Curry Connections Alumni Newsletter 2013

WINTER 2013

CURRY SCHOOL connections U.Va. Reunions Weekend ‘3s and ‘8s June 6-9 For more information, visit www.alumni.virginia.edu/reunions

T.J. Society and Class of 1963 Reunion May 13 - 15 To attend the Curry School luncheon on May 15, call the Curry Foundation office at 434-924-0854 or email curry-foundation@virginia.edu

/// Access to Ruffner Hall is completely blocked during the 18-month renovation period.

Ruffner Reno

After 40 years on Grounds the education building is undergoing a major tranformation.

BY MAT T KE L LY, U .VA . M E D IA R E L AT IO N S

Curry School Connections is published by the Curry School of Education and is sponsored by the Curry School of Education Foundation, P.O. Box 400276, Charlottesville, VA 22904 http://curry.virginia.edu/curryconnections

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tudents, faculty and staff at the Curry School are enduring some temporary disruption as Ruffner Hall, which has housed Curry since 1973, undergoes renovations and upgrades.

The work, which started in January and will continue until the summer of 2014, will improve the overall space for current and future academic use by upgrading Ruffner’s aging infrastructure systems, removing asbestos and improving the traffic flow between Ruffner and Bavaro Hall.

“The primary benefit to Curry from the renovation will be to make the space more usable to students and faculty,” said Mark C. Hampton, senior associate dean for strategy and planning at Curry. “For example, the electrical system was designed at a time when electrical outlets were only needed for vacuum cleaners and lamps. Some of the most popular places for students to study in Ruffner Hall have been on the floor in front of electrical outlets. It will be really nice to fix that.”

Lynn K. Rush, project manager for Facilities Management, said the $19.3 million renovation will restructure the existing space for faculty offices and academic programs and create additional classrooms, administrative offices and student study group space.

The renovation will improve life at Ruffner in a number of ways, Hampton said.

“Prior to the renovation, Ruffner was an extremely noisy building, which led many faculty to close their doors while they were working. Acoustic improvements, including carpeted hallways, noise-abating surfaces and better HVAC ducting will make a huge difference and will undoubtedly make Ruffner a better place to work and collaborate.”

He said while most of the work was basic, there is one “frill.”

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“Our one ‘splurge’ is that we will be dedicating some space in the main lobby to house a food and beverage service that will allow students and faculty to grab a quick bite to eat or cup of coffee between classes,” Hampton said.

The building’s footprint will remain the same, but there will be some exterior changes. These include a new sidewalk near the south parking lot with curb ramps and a new entrance onto the courtyard at Bavaro Hall.

While the work is being conducted, classes

for Curry students are being held in the Dell Buildings, Thornton Hall, the School of Nursing, Monroe Hall and other Central Grounds buildings. The faculty and staff formerly housed at Ruffner have moved to the second floor of Olsson Hall, One Morton Drive, the Dell buildings and other locations on the Grounds.

“For the next year and a half, almost half of our faculty and staff will be in various places on Grounds and off Grounds,” Hampton said.

“Furthermore, all of the Ruffner classrooms... will be unavailable. Needless to say, people are going to be doing a lot more walking.”

Hampton said that people seem to be managing the transition well, however. “I think a lot of that is due to a real sense of excitement that students and faculty feel knowing that they will be coming back to a much more functional and inviting building.”

/// 1960s rendering of Ruffner Hall.

When Ruffner Was New

Do you remember the days when the education building was considered state of the art?

BY LYNN BELL

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ver the 1972-73 winter break Curry faculty, staff, and graduate students moved into a big, bright new education building where everything was clean and fresh. Faculty scattered around Grounds were brought together for the first time in Curry’s history, and many of them were thrilled with the large classrooms and colorful metal furniture in their offices.

“It was all shiny and pretty,” says Rebecca Kneedler. She was a doctoral student at the time and later joined Curry’s special education faculty. She liked the big, airy classrooms

and freshly painted offices, she says.

“My first impression of Ruffner was that it was an upgrade, with cutting edge technology,” says Jim Esposito, associate professor of administration and supervision. “Everything was new.

Most of the offices had some kind of window.

And we had a nice education library.”

Dan Hallahan, was a recent addition to the special ed faculty at the time. He moved into a shared second-floor office after working in the basement at Peabody Hall, where the school 2

WINTER 2013 • CURRY SCHOOL CONNECTIONS

had been housed for decades. “It was a big step drainage problems after every hard rain. up,” he recalls.

To accommodate the growing faculty, renDespite the fact that the architects who ovations began almost immediately. Center designed Ruffner Hall were considered one of hallways were closed off to create new offices. “the finest architectural firms designing schools Rooms were rearranged. Since the heating/ buildings,” its spartan simplicity never fit in cooling systems were not designed for flexwith the rest of the university architecture. ibility, room temperature varied widely and has Carolyn Callahan, remembers as a new been a perennial problem. professor in the educational psychology departRuffner Hall clearly has had its limitations, ment, driving her grandmother down Emmet though they were never enough to hinder Street and pointing out the location of her the Curry School’s continually rising national office. “You work in a prison?” her grandmother reputation. asked when she saw the plain, boxy structure.

