Pa was known for much more than being a great woodcarver. My dad remembers him as a man of “great gravity, great wisdom, and great mirth.”

When my dad was a freshman at UF in 1968 and living with Pa, he had to read books for an English class. Pa read them at the same time and then discussed them with his teenage grandson.

In response to The Great Gatsby, Pa said, “The seamy side of life! The seamy side of life! Why does everybody want to write about the seamy side of life?”

Pa was a devout, born-again Christian who lived far from the seamy side of life. The local Southern Baptist church was an important part of his life.

“He taught the old ladies’ Sunday School class as long as I can remember,” his oldest daughter Frances said.

My family tells me that Pa was pious, but not strict or severe. He was welcoming and inviting, a man who made you instantly comfortable in his presence. His children describe him as loving, cheerful, helpful and gentle.

“He was a very kind father,” Sarah said. “I had a good childhood.”

He loved watching his three children and nine grandchildren play. He was known to sit with that “Pa” smile on his face, laughing at their antics and taking pleasure in their fun.

Pa liked to know what was going on in the world but did not own a radio. When Calvin Coolidge was elected president, he took Frances to the Gainesville Sun office to watch the election results come in.

On Saturday nights he would take Frances with him to the local haberdashery store to see the ball game scores posted on the window.

Pa was an avid Gator football fan. After work at the College of Education he would head across campus to the football stadium and watch the team practice. His wife often joked that she was not going to have dinner for him if he stayed too late.

Pa knew he was watching a gridiron force to be reckoned with. FSU started a team and wanted to play the Gators. A lot of people did not want to play “that former girls’ school.” Pa reasoned that it could only help his beloved Gators.

“The day is going to come when they are our main rivals,” Pa said with a twinkle in his eye. “We should play them a whole lot now so that we can run up a lot of easy wins early.”

After retiring as dean, Pa stayed at his house on Tuscawilla Avenue and remained a devout Gator football fan. He went to Norman Hall everyday to get his mail, as he was Dean Emeritus and kept strong ties to the College. However, Pa would never call it Norman Hall. Modesty prompted him to refer to the building as the College of Education.

I wish I could have met my great-grandfather. Not only was he a great educator, but he was also just Pa, a man who loved God and his family and took delight in the small things in life.

“He was a very smart, intellectual person who nonetheless kept the common touch,” my dad said.

My first glimpse of his namesake came the summer before I arrived at UF. My mom wanted to see Norman Hall again and show me where so much family history resided.

We met Kay Hughes, then head of information and publication services, when we inquired about the display on Pa that used to be in the main hallway. She was excited to find out I was Dean Norman’s great-granddaughter, a reaction I get from most people affiliated with the College of Education when they discover our relation. At the time I was planning on majoring in journalism and Kay said to let her know if I was interested in a job.

I applied for a student assistant position in the College’s newly renamed News and Publications office my sophomore year and was hired by the new director, Larry Lansford. I did not mention I was Dean Norman’s great-granddaughter, but Larry saw my last
name and put two-and-two together. Working in the building that shares my name is a special opportunity and has been exciting.

For three generations my family has been devoted to enriching their lives with knowledge gleaned from the University of Florida. With this proud heritage of education-loving Gators, I have grown up with the desire to attend the University of Florida and follow in my family’s footsteps as a fourth generation Gator. In the year the College of Education commemorates its 100th anniversary, I hope to “do something supremely well” at the place that Pa loved and my family has come to respect and cherish.

It’s great to be an Edugator. And it’s great to be a Norman, working and walking the halls that Dr. James William Norman—or, simply, Pa—used to patrol for so many years.

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Most teachers are familiar with the children’s book “Stone Soup,” in which a hungry but wily traveler boils a rock in a pot of water – and convinces villagers to contribute enough additional ingredients to make a real meal.

Professor Elizabeth “Buffy” Bondy in UF’s School of Teaching and Learning knows how it feels to be the stone in the soup.

Last November, Bondy was feted at a banquet in Gainesville, where the Alachua County Partnership for Strong Families presented her with the first annual Vision Award for her efforts on behalf of the welfare of children. But, despite initial appearances, the banquet wasn’t really about her.

You see, Bondy, who has a long history of support for local child-welfare initiatives, has been clamoring for years for the creation of an Alachua County Children’s Alliance – an umbrella organization that would coordinate the efforts of child welfare agencies throughout the area.

“Coordinating efforts” may sound a little vague, but Bondy says there’s more at stake than a bunch of boxes on an organizational chart.

“You don’t have to work with local child-welfare organizations for very long to see that there is some duplication of services, and some areas in which no agency is providing services,” Bondy said. “I don’t think anyone knows the extent of the gaps and duplications yet, but it’s clear that they’re there.”

No single organization is to blame for those gaps, Bondy said.

“When you have lots of worthy organizations and very little grant money, this is what happens,” she said. “Organizations compete for funding, but because no one sees the big picture, the needs of children can fall through the cracks.”

Many other counties and metropolitan areas have formed “children’s alliance” organizations to overcome similar problems. There’s even a National Alliance for Children and Families devoted to coordinating the efforts of child-welfare organizations nationwide.

To find a good example of the benefits of a children’s alliance, Gainesville residents need only look a few miles south. Since it was formed in 2000, the Marion County Children’s Alliance has grown into an organization that handles more than $800,000 in annual grant money. The group has filled gaps in local child services by starting a series of afterschool programs and initiatives to stop bullying in schools and violence in the home. It maintains a county-wide listserv that connects businesses with surplus equipment with charities in need of computers, furniture and other items.

More important, perhaps, is the role the Alliance plays in state politics. Every year, the group drafts a legislative wish list to let lawmakers know which programs need to be funded to provide needed services for children.

“The legislators prefer to work with a single organization whose only interest is the welfare of children,” said Mike Jordan, the retired physician who serves as director of the Alliance. “Because all the agencies in the area speak with one voice, they have more credibility – and they get more funding.”

That’s why Bondy campaigned for years for the creation of an Alachua County Children’s Alliance. A breakthrough finally came last year, when a representative from the Alachua County Partnership for Strong Families, or PFSF, attended a meeting at which a Children’s Alliance was discussed. (PFSF is a child welfare agency created to meet the demand of a 1998 law requiring the Department of Children and Families to privatize all child welfare services except protective investigations.)

The PFSF representative liked Alliance idea so much, she pursued and received a small grant to fund the creation of an Alliance. They used the money to fund the November banquet where Bondy received the Vision Award. In addition to honoring Bondy and other local activists involved in children’s issues, the event was designed to get local political and business leaders together, and get them talking about a children’s alliance.

The plan worked. The Alachua County Children’s Alliance is now a reality, with a number of local power players– including UF education graduate Sheriff Sadie Darnell (M.Ed. ‘01) and local businessman/philanthropist and P.K. Yonge alumnus Jim Stringfellow – on its board of directors. COE’s own Don Pemberton, director of the Lastinger Center, is also on the board, which held its first meeting in January.

Bondy remains humble about her own role in the creation of the new organization, but is excited about the potential of the Alliance.

“We can serve children a lot better if we work together,” she said.

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Writer
Tim Lockette, 352.376-7808, ext. 274; lockette@coe.ufl.edu

APRIL 17, 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.  Click here to download a PDF version of this edition of the coE-News.  You will need a PDF reader to view this document.

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.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

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DEAN’S MESSAGE

On rankings, education debt and outreach scholarship
In this month’s column, Dean Catherine Emihovich speaks to how well the College is working in terms of national rankings, research and scholarship.

TOP STORIES

Study examines why boys are lagging behind girls in schools
Thirty years ago, boys not girls, were the high performers in schools. Today, test scores, grades and dropout rates show boys are achieving at levels far below girls. To examine the factors that lead to male underachievement and the measures needed to raise the achievement of boys, Counselor Education Associate Professor Mary Ann Clark and two school counselor doctoral students have teamed with other faculty and student researchers from universities in England and Australia on an “Internationalizing the Curriculum” project. The research is supported by the International Center at the University of Florida.

UF student-teachers help schoolchildren develop writing skills
College of Education professors and prospective teachers have been teaming with Newberry Elementary School faculty this past year to implement a schoolwide writing program for nearly 550 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The initiative helps the elementary students develop better writing skills and strategies. At the same time, UF student-teachers get to work with mentor teachers and gain the classroom experience they can’t get from college textbooks and classes.

College announces Graduate Teacher of the Year
Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, assistant professor, Educational Psychology, has been named the College of Education’s Graduate Teacher of the Year for 2006.

Broward County‘s Teacher of the Year is a COE grad

Brian Dassler, a UF College of Education alumnus, has been named Broward County Public Schools Teacher of the Year for 2007.

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FACULTY-STAFF HONORS & APPOINTMENTS

COE professor earns UF award for dissertation mentoring
Linda Behar-Horenstein, a professor in Educational Administration and Policy, is one of five University of Florida faculty members to receive the UF Graduate School’s 2005-2006 Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award.

Teacher-learning researcher receives early-career honor
Diane Yendol-Hoppey, assistant professor, School of Teaching and Learning, is the recipient of the 2006 Kappa Delta Pi/AERA Early Career Award for her studies on how different learning contexts and the diverse needs of students affect teacher learning and teacher leadership.

UF Research Professor title goes to COE faculty member
Craig Wood, professor, Educational Administration and Policy, has been named University of Florida Research Foundation Research Professor for 2006.

