Curry School Alumni Scholars Newsletter

alumni scholars winter 2016

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Faculty in Print

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ALUMNI SCHOLARS is edited by Lynn Bell, Director of Alumni Relations, and published by the Curry School of Education, P.O. Box 400268, Charlottesville, VA 22904. Email: lynnbell@virginia.edu #UVACurry

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curry.virginia.edu/magazine

Studying Teacher Ed

Large-scale project under way looks at math and ELA instruction B Y au d r e y b r e e n

W

hat elements of teacher preparation programs are most effective in developing great teachers?

Education scholars have almost no empirical evidence to answer this question, but that will change as a team of Curry professors completes a study of six different elementary teacher preparation programs over the next three years—the Curry School, another university in Virginia, two universities in Michigan, and two universities in Connecticut.

In a major logistical undertaking they will track 300 students through their final year of teacher preparation and into their first two years in school classrooms to examine how their experiences in university courses and student teaching placements are associated with their instructional practices as early career teachers.

Principal investigator Peter Youngs, along with co-PIs Julie Cohen and Robert Berry, will identify experiences in teacher preparation courses that lead beginning teachers to engage in high-quality mathematics and reading/language arts instruction.

Two grants totaling $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation will fund the large-scale project, which will require hundreds of classroom observations and countless hours of data analysis.

Peter Youngs Along with researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Connecticut, the research team will survey the 300 elementary candidates as well as their university supervisors and the cooperating teachers who work with the candidates during their student teaching placements.

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continued from page 1 The team will then follow these elementary candidates into their first and second years of teaching, observing them in their classrooms during three language arts lessons using the Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observation instrument (developed by Cohen) and during three mathematics lessons using the Mathematics Scan instrument (co-developed by Julie Cohen Berry).

“One major question we want to answer is, ‘How do we ensure teachers have the necessary knowledge and skills to engage in effective

instruction across elementary subjects?’” Cohen said.

At the end of three years, the research team hopes to have identified a number of experiences in reading/ language arts and mathematics methods courses that are associated with high-quality instruction in these content areas.

Watch it online: “The Role of Social Context in Robert Berry Beginning Teacher Development,” a video presentation

by Peter Youngs discussing alternative ways of designing research on novice teachers. curry.virginia.edu/youngsvideo

John Almarode Ph.D. ’11 Sci Ed Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professor of Education; Co-Director, Center for STEM Education and Outreach Department of Early, Elementary, and Reading Education James Madison University

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Where Are They Now?

JMU provides an excellent environment for striking the ideal balance between teaching and research. I work directly with teacher candidates in science methods courses, provide support to candidates in their clinical setting, as well as develop and implement cutting-edge research in K-12 STEM teaching and learning. Working side by side with our most valued stakeholders, K–12 teachers and students, the College of Education values, supports and encourages my focus on the research-topractice pathway.

My advisor Robert H. Tai provided me with a rigorous and authentic learning environment while at Curry. Alongside Robert, I had the opportunity to work directly with the development, preparation and implementation of research projects and grants, along with contributing to the preparation of manuscripts and presentations. Robert’s strong mentoring prepared me for the successful start to my career at James Madison University, so much so that I continue to collaborate on projects with him and his research team at Curry.

Myles Durkee Ph.D. ‘13 Ed Psych: Applied Dev Science Diversity Research Fellow Department of Psychology University of Michigan

As a researcher, I love to examine real-world social problems and design research questions to provide new insights. The national media has recently focused on racial conflicts at universities all across the country, and these news stories remind me why it is so important to investigate the experiences of under-represented minority students to identify risk factors and protective factors that can help make the pathway through higher education more equitable.

I am extremely grateful for the rigorous training and mentorship that I received at Curry, and these experiences have provided me with a blueprint for what phenomenal mentorship should look like. My advisor Joanna Lee Williams played a vital role in my development as a scholar, and she also helped me to design a program of research that is both applied to current social dilemmas and grounded in psychological constructs to help advance scientific inquiry.

(Before going to Michigan this year, Myles spent two years as a William. T. Grant Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago.)