“Despite Ruffner Hall’s dreary physical Herb Richards, professor of educational psy- space, Curry was still able to attract and educhology, had a first-floor office across the hall cate countless outstanding students for the past from a restroom used by children in Curry’s 40 years,” notes Hallahan. “Seems to me, this is experimental nursery school. He remembers his an excellent example of substance over style.” office being periodically flooded by stoppedIn less than two years, we will see how much up toilets until the youngsters were moved out more can happen inside a building whose inteof the building a year later. rior is designed for the needs of a 21st-century Less than a year after its completion, bricks education school. began falling off the foot-high wall perimeter atop of the building and had to be buttressed to Read more early Ruffner Hall reminiscences protect passersby. The building’s flat roof posed at curry.virginia.edu/curry-connections

CLASS NOTES Carson H. Barnes, Jr. (M.Ed. ’59) served as Dean of Men, Dean of Students, and Director of Special Programs at the College of William & Mary for 32 years, retiring in 1991 after serving in the administration of five presidents.

Anne Hughes Bishop (Ed.D. ’80 Higher Ed) published a book, Yes and Thanks: Seeking the Spiritual World, written with John R. Scudder Jr. Ginger Black (M.Ed. ’74) is retired and living in South Carolina.

Paul Blevins (M.Ed. ’74) retired in December 2010, but says he is very much involved in contract work with Cargill Associates. He and his wife Nancy have two married children and two grandchildren.

They live in Fort Worth, Tex. Christine Cann (B.S. ’69) will retire in June 2013, after 43 years in education, including 25 years teaching gifted children and 10 years as an administrator. She lives in Newport News, Va. Kathryn Castle (Ed.D. ’75 Elem Ed) is the Chuck & Kim Watson Endowed Chair in Education at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Her most recent book is Early Childhood Teacher Research (Routledge Pub., 2012).

Rennie Coleman (M.Ed. ’71) is retired and living in Alabama.

Anne Constant (M.Ed. ’72, Ed.D ’79 English Ed) says, “I retired from Ernst & Young and fulfilled a dream of opening my own fitness center for women, where I teach classes and manage a center that supports women in attaining a healthy lifestyle– both inside and out!”

Reva Cosby (B.S. ’80 Soc Studies Ed) is head principal of Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Oh. She is married to James E. Cosby, U.Va. class of 1980. They have two children, Dara Cosby and James E. Cosby, III. Patricia Bottom-Delaney (M.Ed. ’73) after retiring from the classroom, is working on resources for the classroom and beyond to introduce, teach, and reinforce values and ethics through music and rhyme.

Sandra Derr (M.Ed. ’71) is a retired teacher and retired administrative assistant for Edward Jones Investments. “Widow of William Osgood, almost 17 wonderful years married, which ended all too soon. Loved U.Va.” John Deupree (M.Ed. ’71) retired in 1995 from Western Carolina University. After that he held a several part-time positions and finally worked as an ESL teacher from 2001 to 2012.

Marcialyn Ellis (M.Ed. ’79 AV C&I) is a librarian for Henrico County Public Schools.

Joan Gilliland (B.S. ’74 Elem Ed) received the award for 2012 Outstanding Alumni PreK-

Submit your class note at curry.virginia.edu/classnotes Elementary Teacher from the Curry School Foundation.

Dorinda Grasty (B. S. ’80 Spec Ed; Ed.D. ’01 Admin & Supv) is superintendent of Appomattox County Public Schools.

Beverly Gregory (B.S. 78 Spec Ed) is a first grade teacher in Chesterfield County Public Schools.

Ashton Harrison (B.S. ’75 Elem Ed) taught elementary school for 2 years then went to work in business for 9 years at This End Up Furniture. She started her own business in 1986, Shades of Light.

Her book, From ADD to CEO, tells the journey of her business from chaos to success!

Jean L. Saarinen Haydel (B.S. ’53) is retired and living in Maryland.

Dale Holt (M.Ed. ’79 Admin & Supv) was promoted in July 2011 to Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Support Services for Virginia Beach City Public Schools.

Claude (Bud) Mayo (M.Ed. ’75) retired from Fairfax County, Virginia, Public Schools in 2010 after forty years of service as an administrator, coach, counselor, and teacher. He is currently director of The Hunt Course.

Linda Karen Miller (M.Ed. ’78, Ed.D. ’91 Soc Studies Ed) retired in 2002 from Fairfax High School and moved to Nevada. She taught at the College of Southern Nevada for over seven years and is currently a historical interpreter at the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort and has a book forthcoming on Early Las Vegas (Arcadia).

Cindy Osborne (B.S. ’80 Spec Ed) is a software developer with SunTrust Bank in Richmond.