Following are some highlights of recent College faculty and staff honors and appointments:

• Thomasenia Adams, associate professor, School of Teaching and Learning, has joined the editorial board of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Fourth Monograph. Adams’ appointment runs through the monograph’s publication in fall 2007.
• Linda Serra Hagedorn, chair, Educational Administration and Policy, has been elected to the editorial board of the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. Hagedorn also will serve as the journal’s book review editor.
• Luis Ponjuan, assistant professor, Educational Administration and Policy, has been named a new faculty participant in the AERA Division J Graduate Student/New Faculty Seminar at the April 2006 AERA conference in San Francisco. Ponjuan also will serve as a member of the AERA Division J program committee for the 2007 conference in Chicago.

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STUDENT HONORS

Following are some recent announcements of student honors:

• Dennis Beck, doctoral student in educational technology, has been named to the editorial review board of the British Journal of Educational Technology.
• School of Teaching and Learning graduate students Hakan Dedeoglou (children’s literature) and Madeleine Ortiz-Rodriguez (educational technology) will take part in the AERA Division K Teacher Education Graduate Seminar at the AERA national conference in San Francisco in April. The students will meet with noted scholars and receive support for their own research interests.

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PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

Following is a sampling of recent faculty and graduate student publications and presentations in the College:

• Linda Serra Hagedorn, chair, Educational Administration and Policy, presented “Increasing Transfer Rates of Hispanic Community College Students” at the UCLA Latino Summit held in March.
• Luis Ponjuan, assistant professor, Educational Administration and Policy, has the following publications:
  • “National Study of Job Satisfaction of Faculty of Color in Doctoral Institutions,” Journal of the Professoriate (2006), 1(1). (This is the journal’s inaugural issue.)
  • “Latino Educational Outcomes and the Campus Climate,” Journal of Hispanic Higher Education (2005), 4(3), pp. 235-251. (Co-author with Hurtado, S.)
• Linda Behar-Horenstein, professor, Educational Administration and Policy, has taken part in the following presentations:
  • “Teaching Styles Beliefs Among U.S. and Canadian Dental School Faculty,” annual meeting of the American Dental Educational Association held in March in Orlando. (Co-presenters: G.S. Mitchell and T.A. Dolan)
  • “Sustaining Schoolwide Literacy Reform: Challenges and Successes,” annual meeting of the American Dental Educational Association held in April in San Francisco. (Co-presenter: M. Lefave)
  • “Characteristics of Eroded Instructional Time,” annual meeting of the American Dental Educational Association held in April in San Francisco. (Co-presenters: C.A. Isaac, C.A. Davis, D.M. Seabert)
• P.K. Yonge instructors Mickey Macdonald, Theda Buckley and Marisa Ramirez presented “Using Digital Portfolios in Student-Led Conferencing” as part of the Global Thinking: Tools for Learning segment at the National Association of Laboratory School conference held in March in New York.
• Lynda Hayes, university school associate professor, P.K. Yonge, presented “Research in Action: Professional Development That Works” at the National Association of Laboratory School conference held in March in New York. The session highlighted a P.K. Yonge program that brings teachers from across Florida to visit classes and reflect on best practices in K-12 literacy education.

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RESEARCH-GRANTS

The following lists some new faculty research and grant activities:

• Linda Lamme, professor, School of Teaching and Learning, has received an Internationalizing the Curriculum grant to incorporate international issues into children’s literature courses. Lamme’s submission was one of 20 across the university chosen to receive a $3,000 award.
• Linda Jones, assistant professor, School of Teaching and Learning, has received a development travel grant from the Center for African Studies. The award is one of only two being given out at UF. Jones will work with an environmental education professor at the University of Botswana and teachers and students at the Okavango International School in Maun, Botswana.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Call for proposals under way for Centennial conference
The College of Education invites proposals for presentation of research-focused studies and professional papers that demonstrate innovative programs and exemplary practices that address closing the achievement gap for its year-end Centennial conference “Closing the Achievement Gap Through Partnerships.” The deadline to submit proposals is May 15. For information on the conference and submission guidelines, visit the conference Web site at http://www.doce-conferences.ufl.edu/gap/speakers.asp.

Professor Tyree to retire at end of term
Lawrence Tyree, professor, Educational Administration and Policy, will officially retire at the end of spring term. Tyree has served as the executive director of the National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges and for a brief time as the College’s director of the Institute of Higher Education. Before joining the UF Education faculty in 2002, Tyree spent nearly 34 years working at six community colleges in four states; 26 of those years, he served as CEO in four community college districts. Tyree is uncertain of his plans for retirement. He says he may teach part time at Appalachian State University in North Carolina or even UF. One thing is certain, though. Tyree says he will be spending more time with his grandchildren and rediscovering his golf game.

College appoints new director of distance education
Chris Sessums has been named the new director of distance education for the College of Education. In this role, Sessums will oversee the daily operation of the distance education program, to include managing the development, delivery, evaluation and support of all online degree programs and courses. Sessums has a bachelor’s in English and a master’s in secondary English education from the UF. He is currently working on a doctorate in teacher professional development and educational technology. Before joining the College, Sessums taught 12th-grade English at P.K. Yonge and seventh-grade language arts. He also worked as coordinator of the Office of Correspondence Studies in the Division of Continuing Education. For now, Sessums office is in Norman Hall 173. His phone number is 392-0728, ext. 297 and his e-mail address is csessums@coe.ufl.edu.

Instructional technology hires help desk supervisor
Dan Brooks has joined the Office of Information and Instructional Technology as help desk supervisor. Brooks comes to the college from other departments within the university. He was a desktop support supervisor in operations analysis and an IT practitioner in the provost’s office. In the College of Education, Brooks will be responsible for updating and improving help desk operations. Brooks’ office is in Norman 121. He may be reached at 392-0726, ext. 249, or brooksde@ufl.edu.

Information session on college programs set
The Office of Recruitment, Retention and Multicultural Affairs is sponsoring an information session from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 22, for anyone considering a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in education. The location of this session is yet to be determined, but registration is needed by Monday, May 15. Contact Shirl Caliste at rrma@coe.ufl.edu or 392-9196, ext. 22, to register or for more information.

Saturday summit addresses literacy, media, arts
Registration is currently under way for the Saturday Summit on Literacy, Media and the Arts. The daylong session is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 3 in the Terrace Room of Norman Hall. The summit is being organized by English Education faculty members Barbara Pace and Jane Townsend and will include teaching presentations, small-group discussions, and opportunities for sharing ideas and questions about the connections between literacy, media and the arts. There is no fee to attend, but registration by June 1 is requested to ensure adequate materials for participants. To register, send an e-mail with your name and the grade level at which you teach to saturdaysummit@yahoo.com.

Baby Gator invites comments on design for new center
Baby Gator Child Development and Research Center will hold a review of design proposals for a new center at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 24, in Norman Hall 158. Proposals have been submitted by third-year UF interior design students. For more information, contact Debra Harris at 392-0252, ext. 456, or debraharris@dcp.ufl.edu. Food and drinks will be provided. To RSVP, contact Jennifer at 392-2330.

Performing Arts Center at P.K. Yonge stages musical ‘Annie’
“Annie,” one of the most popular Broadway musicals in history, will hit the stage of the Performing Arts Center at P.K. Yonge beginning Friday, April 21. The production is directed by E. Sherwin Mackintosh and features an award-winning cast of P.K. Yonge students, a full orchestra of students from the UF School of Music, and sets and costumes by students from the UF School of Theater and Dance. Tickets are $5 for students. Advance tickets are $9 for adults; tickets at the door are $10 for adults. Performances begin at 7 p.m. on April 21, 22 and 29, and at 2 p.m. on April 23 and 29.

Counselor Education students to perform ‘Instead of Dying’

The Beta Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota is sponsoring a presentation of Jani N. Sherrard’s “Instead of Dying” at 7 p.m., Friday, April 21, in the Terrace Room. The production will be performed by Counselor Education graduate students Becky Goldberg, Jennifer Pritchett and Jenna Teitelbaum. A brief talk back with the actors and playwright and wine reception will follow the play.

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coE-CALENDAR

APRIL 16

College Faculty Meeting
2 p.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Hazel Jones, ext. 98-252

APRIL 19

International Center Workshop for Teachers of Alachua County
8 a.m., Terrace Room
Contact: David Akombo, dakombo@ufl.edu

APRIL 20

Scholarship of Engagement Banquet
Featuring Provost Janie Fouke as guest speaker
5:30 p.m., Emerson Alumni Hall Ballroom
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

Education College Council meeting
6:30 p.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Theresa Vernetson, 2-1058, ext. 400

April 21

Alumni Lunch and Lecture
Featuring Linda Behar-Horenstein speaking on “The Role of Classroom Observation Research”
11:30 a.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

Development Board of Directors meeting
12:30 p.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Margaret Gaylord, 2-0728, ext. 290

Alumni Association Jimmy Buffet Cover Band concert
Followed by Urban Meyer Pep rally
6 p.m. (concert), 9 p.m. (pep rally)
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

“Annie” musical
7 p.m., P.K. Yonge Performing Arts Center
Contact: 392-1554, ext. 260 for ticket information

“Instead of Dying”
7 p.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Kitty Fallon, kfallon@coe.ufl.edu

APRIL 22

Alumni Board of Directors meeting
9 a.m., Norman Hall 158
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

Orange-and-Blue Barbecue and Game
Hosted by College of Education and Alumni Association
11 a.m. (barbecue), 1:30 p.m. (game)
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

