Curry Magazine Spring 2017

CURRY S P RI N G 2017

RAISING RACE

ACKNOWLEDGING DIFFERENCES & HIGHLIGHTING STRENGTHS PAGE 2

Dean’s Letter

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ver the course of the past year the Curry faculty has produced a remarkable portfolio of work — scholarship that is alive and relevant to the everyday work of professionals in education and human development. And we have looked to the future, staking out an amibitious agenda to lead with innovation and impact. I am exceptionally proud of this work and am convinced that the work of this school is more important than ever.

We see tremendous opportunities when the talent and ideas of our faculty and students converge with the daily work of professionals – in schools, clinics, community organizations, and government. The work of the Curry School hinges on the collective insight, passion and commitment of tenacious and creative thinkers, evaluators and solvers.

Within these pages you will see how the Curry School is redefining age-old questions and diving in with renewed energy and innovation to move well beyond the status quo.

It is no surprise that in many of our nation’s schools and communities, ensuring equity – in opportunity, in outcomes and in resources – is a persistent if not growing challenge. Our feature story highlights faculty and researchers looking explicitly at how race and bias play out in classrooms around the United States. As you will read, these efforts have tremendous potential to create classrooms rooted in equity for all students.

In another example, our work improving early childhood education, an area for which the Curry School is renowned, is reaching children from a brand-new preschool in Norfolk, Virginia, to schools in Kyrgyzstan and Chile.

And in our teacher preparation program, we leverage new and existing assets – from critical partnerships with K-12 leaders and practitioners, including our K-12 Advisory Council, to techniques in mindfulness – to best prepare our students to meet an array of demands. In a particularly innovative initiative, we are experimenting with the use of simulation to prepare our teacher candidates to interact effectively with students well before they enter a classroom.

Finally, you will read how the efforts of our policy center, EdPolicyWorks, are translating highly technical analyses of large datasets into useable information to inform policymakers on how best to lead school divisions.

We are excited to present to you this first print edition of the Curry School Magazine in 6 years. I invite you to be inspired by these stories, as I am often by this Curry community.

Bob Pianta Dean, Novartis Professor of Education

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Contents

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Missing from School A partnership with the Virginia Department of Education sheds more light on the ramifications of students’ chronic absenteeism

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Teacher Education Innovations New partnerships locally and around the state; classroom simulator pilots; mindfulness for teachers

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COVER STORY:

RAISING RACE Curry researchers address race and ethnicity in their studies of student learning and development.

COV E R I L LU S T R AT I O N BY M AT T C H A S E

Alumni Profile Anne Constant

CURRY S P R I NG

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Curry magazine is published by the Curry School of Education, P. O. Box 400268, Charlottesville, VA 22904 LYNN BELL Editor JACQUI LAZO, KAYLYN CHRISTOPHER, ADRIA HOFFMAN Contributing Writers

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TURNING RESEARCH INTO REALITY CASTL looks back over a decade of impact

DAN ADDISON, LYNN BELL, TOM COGILL, SARAH HARRIS, SANJAY SUCHAK Photographers J OURNEY GROUP Art Direction + Design

CONTACT Karen Barnes Director of Marketing & Communications Email: keb9q@virginia.edu curry.virginia.edu #UVACurry | @UVACurry

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Faculty Books

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News Briefs

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Class Notes

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A classroom of wide-eyed fifth graders huddled around their teacher’s desk to look at a print of John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence, a well-known painting that depicts the document’s authors presenting a draft to Congress.

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Raising Race Curry researchers address race and ethnicity in their studies of student learning and development.

BY JACQ UI L A ZO I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY M AT T C H A S E

you see in this picture. What is unique or different about it?” the teacher asked.

“Well, everyone’s white,” one student pointed out.

“Yes,” the teacher responded.

And saying nothing else, she moved on.

Moments like this, though uncomfortable, are too often missed learning opportunities.

The particular school in which this scene unfolded participates in the Double Check program, a professional development program for teachers created both to increase student engagement and reduce disciplinary actions and special education referrals, which disproportionately affect students of color. Led by Catherine Bradshaw, professor of education and associate dean for research and faculty development at the Curry School, the goal of the program is to provide school-wide training and individualized coaching to teachers. Its ultimate aim is to integrate culturally responsive practices into classrooms.

“TELL ME WHAT

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Catherine Bradshaw, professor of education and associate dean for research and faculty development

Not Applicable? use a checklist of instructional elements to guide feedback to teachers on topics such as how a lesson addresses issues of diversity and cultural inclusiveness. Yet, when principals observe classrooms like in the scene described above, many write “N/A” next to those questions.

“Quite often the principals say they write ‘not applicable’ on their observations because they believe the lesson wasn’t relevant to culture. They think since it didn’t take place during Black History Month or when they were studying Martin Luther King Jr. or the Civil War that it can’t be culturally relevant,” Bradshaw said.

“Our goal is to widen their lens and remind them that inclusiveness as it relates to race, culture and ethnicity is not just a special-occasion topic. It should be infused into all aspects of the curriculum.”

DOUBLE CHECK COACHES

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Why Race and Ethnicity Are Meaningful are a social concept—not biological— and they have complex ties to individuals’ day-to-day lived experiences. Many researchers at the Curry School see the examination of these classifications in their research as critical.

“We are pushing researchers to establish more complex methodologies,” said Joanna Lee Williams, an associate professor affiliated with Curry’s Youth-Nex, a research center to promote youth development.

“Paying more attention to the myriad ways in which race and ethnicity function as contexts for youth development, rather than ignoring these issues or treating them as surface-level categories, can promote healthy development among all youth.”

From Williams’ perspective considering race and ethnicity in research on young adults can result in more useful, informative and valid explanations

R ACI A L CAT E G OR I E S

of youth development. As she and colleague Nancy Deutsch noted in a recent paper, the role of race and ethnicity in research on youth development programs has not received enough attention. This void is particularly troubling, they said, because racial categories, which were developed to maintain the power of the dominant group, have historically been correlated to a child’s access to resources, the likelihood that the child will experience institutional discrimination, and the way that child defines and experiences positive development. The processes underlying these correlations often go unexplored, despite their importance for understanding youth development. Additional approaches will help balance generalizations with the unique experiences students have in everyday scenarios.

“For practitioners, on the other hand, the focus is on how programs are being designed to meet the needs of children,” Williams said, adding that they want to help educators identify how “curricula can honor and respect rich socio-cultural backgrounds and ensure equitable access for all.”

Other Curry researchers — studying another question entirely — found that the explicit consideration of race and ethnicity in empirical research may uncover factors that produce more positive outcomes for students of color. Jason Downer, associate professor of education and director of Curry’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL), along with CASTL’s founder and Curry School dean Robert Pianta observed positive outcomes for young children in classrooms in which students and teachers are of similar racial or ethnic backgrounds. Downer and Pianta believe this observation could directly lead to improvements in the quality of pre-K education nationwide.

“Preschools are the most diverse places in America and offer us an opportunity to examine some of the factors that may contribute to effective education for a wide range of children in the U.S.,” Pianta concluded.

Through its research and thought leadership, the Curry School is pushing back on the status quo, challenging dominant norms and assumptions and striving to improve outcomes for all students, Williams pointed out.

Joanna Lee Williams, associate professor of education

Closing the Discipline and Achievement Gaps study outcomes of students of color in primary and secondary schools, they often refer to two gaps: the discipline gap and the achievement gap. Put more simply, researchers find that, in general, students from racial or ethnic minority backgrounds are disciplined more frequently (the discipline gap) and show lower rates of scholastic achievement than their White counterparts (the achievement gap). Currently, several Curry researchers are designing and testing programs that may reduce or eliminate these gaps altogether.

Teachers’ referrals of students to be disciplined for misconduct contribute substantially to negative trajectories for those students. Students who receive a suspension lose instructional time, fall behind on coursework, become discouraged, and may ultimately drop out. Recent research shows each suspension decreases a student’s odds of graduating high school by an additional 20 percent. Furthermore, compared to their peers, suspended youth have a higher likelihood of subsequent interactions with the criminal justice system.

A team of CASTL researchers aiming to improve the motivating and engaging quality of instruction also collected data on discipline referrals made by teachers in a recent study. They worked with teachers using a suite of virtual coaching resources called MyTeachingPartner or MTP, which was developed at CASTL and has been tested with thousands of teachers in a variety of school settings.

A randomized, controlled trial provided one set of teachers (the “intervention” group) with one or two years of MTP coaching, which included different approaches to instruction and teacher-student relationship building techniques. The results of this study were astounding. After receiving only a year of coaching, teachers in the intervention group showed no significant disparities in discipline referrals between African-American students and their classmates.