Elizabeth Sager (B.S. 42) graduated from the School of Education at age 19. “My first teaching position was at Madison Height, Va. I left teaching in 1943 to work as a cryptologist for /// Elizabeth Sager the U. S. Army Signal Corps in Arlington, Va. I never returned to teaching.”

Winifred Schumann (B.S. ’48) was the first female out-of-state student to graduate from the College, long before U.Va. became a coed institution. “Through the years, I have enjoyed serving, as a volunteer, on several health, social, and Episcopal Church projects....I still enjoy traveling and cruising, gardening, landscaping, interior decorating, attending concerts and plays, and meeting new friends.”

Wallace Sterling (M.Ed. ’69 Soc Studies Ed) is retired and living in New Point, Va. He is currently chairman of the Mathews County Sesquicentennial Committee

William Teale (Ed.D. ’77 English Ed) is professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is director of the Literacy, Language & Culture Program.

Charles Temple (M.A. ’76, Ph.D. 78 C&I) has just completed 30 years teaching at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is enjoying teaching and traveling overseas (mostly Africa these days) as a volunteer on literacy projects for CODE Canada and the Open Society Institute.

Suzanne Tovar (B.S. ’78 Spec Ed) attended the sixth annual Barron’s Winner’s Circle Top Women Advisors Summit in 2012, hosted by Barron’s magazine. She is an investment officer in the Birmingham, Ala., office of Wells Fargo Advisors.

Jeannine Towler (M.Ed. ’73) is retired and living in Charlottesville.

Sandra Burnett Wagaman (M.Ed. ’69) is retired. She currently serves on several boards, including U.Va. Children’s Hospital, EMCERT at the U.Va. Medical Center, and the U.Va. Hospital Auxiliary Jane Garland Waller (B.S. ’72) is director of the TV Graduate Program and assistant professor at Boston University. She published and produced No Way Out But One, an award-winning, independent documentary.

Sharon Baker Webb (M.Ed. ’79 Math Ed) is a math and computer science teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

She has been selected to participate in the 2012 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program.

Read more. Many class notes were abbreviated due to space limitations. You can read the full versions at curry.virginia. edu/curryconnections.

In Memoriam Jennings Wagoner, emeritus professor of education, died Jan. 27 at his home in Ivy. He joined the U.Va. faculty in 1968 at the start of what would be a distinguished 37-year career as scholar, teacher, mentor and colleague.

Charles Melvin Heuchert, retired professor, died in Waynesboro, Va., on Sept. 20, 2012.

He joined the Curry School faculty in 1969 as an assistant professor and retired in 1998 as associate dean for undergraduate programs and licensure..

CURRY SCHOOL CONNECTIONS • WINTER 2013

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CURRY NEWS BRIEFS Changes Coming to Curry Teacher Preparation

Teachers need to know what they can do to best support learning on a daily basis.”

The Curry School is in the process of redesigning its teacher preparation programs in response to emerging /// Bob Pianta, Dean trends and marketplace demands, according to Dean Bob Pianta. “Any good academic or professional preparation program is committed to an ongoing process of continual reinvention in response to what it’s learning about itself and in response to external circumstances,” Pianta said.

Delving Into Virginia Data

Measuring Effective Teaching A $45 million Measures of Effective Teaching Study, which involved a number of Curry School research faculty, found that the best way to identify great teaching is to combine multiple types of measurement, including classroom observations, student surveys and student achievement gains. “Teachers are being held accountable for demonstrating that they are able to support student learning,” said Bridge Hamre, associate director of Curry’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning. “Our argument has always been that although this type of accountability is important, we also have to be able to provide teachers with feedback and support around their teaching practices. Simply knowing that students are or are not learning is not sufficient.

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WINTER 2013 • CURRY SCHOOL CONNECTIONS

The impacts of Virginia’s K-12 and higher education systems are now open to an unprecedented level of analysis thanks to a new comprehensive data collection system, and members of the education policy faculty are among the select few to gain a first crack at the data.

They are collaborating with state agencies in a pilot of the new Virginia Longitudinal Data System. The system will also allow researchers to match graduates of the state’s teacher preparation programs with their scores on the Virginia licensure test, their placement in Virginia classrooms, and their subsequent students’ Standards of Learning test scores.

No Link Between Homework and Grades The time students spend on math and science homework does not necessarily mean better grades, but it could lead to better performance on standardized tests, a new study finds. The study was recently published by alumnus Adam Maltese, Robert H. Tai, associate professor of science education at Curry, and former faculty member Xitao Fan. Tai noted that homework assignments cannot replace good teaching.

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If you would like to be considered for this series, email a description of your hobby or volunteer project (in 500 words or less) to curry-foundation@virginia.edu

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Help us recognize the notable accomplishments of Curry School alumni by submitting your nomination no later than May 4, 2013.

Online nominations at curry.virginia.edu/foundation/awards

Read more about these news stories and more at curry.virginia.edu/curryconnections

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