UF Explore Magazine
January 2013
U-FUTuRES
The University of Florida’s Explore Magazine wrote a profile article about the College of Education’s U-FUTuRES, a master’s degree program for current middle school science teachers. Read the story.
The University of Florida’s College of Education has launched a professional scholars program–teaming UF education faculty with Alachua County middle-school teachers and district administrators–to ignite a grassroots movement to reform the nation’s troubled middle-school education system.
Three UF education professors and four Alachua County middle school teachers were introduced as members of the inaugural class of the Shewey Scholars program recently at a reception at UF’s Norman Hall.
The program is funded under a $600,000 endowment created three years ago by Fred and Christine Shewey of Gainesville, who made the gift as a tribute to their daughter-in-law, Kathy Shewey, a prominent figure in middle-level education in Alachua County and around the nation for more than 30 years. The Shewey Excellence in Middle School Education Fund supports new research and programs aimed at middle school reform and enhancement.
Newly appointed Shewey Scholars are, back row, Maureen Shankman, Darby Delane, Colleen Swain, Odalis Manduley and Donna Reid; Front row are Kathy Shewey, Paul George and Nancy Dana. Not pictured are Phillip Koslowski and Joy Schadkow
The newly appointed Shewey scholars from the college faculty are Colleen Swain (curriculum and instruction), Darby Delane (university-school partnerships coordinator for the School of Teaching and Learning) and Joy Schackow (STL/Lastinger Center professor-in-residence in Pinellas County schools). Alachua County educators receiving yearlong appointments are Maureen Shankman (Loften middle grades curriculum teacher), Odalis Manduley (Westwood Middle School Spanish teacher), Donna Reid (Lincoln Middle School English education teacher) and Phillip Koslowski (school district coordinator of the Positive Behavior Support program).
Professor Nancy Dana, who heads the advisory group for the Shewey Fund, will steer the scholars program, assisted by Paul George, a UF distinguished professor emeritus in education who has been identified by Middle School Journal as the nation’s “number-one ranking scholar” in middle grades education. Kathy Shewey, supervisor of staff development for Alachua County public schools, also is involved.
The scholars’ first group activity was attending the Florida League of Middle Schools’ annual conference together last month in Sarasota. The Shewey Scholars program covered their travel and registration expenses.
“By immersing themselves at the conference in the discussion of middle school practice and current issues facing middle level educators, the Shewey scholars helped to spark a renewed interest in middle-level education and future partnership work between UF and Alachua County schools in middle-school teaching practice,” Dana said.
She said the scholars will reconvene in the fall to share their experiences and plan future middle school reform activities with other local middle school teachers and administrators.
Paul George
While UF scholars—including Paul George—were among the first, some 40 years ago, to campaign for the creation of separate transitional schools to meet the needs of children in early adolescence, they also are among the first to publicly call for reform and a reexamination of middle schools in today’s school system. George recently headed a panel of Florida educators that produced an assessment of critical issues for middle school reform in Florida.
Early work funded by the Shewey endowment includes two research studies conducted to capture the current state of middle level education and document how high-stakes standardized testing and accountability is shaping middle school education.
At last month’s FLMS conference, George presented an historical perspective of the middle school movement and said it’s more important than ever for middle-grades educators to “hang tough.”
“Many middle schools are no longer serving their original function,” said George, who retired from teaching in 2007 but remains active in his specialty field. “Many schools are too large and too focused on standardized testing to meet the special developmental needs of adolescents. We are looking at ways to improve instruction that is appropriate for students in their early teens.”
CONTACTS
Source: Nancy Dana, professor, School of Teaching & Learning, UF College of Education, 352-273-4204; ndana@coe.ufl.edu
Source: Paul George, distinguished professor emeritus, UF College of Education, 352-372-4615, pgeorge@coe.ufl.edu
Writer: Larry Lansford, UF COE News & Communications, 352-273-4137; llansford@coe.ufl.edu
University of Florida education researchers have received two federal grants totaling $5.5 million to conduct studies aimed at reducing significant behavior problems in children that can disrupt the classroom learning environment.