“Annie” musical
7 p.m., P.K. Yonge Performing Arts Center
Contact: 392-1554, ext. 260 for ticket information

APRIL 23

“Annie” musical
2 p.m., P.K. Yonge Performing Arts Center
Contact: 392-1554, ext. 260 for ticket information

APRIL 24

Baby Gator design review
5:30 p.m., Norman Hall 158
Contact: Jennifer, 392-2330

APRIL 25

Brown bag lunch with the Dean
Dean Catherine Emihovich will talk about her recent trip to China and her observations on the education systems in that country.
Noon, Terrace Room
Contact: Mary McDonough, 2-0728, ext. 226

**UF classes end**

APRIL 27

COE Staff Awards Luncheon (luau theme)
11:30 a.m., Norman Hall Courtyard
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

Education College Council meeting
6:30 p.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Theresa Vernetson, 2-1058, ext. 400

APRIL 29

Second Annual Teaching INquiry and Innovation Showcase
8 a.m., P.K. Yonge
Contact: Nancy Dana, Center for School Improvement, 2-0728, ext.299

“Annie” musical
Two performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., P.K. Yonge Performing Arts Center
Contact: 392-1554, ext. 260 for ticket information

MAY 5

Lastinger Center board meeting
11 a.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Laverne Smith, 2-0726, ext. 301

MAY 6

Distinguished Educators Dinner
6:30 p.m., Presidents Dining Room, Reitz Union
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

MAY 7

Spring Commencement
10 a.m., Stephen C. O’Connell Center
Contact: Theresa Vernetson, 2-0721, ext. 400

MAY 10

Staff Council meeting
9 a.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Sabrina McLaughlin, 2-0726, ext. 262

MAY 21

Graduation: Baby Gator Child Development and Research Center
Featuring UF President Bernie Machen as keynote speaker
2 p.m., Norman Hall Auditorium
Contact: Lisa Roberts, 392-2330

MAY 22

COE Information Session
For people interested in degrees or certification in Education
4 p.m., Location TBA
Contact: Shirl Caliste, 392-9196, ext. 22, or rrma@coe.ufl.edu

MAY 26

Alumni Lunch and Lecture
Featuring Zhihui Fang speaking on “What Does It Take to Comprehend A Textbook?”
11:30 a.m., Terrace Room
Contact: Jodi Mount, 2-0728, ext. 250

MAY 29

Memorial Day holiday

JUNE 3

Saturday Summit: Literacy, Media and the Arts
9 a.m., Terrace Room
To register, e-mail: saturdaysummit@yahoo.com

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

JUNE 22-23

Great Florida Teach-I

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IN THE NEWS

The following “media hits” from News & Publications news release distribution and media inquiries have occurred recently:

• The Lastinger Center for Learning and Director Don Pemberton are cited in an article on a center-conducted study on the state of child care in Collier County that appears in the March 19 edition of The Naples Daily News. The article may be viewed online at www.naplesnews.com/newes/2006/mar/19/wine_festival_organizers_release_st
  udy_child_care
• Dean Catherine Emihovich is quoted in an article on the pitfalls of the governor’s plan to link teacher pay to FCAT scores and how current teacher-education students are responding to the plan. The story appears in the April 6 edition of the Lakeland Ledger. The article may be viewed online at www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200604/NEWS/604-60407.1004.
• Linda Serra-Hagedorn, chair, Educational Administration and Policy, is quoted in an article on ways to keep Latino students from falling through multiple cracks in the “educational pipeline” that appears in the April 4 edition of the Los Angeles Times. The article may be viewed online at www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-latino4apr04,1,745243,full.story?coll=la-headlines-california.

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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)
Editor: Joy L. Rodgers (jrodgers@coe.ufl.edu)

Writers:
Larry Lansford
Joy L. Rodgers
Chan Tran, student-writer intern (ctran@ufl.edu)

 

 

Since the early 1990s, a humble little computing device has caused a quiet revolution in the way mathematics is taught in America’s high schools.

For generations, algebra students painstakingly plotted equations on graph paper, a process that often produced more eraser marks than answers. With the advent of the graphing calculator – a souped-up version of the hand-held calculator once scorned by math teachers – students are able to plot, adjust and even play with equations with relative ease.

Now a team of education researchers is taking the device to the next level. University of Florida College of Education Professor Stephen Pape and his colleagues are helping algebra teachers around the nation set up in-class wireless networks linking all their students’ calculators – a network that can turn the once-solitary process of ciphering into a social activity.

“When the teacher can see every student’s answer on the screen in real time and provide instant feedback, an algebra class becomes a true learning community,” Pape said. “If 60 percent of my class gets a particular problem wrong, we can stop what we’re doing and discuss it then and there.”

Pape is one of the lead investigators on a $3 million, four-year U.S. Department of Education study that has placed new calculator-networking technology in the classrooms of approximately 100 algebra teachers in 28 states. Pape and several faculty members from The Ohio State University (where Pape once taught) are examining the effect that technology is having on the educational outcomes of more than 10,000 students.

“The graphing calculator has changed the approach to teaching in a lot of Algebra I classrooms, but this technology takes it a step farther,” Pape said.

You won’t see it on the cover of Wired any time soon, but the graphing calculator really has caused the kind of revolution starry-eyed futurists used to dream about. First introduced in the mid-1980s, the device added a crude graphic display and an equation-plotting function to the standard scientific calculator. As technological advances improved their power and reduced their cost, graphing calculators began popping up in many high schools.

These days, the graphing calculator is a fully programmable handheld computer that allows students to plot equations and show their results instantly, run instructional programs designed to teach specific math skills, and even dabble in programming on their own. Teachers can free their students from hours of frustrating toil with rulers and grid paper, and spend their time teaching mathematical concepts instead. Rather than learning to plot points on coordinate axes, the students can be taught to read graphs that represent real-life phenomena. At a relatively low cost of $125 per unit, who cares if the little computer looks dorkier than a pocket protector?

Enter a device called the Navigator, newly released by calculator-maker Texas Instruments. Navigator is a wireless networking system that allows teachers to see what each student is doing on his or her graphing calculator in real time – and display those results on an overhead projector. The system also allows students to wirelessly download quizzes and other activities.

“The teacher, and the whole class, can see a graph of the students’ responses to a question posed in class. This provides the teacher with far greater knowledge of the classes understanding of a concept – and the teacher can show every student’s answer plotted out on the same screen,” said Pape. “Only the teacher knows who is getting the answers right and who is getting them wrong.”

The system allows a teacher to instantly know when a significant number of students have gotten and answer wrong – and it allows students to see that they are not alone in making mistakes in math.

The project is only halfway through it four-year run, though Pape says initial results suggest the networked calculators are indeed improving performance in many classrooms. Interviews with students show that the project is changing the attitudes some children have toward math class.

“They’re more engaged, because their answers will be on the board instantly,” he said. “Even though they can make mistakes anonymously, they still feel pressure to get it right.”

Pape said he couldn’t predict whether school systems would elect to buy the networking technology, which cost the researchers approximately $1,800 per classroom, with a discount from the manufacturer. The list price for Navigator is about twice that.

Even so, Pape says this sort of networking holds great promise for the classroom, and not merely in math classes.

“English teachers and history teachers who are now exploring ways to use this system in their classrooms,” he said. “This really is a powerful technology.”

Former Congressman Bob Barr, who played a key role in the impeachment of President Clinton – and went on to become a vocal critic of the Bush Administration – is among the panel of speakers expected to appear at a conference for teacher educators to be held at the University of Florida College of Education June 5-10.

Barr will join attorney and Salon.com contributor Glenn Greenwald, University of Wisconsin-Madison history professor John Kaminski and civil liberties attorney Robert Peck as speakers at UF’s annual conference for professors who instruct future social studies teachers.

Titled “Constitutional Issues for Social Studies Methods Professors,” the conference aims to bring teacher educators up to speed on major, developing issues in American politics and policy. The ultimate goal is to pass that knowledge down to social studies teachers themselves, in order to improve the often-lamented status of civics education in the school system.

“Our hope is that this will have a ripple effect,” said Professor Elizabeth Yeager, organizer of the conference for the past four years. “Civics education is a vital element of a democratic society, and the public’s lack of knowledge about their government – just think about the polls you read about in the papers – is frightening.

“This conference is part of the solution,” Yeager continued, “But it’s just one small part.”

In past years, the conference has focused on emerging topics in public policy such as free speech issues and civil liberties in the age of terrorism. This year – with the White House and Congress in the hands of opposing political parties — the topic is the power of the presidency.

“With a number of people in Congress now questioning the president’s actions in a number of areas this seemed like a hot topic to address,” Yeager said.

Few people have as much up-close experience with presidential power struggles as Bob Barr. As a Republican congressman, Barr was manager of the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton in the House. In post-9-11 Washington, Barr emerged as a critic of the “new normal,” agreeing to vote for the Patriot Act only after crucial sunset clauses were added, and later saying he regretted even that vote. After he left office in 2002, Barr switched to the Libertarian Party, worked as a consultant for the American Civil Liberties Union and has written opinion pieces criticizing government surveillance of U.S. citizens.

“I don’t know if he would agree with this statement, but I see him as a conservative in the Barry Goldwater style: independent and interested in small government,” Yeager said.

Columnist Glenn Greenwald is a frequent contributor to Salon.com and author of the book How Would a Patriot Act, a critique of the Bush Administration’s uses of power. He is a former constitutional law and civil rights litigator.