Furthermore, the effects of the coaching were sustained and maintained even after the coaching was withdrawn.

Curry researchers are also reducing the racial discipline gap through the use of threat assessment to prevent violence. “A threat assessment team is a multi-disciplinary team of school staff available to help students involved in a crisis or conflict that includes a threat of violence,” explained Dewey Cornell, professor and director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project.

The team usually includes administrators, counselors, psychologists, social workers, school resource officers and other staff who work toward the goal of helping

W H EN ACA DEM IC R E SE A RCH E R S

While more work remains, increased disciplinary and achievement equity in the classroom seem to be within reach. students solve conflicts or concerns before they escalate into violence.

In comparing White, Black and Hispanic students who received threat assessments across Virginia’s public schools during the 2014-15 school year, Cornell’s research team found no racial disparities in disciplinary outcomes, such as suspension, expulsion rates, school transfer, arrests by law enforcement or incarceration in juvenile detention.

One goal of the assessment teams is to appropriately respond to students who are making threats, as opposed to so-called “zero tolerance” policies, which typically treat all threats equally and often result in a student’s removal from school. “Threat assessment

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Dewey Cornell, professor of education and director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project

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gives school authorities a safe, practical and effective way to address threatening behavior by students,” Cornell said.

The achievement gap was considered by Curry researchers studying teacher archetypes — in particular, one referred to as the “warm demander.”

Warm demanders nurture and care for their students without lowering academic expectations or standards. The data gathered by observing over 600 teachers across the U.S. revealed that teachers’ high expectations, an aspect of demand, was especially important for African American students’ academic growth. Specifically, said lead researcher Lia Sandilos, teachers who created challenging classrooms with high expectations showed higher achievement gains for African American students than teachers who did not. Sandilos cautioned, however, that being warm and caring is a necessary but not sufficient factor to boost achievement.

Although more work remains, increased equity – whether for discipline or achievement – seems not only possible, but within reach. To this end, Curry researchers are identifying mechanisms to close the discipline and achievement gaps.

Taking the issue a step further, Daniel Duke noted in a recent review of studies addressing the achievement gap that focusing on the gaps only across racial categories leaves potentially important questions unanswered. He argued that analyses should include achievement variation within African American student groups, rather than only across racial groups.

He raised a number of questions that racial group comparisons have not been able to answer. For example, Why do some districts register higher levels of Black achievement than other districts? Why do some states boast higher levels of Black student achievement than other states? Why do Black girls tend to do better in school than Black boys?

“Addressing these questions can provide insights that hold promise for reducing both within-race and between-race gaps,” said Duke, professor in Curry’s administration and supervision program.

The point of framing achievement problems in terms of comparisons within race and ethnicity, he concluded, is to prevent potentially misleading generalizations from being perpetuated. “When the full range of achievement for racial and ethnic groups is not recognized, the result can reinforce inaccurate stereotypes and encourage overly simplistic explanations for student achievement,” he said.

What If We Don’t? “ F OR A W H I L E there was a mantra about having a ‘color-blind society,’” Catherine Bradshaw noted.

However, she now believes educators must strive for a better balance in the classroom regarding discussions of race and diversity.

She and her colleagues at the Curry School are trying to drive the conversation beyond a culture-neutral, race-blind approach. “We want to acknowledge differences and highlight strengths — some are based on culture, some on race, and some are at the intersection of the two,” Bradshaw said. When education researchers consider race and ethnicity in their interventions and data analysis, they are seeing some ways forward to positive results.

“Curry is working hard on issues of equity and inclusion,” said Bradshaw. “This is a challenging issue, and we might not have all the answers today. However, particularly given our current political climate, this topic is becoming more important than ever.” ●

New Faculty Three of the Curry School’s newest faculty members are also exploring issues around race, education and youth development.

Additional Resources Bottiani, J. H., Bradshaw, C. P., & Mendelson, T. (2016, October 13).

A multilevel examination of racial disparities in high school discipline: Black and white adolescents’ perceived equity, school belonging, and adjustment problems.

Journal of Educational Psychology (advance online publication).

Christopher, K. (2016).

Does it matter if teachers and students are the same race? Retrieved from Curry Magazine: http://curry.virginia.edu/magazine/2016/09/does-it-matter-if-teachersand-students-are-the-same-race/ Cornell, D., Maeng, J., Burnette, A.G., Datta, P., Huang, F., & Jia, Y. (2016).

Threat assessment in Virginia schools: Technical report of the Threat Assessment Survey for 2014-2015. Retrieved from http://curry.virginia.edu/resource-library (search on “UVA threat assessment) Duke, D.L. (2016).

Can within-race achievement comparisons help narrow between-race achievement gaps? Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (early view online).

Gregory, A., Hafen, C. A., Ruzek, E., Mikami, A. Y., Allen, J. P., & Pianta, R. C. (2016).

Closing the racial discipline gap in classrooms by changing teacher practice. School Psychology Review, 45(2), 171–191.

Sandilos, L.E., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., & Cohen, J. J. (2016).

Warmth and demand: The relation between students’ perceptions of the classroom environment and achievement growth. Child Development (early view online).

Williams, J. L., & Deutsch, N. L. (2016).

Beyond between-group differences: Considering race, ethnicity, and culture in research on positive youth development programs. Applied Developmental Science, 20(3), 203–213.

Nancy Deutsch

VA L E R I E A DA M S - B A S S

Assistant professor of education

“I am particularly interested in how Black adolescents interpret negative media stereotypes and whether the messages presented are internalized or buffered as a result of racial socialization experiences.”

Jessika Bottiani

“Curry is very much at the forefront of issues around equity and inclusion.”

K AT R I N A D E B N A M

Assistant professor of nursing and education; coprincipal investigator on the Double Check grant

“My research has consistently and deliberately been focused on the intersection of health and education with a strong concentration on conditions that disproportionately affect communities of color.”

CHAUNCEY SMITH

Assistant professor of education

“My work is centered on adolescent sociopolitical development broadly.

Specifically and most recently, I have examined the ways in which Black boys make meaning of their school experiences (such as the school environment, their experiences of racial discrimination and their relationships with peers).”

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Research into Reality CASTL looks back over a decade of impact 8

PH OTO S BY SA R A H H A RRI S

BY K AY LY N CH RI S TO PH E R

William Smith at the E3 School, a preschool that implements many of CASTL’s evidencedbased models.

William H. Smith IV is only a toddler, but his mom, Kaberlyn Daniel, describes him as an effective communicator who shows empathy and compassion for others and who loves to learn. When asked about her three-year-old’s academic and emotional growth, she praises his teachers. “I attribute it all to the E3 School,” she said.

N Jason Downer, associate professor of education and director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL)

A CAST L PART N ERSH I P

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Not coincidentally, teachers at the E3 School in Norfolk, Virginia, receive Curry School instructional coaching and teach from a Curry-developed curriculum.

“They really challenge children and introduce reading, engineering, arts, math and science from a young age that progresses as they move up through the age levels,” Daniel explained. “I also love how hands-on they are with kids. They keep all the children engaged.

It’s like a big family.”

The two-year-old school is a demonstration model of effective early childhood education in Virginia. It was developed by the non-profit E3 (Elevate Early Education) in a partnership with the Curry School’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) led by research associate professors Amanda Williford and Bridget Hamre.

Both the teacher professional development and the curriculum focus on the core skills that form the foundation for all other learning, according to Kate Matthew, the lead content developer at CASTL. “Teachers support children’s capacity to relate to others, regulate attention and behaviors, think creatively and explore, communicate needs and thoughts, and move to achieve goals and stay healthy,” she said.

CASTL’s role in the school is the culmination of a decade of its research on teacher effectiveness and early childhood education. “The E3 School is taking the best of what we know and putting that all together,” said Bob Pianta, dean of the Curry School and CASTL founder.

He sees the E3 School as an evolving model that can someday be replicated across Virginia and elsewhere.

EFFECT IV E TEACHING Yet this new school and its comprehensive foundational curriculum is the product of only one of many facets of work produced by CASTL since its founding in 2006, Pianta explained. “We’re doing research here around a very important societal problem: the assessment and evaluation of effective teaching.”

For the past decade, this mission has guided CASTL, which is now under the direction of Jason Downer, associate professor of education. “We’re taking a look at teaching and learning through a scientific lens, but in a very applied way that will make a difference in our schools and communities,” Downer added.