Curry Web Resources AUDIO - FROM YOUTH-NEX WORKS-IN-PROGRESS “Using Multimedia-Based Professional Development to Improve Teachers’ Vocabulary Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms” Michael Kennedy, Assistant Professor, Special Education curry.virginia.edu/kennedyaudio

RESEARCH BRIEF - FROM THE CENTER FOR ADVANCED STUDY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING (CASTL) “Study of Over 30,000 K-8th Graders Shows Steepest Learning Occurs Before Third Grade” curry.virginia.edu/castl-learning-brief

VIDEO - FROM THE EDUCATION POLICY SEMINAR SERIES “Understanding Absenteeism in Elementary School” Amy Claessens, Assistant Professor, Chicago Harris, University of Chicago https://youtu.be/HNZ_55KKM78

WORKING PAPER - FROM EDPOLICYWORKS “Inequality in Preschool Quality? Community-Level Disparities in Access to High-Quality Learning Environments” curry.virginia.edu/WP37

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Alumni Spotlight

Curry Connections in a Book Enduring Issues in Special Education: Personal Perspectives (Routledge, 2015)

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Edited by Barbara Bateman, John W. Lloyd (Professor) and Melody Tankersley (Ph.D. ’92 Spec Ed)

Amber M. (Winkler) Northern Kathy Ganske (Ph.D. ‘02 Ed Policy Studies) (M.Ed. ‘88, Ph.D. ‘94 Reading) Senior Vice President for Research Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Professor of the Practice of Literacy Dept. of Teaching & Learning Peabody College, Vanderbilt University

Northern supervises the Fordham Institute’s studies and research staff. She has published in the areas of educational accountability, principal leadership, teacher quality, and academic standards, among others.

Prior to joining Fordham, she served as senior study director at Westat. In that role she provided evaluation services for various federal, state and local education agencies, as well as overseeing multiple research studies involving reading instruction, math and science partnerships and performance-based pay.

Her work and commentary have been featured in various print and broadcast media, including Fox News, HuffPost Live, NPR, National Review and Education Next.

Northern serves on the board of trustees for Somerset Prep, a charter school in Washington, D.C.

Ganske’s research and scholarly interests focus on inquiry-based word study practices that promote orthographic and vocabulary understandings, including academic vocabulary, through active learning and discussion, and literacy reform/teacher development. Her books include Word Journeys (2nd ed.) and Write Now! She is currently the chair of the AERA Vocabulary SIG 133.

In her own words: “The most rewarding part of my job is

working on a wide variety of education policy issues with lots of really smart people both inside and outside of our organization—and having a seat at the table when these important issues are debated and acted upon, hopefully for the betterment of kids in our schools!

“What I loved about my time at the Curry School was being immersed in an environment that prized intellectual curiosity and hearty discourse on education topics that mattered.

My Curry friends and I tried not to talk shop when we went out, but that never happened!”

In her own words:

“Having taught for a long time in elementary classrooms before going into higher education, I love the transformative work of research and professional development that leads to the refinement and improvement of teacher practices.

“Word studies, writing and reading have always been particular passions for me, so seeing others, whether university students, teachers or children, become excited and engrossed in these learning processes is very rewarding.”

“I definitely have very fond memories of the Curry School, especially the McGuffey Reading Center and the wonderful faculty/ grad student problem solving in which we engaged to advance the learning of the children we served, as well as the fun we all had in what became the first-ever word study course.

“My experiences with both McGuffey and the Central Virginia Writing project while a student at Curry have continued to postively influence my teaching, research and scholarship across the years. Thank you, Curry School!”

Chapter authors include the following additional Curry connections: • Tiara Brown (Curry doctoral student) • Paige Pullen (Curry professor) & Dan Hallahan (Curry professor emeritus) • Diane Browder (M.Ed. ’76, Ph.D. ’81 Spec Ed) • Melissa Driver (Ph.D. ’15 Spec Ed) • M. P. (Peggy) Weiss (M.Ed. ’92, Ph.D. ’99 Spec Ed) • Kat Alves (M.T. ’05 Spec Ed & doctoral student) • Andrew Wiley (M.T. ’96, Ph.D. ’08 Spec Ed) • Shanna Hirsch (Curry doctoral student) • Sarah Dillon (M.T. ’08 Spec Ed & doctoral student) • Jim Kauffman (Curry professor emeritus) • Tim Landrum (B.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’90 Spec Ed) • Pat Lloyd (M.Ed. ’80 Elem Ed)

Quasi-Experimental Design & Analysis Vivian Wong, assistant professor in research, statistics and evaluation, helped teach an intensive, two-week training workshop last summer for the Institute of Education Sciences on planning and implementing quasi-experimental designs and analyzing resulting data.

The workshop will be repeated in summer 2016. Check the National Center on Education Research website later this winter for details: ies.ed.gov/ncer

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Alumni Scholars

P.O. Box 400268 417 Emmet Street South Charlottesville, VA 22904-4268

class notes Tashia Abry (M.Ed. ’08, Ph.D. ’12 Ed Psych) co-authored a study with Timothy W. Curby (Ph.D. ’08 Ed Psych) that was highlighted on NPR Ed in an article titled “Five Lessons Education Research Taught Us in 2014.” ...