Robert Peck is president of the Center for Constitutional Litigation, P.C., an independent law firm dedicated to litigating civil justice issues. He has argued 12 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

John Kaminski is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founder of that college’s Center for the Study of the American Constitution. He is the author of more than a dozen books on early American history.

This year’s conference is funded by a $72,000 grant from the U.S Department of Education through the non-profit Center for Civic Education.

VOL. 2, ISSUE 7

APRIL 17 , 2007

You’re reading coE-News, 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. Click here to download a PDF version of this edition. You will need a PDF reader to view this document.

GOT NEWS? We want to hear it. Submit individual or unit news and calendar events of collegewide interest to news@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.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

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DEAN’S MESSAGE

Research weighs heavily in College rankings, but impact of scholarship is best gauge of success
Dean Catherine Emihovich weighs in on the results of this year’s U.S. News and World Report rankings. (more)

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TOP STORIES

UF has all bases covered at AERA annual meeting
Congratulations to the 63 UF faculty members and students who presented papers or participated in panels at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting April 9-13 in Chicago. UF researchers covered a wide variety of topics, from African American girls’ performance in math classes to the role religious background plays in post-secondary academic achievement. You can get an overview of the more than 100 presentations by UF scholars by clicking here and searching the site using the keywords “University of Florida.”

From classroom to boardroom: COE commencement speaker to stress the power of personal ‘re-invention’
In the new global economy, you have to be able to re-create your professional persona from scratch in order to survive – even if you’re in a traditionally secure job like teaching. So says University of Florida alumna Elizabeth Van Ella, the teacher-turned-corporate-CEO who will deliver the address to graduating seniors at the UF College of Education’s baccalaureate commencement on May 5. (more)

Danling Fu named Graduate Teacher of the Year
Her research on children’s writing development and immigrant student literacy is widely published and read. Her years of involvement with the National Council of Teachers of English have led to several influential positions with that organization. And she is always willing to share the wealth by opening new doors for her graduate students. No wonder Danling Fu was named Graduate Teacher of the Year. (more)

National organization moves HQ to Norman Hall
After 35 years of doing research on school finance issues, the American Education Finance Association is moving its headquarters to UF’s College of Education. COE Professor Craig Wood, the new executive director of AEFA, will manage the organization from Norman Hall beginning July 1. (more)

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NEWS AND NOTICES

Former Congressman Bob Barr to address teacher educators at UF
Former Congressman Bob Barr (R-Ga.), an outspoken critic of both the Clinton and Bush administrations, will be among the featured speakers at a civics education seminar held by the College of Education in June. (more)

Teacher inquiry showcase offers a view from the front lines of education
How can a school suspend unruly students without putting them even further behind academically? How do you explain the real-world use of foreign language or geometry to students who just don’t get it? What does it take to make gifted students do more than coast through the FCAT? Hundreds of classroom teachers will discuss these and dozens of other major issues in education in the Teaching, Inquiry and Innovation Showcase, to be held April 21 at the Performing Arts Center at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School.

 

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FACULTY/STAFF HONORS/APPOINTMENTS

Tucker, Green named Staff Members of the Year
Vicki Tucker manages millions of dollars in grants for the Department of Special Education. Elaine Green saved the college hundreds of thousands of dollars when she spotted a computer error. Both were honored as Staff Members of the Year at the college’s Staff Appreciation Luncheon in March.

Garrett appointed to ASGW fellowship
Associate Professor Michael T. Garrett was named a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work, or ASGW, at the American Counseling Association Annual Convention held in Detroit in March. The ASGW represents around 900 group work specialists and teacher educators nationwide.

Adams honored for efforts to prepare out-of-field mathematics teachers
The Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System recently honored Professor and Graduate Studies Director Thomasenia Lott Adams for her work in developing an online professional development module for educators who are teaching mathematics out-of-field. Adams was given the Distinguished Service Award for her work on the module, which helps out-of-field teachers prepare for mathematics testing with the state.

Two from EAP honored by community college researchers
Two faculty members from the Department of Educational Administration and Policy – Professor Dale Campbell and Professor and Chair Linda Serra Hagedorn – were honored April 13 by the Council for the Study of Community Colleges.

Service, Leadership awards to Conwill
The Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, or AMCD, has awarded Associate Professor William Conwill its Meritorious Service Award and its Exemplary Diversity Leadership Award. A division of the American Counseling Association, the AMCD is focused on preparing global leadership, research, training and development for multicultural counseling professionals with a focus on racial and ethnic issues.

Special education instructor named UF Research Foundation professor
The University of Florida Research Foundation awarded a three-year Research Professorship to COE Special Education instructor Stephen W. Smith, the second time in seven years he has received the prestigious designation.

Fu joins NCTE commission on the teaching of writing
The National Council of Teachers of English has appointed UF Education Professor Danling Fu to its Commission on Composition, the deliberative and advisory body that helps set policy for NCTE and its 60,000 member teachers and institutions. The commission identifies and reports on key issues in the teaching of writing for the NCTE, recommends new projects for the organization, and suggests new topics for books produced by NCTE, among other duties.

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STUDENT HONORS/AWARDS

Student research on Muslim teens wins grant
Shifa Podikunju-Hussain, a doctoral candidate in Counselor Education, received a $500 research grant from the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling for her research on the acculturation issues of Muslim teens in the United States. The research, which is part of her dissertation, was also profiled in the April 2007 issue of the American Counseling Association’s Counseling Today.

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PUBLICATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

Conwill presents at American Counseling Association
Assistant Professor William Conwill presented “Multicultural Competencies: African Americans” at the National Conference of the American Counseling Association in Detroit, Mich., March 21-25. At the conference, Conwill directed the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development’s town hall meeting, titled “Special Interest Groups Collaborate on Issues of Multicultural Importance.”

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DISSERTATION DEFENSES

Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the following dissertation defenses. Please RSVP if you plan to attend:

A Cognitive Application of Personality Testing: Measuring Entrepreneurialism in America’s Community Colleges
Doctoral candidate: Matthew Basham
1 p.m. April 30, Norman Hall Room 290
RSVP to: Dale Campbell, dfc@ufl.edu

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P.K. YONGE NEWS

PKY to man the barricades in ‘Les Miserables’
This season’s hottest theatrical production features a revolving stage, an 18-piece orchestra and an award-winning cast. But it’s not a Broadway show on tour in Gainesville – it’s the students of P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School performing Les Miserables. Evening performances will be held April 27-28 and May 4-5 at 7 p.m., and matinee performances will be held April 28 and May 5 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and PKY faculty. Forty percent of tickets have already been sold, so come to the school’s front office to get yours – or order them at any Ticketmaster outlet (additional fees may apply).

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IN THE NEWS

A recent sampling of “media hits” from the College of Education, many of them resulting from press releases or media requests coordinated by COE News & Publications:

Associated Press (4/11/07)
The AP covered a legislative proposal to name the College of Education after former Florida Gov. John Ellis “Jeb” Bush. The AP coverage, and follow-ups to it, ran in most major Florida newspapers, including The Miami Herald, The St. Petersburg Times and The Orlando Sentinel, as well as local outlets such as The Gainesville Sun and The Independent Florida Alligator.

Inside Higher Ed – Dean Catherine Emihovich (4/10/07)
Emihovich was quoted in a story on collective efforts by several colleges – including UF – to overhaul the Ed.D. degree.

Monitor on Psychology – Professor and Chair Mark Shermis, Educational Psychology (4/2/07)
Shermis was quoted on automatic essay scoring in a story about the American Psychological Association’s Division 5, which focuses on evaluation and measurement.

Counseling Today – Doctoral Candidate Shifa Podikunju-Hussain, Counselor Education (4/1/07)
The magazine did an extensive report on Podikunju-Hussain’s research on the acculturation issues of Muslim teens in the United States.

Independent Florida Alligator – Professor and Chair Linda Serra Hagedorn, EAP (3/27/07)
Hagedorn was quoted in coverage of her recent study which found that Hispanic community college students show better academic performance at schools with large Hispanic populations.

Gainesville Sun – News and Publications Director Larry Lansford (3/30/07)
Lansford was quoted in a story on the 2008 U.S. News and World Report rankings of America’s graduate schools.

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CALENDAR

APRIL 18-21

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Annual Convention
Louisville, Ky.
contact: Shaira Rivas-Otero, 392-0701, ext: 242 or srivas@coe.ufl.edu

APRIL 25

Last Day of Spring Classes

APRIL 25

Scholarship of Engagement Banquet
5-6 p.m. (Check-in and Reception), 6-9pm (program), Emerson Alumni Hall
Contact: Jodi Mount, 392-0728, ext. 250 or jmount@coe.ufl.edu

MAY 3

UF Advanced Degree Commencement Ceremony
For all advanced degrees (Ph.D, Ed.D, masters, specialists)
2 p.m., Stephen C. O’Connell Center

MAY 4

UF College of Education hosts the Florida Distinguished Educators
Contact: Jodi Mount, 392-0728, ext. 250 or jmount@coe.ufl.edu

MAY 5

Spring Commencement Ceremony
9 a.m., Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

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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: Larry Lansford (llansford@coe.ufl.edu)
Editor: Tim Lockette (Lockette@coe.ufl.edu)

Correspondents:
Alexander Stern, Student Writer
Marta Pollitt, P.K. Yonge (mpollitt@pky.ufl.edu)

The UF College of Education’s program in Elementary Education maintained its top-tier national standing, placing 23rd in the U.S. News & World Reports’ annual rankings of America’s best graduate schools, released April 1.