CASTL’s research into education policy and practice spans decades of schooling — from child care programs for toddlers all the way to community colleges and four-year institutions of higher education. Additionally, CASTL concentrates on effectively integrating developmental science and education by studying where students are not just developmentally, academically and cognitively, but also socially and emotionally.

“We’re doing a lot of work that is focused on how to help people become good citizens and relate well with others, alongside our mission of being able to make sure they are learning how to read and be good at math and science,” Downer said.

Downer, who became CASTL’s director in 2013, said that part of the center’s success over the past 10 years has come from pairing its collaborative nature with intellectual rigor.

“The culture of the center and the quality of the work is so top-notch and unique, it was really important to me to try to help sustain that,” he said. “I want to make sure it continues to grow and prosper.”

Bridget Hamre, research associate professor and CASTL associate director

“We’re doing a lot of work that is focused on how to help people become good citizens and relate well with others, alongside our mission of being able to make sure they are learning how to read and be good at math and science.”

WH AT M AT T ERS MO ST Downer said one of the center’s biggest achievements has been creating an observational method of measuring the quality of classrooms known as the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, or CLASS, which is used at both the primary and secondary level.

“It brings attention to what matters most in classrooms,” Downer said. “In early childhood classrooms, for instance, it’s not as much about having the right toys or books, but more about the interactions between the adults and kids in the classroom, because that’s what really drives learning.”

Bridget Hamre has been leading efforts to improve the quality of pre-kindergarten and child care experiences for children in communities across Virginia, including the E3 School. She promotes better teacher-child interactions using CASTL-developed tools like the MyTeachingPartner coaching model, which is also used in elementary and secondary schools, and an online course developed for early childhood teachers.

“She’s able to do that work now because of the research we were doing 10 years ago,” Pianta explained.

“It shows the virtuous cycle of this kind of work and its contributions to the Commonwealth.”

Those contributions also go far beyond Virginia’s borders, with partners in places such as Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador and Chile. “Countries all around the world are accessing the tools and research capacity here at the Curry School to build their own early education systems, and with international collaborators like the World Bank, it really shows the kind of global reach of our work,” Pianta said.

CASTL Fact File 20 25 CASTL People

Faculty

Research scientists, curriculum specialists, and project coordinators

Research Impact Teachers

PreK-12 Students

70k+

1m+

Research publications

All funded with

550

$55m

Impact Across the States

... the World

The CLASS is used by the federal Office of Head Start as a tool for program monitoring throughout the U.S.

37 5 Countries

CASTL research and intervention projects have taken place in the following states, 2006-2016.

Arizona California Colorado Connecticut D.C. Florida Kansas

Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina

Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia

Continents

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F T R AN S L AT I NG R E S E ARC H TO P RACTI CE

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From motivational intervention tools that empower students to be successful in community college to a kindergarten-readiness program, CASTL’s tangible successes have been made possible by ensuring the center’s research is shared with state and federal policymakers.

“The idea is to translate the research into practice,” Downer said. “We’re continuing to make sure that we are working with policymakers, in the state and federally, to ensure the things we are learning will actually get integrated into everyday practices in schools and universities.”

Pianta said CASTL is the ideal home for a team dedicated to evaluating and improving the quality of teaching and looking to turn research into reality.

“When you get good people working together around interesting ideas, you attract more good people, ideas, projects and research, and the impact grows,” Pianta emphasized, with an eye on the decade to come.

“I think the field at large recognizes UVA as a place to come to for work that is not only theoretical and academic, but is able to have implications at a broader scale,” Hamre added. “That ability to be doing research that can make a tangible difference is something we really value, and CASTL’s 10-year anniversary is a time to reflect on what we want to achieve and be thoughtful about the ways in which we can continue to have influence.”

“When you get good people working together around interesting ideas, you attract more good people, ideas, projects and research, and the impact grows.”

“The idea is to translate the research into practice.”

MOR E TO COME The E3 School is one of those tangible results of CASTL’s work, and CASTL’s leaders envision even more significant impacts in the future. They hope to replicate the model refined at E3 and replicate it in other communities across Virginia. The research will not end there, however, said Amanda Williford.

“We know from our randomized control studies and the E3 site that this can work, but we don’t know if it will work in every school setting,” she explained. “More evaluation will have to be conducted to see how we can support teachers and schools to make it successful in every kind of setting.”

The E3 project covers only ages 1 to 5, but aligning learning opportunities seamlessly in all early education settings so they build on each other from birth all the way through Grade 3 is another of CASTL’s major goal’s, according to Downer. Early childhood policies and curriculum are often developed in isolation from kindergarten and elementary school policies and curriculum. Better alignment may extend the gains made in high-quality preschool environments through those important K–3 school years.

Teacher preparation is another important factor, Downer said, and one that CASTL is working to address.

“There is a pressing need to produce effective teachers who know how to fit within these models we are creating.”

Sarah Rostock, the first teacher at the E3 School to work with little William Smith, holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood from another institution and feels strongly about the importance of improving teacher preparation.

“The CASTL training I’m receiving right now is invaluable,” said Rostock. “They focus on building strong relationships with children and supporting peer relationships. They have an ingenious way of helping teachers look at a child and understand where they are.

I’ve never had these core skills until now.” ● Contributing writers Richard Alblas and Lynn Bell

LEADING WITH ASSETS We take a different approach to education and human development, not just trying to fix what’s broken but strengthening what works.

Curry empowers lives.

curry.virginia.edu

Policy

MISSING FROM SCHOOL A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHEDS MORE LIGHT ON THE RAMIFICATIONS OF STUDENTS’ CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM

by Lynn Bell

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bout 1 in 10 Virginia students were chronically absent from school in the 2014–2015 academic year, which — though not great news — is on par with national averages. Yet in the three school divisions designated as

Challenged Schools by the Virginia Governor’s Children’s Cabinet, rates were notably higher: 1 in 7 in Norfolk and 1 in 5 in both Richmond and Petersburg.

Luke C. Miller, research assistant professor with EdPolicyWorks

“Rates are particularly high among high schoolers, low-performing students, and students who move between schools,” said Luke Miller, research assistant professor with EdPolicyWorks, a research center on education policy and workforce competitiveness, and author of a report on absenteeism in Virginia. He noted also that absenteeism rates decrease from preschool through fifth grade and then rise precipitously through high school.

These findings are the result of Miller’s analysis of data from the Virginia Longitudinal Data System. His research focused on statewide trends as well as on trends in Challenged Schools, which are school divisions with the highest percentage of unaccredited schools in the state. In many cases these schools face challenging contexts such as comparatively high poverty rates and low graduation rates.

The data also indicate that chronically absent students are less likely to meet academic performance benchmarks than are other students and that students who change schools are more likely to be chronically absent. Chronic absenteeism is typically defined as missing 10 percent or more of the school year.

A particularly surprising finding was that the effects of chronic absenteeism appear to linger: Students who were chronically absent one year but attended school more consistently the next still had

“Luke’s report on absenteeism is high-quality research informing important policy questions that have the potential to substantially improve outcomes for students.”

James H. Wyckoff, professor of education and director of EdPolicyWorks

lower pass rates than peers who had never been chronically absent, Miller said.

The analysis — a successful collaboration involving the Curry School, the Children’s Cabinet, and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) — was designed to be of maximum use to policymakers seeking to understand the observable factors associated with chronic absenteeism. As Miller noted, “This analysis can also be used to target initiatives designed to help more students show up to school ready to learn every day and can serve as a benchmark for judging the effectiveness of these efforts.”

According to James Wyckoff, EdPolicyWorks director, the center is dedicated to cooperative data analysis with policymaking entities. “Luke’s report on absenteeism is high-quality research informing important policy questions that have the potential to substantially improve outcomes for students,” he said. “It is a great example of how true collaboration between researchers and policymakers can result in analysis that informs policy.”

Miller brought his analytic skills to the project, Wyckoff explained, but the VDOE had deep insight that helped orient the analysis to best support policy improvements. “Collaboration is important to us so that we do not simply publish data analyses but address problems that are important to Virginia,” Wyckoff said.

This kind of cooperative relationship can only be sustained when both sides are seeking answers, he added. “If they don’t really want to know the answer, [it] would be easier not to talk to us at all.”

Daniela Lewy, executive director of the Children’s Cabinet, which commissioned the study, said Miller thoughtfully designed and analyzed the study and worked collaboratively throughout the process to ensure his efforts advanced their joint commitment: to improve student outcomes. “Luke did a wonderful job balancing academic rigor with political expediency,” Lewy said, adding that the cabinet’s efforts will be greatly informed by Miller’s report, which she presented to the Challenged Schools team last summer.