Sophie Aiyer (Ph.D. ’11 Ed Psych: ADS)

is a research assistant professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. ...She published Desistance: Ecological Factors in an Inner-City Sample (2014, LFB Scholarly Publishing).

Lara Ashmore (M.Ed. ’95, Ph.D. ’03 AV C&I)

is the assistant director of Technology, Innovation and Program Development for the Brain Performance Institute at the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas Dallas. ...

Doug Ball (M.T. ’92, Ph.D. ’99 Spec Ed) was among a Marymount University group recognized by The ARC of Northern Virginia with its 2015 Jessica Burmester Volunteer Award...

Laura Brock (Ph.D. ’08 Ed Psych: ADS) is an assistant professor at the College of Charleston in the Teacher Education Department.

Kristina J. Doubet (M.Ed. ’03, Ph.D. ’07 C&I)

and Jessica A. Hockett (Ph.D. ’10 Ed Psych) published Differentiation in Middle and High School: Strategies to Engage All Learners (2015, ASCD).

Melissa Driver (Ph.D ’15 Spec Ed) received the 2016 Student Research Award in the Mixed Methods category from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Research...

Melissa Edmiston (Ph.D. ’04 Ed Psych) and her husband Clark adopted their three-year-old son Clay ... in 2015. Melissa is a principal researcher for the American Institutes for Research.

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Submit your class note at curry.virginia.edu/classnotes/submit Emily Ely (Ph.D. ’14 Spec Ed) received the 2014 Dissertation Award from the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. ...

Bill A. Ferster (Ph.D. ’07 IT) published Teaching Machines: Learning from the Intersection of Education and Technology (2014, Johns Hopkins University Press).

Angela Henneberger (Ph.D. ’12 Ed Psych: ADS) completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Prevention and Methodology Training program at Penn State. She now works at the University of Maryland...

Manuela Jimenez Herrara (Ph.D. ’14 Ed Psych: ADS) co-authored an article with Tashia Abry in Arizona Kids titled “Cooking Up Quality in the Kindergarten Classroom.”

Barbara Lehman (Ed.D. ’86 C&I) retired as

Professor Emerita of Teaching and Learning from The Ohio State University in 2014 after 28 years.

Molly Ness (M.Ed. ’03 Engl Ed; Ph.D. ’06 Reading) published The Question Is the Answer:

Supporting Student-Generated Queries in Elementary Classrooms (2015, Rowman & Littlefield)...

Diana S. Perdue (Ph.D. ’97 Math Ed) recently accepted a position at the University of Trinidad and Tobago in order to help improve student success rates in the Foundation Maths program...

Brook Sawyer (Ph.D. ‘03 Ed Psych: ADS) is an assistant professor in the Teaching, Learning and Technology program at Lehigh University...

Margaret Schimmoeller (Ed.D. ’97 C&I) is director of the education program at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Va. ...

Karen S. Smucker (B.S. ’87, M.Ed. ’91, Ph.D. ’95 Spec Ed) retired from Northwest Nazarene

University in May 2014 and was elected to emeritus status. In 2014, she also received the Special Education Distinguished Service Award from the Idaho Association of Special Education Administrators...

Araminta Sorrell (Ph.D. ’00 Spec Ed) was named a 2015 Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Council for Learning Disabilities. …She teaches ... at Sam Houston High School in San Antonia, Tex. …

Joe P. Sutton (Ph.D. ’89 Spec Ed) and colleagues published a paper in Rural Special Education Quarterly ... that received the 2014 RSEQ Outstanding Article Award…

Elizabeth Talbott (M.Ed. ’85, Ph.D. ’94 Spec Ed) coauthored a December 2015 commentary in

Education Week advocating for special education research funding. She is president of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Research.

Robin Ward (Ph.D. ’97 Math Ed) ... is clinical assistant professor of mathematics in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences...

Kenneth X. Warren ( M.Ed. ’04, Ph.D. ’11 IT)

is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and was featured in the online Virginia Magazine in January 2015.

Lois Williams (M.Ed. ’81, Ed.S. ’92, Ed.D. ’02 C&I) published The Common Core Mathematics

Companion: The Standards Decoded 6-8 with Ruth Harbin-Miles (Corwin Press and NCTM), coming spring 2016.

Read more. Many class notes were abbreviated due to space limitations. You can read the full versions, including photos and fond memories, at curry.virginia.edu/scholars-newsletter