The Elementary Education program has ranked among the top 25 in its specialty in five of the past eight years, placing as high as 12th last year.

“Our top ranking reflects the high quality of our graduates as well as the strength of our talented faculty,” said Tom Dana, director of UF’s School of Teaching and Learning since 2003. “We’re pleased that so many school superintendents and faculty at other colleges of education around the country nominated our program as one of the best in the nation.”

UF’s elementary education program is one of the few in the nation requiring teacher candidates to complete five years of study, culminating with a master’s degree in one of five specialty areas—reading, math/science, technology, special education or ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). The program focuses on preparing teachers to work with all students, particularly those with disabilities, children from low-income families and those whose first language is not English. Through the college’s partnerships with disadvantaged schools around the state, UF elementary teacher candidates receive extended, hands-on field experiences in the classroom, learning research-proven instructional practices from master teachers.

Other nationally ranked academic programs at UF’s College of Education are Counselor Education (No. 2) and Special Education (4). Overall, the College placed 44th, making it the highest ranking education school in Florida, and one of the top three colleges at UF.

How can a school suspend unruly students without putting them even further behind academically? How do you explain the real-world use of foreign language or geometry to students who just don’t get it? What does it take to make gifted students do more than coast through the FCAT?

Hundreds of classroom teachers will discuss these and dozens of other major issues in education in the University of Florida’s Teaching, Inquiry and Innovation Showcase, to be held April 21 at the Performing Arts Center at P.K Yonge Developmental Research School.

Now in its third year, the showcase offers a view of education from the front lines. Classroom teachers and administrators from 15 school districts around North Central Florida will explain findings from their own classroom-based research on the real-world problems they encounter every day.

“Teachers are in the best position to identify these problems, and find workable solutions,” said Nancy Dana, a professor at UF’s College of Education. “Rather than having people from outside come to schools and tell them how to fix their problems, we’re encouraging schools to take ownership of their own professional development.”

Dana is director of the college’s Center for School Improvement, which is recognized nationwide as a leader in the growing field of teacher inquiry. Each year, the center holds showcases around the state to encourage educators to share what they learned about improving student learning from the standpoint of classroom-based researchers.

The teacher inquiry approach, Dana said, is much more effective than the traditional model of professional development in education – in which teachers would gather to hear the results of the latest university research or learn how to implement new routines based on top-down changes in policy.

Since teachers are the ones with first-hand knowledge of the classroom, Dana said, it is vital that they identify problems specific to their own classrooms, do their own inquiry, and share their solutions with colleagues.

The center supports showcases in locations such as Jacksonville and Immokalee, but the annual meeting in Gainesville, co-sponsored by the Northeast Florida Education Consortium, or NEFEC, is the largest. This year, organizers expect to draw about 400 teachers, three times the number who showed up for the first showcase in 2005.

The event will be held from 8 a.m. to noon April 21 in the P.K Yonge Performing Arts Center. For information on the more than 150 topics to be covered at the event, go to https://education.ufl.edu/web/?pid=904 and click on “2007.”

Her research on children’s writing development and immigrant student literacy is widely published and read. Her years of involvement with the National Council of Teachers of English have led to several influential positions with that organization. And she is always willing to share the wealth by opening new doors for her graduate students.

No wonder Professor Danling Fu, of the School of Teaching and Learning, was named the College of Education’s Graduate Teacher of the Year.

Fu has written and published widely on children’s writing development and literacy for immigrant students. She has served as a consultant on bilingual education and English language learners for school systems across the East Coast and in California. Fu is deeply involved in the National Council of Teachers of English (or NCTE), and has held a number of significant posts with that organization. Most recently, she was appointed to the NCTE’s Commission on Composition.

Fu sets the standard for mentoring at the graduate level. Many students describe her class in family literacy and culture as a “life-changing experience.”

Fu creates a collegial environment for her graduate students through weekly meetings to discuss their readings and ideas. All of her students write proposals for presentation of their research to the NCTE; at conferences, she introduces them to scholars in their field. As a result, many of her former students have gone on to become cutting-edge researchers in their own right.

Vicki Tucker manages millions of dollars in grants for the Department of Special Education.

Elaine Green saved the college hundreds of thousands of dollars when she spotted a computer error.

Both were honored as Staff Members of the year at the Staff Appreciation Luncheon, held March 27 in the Norman Hall courtyard.

Tucker and Green were among nearly a dozen people nominated for the award, given annually to honor top performers among COE staff.

Vicki Tucker, a grants specialist in Special Education, was lauded for her ability to keep researchers’ funding flowing. Tucker manages 30 grants for the department – a total of more than $4 million in research funding.

Faculty and staff praised Tucker for helping the department transition to the PeopleSoft system (she even wrote a handbook on the program for use within the department). Students lauded her ability to manage the federal personnel preparation grants that are a source of income for many of the department’s students.

“She never hesitates to lend a hand, whether it is related to her job or not,” wrote doctoral student Mary Theresa Kiely. “I feel lucky just about every day to have her working in my department’s office.”

Elaine Green, office manager for the Department of Educational Psychology, was also praised for her ability to navigate the PeopleSoft system. Her PeopleSoft expertise has often been sought out by the Dean’s Office, and last summer she spotted a computer error that, had it not been caught, would have cost the college $200,000.

Nominators praised Green for interacting with other departments to make sure the department’s service courses – often sought out by students from other colleges who hope to hone their research skills – are fully enrolled.

Educational Psychology Professor and Chair Mark Shermis lauded Green for shepherding graduate students through the bureaucracy “with grace and ease.”

“It is not uncommon to see doctoral students who have just successfully completed their dissertation make Elaine Green their first stop on a ‘thank you’ tour of individuals who have contributed to their success,” Shermis said.

In the new global economy, you have to be able to re-create your professional persona from scratch in order to survive – even if you’re in a traditionally secure job like teaching.

So says University of Florida alumna Elizabeth Van Ella, the teacher-turned-corporate-CEO who will deliver the address to graduating seniors at the UF College of Education’s baccalaureate commencement on Saturday, May 5.

“I think my own story suggests that if you’re a jack of all trades, you can do quite well,” Van Ella (BAE ’65) said. “Most people in the workforce today are going to have a number of careers, and you need to be able to reinvent yourself.”

Van Ella is herself a highly successful career chameleon, and her career started right here at Norman Hall.

As an undergraduate at UF, Van Ella majored in education, served as the first female captain of the UF debate team, and was a speaker for Florida Blue Key. She felt drawn to teaching — but like many teachers of the Baby Boom era, she admits she was also influenced by widespread sense that education was a “female” profession.

“Back then the assumption was still that you would marry and not necessarily have a career,” she said. “My father urged me to major in either nursing or teaching, so I’d have something to fall back on.”

Not willing to settle for a simple life in the suburbs, Van Ella used her teaching skills as a ticket to see the world – teaching at a school in Orleans, France; serving as an instructor for adult education programs on a military base in South Korea; and studying at the Universidad del Atlantico in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Soon she made a major career leap, becoming an investigative reporter for WBBM-TV in Chicago. While working in the Chicago area, she met and married James Van Ella, a former Cook County Sheriff’s Office investigator and founder of Van Ella and Associates, a private investigation firm specializing in high-level, white-collar crime investigations.

When her husband died in 1992, Elizabeth Van Ella found herself at the helm of the company – a business that had lost one of its primary assets.

“Van Ella and Associates was built largely on my husband’s investigative skills and contacts,” she said. “There was really no one who could match his ability in this area.”

So Van Ella remade the company, shifting its focus to the growing field of pre-employment background checks. She also invested heavily in information technology, foreseeing the day when “data mining” would become a standard part of any background investigation. Those changes spurred a five-fold growth in the profits of the company, which is now known as VanElla, Inc.

In addition to her work with the company, Van Ella has maintained an active intellectual life, earning a master’s degree from Lake Forest College, pursuing post-graduate studies at other institutions, and penning the prospectus of a book titled Malice in Wonderland.

Van Ella says her ability to learn and adapt was always her greatest career asset. For denizens of the 21st Century, she says, adaptability is more than an asset – it’s an essential career skill. Adaptability, she says, is something teachers need to teach, and it’s a quality teachers themselves must possess if they want to stay relevant in the classroom.

“I think it’s also important to teach for change,” she said. “My generation had a sense that there were no limits to how far we could go. Young people who are entering teaching today need to know that they can, and should, make a difference.”

Van Ella will speak at the baccalaureate commencement for the College of Education, which will be held at 9 a.m. May 5 in the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Graduate degrees will be conferred in a separate ceremony May 3 at 2 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Media are invited to attend. For more information, contact the News and Publications office at (352) 392-0726 ext. 266 or (352) 392-0726 ext. 274.

Students and their guests can go to https://education.ufl.edu/web/?pid=984 for more information.

Are Florida’s initial educator programs – designed to speed qualified teacher candidates through the certification process – giving new teachers all the knowledge they need. One COE professor is helping the Florida Department of Education find out.

Associate Professor Ruth M. Lowery has been selected to serve on the Lower Division Teacher Education Workgroup, charged with reviewing – and possibly revising – the coursework required in initial educator programs. The group will work with universities and community colleges across the state to examine the 9 hours of preprofessional courses required of all preservice teachers in these programs.

Lowery said the Workgroup was formed largely to determine if the three introductory courses, developed back in 1995, are still appropriate for preparing teachers of the 21st Century.