The groundwork for EdPolicyWorks’ partnership with the Children’s Cabinet and the VDOE was laid by Curry School dean Robert Pianta, who encourages faculty to find opportunities outside of academia in which they can apply research to policy questions.

At the request of VDOE and the Children’s Cabinet, EdPolicyWorks is conducting a second analysis, currently in review, that considers students switching schools during the academic year and its effects on absenteeism and achievement. Other potential projects with VDOE are awaiting approval, including a proposal that would be funded by a federal agency.

“I think the VDOE sees the value in using research to improve what they do, and they have found us to be willing partners,” Miller said. “We all have incentives we must respond to. The sweet spot is a project that brings benefit to everyone involved.”

Miller wants to help Virginia improve the services it provides to students. “I love working with data and making sense of it,” he explained, “but I also believe in the power of government to support efforts at the local level to help kids achieve whatever greatness is in store for them.” ●

Luke Miller’s analysis was funded with a grant from the Robins Foundation. His full report can be found online at curry.virginia.edu/resource-library. Search “chronic absenteeism.”

EdPolicyWorks is a joint collaboration between the Curry School of Education and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy that seeks to bring together researchers from across the University of Virginia and the Commonwealth to focus on important questions of educational policy and the competitiveness of labor in an era of globalization.

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Teacher Education Innovations

TEACHING FELLOWSHIPS

BRIDGING TRANSITIONS TO THE CLASSROOM

by Adria Hoffman, Field Placement Coordinator

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eacher preparation has traditionally been the work of universities, while induction into the profession and training of mentor teachers have been the work of the school divisions that hire new teachers. Now, the Curry School is partnering with Frederick County Public Schools, Goochland County Public Schools and Virginia Beach City Public Schools to bridge the gap between teacher preparation and teacher induction.

Together, we are piloting a new way of preparing and retaining high quality teachers. Each school division selects teaching fellows from among Curry teacher candidates in its areas of critical need (such as science, mathematics, special education and elementary education), as well as seeking candidates who may represent racially and ethnically the student populations they will serve.

During teacher candidates’ final year in Curry’s program, the school divisions will hire them for a year-long residency that incorporates both the traditional fall student-teaching semester and the following spring semester. During this year, they will work in instructional support roles and as co-teachers under the guidance of mentor teachers carefully identified by school division leadership and trained by the Curry School.

The fellows will further develop their understanding of school division policies and practices through Curry seminars held near their school to support their transition from teacher candidate to teacher. They will also receive two full years of supervision after graduation using MyTeachingPartner coaching adapted for preservice teachers, which is a targeted, individualized feedback model developed at the Curry School.

In exchange for this substantively stronger and longer support from both the division and the Curry School, fellows will commit to accepting employment and remaining in the school division for at least the first three years of their teaching careers.

This fellowship model is a game changer for teacher education and teacher candidates’ clinical experiences. Connecting teacher preparation and induction is a goal for many colleges and universities, but only the Curry School has been able to develop and pilot this model with the help of our outstanding partners. Because these teaching fellows will meet their student-teaching requirements through a paid fellowship, promising future teachers who might not otherwise have the financial resources to complete a graduate program in education will be able to do so and to give back to public school communities. ●

CLASSROOM SIMULATOR

HONING PROFESSIONAL SKILLS IN A LOW-STAKES SETTING

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Doctoral student Meredith McCool demonstrates teaching to a virtual classroom.

new virtual-reality environment has been helping teacher candidates from the Curry School develop their professional skills over the past year. Interacting with avatars representing both students and parents provides teacher candidates with a valuable, low-stakes setting for initial experiences — before they go into the field.

Elementary teacher candidates taking a classroom management course at Curry spend time in a classroom simulator with five upper elementary student avatars, each of which are controlled by an offsite actor. As teachers-in-training introduce a lesson, student avatars demonstrate common behavioral challenges. In response, teacher candidates must apply appropriate strategies to reengage pupils or redirect distracting behavior.

“Thinking back to my practicum experience, I remember getting into a power struggle with a student that I couldn’t seem to get out of gracefully,” said former teacher Meredith McCool, who is a doctoral student in the Curry School’s curriculum and instruction program. “I would have much preferred to have had practice in the simulator, where I could have reflected on the situation with a mentor and even tried it again to see if I could achieve a different, and better, outcome.”

Last fall the teacher education program tried a different module offered by the company that licenses this proprietary technology — a module that incorporates parents and guardians. All teacher education students practiced interacting with parents in a virtual reality parent-teacher conference.

“Our teacher interns had to discuss a case-study student with a parent avatar for an 8- to 10-minute session,” explained Jillian McGraw, a doctoral student in curriculum and instruction who is overseeing the simulator project. The sessions were filmed and reviewed by faculty instructors for consistency; project objectives included establishing rapport with the parent, using professional language (free of judgment and jargon), and collaboratively developing strategies to help the pupil. According to McGraw, the engagement facilitated by the simulator is so authentic that students came away saying, “That was so real.”

The simulator is currently in the proof-of-concept stage for its use in teacher preparation and in other human services programs. Meanwhile, the Curry School Foundation seeks endowment support for an interdisciplinary development team to work on a next generation simulation platform. Once the ideal technology is available, the Curry School will be positioned to establish a national center for teaching simulation that provides shareable research and models. ●

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Teacher Education Innovations

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Having students pass around a bell without letting it chime is a calming activity teacher candidate Christopher Howell found helpful during his student teaching internship.

MANAGING TEACHER STRESS

MINDFULNESS MOVES TO THE CLASSROOM

A G R OW I N G B ODY OF R E S E A R C H demonstrates that among adults mindfulness-based interventions reduce stress, improve resilience to stress and improve emotion regulation. For the past decade, Patricia Jennings, associate professor of education, has studied mindfulness-based approaches applied to teacher stress with the aim of improving teaching and learning.

Today, many teachers are not well prepared for the social and emotional demands of the classroom, Jennings said. “Increasing numbers of children are coming to school with unmet needs. Children at risk of psychological and behavioral problems often pose challenges for unprepared teachers.”

Because these students have more difficulty attending to learning activities, sitting still and getting along with their peers, they can disrupt lessons by creating chaos in the classroom — a situation Jennings acknowledges “many of us dread and try to avoid at all costs.”

Under these stressful conditions, teachers can become more likely to burn out and leave the profession at a time when, more than ever, students

need calm, supportive and understanding teachers.

According to recent statistics, nearly 50% of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years of teaching, costing school districts in the tens of millions of dollars to replace them.

The good news is that research is beginning to show that mindfulness-based approaches can help teachers manage the stresses of the classroom, and teachers can cultivate the skills they need to promote a calm, relaxed, but enlivened learning environment that fosters creativity, innovation, collaboration and cooperation.

This sort of classroom requires teachers who are fully aware and present as they teach and interact with students, parents and colleagues.

Jennings was recruited to the Curry School because of her focus on teacher self-care, and mindfulness-based approaches are now are now a part of Curry’s teacher education curriculum. Christopher Howell, a post-graduate student in the second year of his two-year masters in teaching program, remembers being surprised last spring in class when Jennings applied relaxation techniques, breathing exercises and awareness of one’s physical responses to teaching contexts.

“I had never heard of using these de-stressing techniques in the classroom at times when the students may still be in there with you,” Howell said.

Yet, he came to appreciate Jennings’ approach after his teaching internship in a fifth-grade classroom last fall. In one case, he realized his high-energy activity choices were the source of students’ rocky transition from morning meeting to math instruction.

“I was getting very irritated with them, and I’m sure it showed,” he said.

Howell decided to end meetings instead with a calming activity, in which students standing in a circle attempt to pass a bell around without the bell chiming.

“My mentor teacher and I saw such an improvement in our transitions to math she even used the game after my internship was over,” he said.

The students were more engaged, and students who were working independently were on task, he added.

“These techniques can do more than just change the way you de-stress, it can flip a classroom on its head, or maybe turn it right side up again,” Howell added. ● For resources and more about Jennings’ work on this topic, see curry.virginia.edu/mindfulnessforteachers.

MORE EFFECTIVE PRACTICUM EXPERIENCES L O C A L M E N T OR T E AC H E R S who coach our students during their practicum semester are now offered an opportunity for a new graduate course at Curry focused on increasing their effectiveness. Through the course they learn about instructional coaching best practices and then can apply new skills each week with practicum students in their classrooms.

“This approach allows mentor teachers to take the theory learned in class and put it into practice, refine their skills and then come back and reflect on their experiences in the next class,” said Curry field placement coordinator Adria Hoffman, who is also the course instructor.