Their intervention research targets at-risk children during two of the most critical times of their development—before they enter kindergarten and the transitional middle school years (grades 6 through 8). The highly competitive grants were awarded by Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education.
Maureen Conroy
The prekindergarten study, funded by a $4 million grant, is a joint effort between special education and early-childhood specialists at UF and Virginia Commonwealth University. Co-researchers Maureen Conroy of UF and Kevin Sutherland of VCU will examine the efficacy of their experimental intervention—called BEST in CLASS—that showed high promise in a preliminary study.
The four-year investigation will involve 120 voluntary prekindergarten classrooms, most of them in Head Start programs, split between UF’s home region in North Central Florida and VCU’s hometown of Richmond, Va. Each year, 90 children identified as high-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders will undergo the intervention; a second group of 90 at-risk children will serve as a comparison group.
“As many as one-fourth of children in Head Start classes exhibit significant problem behaviors that place them at elevated risk for future development, and most have never been in structured classroom situations before,” Conroy said. “Through 14 weeks of classroom-based coaching, we will train teachers to implement effective instructional strategies for improving children’s emotional behavior competence.”
Conroy said the BEST in CLASS model emphasizes both individual and class-wide interventions to improve interactions between the teacher and students and enhance the overall classroom atmosphere for learning.
“Teachers discuss classroom rules and routines with students and praise specific positive behavior—for example, sitting and waiting their turn in a circle during a game or sharing time,” she said. “Such strategies aren’t necessarily new, but we show teachers how to use them more precisely and intensely for given situations.
“The teacher works to prevent any problem behaviors during typical classroom activities.”
The treatment also has a home-school component where teachers send home a daily “behavior report card” stating, in a positive manner, how their child behaved or which corrective behaviors they learned that day.
Stephen Smith
The second federal grant, worth $1.5 million, supports the work of University of Florida special education professors Stephen Smith and Ann Daunic, who are developing a lesson series teaching middle school students with significant behavior problems techniques to control their emotions and behavior in social situations.
“The middle school years are difficult enough for students in their pre-teen and early adolescent years. Those with serious emotional and behavioral disorders face tremendous obstacles to learning,” Smith said. “They require focused attention to help them develop the essential skills for modifying their behavior, and we need to catch them before they drop out of school or end up in the juvenile or adult justice systems.”
Smith and Daunic are developing a curriculum for teachers of children with emotional and behavioral disorders, and they’ve given it a name—In Control—that’s as much a mantra for the students as it is the title of their program. It’s actually a two-unit, 26-lesson curriculum that shows students how their minds work and how they can use that knowledge to take control over their own behavior and their learning process.
“We are developing lessons that tap self-control skills such as monitoring your thoughts, inhibiting impulses, planning better, and adapting to changing situations,” Smith said. “These high-level skills—known collectively as ‘executive functions’—are fundamental to helping students set personal goals, control their emotions and improve their social problem-solving abilities.”
Ann Daunic
Starting in August, the researchers will spend two years developing and testing the In Control lessons in collaboration with special education teachers, school counselors and school psychologists at two Gainesville schools—Lincoln and Fort Clarke middle schools. Participating students will be from small classrooms especially for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.
Smith and Daunic will continually refine and polish the curriculum and expand testing in the third year. If their curriculum effectively improves students’ behavior and learning, the researchers will publish their preliminary findings and develop a professional development package for additional large-scale testing.
“Up to 10 percent of middle school students have significant behavioral issues that merit some attention outside of what is normally provided in our education system,” Smith said. “There aren’t many intervention resources available for these students that are effective and teacher-friendly. Our comprehensive program will provide long-term instructional impact.”
CONTACTS
Source: Maureen Conroy, professor in special education and early childhood studies, UF College of Education, 352-273-4382; mconroy@coe.ufl.edu
Source: Stephen Smith, professor in special education, UF College of Education, 352-273-4263; swsmith@coe.ufl.edu
Source: Ann Daunic, associate scholar in special education, UF College of Education, 352-273-4270; adaunic@coe.ufl.edu
Writer: Larry Lansford, Office of News & Communications, UF College of Education,; 352-273-4137; llansford@coe.ufl.edu