“We are hoping that in looking at the 9 hours, we can determine inconsistencies across state teacher preparation programs and then we can try to formulate some way of making the courses more mainstreamed or aligned,” Lowery said.

Lowery teaches the Introduction to Education course here at UF — and she says this may have been one factor in her appointment to the workgroup.

DEAN'S MESSAGE: MARCH 16, 2007

Last year, after two collegewide retreats, the then-new Office of Educational Research (OER) had its marching orders from the COE faculty: Improve the research culture in the college, we were told.

For the past year, with the able assistance of and guidance from the Research Task Force and FPC’s Research Advisory Committee, Ana Puig and I have worked on the particulars of that agenda, aiming to heighten the visibility of researchers in the College.

For example, images of faculty scholars Maria Coady and (co-researchers) Stephen Smith and Ann Daunic now grace the College’s home page in a banner display with links to stories about their research—and new stories about other COE researchers are forthcoming. On display in a glass case outside the Norman Auditorium is a plaque commemorating the College of Education’s 10 UFRF Research Professors. We have opened and now maintain a Research Commons adjacent to the Terrace Room, providing space for researchers to congregate. The Commons still lacks a sofa and comfortable chair or two, but otherwise is furnished and functional, thanks to support from the Dean.

Forty-three members of the College faculty have participated in an outstanding grant-writing workshop sponsored by IFAS, and we have sponsored a series of training activities of our own, having offered what we call 101 workshops on grants.gov submissions, basic statistics, discourse analyses, randomized clinical trials and regression discontinuity design. We also have sponsored a brown bag series featuring speakers from the COE and elsewhere around campus. More of both are scheduled for the fall. We also attempted to address the faculty’s desire for additional methodological support by searching with Educational Psychology for a statistician who would be assigned part-time to work in OER.

All of which raises the question of how well we’re doing. Ana and I ask ourselves often whether the work of OER over the past year has indeed improved the research culture in the college…

We know that culture change takes time…and often is slowed by inattention, indifference or resistance. We don’t sense resistance or even indifference, but we know our colleagues to be very busy people. We understand that elements of their work cannot simply be set aside or deferred, and that time cannot be readily freed up, regardless of the worthiness of the cause they would like to pursue. Nonetheless, we see signs of progress and hope for the future.

Everyone appreciates the benefits that external funding brings. Departments benefit substantially from funded work, and chairs are sincerely committed to supporting proposal writers and increasing funded research. There are personal benefits to principal investigators, as well, and, in almost every way they are better at UF than at other institutions where I’ve served. Yet, from the PI’s perspective, the most important benefit is less tangible: And that’s the opportunity to undertake work that is meaningful and engaging to you, important to your discipline, and fundamental to your development as a scholar. Small wonder we have more and more people knocking on our door, seeking our help in getting them started. Rest assured, OER stands ready.

– Associate Dean for Research Paul Sindelar

VOL. 2, ISSUE 6

MARCH. 19, 2007

You’re reading coE-News, 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. Click here to download a PDF version of this edition. You will need a PDF reader to view this document.

GOT NEWS? We want to hear it. Submit individual or unit news and calendar events of collegewide interest to news@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.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

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DEAN’S MESSAGE

Improving the research culture at COE
Standing in for vacationing Dean Catherine Emihovich, Associate Dean for Research Paul Sindelar offers an overview of a year of progress at the Office of Educational Research. (more)

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TOP STORIES

$10M gift spurs all-out push to help Florida children succeed in school
UF’s Lastinger Center for Learning and the Miami-based Early Childhood Initiative Foundation will share a $10 million grant from the W.W. Kellogg Foundation, for efforts to improve learning by smoothing the transition to school for children who are likely to start school unprepared. (more)

UF joins effort to revamp Ed. D. degree, seeks faculty input
UF’s College of Education is joining a high-profile group of universities to rethink the Ed.D. degree, to better differentiate it from the Ph.D. and to better serve the educational needs of students who plan to be practicing educators. Faculty members can weigh in on the process at a meeting to be held March 21 at noon in the Norman Hall Terrace Room. (more)

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NEWS AND NOTICES

COE sponsors Blackout Weekend
The College of Education is proud to be a sponsor of Blackout Weekend – a new, major campus event to be held March 30-31. Created and run by the Black Student Union, Blackout Weekend will bring high school and college students from around the state to UF for a conference on the state of black student unions across the nation, a formal ball, a career fair, a speech by novelist Omar Tyree and more. For more information, write to ufbsuconference@yahoo.com or visit the BSU website here.

Teachers to share knowledge at April showcase
Teachers from around the state will join COE faculty and students to share their knowledge about school improvement at the annual Teaching, Inquiry and Innovation Showcase, to be held by the Center for School Improvement April 21 at the PKY Performing Arts Center. Now in its third year, the showcase exists to celebrate classroom teachers whose research and inquiry have helped to improve schools from within. More information is available here.

COE Viewbook wins ADDY Award
Last year, COE released a new publication designed to introduce the college to newcomers – with a personal touch. Now the COE Viewbook is among the winners of a respected ADDY Award.

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RESEARCH/GRANTS

UF professor takes common calculator to next level
Since the early 1990s, a humble little computing device has caused a quiet revolution in the way mathematics is taught in America’s middle and high schools. Now a pilot project, led in part by UF Associate Professor Stephen Pape, is taking the graphing calculator to the next level. (more)

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FACULTY/STAFF HONORS/APPOINTMENTS

Building at FAMU named for former COE professor
He worked on the NASA’s mission to the moon, helped implement the Civil Rights Act and served as a monitor for one of South Africa’s first post-apartheid elections. Now former COE professor Walter L. Smith has received one of the highest honors a university can bestow. (more)

COE professor appointed to dental journal
Professor Linda Behar-Horenstein has been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Dental Education. One of the nation’s most influential publications on academic dentistry, the JDE publishes dental research and articles on the instruction of student dentists. As an affiliate professor at UF’s College of Dentistry, Behar-Horenstein has helped that college improve its teaching methods. Last year, she was appointed to UF’s Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars, a task force dedicated to improving teaching across the UF campus.

Repetto honored for assisting students with disabilities in transition to adulthood
For years, UF’s Transition Center has been quietly assisting hundreds of students with disabilities as they make the transition from K-12 school to the demands of adulthood. Associate Professor Jeanne Repetto, co-founder and director of the center, will be honored for her work by the Council for Exceptional Children in April. (more)

Three at COE selected for Faculty Achievement Recognition
Professor Thomas Oakland, Professor Mary Brownell, and Professor and Associate Dean for Research Paul Sindelar are among 51 UF faculty selected as Faculty Achievement Recognition honorees.

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STUDENT HONORS/AWARDS

Essay lands Ph.D. student a trip to see Oprah
Denise Payne, a Ph.D. student in the School of Teaching and Learning, was awarded two tickets to the taping of an Oprah Winfrey Show episode about the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a newly constructed school in South Africa.  Payne acquired the tickets by submitting an essay to the show, illustrating the opportunities that her education has opened her.  Payne wrote that she found the South African students’ stories inspiring, and plans to share her experience with her students.  The show she attended aired in February.

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PUBLICATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

Hagedorn a headliner at conference on Latino students
Professor Linda Hagedorn, chair of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy, has been invited to serve as plenary speaker at the National Capitol Summit on Latino Students and Educational Opportunity, to be held June 13-14. Sponsored by the Educational Policy Institute and the University of Maryland College Park, the conference will be held on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and will focus on the educational needs of America’s growing Hispanic population.

Jones speaks at Levin environmental conference
Associate Professor Linda Cronin Jones spoke as a member of a panel on “Incorporating Sustainability into Education” during the 13th Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference at UF’s Levin College of Law, held March 1-3.

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DISSERTATION DEFENSES

Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the following dissertation defenses. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

• Curriculum Components of Classroom Management for School Counselors
  Doctoral candidate: Jill A. Geltner
  10 a.m. April 4, Norman Hall Room 1205
  RSVP to: Larry Loesch, lloesch@coe.ufl.edu
• The Turning Hour Project: Using Literature for Suicide Education in Schools
  Doctoral candidate: Patricia Xirau-Probert
  10:30 a.m.- noon March 26, Norman Hall Room 1235B
  RSVP to: Silvia Echevarria-Doan, silvia@coe.ufl.edu

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P.K. YONGE NEWS

PKY instructor gets Toyota “mini-grant”
P.K. Yonge science teacher Michelina “Mickie” MacDonald was awarded a $2,500 grant from Toyota’s TAPESTRY initiative, for an innovative program that brings UF genetics experts to PKY to teach high school biology students. Under the program, professors from UF’s microbiology and agronomy departments will discuss their own research and the real-life applications of genetic engineering with PKY students, and will provide field and laboratory experiences. Students will debate the ethics of genetic engineering and will conduct a literature review under the guidance of media specialists from UF’s libraries. The Toyota grant is one of about two dozen “mini-grants” the automaker offers each year to innovative, low-cost educational projects.

Road to college paved with basketball victories
Congratulations to Coach Mark Griseck and the Blue Wave basketball team for advancing all the way to this year’s state championship game in Class 3A. As state runner-up, they did their school proud – and along the way, three members of the team scored college basketball scholarships.

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IN THE NEWS

A recent sampling of “media hits” from the College of Education, many of them resulting from press releases or media requests coordinated by COE News & Publications:

Gainesville Sun – Professor and Chair Linda Hagedorn, EAP (3/6/07)
The Sun wrote a story about Hagedorn’s recent study which found that Hispanic college students show better academic performance at schools with a large Hispanic population. Hagedorn was also interviewed by WUFT-TV 5 in relation to the study.