The course provides training in the MyTeachingPartner coaching model adapted for preservice teachers but also covers adult learning theory and research on professional development.

“We are countering the perception of teaching as an innate ability or a calling and equipping our school partners with tools for providing individualized feedback to Curry students placed in their classrooms,” Hoffman said. “They can then help our teacher candidates refine their practices and positively impact student learning.”

The course is funded by a grant from the Virginia Department of Education specifically for Charlottesville City and Albemarle, Nelson and Fluvanna County teachers and is available to them at no cost. Participants are recommended by their school administrators and must complete an application to the Curry School for the course. This spring semester, only the second time the course has been offered, it is filled with 25 mentor teachers.

“Multiple teachers told us last spring that it was the best professional development they have ever had,” Hoffman said. ●

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Alumni Spotlight

ANNE CONSTANT

(M.ED. ’72, ED.D. ’79 ENGLISH ED)

by Lynn Bell

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I LLU STR ATI O N BY L I N DSAY GILM ORE

A

native of Norfolk, Virginia, Anne Constant dreamed in high school of being a Hoo. When she graduated in 1967 women were not yet being admitted to the College, so she went to Duke instead. She got her wish a few years later, though, when she was admitted to the Curry School for its master’s program in English education.

“Charlottesville is heaven on earth in my book,” she said. She wanted to stay after completing her degree, but no teaching jobs were available in the area.

Instead, she went to Virginia Beach and taught AP and regular English classes at Kempsville High School.

Her Curry School training served her well, and at age 26, with only two years of teaching experience, she was offered the newly created position of curriculum specialist in English for the school division’s middle and high schools.

In this position she often attended education conferences, where she one day ran across Joe Strzepek, her English education professor at Curry. He suggested she come back for a doctorate degree, and the graduate teaching fellowship he offered sealed the deal.

Both avid runners, she and Strzepek held more than one advising meeting on the move. She encountered many career-enhancing opportunities, including parttime work with the Bureau of Educational Research, where she edited ongoing research projects and worked with state administrators in Richmond.

“I was not a typical doctoral student though,” Anne remembers. She could not see her way forward in academia, especially in light of the scarcity of attractive job options at the time, and she was fascinated by issues outside the typical English education research.

She remembers some good counsel from another professor: “You do what you need to do to fulfill your own dreams.”

Anne took his advice, and her career path took a winding course through educational writing and editing, program management and evaluation, training and program development in several not-for-profit organizations and management consulting in the private sector. Her employers ranged from the National Education Association and the National Alliance of Business to Logicon and Ernst and Young.

The common thread throughout her career, she believes, has been her Curry education—the Socratic method of questioning to stimulate critical thinking, the leadership skills from her administration and supervision courses, the fundamentals of curriculum development, and the research skills so critical in

program design and consulting. All were instrumental in enabling her to grow and evolve professionally in a wide variety of professional opportunities.

She also believes current doctoral students should know what she learned: “A lot of places exist where they can apply the skills they learned at Curry, and the world needs people trained to think, analyze and communicate the way any good teacher would,” she said.

Because she recognizes the impact Curry has had in her life, Anne has been giving back to the Curry School Foundation for more than three decades.

“If others hadn’t given, I wouldn’t have gotten that teaching fellowship and probably wouldn’t have gone back for my doctorate,” she said. “Somebody believed in me, and it’s my pleasure to do the same for those coming after me.”

Back in the 1980s she gave what she could—$10, $15, $25 gifts. For a decade now she has been supporting Curry at the Dean’s Circle level.

“Nobody gets where are they totally on their own,” she acknowledged. “Everyone gets help somewhere along the way, and everyone has something to give back.”

Anne’s last professional turn after retiring from corporate life was opening and operating a successful Jazzercise Fitness Center in Falls Church, which she recently sold. She continues to teach Jazzercise and loves biking and traveling. She does animal rescue volunteering and some political fundraising and has also served, from time to time, on several non-profit boards, including the National Capital Area Alzheimer’s Association.

Even in her personal activities, she sees a thread back to Curry: “Teachers, consultants, trainers, volunteers,” she explained, “we’re all change agents after a fashion, trying to improve upon and create opportunities for growth and fulfillment.” ●

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“Everyone gets help somewhere along the way, and everyone has something to give back.”

Faculty Books

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ecent books by Curry School faculty experts address real-world challenges— at both the scholarly and practitioner levels—across the spectrum of education and human development. (Names in bold type are Curry School professors.)

Richard Arum, Josipa Roksa, & Amanda Cook (Eds.) Improving Quality in American Higher Education: Defining Learning Outcomes and Assessments for the 21st Century (Jossey-Bass)

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Rachel Wahl

Bill Ferster

Just Violence.

(Stanford University Press)

Sage on the Screen: Education, Media, and How We Learn (Johns Hopkins University Press)

Kevin Flanigan, Latisha Hayes, Lori Helman, Donald R. Bear, & Shane Templeton Words Their Way: Vocabulary for American History, The World Before 1600 to American Imperialism (1890-1920) (Pearson Education.)

Daniel B. Berch, David C. Geary, & Kathleen Mann Koepke (Eds.) Development of Mathematical Cognition: Neurobiological Substrates and Genetic Influences (Academic Press)

Martin E. Block

Daniel L. Duke

A Teacher’s Guide to Adapted Physical Education (4th ed., Paul H. Brookes)

The Children Left Behind: America’s Struggle to Improve Its Lowest Performing Schools (Rowman & Littlefield)

Jason A. Grissom & Peter Youngs (Eds.)

Michelle D. Young & Gary M. Crow (Eds.)

Improving Teacher Evaluation Systems: Making the Most of Multiple Measures (Teachers College Press)

The Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders (2nd ed., Routledge)

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News Briefs

Former Secretary of Education at Curry

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Former U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. (left) visited Charlottesville twice in a 60-day period last year — the second time in November as the guest lecturer for the Curry School’s Walter N. Ridley Distinguished Speaker Series.

King pointed to overwhelming evidence that giving children a strong start in early education has profound effects on their lifetime success. Although many factors lead to high quality early education, King told the room full of future educators that teachers have the power to make the biggest difference.

“The essence of quality is in the interactions between teachers and children,” he said.

He went on to explain that despite national efforts to increase preschool enrollments and open access to more low-income children, fewer than 50 percent of American 4-year-olds are enrolled in preschool today.

“We know we can do better and we must do better,” King said.

Sec. King was also in town last September to visit Buford Middle School as part of the Department of Education’s Back-to-School Bus Tour to celebrate progress in communities and states across the country. His focus then was on the innovative middle-school engineering curriculum developed by Albemarle and Charlottesville public schools in partnership with the Curry School and others.

Presidents Panel In October five university presidents, past and present, talked about the future of higher education at a discussion titled “Disruption in Higher Education” sponsored by the Curry School of Education Foundation. Online education, affordability and state funding were all topics discussed by the panel.

Participants included former UVa President John T. Casteen III, Gene C. Crume Jr., a Curry School alumnus and president of Judson University in Illinois, Jo Ann M. Gora, former president of Ball State University, L. Jay Lemons, a Curry School alumnus and president of Susquehanna University, and former Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger.

A video of the panel discussion is available online at www.youtube.com/CurrySchool.

Scholarly Impact Eight Curry School faculty members made the 2017 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, which recognizes the 200 faculty members at U.S. universities who “contribute most substantially to public debates about education.” The sixth annual rankings were published in Rick Hess’ Education Week blog, “Rick Hess Straight Up.” Hess bases the scores on a variety of quantitative metrics that “recognize university-based scholars in the U.S. who are contributing most substantially to public debates about education,” including measures of publishing and press, Web and social media citations.

Alumni from the Curry School were also on the list, including Jonathan Plucker (Ph. D. ’95 Ed Psych), who received the 2015 Curry Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award, at 58th place, Alfredo J. Artiles (M.Ed. ’98, Ph.D. ’92 Spec Ed), who received the 2009 Curry Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award, at 103rd place, and Patrick McGuinn (M.Ed. ’02 Ed Policy) at 105th place.

Here is where Curry professors ranked:

13

Carol Tomlinson

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Bob Pianta

125 Josipa Roksa 134 Jim Wyckoff 163 Sarah Turner 167 Michelle Young 174 Daphna Bassok 188 Ben Castleman

FACULTY NEWS

Coming Up: JEA Symposium In Washington D.C. on May 3 and 4, the Curry School of Education, Digital Promise, and the Jefferson Education Accelerator will host a symposium focused on the role of efficacy research in the development, adoption and implementation of educational technology. The symposium represents the culmination of a year-long collaboration among stakeholders who rarely cooperate in support of education technology: academic researchers, entrepreneurs, district and university leaders, investors, philanthropists, and teachers and professors.

“This work is motivated by a belief that technology has massive, unmet potential to improve student outcomes across K-12 and postsecondary education,” said Bart Epstein, CEO of the Jefferson Education Accelerator, and Curry School research associate professor. Collaboration is the first step in developing a shared vocabulary centered on effectiveness, and a more uniform understanding of effectiveness can help workable solutions take hold, he added.

“All of this depends upon an open, candid dialogue among interested parties, “said Bob Pianta, dean of the Curry School. To this end, ten Working Groups are bringing together diverse stakeholders to explore questions about factors influencing, stymying, benefiting or shaping the future of efficacy research on education technology.

“With the shared mission of educating ourselves and understanding what works to advance teaching and learning, we aim to elevate the ed-tech conversation beyond its focus on wide-scale adoption and start talking about impact,” Pianta said. ●

Daphna Bassok (right), associate professor, was one of 102 scientists and researchers awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by former President Obama, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Bassok teaches in the educational policy program and is associate director of EdPolicyWorks , The Center on Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness.

Frackson Mumba and Robert H. Tai, associate professors in science teacher education, were named co-editors of The Science Educator, the journal of the National Science Educator Leadership Foundation.

Jason Downer, associate professor, was recognized with the 2016 American Psychological Association Mid-Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Benefit Children, Youth, and Families. Downer serves both as the director for the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning and as the program director for the clinical and school psychology area of study.

Nancy Deutsch, associate professor, has been selected as the editor of the Journal of Adolescent Research.

She teaches in both the educational psychology: applied developmental science program and the research, statistics and evaluation program.

Patrick Tolan (left), professor, was awarded the 2016 Nicholas Hobbs Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society for Child and Family Practice and Policy. Tolan is director of Youth-Nex, the UVA Center to Promote Effective Youth Development.

This is only a sampling of the recent achievements of the Curry faculty. See more faculty accolades online at curry.virginia.edu/accolades

Paul Harris (below), assistant professor in the counselor education program, was elected to the American School Counselors Association Board of Directors. ●

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News Briefs IN MEMORIAM Michael C. McKenna

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continues to mourn the untimely passing of Mike McKenna, Jewell Professor of Reading, on December 14 after a brief illness. He was 69. An accomplished scholar, McKenna was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2016, only the latest of honors garnered throughout his distinguished career. He was dedicated to working directly with teachers and conducted with his colleague Sharon Walpole (M.Ed. ’96, Ph.D. ’00 Reading Ed) more than 200 workshops for teachers in 15 states. The most notable example of his creativity and innovation was his collaboration with cartoonist Jim Davis to develop the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (a.k.a., the “Garfield survey”). His most recent innovation for practice is the Bookworm curriculum, developed over many years and made available freely online to teachers.

T H E C U R R Y S C HO OL

The Curry School community lost four esteemed emeriti faculty members last fall: John Mesinger, a long-time member of the special education faculty who promoted increased opportunities for field experience in teacher preparation.

September 13, 2016 Ralph Stoudt, a beloved member of our speech pathology and audiology faculty.

October 28, 2016.

Bill Carriker, a foundational figure in the growth and status of our special education program.

December 4, 2016.

Jerry Moore, a leader in teacher preparation who was a formative influence in the design and early implementation of the BA/MT dual degree program.

December 6, 2016. ●

All alumni welcome to these events

Curry Research Conference

UVA Reunions

Friday, April 14, 2017 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Bavaro Hall

Week 2 Week 1 Classes of 1987, 1992, 1997, Classes of 1957, 1962, 1967, 2002, 2007, and 2012.

1972, 1977, 1982 and the TJ Society

Curry students share their research and gain experience presenting their work.

Conference events include poster sessions, paper sessions, and workshops. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Cynthia Coburn, Professor of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. curry.virginia.edu/research/ curry-research-conference

Curry School Alumni Luncheon Saturday, June 3, 2017 12 – 1:30 p.m.

Bavaro Hall, Room 116 $10 fee Preregistration required alumni.virginia.edu/reunions/ class-reunions

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Curry School Alumni Reception Saturday, June 10, 2017 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Bavaro Hall Atrium $5 fee Preregistration required alumni.virginia.edu/reunions/ class-reunions

Class Notes 1950s Alpheus White (M.Ed. ’53, Ed.D. ’59 Admin & Supv) turned 90 in January.

“Since retirement in 1982, I have engaged in livestock and Christmas tree farming.

For the past 10 years I have been involved with Glen Manor Vineyards, our family winery in Warren County, Va.”

1960s Barbara White Ramer (B.S. ’53, M.Ed. ’69) is an administrator at Porter Academy in Roswell, Ga., a school for students with learning differences.

She also works with interns in human services from Kennesaw State University.

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1970s Frederic Babbitt (M.Ed. ’77 Couns Ed) after serving as principal of Hillyard Middle School for 11 years, retired in 2011 and performed part-time supervision of student teachers and practicum students for UVA and JMU until this year. Now fully retired, he lives with wife Janis in Harrisonburg, Va. H. Randall Capps (Ed.D. ’70 C&I) was awarded the Doctor of Humanities

by Kentucky Wesleyan College at the May 2016 commencement to recognize his career accomplishments in higher education and work with nonprofit organizations across the US. Betty Robertson Clark (M.E. ’76 Couns Ed)(Nursing ’71), was honored in June 2016 as one of the Top 10 Nurses in Houston, Texas. She is retired from full-time nursing after 45 years and now devotes her time to her Rehabilitation Education business. rehabnursingeducation.com

Geralynn Wright Gardner (B.S. ’75 Spec Ed) is moving back to Sarasota, Fla., after completing two and a half years as interim senior pastor at Community Gospel Chapel in Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. She is the author of Hearts That Matter Much (www.compelledbygrace.com).

Claude R. (Bud) Mayo (M.Ed. ’75 English Ed) has been named president of the Northern Virginia Sigma Chi Fraternity Alumni Association. The group meets the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 in Kilroy’s Restaurant in Springfield, Va. Dr. Cyndy Sickman Simms (M.Ed. ’75 Spec Ed) retired as superintendent for the San Mateo-Foster City School District in 2015 after a 27-year career as school superintendent in California, Colorado and Washington and 43 years in public education. She lives in San Mateo and is currently serving as president of the Rotary Club of Foster City.

1980s Nancy Damon (M.Ed. ’80 Health & PE) retired after 14 years as program director of the Virginia Festival of the Book, a five-day festival of reading and writing for people of all ages and interests, held for five days each March in Charlottesville. She is currently studying Mandarin as a senior scholar at UVA. Jeff Ewing (M.Ed. ’89 Couns Ed) after spending 19 years working in student affairs on a small campus and then working for two different regional accrediting agencies, just began a new position as senior consultant for executive search with Keeling & Associates.

Jim Fotter (B.S. ’80 Elem Ed) was recently hired as the executive director of the Oregon Education Association. OEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association and supports 44,000 educators statewide and advocates for quality public schools.

Jay Jackson (M.Ed. ’85 Soc Fdns) after a 21-year career in K-12 classrooms, began working in various positions at UVA development 17 years ago. Six of those years were at the Curry School. He is currently a senior director of development at Washington & Lee University. “My wife and I are now empty-nesters and live at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Crozet, Va.” Jeff Kloetzel (B.S. ’87 Health & PE) lives in southern Oregon, where he is a performer and songwriter in the music industry. He released his second CD “Long Time Coming” in late 2014 and is currently working on two more recordings. Jeff is also involved in the Oregon wine industry.

Forrest Rea Marshall, III (M.Ed. ’85 C&I) retired after 31 years of teaching in Rochester, N.Y. He taught accelerated students in Advanced Placement Spanish and French, as well as international baccalaureate French. “I have moved back to Virginia living in the West End of Richmond. Here I work as a freelance Spanish interpreter and am enjoying my new home as well as being close to my family again. As is the case with many retirees I am beginning to travel and explore places yet to see on Earth.”

Submit your class note at curry.virginia.edu/classnotes/submit

Carole Kirkland Ramser (M.Ed. ’89 Speech Path & Aud) received her education doctorate from Nova Southeastern University 2016. She is a speech-language pathologist for Hanover County Public Schools in Virginia.

Sharon Barr Spalding (M.Ed. ’83 Health & PE) teaches physical and health education at Mary Baldwin University.