Meridian (Miss.) Star – Professor and Chair Linda Hagedorn, EAP (2/21/07)
Hagedorn was quoted in a story about the Institute of Higher Education’s presentation of one of its Outstanding Graduate Awards to UF IHE alum Scott Elliott, president of Meridian Community College.

Associated Press – Lastinger Center for Learning  (3/5/06)
The news service carried the story of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s gift of $10 million to the Lastinger Center and the Miami-based Early Childhood Initiative Foundation for efforts to improve learning by smoothing the transition to school for children who are likely to start school unprepared. The story appeared in Florida Times-Union, Orlando Sentinel, Bradenton Herald, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Gainesville Sun, Lakeland Ledger, Naples Daily News, Pensacola News Journal and Philanthropy News Digest.

Providence(R.I) Journal – Professor Craig Wood (3/7/07)
The newspaper covered Wood’s presentation of a study on education funding to the Rhode Island Legislature. Wood told lawmakers their state would need approximately $94 million in additional funding to meet the needs of its students.

Jefferson City (Mo.) News Tribune – Professor Craig Wood (2/15/07)
Wood was quoted in coverage of a lawsuit in which plaintiffs alleged the State of Missouri does not distribute its education funding fairly. Wood testified as an expert witness in the case.

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CALENDAR

MARCH 21

Educational Psychology Guest Speaker:
Joseph Torgesen, W. Russell and Eugenia Morcom Chair of Psychology
and Education at Florida State University
4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Norman Hall Terrace Room
Contact: Tracy Linderholm, linderholm@coe.ufl.edu, or 392-0723 ext. 241

MARCH 22

McNair Scholars Poster Day
12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m., Reitz Student Union

MARCH 26

College Curriculum Committee meeting
2 p.m., Norman Hall Room 158

MARCH 27

COE Staff Appreciation Luncheon
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Norman Courtyard
Contact: Jodi Mount, 392-0728, ext. 250 or jmount@coe.ufl.edu

MARCH 30-31

Blackout Weekend
Contact: Black Student Union at ufbsuconference@yahoo.com

APRIL 2-6

Alachua County Schools Spring Break

APRIL 9–13

AERA Annual Convention: The World of Educational Quality
Chicago, Ill.

APRIL 11

Gator Day in the Legislature

APRIL 13-14

Spring Weekend by the Alumni Association
Contact: Jodi Mount, 392-0728, ext. 250 or jmount@coe.ufl.edu

APRIL 14

Education Alumni Council Spring Meeting
Norman Hall Room 158
Contact: Jodi Mount, 392-0728, ext. 250 or jmount@coe.ufl.edu

APRIL 14

Orange & Blue Football Game

APRIL 18-21

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Annual Convention
Louisville, Ky.
Contact: Shaira Rivas-Otero, 392-0701, ext: 242 or srivas@coe.ufl.edu

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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: Larry Lansford (llansford@coe.ufl.edu)
Editor: Tim Lockette (Lockette@coe.ufl.edu)

Correspondents:
Alexander Stern, Student Writer
Marta Pollitt, P.K. Yonge

Since the early 1990s, a humble little computing device has caused a quiet revolution in the way mathematics is taught in America’s middle and high schools.

For generations, algebra students painstakingly plotted points to sketch the graph of an equation on graph paper, a process that often produced more eraser marks than answers. With the advent of the graphing calculator – a souped-up version of the hand-held calculator once scorned by mathematics teachers – students are able to plot, adjust and even play with equations with relative ease.

Now a team of education researchers is taking the device to the next level. University of Florida College of Education Associate Professor Stephen Pape and his colleagues are providing algebra teachers around the nation the opportunity to learn how to implement in-class wireless networks linking all their students’ calculators with the teacher’s computer – a network that can turn the once-solitary process of ciphering into a social activity.

“When the teacher can see every student’s answer projected on the screen in real time and provide instant feedback, an algebra class becomes a true learning community,” Pape said. “If 60 percent of my class gets a particular problem wrong, we can stop what we’re doing and discuss it then and there.”

Pape is one of the lead investigators on a $3 million, four-year U.S. Department of Education study that has placed new calculator-networking technology in the classrooms of approximately 100 algebra teachers and 25 physical science teachers in 28 states. Pape and several faculty members from The Ohio State University (where Pape once taught) and the Better Education Foundation are examining the effect that technology is having on the learning and achievement of more than 10,000 students.

“The graphing calculator has changed the approach to teaching in a lot of Algebra I classrooms, but this technology takes it a step farther,” Pape said.

You won’t see it on the cover of Wired any time soon, but the graphing calculator really has caused the kind of revolution starry-eyed futurists used to dream about. First introduced in the mid-1980s, the device added a crude graphic display and an equation-plotting function to the standard scientific calculator. As technological advances improved their power and reduced their cost, graphing calculators began popping up in many high schools.

These days, the graphing calculator is a fully programmable handheld computer that allows students to plot equations and show their results instantly, run instructional programs designed to teach specific mathematics skills, and even dabble in programming on their own. Teachers can free their students from hours of frustrating toil with rulers and grid paper, and spend their time teaching mathematical concepts instead. Rather than learning to plot points on coordinate axes, the students can be taught to read graphs that represent real-life phenomena. At a relatively low cost of $125 per unit, who cares if the little computer looks dorkier than a pocket protector?

Enter a device called the Navigator, newly released by calculator-maker Texas Instruments. Navigator is a wireless networking system that allows teachers to see what each student is doing on his or her graphing calculator in real time – and display those results on an overhead projector. The system also allows students to wirelessly download quizzes and other activities.

“The teacher, and the whole class, can see a graph of the students’ responses to a question posed in class. This provides the teacher with far greater knowledge of the class’ understanding of a concept – and the teacher can show every student’s answer plotted out on the same screen,” said Pape. “Only the teacher knows who is getting the answers right and who is getting them wrong.”

The networking technology, which costs about $3,900 per classroom allows a teacher to instantly know when a significant number of students have arrived at an incorrect answer – and it allows students to see that they are not alone in making mistakes in mathematics.

The project is only halfway through its four-year run, though Pape says initial results suggest the networked calculators are indeed improving performance in many classrooms. Interviews with students show that the project is changing the attitudes some children have toward mathematics class.

“They’re more engaged, because their answers will be on the board instantly,” he said. “Even though they can make mistakes anonymously, they still feel pressure to get it right.”

Pape says this sort of classroom networking holds promise for many subjects.

“English teachers and history teachers are now exploring ways to use this system in their classrooms,” he said. “This really is a powerful technology.”

He worked on the NASA’s mission to the moon, helped implement the Civil Rights Act and served as a monitor for one of South Africa’s first post-apartheid elections. Now former COE professor Walter L. Smith has received one of the highest honors a university can bestow.

In a recent ceremony, Florida A & M University renamed its architecture building after Smith, who served as the university’s president from 1977 to 1985.

“This was more than just a building being named,” Smith said. “For me, this was part of a family legacy.”

Smith’s family ties to FAMU go back to the 1930s, when his grandfather worked as a caretaker on the research farms operated on campus. Smith developed an intimate knowledge of the campus through his grandfather.

“As a boy, I would ride on my grandfather’s wagon as he made his rounds,” Smith said. “I walked the university grounds as a boy and got to know the place well.”

Smith’s mother also attended FAMU, where she learned to sew – later becoming a successful and well-known clothing designer in the Tampa area.

Smith began his own educational career at the now-defunct Gibbs Junior College, an all-black community college in St. Petersburg. He went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from FAMU and a doctorate from Florida State.

In the years immediately following the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Smith worked for the federal government, helping develop the Titles IV and VI programs for school desegregation. He also worked at Kennedy Space Center, developing a technical education curriculum for engineering assistants on the Saturn V program.

Smith went on to become provost of Hillsborough Community College, president of Roxbury Community College in Massachusetts before being named president of FAMU. After leaving FAMU, he became a senior Fulbright scholar to the University of Malawi.

At FAMU, Smith was best known for expanding the college’s programs and establishing the university’s first doctoral program. He also went to bat for various on-campus construction projects, at a time when Board of Regents was reluctant to fund new facilities at FAMU.

“I went over their heads,” he said. “I went to the Governor and the Legislature, and had some success.”

Smith says his push for new campus facilities in the 1980s was probably the reason FAMU’s architecture faculty requested their building be named in his honor.

After leaving the presidency of FAMU, Smith traveled to post-apartheid South Africa to help that nation establish a community college system. That project was ongoing in 1995, when he joined the faculty of UF’s Educational Leadership and Policy department.

At UF, Smith’s community college expertise provided a valuable contribution the Institute of Higher Education. Among his well-known publications is the book The Magnificent Twelve: Florida’s Black Junior Colleges. The book tells the story of Gibbs Junior College and the state’s other segregation-era black two-year colleges, which served as building blocks for Florida’s current community college system.

Smith retired from UF in 2000, and now lives in Tampa, where he bought a building in his old neighborhood and turned it into a library for neighborhood children.

An alarming number of young children face extreme obstacles to learning before they enter school— poverty, poor access to health care and meager early-learning opportunities, to name a few. But some impressive help is on the way.

Two champions of early child development and education in Florida will share a $10 million grant and join forces to improve learning by smoothing the transition to school for children who are likely to start school unprepared. The partnership pairs the University of Florida’s Lastinger Center for Learning with The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, based in Miami, in an ambitious school-readiness effort called Ready Schools Florida.