“I have returned to full time faculty after 9 years as a split appointment with Athletics. I also coordinate our Exercise Leadership Minor and will be teaching a new course in the fall – Exercise for Special Populations.”

Capt. Peter A. Stark, USN Ret. (Ed.S. ’83 Higher Ed) retired from UVA in 1993 and remains in Charlottesville.

Melody Tankersley (Ph.D. ’92 Spec Ed) was appointed senior associate provost and dean of graduate education at Kent State University.

Patricia B. Walters, EdD (M.Ed. ’85 Admin & Supv) is celebrating 20 years as founder and director of the non-profit organization, Private Schools Interscholastic Association, Inc. She authored PSIA Ready Writing & Creative Writing Handbook for Elementary & Middle Schools (Private Schools Interscholastic Association, 2016-2018 rev. ed.)

Cy Weaver (M.Ed. ’87 Health & PE) retired from the Charlottesville school system after 36 years of teaching and 42 years of coaching. “I have spent a lot of time restoring my old home place, which was built in 1740. We have 8 grandchildren staying very busy. I am still officiating basketball indoor and outdoor track and softball.”

1990s Caitlin McMunn Dooley (M.T. ’95 Elem Ed) is Georgia’s deputy superintendent for teaching and learning at the Georgia Department of Education. She leads the curriculum and instruction and virtual learning teams.

Richard Ferguson (M.Ed. ’85, Ph.D. ’91 Health & PE) is professor and chair in the Department of Physical Education, Wellness and Sport Science at Averett University, Danville, Va. He is also the new owner of a home in the French Alps.

Keri Fox (M.Ed. ’94) “After 40 years in the classroom setting working as a teacher of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired, classroom teacher, reading specialist, and as an ESL teacher, I decided to apply for the position as a dual language assessment specialist in our county. I now assess English learners who are experiencing difficulty in the classroom and work to figure out if the concerns are due to acquiring English as a second language or other cause.”

Helaine Klasky (M.Ed. ’94 Soc Fdns) was recently named chair, U.S. Public Affairs and Crisis Practice for Burson-Marsteller, a leading global strategic communications and public relations firm. She is responsible for building the practice’s extensive client portfolio and helping clients achieve their corporate and public-policy objectives.

Carl Mattacola (M.Ed. ’91, Ph.D. ’96 Health & PE) was recently promoted to associate dean of academic and faculty affairs at the University of Kentucky’s College of Health Sciences.

Pamela Moran (M.Ed. ’80 Sci Ed; Ed.D. ’97 Admin & Supv), superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools, was given the 2016 Administrator of the Year Award from the Virginia Music Educators Association.

Mike Reese (M.Ed. ’98 AVC&I) was named the associate dean of the Johns Hopkins Center for Educational Resources.

He says he would love for friends from his cohort to contact him to reconnect.

Aaron Spence (M.T. ’94 Foreign Lang Ed; Ed.D. ’03 Admin & Supv) is the superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools and is now serving as national vice chair of the Professional Learning Community Advisory Committee for EdLeader21.

Melody Tankersley (Ph.D. ’92 Spec Ed) was appointed senior associate provost and dean of graduate education at Kent State University.

Dominick Wallace (M.Ed. ’97 Couns Ed) is managing director at Wallace Capital Funding, LLC, helping small to midsize businesses gain access to capital to grow. He has been doing so since 2002 and has been in the business for nearly 15 years.

Robin Ward (Ph.D. ’97 Math Ed) authored Count on UVA: Fun Facts from 1 to 12 (MascotBooks, spring 2017 release).

2000s Shannon (Hawrylo) Beutler (B.S.Ed. ’06; M.T. ’06 Health & PE) and her husband Clay welcomed daughter Josephine Burns Beutler on June 6, 2016.

Elizabeth Brann (M.Ed. ’03 Foreign Lang Ed) is starting the new World Language Program at Meriwether Lewis Elementary School in the Albemarle County Public School System in Charlottesville. She was featured recently by the local CBS TV news affiliate.

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Class Notes

Luvelle Brown (M.T. ’97 Health & PE; Ed.S. ’01, Ed.D. ’05 Admin & Supv) was named the 2017 New York State Superintendent of the Year and was awarded the Center for Digital Education Top 30 Award.

Mike Brunet II (M.Ed. ’99, Ph.D. ’02 Health & PE) and his family currently reside in Alexandria, La., where they have been living since 2002.

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Megan (Maupin) Burgess (B.S.Ed. ’06 Sports Med) and husband Nathan welcomed their first child, John Preston, on April 29, 2016. Megan is an orthopedic and women’s health physical therapist at SSM Physical Therapy, and lab assistant and small group advisor for Washington University in St. Louis School of Physical Therapy’s doctorate of physical therapy program.

Daniel Carroll (M.Ed ’06 Health & PE) was named the 2017 Vito Perriello Secondary School Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association.

Barbara Tragakis Conner (M.Ed. ’05 Soc Fdns) published “Deferred Early?

Don’t Fret!” in the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools’ AdmitAll Blog, January 2017.

Bonita Durham (M.Ed. ’03 C&I) has two grandchildren ages 2 1/2 years and 5 months. “Can’t wait until they can join me at UVA games!”

Beth A. Fisher (M.Ed. ’06 Speech Path & Aud) completed a Master’s in Business Administration at the University of North Carolina- Greensboro in December 2016.

Todd Gambill (M.Ed. ’99 Soc Fdns;

Ed.D. ’03 Higher Ed) received a kidney donation in March from my Pfeiffer University college roommate (Josh Embree). “Now I am training for a marathon! Please donate life!”

David Gesualdi (M.Ed. ’08 Kines) received the Excellence in Classroom Innovation Award in the Health & PE Teacher category from the DC Ed Fund.

David teaches on the Walker-Jones Education Campus, DC Public Schools.

Stephen Geyer (M.Ed. ’00, Ed.D. ’07 Admin & Supv) is featured in the latest issue of Madison magazine for his recent recognition as JMU’s 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award for the College of Education. Geyer is assistant superintendent of instruction for Goochland County Public Schools. He lives with his wife and two children (ages 12 and 9) in Sandy Hook, Va. Maureen Hall (Ph.D. ‘03 English Ed) was promoted to the rank of full professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in September 2016. “Also, I got married last June to Daniel Brush. He is an electronics engineering teacher at Old Colony Regional Technical High School in Rochester, Mass.”

Elisabeth Jerome (M.Ed. ’05, Ph.D. ’09 Clin & School Psych) is enjoying every busy moment of life with her two amazing boys (now 2 and 3 1/2) and husband, Sonny. “I am excited to announce that my private practice, WellSpring Child and Family Psychology has grown! We now have four psychologists, and are in the process of hiring a fifth. Our mission is to increase behavioral health services, particularly for children and families, in our area.” wellspringchildandfamily.com Kira Jordan (M.T. ’09 Soc Studies Ed) was honored by the Thomas Nelson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with the 20162017 Outstanding Teacher of American

History award. The award was presented in a meeting at the U.S. Capitol.

Abigail Kayser (M.T. ’08 Early Child Dev Risk) is working under the guidance of Dr. Stanley Trent with undergraduate Annalee Jackson on a $20,000 UVA Jefferson Public Citizen’s research grant to study Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching in Albemarle County Schools. Abigail is back at Curry working on her doctorate in curriculum & instruction.

Virginia Justis (M.Ed. ’07 Couns Ed) was recently named Colorado Middle School Counselor of the Year. Virginia moved to Denver, Col., in August 2015 to take a position at Hamilton Middle School in Denver Public Schools through the Colorado Counselor Corps grant. She implemented a school counseling program for 920 students after Hamilton hadn’t had a school counselor for over a decade.

Kelly (Duncan) Leis (B.S.Ed. ’06, M.Ed. ’08 Speech Path & Aud) and her husband Matt welcomed their first child, Evelyn Hope, on October 11, 2016.

McKendry Marano (M.T. ’07 Math Ed) is working on becoming Nationally Board certified through a Richmond area cohort.

Melissa McBride (M.Ed. ’03 Admin & Supv) and Tony Borash (M.T. ’02 Sci Ed) were featured by the local Daily Progress in its Distinguished Dozen series for their exceptional volunteer service to the Fluvanna SPCA. McBride is a special-education coordinator for Albemarle County Public Schools. Borash is an education consultant for Advanced Learning Partnerships.

Eston Melton (M.T. ’04 English Ed) has

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been named director of technology for City Schools of Decatur, Ga. Catie McRae Murphy (M.T. ’05 Foreign Lang Ed) is an adjunct instructor of Spanish at Huntington College in Montgomery, Ala. She and her husband Lee have three children.

Katie Norwood (M.T. ’09 Elem Ed) and Bryan Norwood were married October 15, 2016 at the Rigmor House in Chapel Hill, N.C. The couple now lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where Mrs. Norwood is a 7th- and 8th-grade social studies teacher with Orange County Schools.

Alexandra Roosenburg (M.T. ’04 Elem Ed) quit her job in school administration in the summer and is now spending her days writing curriculum and plans in order to open her own school. She looks forward to contacting many Curry superstars for advice, input and possibly jobs as she continues this journey! www.lfof.org Kathleen Rudasill (Ph.D. ’06 Ed Psych) co-authored Quiet at School: An Educator’s Guide to Shy Children (Teachers College Press, 2016).

Brennan Sigel (M.T. ’03 Soc Studies Ed) married David Guion on July 16, 2016, in Richmond, Va. Cheryl Ware (M.Ed. ’08 Speech Path & Aud) provides services as a volunteer clinician at The Health Brigade (formally Fan Free Clinic). She will be providing

voice therapy to transgender clients.

Ryan Webb (B.S.Ed. ’01 Health & PE) after graduating from the Curry school attended Emory University and got a doctorate in physical therapy.

“I have been practicing outpatient orthopedic physical therapy for the last 12 years.” www.racva.com Maggie Winzeler (B.S.Ed. ’08 Kines) received the Tropaia Award from Georgetown University where she completed her master’s degree in sports industry management. She blogs at www. wellnesswinz.com David Wolcott (Ph.D. ’05 Higher Ed) has been appointed as chief of staff to the executive vice president and provost at The University of Texas at Austin.

2010s Grant Azdell (Ph.D. ’10 Higher Ed) and Gregory J. Nayor (Ph.D. ’09 Higher Ed) co-authored Training Campus Security Authorities & Responsible Persons: Tools, Techniques & Best Practices (Paperclip Communications, 2016).

Jill Boatright (M.Ed. ’11 SAPHE) was promoted to director in the Career Development Center at Loyola University New Orleans in January 2017 Anne Cash (Ph.D. ’10 Applied Dev Sci) and colleagues published “Assessing the Association Between Observed School Disorganization and School Violence: Implications for School Climate Interventions” in the April 2016 issue of the journal Psychology of Violence, an affiliate of the American Psychological Association. Anne is an assistant professor in the UNCCharlotte Cato College of Education.

Charles Igel (Ph.D. ’10 Resch Stats & Eval) will present his most recent

paper, “Engaging and Empowering the Professional Community through the Revitalization of Teacher Research,” at the 2017 annual meeting of the AACTE in Tampa, Fla. Fares Karam (Ph.D. ’16 English Ed) is the winner of the 2017 Distinguished Dissertation Award presented by the AERA Second Language Research Special Interest Group. His dissertation Iraqi Refugee English Learners in the United States: A Multiple Case Study, was noted for its originality and timeliness and for making a compelling empirical contribution to the field’s understanding of the growing population of English learner refugees in the United States.

Matthew Landahl (M.Ed. ’99, Ed.D. ’12 Admin & Supv) was appointed superintendent of the Beacon City School District in Beacon, NY, effective July 1, 2017. He is currently deputy superintendent of the Ithaca City School District.

He began his employment in Ithaca City as chief elementary schools officer in 2013. Landahl received the Outstanding Principal Award from the Curry School Foundation in 2011 when he was principal of Mary C. Greer Elementary School in Charlottesville.

Laura Leviski (M.Ed. ’10 Speech Path & Aud) married Matthew Hyde on October 22, 2016. The ceremony took place at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Federal Hill and the reception was held at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Md. Laura currently lives in Baltimore and is a pediatric speech-language pathologist at Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Andrew Mann (B.S. Ed. ’12 Kines) is a practicing physical therapist in the Northern Virginia area for Select

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Class Notes Physical Therapy. “I went to physical therapy school at VCU in Richmond, VA and graduated in 2015. I currently work with a wide range of orthopedic and neurologic patients with special interest in movement disorders, balance, and the athletic population.”

Sarah Bradford McCollum (B.S.Ed. ’12 Kines) graduated in May 2016 from the Clarkson University physician assistant program. Her master’s research, “Morphological Variation of the Carotid Arterial System Increases the Risk of Development of Central Nervous System Ischemia,” was published in Clinical Medicine Reviews in Vascular Health. She is working as a hospitalist physician’s assistant for Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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Mary McKay (M. Ed. ’13 Soc Fdns) authored Swimming Lessons: How Our Mental Healthcare System Fails Us. A Mother’s Personal Reflections And Cry For Help (available on Amazon.com).

Sandra Mitchell (Ed.D. ’11 Admin & Supv) retired as associate superintendent for instruction for Fauquier County Public Schools on Jan. 1, 2017.

She left FCPS to become a part-time educational leadership instructor and the program administrator for the leadership preparation program for the University of Virginia, Falls Church campus.

Catherine Multari (B.S.Ed. ’14 Kines) is in her second year (of four) at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine and couldn’t be more proud of her kinesiology

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professors at UVA, who prepared her well for the rigorous demands of medical school.

Erin Ottmar (Ph.D. ’11 Appl Dev Sci) was awarded an AERA Study of Deeper Learning Fellowship. “As a part of this fellowship, I will use the Study of Deeper Learning data set to investigate direct and indirect relations between cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal opportunities, non-cognitive outcomes, and student achievement outcomes in reading, math, and science.”

Matthew Reames (Ph.D. ’15 Math Ed) was awarded the 2017 Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Middle School Mathematics Teacher of the Year Award, which was presented at its 2017 conference.

Jacob Rooksby (M. Ed. ’07 Soc Fdns; Ph.D. ’12 Higher Ed) authored The Branding of the American Mind: How Universities Capture, Manage, and Monetize Intellectual Property and Why It Matters (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016).

Megan Scarton (B.S.Ed. ’14 Kines) is completing her last year of physician assistant school in Tennessee, after which she will settle down in Nashville with her fiancé (recently engaged), who is also a 2014 UVA graduate.

Jessica Schwartz (M.Ed. ’14 C&I) is program manager at Harvard Yard Child Care Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Terrell Strayhorn (M.Ed. ’00 Ed Policy Studies) addressed “Black History Month and Student Success” at Alabama A&M University in February 2017. Strayhorn is professor and director of the Center for

Higher Education Enterprise at The Ohio State University. He was a recipient of the Curry School of Education Foundation’s 2014 Outstanding Higher Education Faculty Award.

Kristin Schutz (M.Ed. 15 Ed Psych: Appl Dev Sci) has been working on making yoga more accessible to all ages. She opened Let It Be Yoga in October and is continuing with this mission. www. letitbeyoga.com Afi Wiggins (Ph.D. ’14 Resrch, Stats & Eval) married Marcus W. Smith in Alabama on January 30, 2016.

They live in Austin, Tex. Tamara Wilkinson (M.T. ’12 Foreign Lang Ed) was named to the Forbes “30 Under 30 for Education.” She is executive director of African American Teaching Fellows in Charlottesville. ●

View more class notes and photos online at curry.virginia.edu/classnotes

TH E CUR RY SCHOOL CAN CONTINUE TO H ELP G ROW YOUR CAR E E R .

Continue your education and build your career without having to stop your career progression.

We offer several online and part-time graduate education programs and courses with SCHEDULES CONVENIENT FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS. Expand your skills, start a new degree or endorsement program, or keep your teaching license current by choosing from a variety of interesting courses, all taught by top-tier UVA faculty.

Online

In-Person Part-Time Degree Programs

· Over 45 professional development courses

Falls Church Center: · Special Education Master of Teaching

·G ifted Ed or English Language Learners course series leading to Endorsement ·C urriculum & Instruction Master’s with focus areas in Instructional Technology, Reading, Gifted, ELL

· Reading Education Master’s, Certificate · Administration & Supervision Master’s, Certificate, Doctorate · Social Foundations Master’s Richmond Center:

· Reading Education Master’s

· Reading Education Master’s, Certificate

· Adolescent Literacy Certificate

· Administration & Supervision Master’s, Certificate, Doctorate

· Reading Education Specialist

Charlottesville Over 20 programs to choose from

Now accepting applications for summer and fall 2017 terms.

The Curry School is pleased to offer a discounted K-12 educator tuition rate.

Learn more at curry.virginia.edu, or 434-924-6939

COME BACK TO CURRY!