The shared grant, announced today by UF officials, was awarded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich., one of the world’s largest private foundations.

Early child educators, researchers, program developers and measurement experts involved in the initiative’s four-year roll-out will take a research-proven model of early child intervention and rapidly bring it to scale in Miami-Dade County and, ultimately, to other Florida counties and states.

“Every year, 4-million children in America enter kindergarten. As many as one in three starts school behind and never catches up. The time to reach kids and their families is well before kindergarten,” said David Lawrence Jr., a prominent leader of the school-readiness movement who has close ties with both partnering organizations. “The Ready Schools Florida model seeks to prepare both ‘ready children’ and ‘ready schools’ to enhance a child’s healthy growth and development.”

Lawrence, former publisher of The Miami Herald, is president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation. He also is a 1963 University of Florida graduate and a board member of the Lastinger Center for Learning at UF’s College of Education. He joined the UF faculty in 2001 as the University Scholar for Early Childhood Development and Readiness, and last year his alma mater created a $1.5 million endowed professorship in early childhood studies in his name at the College of Education.

Lawrence’s Miami-based foundation and the UF Lastinger Center also have teamed up in the successful SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) program. SPARK emphasizes close parental and school involvement and intensive neighborhood- and community-wide planning efforts to help 1,600 Miami-Dade 3 year-olds make the transition to school ready to learn.

The Ready Schools Florida initiative will expand the SPARK model throughout Miami-Dade elementary schools and then, after further evaluation and refinement, to other interested Florida counties. Lawrence said participating schools, neighborhoods and community organizations will work together to create after-school tutoring programs and make sure all children have access to medical and dental care. The initiative also calls for increasing the number of accredited early-learning centers in Miami-Dade and collaborating with local and state agencies to create an effective rating scale for such centers.

“We are forging long-term partnerships and strategic funding support that will sustain the Ready Schools Florida effort long after the four-year Kellogg grant expires,” Lawrence said.

While mobilizing community support is key, the initiative focuses intently on the teaching and learning culture inside the schools and classrooms, according to Lastinger Center Director Don Pemberton.

“We will coordinate and align training for pre-kindergarten and elementary teachers and increase parent involvement to create a family-friendly school culture,” Pemberton said. “We’ve created the Florida Ready Schools network to link participating schools for teacher collaboration, shared learning and resources, and ongoing professional development.”

Teachers and principals at participating schools can take advantage of a “job-embedded” master’s degree program in early child education. The program enables cohorts of teachers (pre-K through third grade) and principals from the same school to earn their degrees on-site while working with master teachers and University of Florida education professors from the Lastinger Center for Learning.

The UF College of Education degree program is free except for the cost of books, and participants must commit to remain at their schools for at least five years, helping many high-poverty schools retain some of their most highly qualified teachers and principals.

“This is a brand new concept, combining online graduate education with hands-on coaching by university ‘professors-in-residence’ who embed themselves in the teachers’ own classrooms,” Pemberton said. “Teachers can learn a new teaching strategy one afternoon and immediately apply it in their classroom the next day.”

The job-embedded program is already underway in some Miami schools and also in Collier County in southwest Florida, where a 2006 Lastinger Center study documented the overwhelming odds that young children from low-income families in that community face. Pemberton said some Collier County officials have expressed an early interest in joining the Ready Schools Florida network.

“The conditions of young children in Miami-Dade and Collier counties and dozens of other Florida communities are equally alarming,” Pemberton said. “With the Ready Schools Florida network, we are rolling up our sleeves, assembling a powerful group of partners and pushing forward with a research-proven model so every young child in Florida can start school with a chance to succeed.”

UF Education Dean Catherine Emihovich said the Ready Schools Florida model exemplifies the power of “engaged scholarship,” a core principle of the College of Education that links research with practice to impact the public good. “We are excited that the Kellogg Foundation is investing in this school-university-community partnership that will benefit so many children.”

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Writer
Larry Lansford, News Director, UF College of Education, 352-392-0726, ext. 266; llansford@coe.ufl.edu

UF’s Institute of Higher Education handed out this year’s Bellwether Awards at the 2007 Community College Futures Assembly in Orlando in January. Created to recognize excellence in community college administration, the Bellwethers draw competitors from across the country.

This year’s award for Instructional Programs and Services went to LaGuardia Community College/City University of New York for its “first-year academy,” which gives students practical experience in their areas of study.

The award in the Planning, Governance and Finance category went to Austin Community College in Texas, for programs which develop a connection between the college and admitted students as soon as those students graduate from high school. The program has increased attendance at the community college by 38 percent during its first two years.

The Workforce Development award went to Temple College of Temple, Texas, which partnered with a state medical school, a private teaching hospital and a number of school districts to develop a new, state-of-the-art research facility, boosting the local economy and raising the quality of medical research. U.S. Rep. John Carter is expected to honor Temple for its receipt of the Bellwether later this month.

The University of Florida’s School Psychology program has just been reaccredited by both the American Psychological Association and the National Association of School Psychologists. The program is now accredited for the next seven years, the maximum time span allowed by APA and NASP.

“Accreditation means that the program is approved by national organizations and essential states that the program meets the highest standards,” said Professor John Kranzler, who heads the program. “Accreditation is a statement to the community that the program is of high quality; and it helps students obtain a license or certification for practice.”

The seven-year accreditation is a welcome affirmation that the program is in “excellent shape”, Kranzler said.

APA guidelines stress that accreditation is “both a status and a process.” In other words, accredited programs are required to constantly conduct assessments of the effectiveness of their programs, submit annual reports to the accrediting agencies, and submit a detailed self-assessment when re-accreditation time comes around. The process culminates in a site visit in which APA and NASP experts come to campus to evaluate the program.

Sources
Linda Serra Hagedorn, University of Florida College of Education
(352) 226-1726

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Hispanic students at community colleges with large Hispanic populations are more likely to earn higher grades and complete their courses, according to a study headed by a professor at the University of Florida’s College of Education.

Educators have long believed that a “critical mass” of like students is vital to making minority students feel at home on college campuses – but this study, appearing in the February issue of the journal Research in Higher Education, may be the first to find statistical evidence to confirm that belief.

“These data suggest that if colleges are really serious about reaching out to minority groups, they need to think in terms of clusters, not individuals,” said professor Linda Serra Hagedorn, chairwoman of UF’s Department of Educational Administration and Policy. “If you’re the only Latino or African American on your college campus, you can certainly succeed academically – but if you’re surrounded by people who share your cultural background, your chances of success improve.”

Hagedorn is the lead investigator and director of the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students (or TRUCCS) project, a multiyear, comprehensive study of the educational outcomes of 5,000 community college students at the nine community college campuses in the Los Angeles area. Iinvestigators queried the students on their backgrounds, attitudes and experiences, and compared that data to the students’ transcript records.

When they looked at students who self-identified as Hispanic, the researchers found that students at largely Hispanic community colleges had better educational outcomes than students at colleges where Hispanic students were rare. The differences were small but statistically significant. Age, involvement in campus activities and even ability to speak English were less predictive of Hispanic students’ success.

Researchers have long suspected that the size of a school’s minority population plays a key role in the academic experience of minority students. The education field has even borrowed a term from nuclear physics – “critical mass” – to describe the point at which minority students become plentiful enough to change the campus climate and give a school a more welcoming feel.

The study produced some surprising findings. For instance, while students at colleges with large Hispanic colleges were more likely to stay in school and succeed academically, they were also less likely to enroll in remedial English or math classes.

In schools where Spanish speakers are few, teachers may be more likely to refer students to remedial classes, Hagedorn said. And a large community of bilingual students may help struggling English speakers learn the language without formal intervention.

“Clearly, learning the English language is important if you want to succeed academically in the United States,” Hagedorn said. “However it helps if you can turn to a fellow student and ask a fellow Spanish-speaking student to explain when you don’t understand what the teacher is saying.”

The researchers also found that first-generation immigrants – students born in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries – tended to do better in school than students born in the U.S. to immigrant parents.

“One might expect students who grew up in the U.S. to perform better because they understand the social climate better,” Hagedorn said. “But in fact, many immigrant students were in very good schools in Mexico before they moved here – while many students who were born in the U.S. live in impoverished urban communities with substandard school systems.”

Alberto Cabrera, a University of Maryland education professor, co-authored an earlier large-scale study which found that parental involvement was one of the best indicators of academic success among Latino students. Cabrera said Hagedorn’s study sheds new light on his own findings.

“Latino students often rely on their families for social support in school because they do not feel represented among the faculty or students,” Cabrera said. “In light of Linda Hagedorn’s findings, I would hypothesize that a critical mass of Latino students can create a support system that mimics the effect of support from one’s family.” Hagedorn said the study is not meant to suggest that parents and counselors should direct students to largely-Hispanic campuses, or discourage them from going to other campuses. Instead, she said, colleges should keep the effect of critical mass in mind when recruiting new students.

The study also reinforces the benefits of the community college system. Hagedorn notes that among the colleges in the study, every institution with a large Hispanic population was located in a largely Hispanic neighborhood – providing additional social support for students.

“They’re called ‘community’ colleges for a reason,” Hagedorn said. “They’re supposed to serve the community in which they reside, and create a comfortable learning environment for students in that community.”

Writer:
Tim Lockette, (352) 392-0726 ext. 274; lockette@coe.ufl.edu