Educate Magazine Winter 2016

News on Innovations, Effectiveness, Collaborations, and Relevance from the College of Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Winter 2016 | Volume Six | Number One

PHOTO BY ANNA SCHULTZ

ART MATTERS Ceramics courses were Anna Schultz’s favorite classes in high school. Now she teaches art in St. Paul and provides the type of education opportunities and support that she found so fulfilling. These bowls were part of Schultz’s senior art show at Minnesota State Mankato. STORY PAGE 8.

College of Education Dr. Jean Haar Dean

Departments

Aviation Counseling & Student Personnel Educational Leadership Elementary & Early Childhood Education K–12 and Secondary Programs Military Science and Leadership Special Education The Children’s House

Centers

Center for Engaged Leadership Center for Mentoring & Induction Center for School-University Partnerships The mission of the Minnesota State University, Mankato’s College of Education is to prepare professionals who embrace big ideas and realworld thinking to ensure student success.

The purpose of Educate is to inform education stakeholders of the ongoing work of the College of Education and its impact on the education profession. Educate is published two times per year by the College of Education and distributed to faculty, staff, students, alumni, and education supporters. The College of Education welcomes ideas for feature stories and other content consistent with the mission of the magazine. Please e-mail story ideas to col-of-education@mnsu.edu.

Educate Winter 2016 | Volume Six | Number One College of Education Minnesota State University, Mankato 118 Armstrong Hall Mankato, MN 56001 Phone: 507-389-5445 Fax: 507-389-2566 Designer Wendy Johnston Managing Editor/Writer Carol Jones Print Coordinator Doug Fenske

Greetings, For a number of reasons, I have been reviewing various college reports and communications crafted over the past five years.

The activity reminded me of how focused we are on ensuring the quality of our work, yet how open we are to recognizing the uniqueness of individuals, programs, and approaches. When viewed holistically, it very much reminds me of looking through a kaleidoscope, viewing a basic shape that remains constant but, with a slight shift, displays an ever-changing, multi-colored, multi-dimensional landscape.

As our profession continues to be challenged to meet the needs of a changing student population in communities faced with significant economic and social issues, it is important that we stay focused on the basic shape or purpose of our profession while being open to making relevant adjustments to meet changing needs.

In this issue of Educate we share a kaleidoscope of stories that reflect the variegated landscape of the College and its work. The stories share the uniqueness of individuals, programs and approaches while also affirming our mission to prepare educators who ensure student success and who meet the needs of children, families and communities. As dean, I continue to be honored to be involved in endeavors that support • impactful research that can enhance preparation and practice such as the brain research studied by Daria Paul; • ongoing, relevant P-12 school district partnerships focused on student success such as our Professional School Partnerships; • exemplar preparation programs that value the uniqueness of the content area such as the art education program; • remarkable personal journeys such as Akram Osman’s; • a revitalized, rigorous aviation program that is preparing high-quality pilots, • the collaborative leadership development occurring through the Center for Engaged Leadership; and • strong faculty mentors leading student research that has a real impact on the education profession.

Enjoy!

A member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System and an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity University. This document is available in alternative format to individuals with disabilities by calling the College of Education at 507-389-5445 (V), 800-627-3529 or 711(MRS/TTY). EDUC171NE_02/16

Jean Haar

4 The Brain-Body Connection

Daria Paul, director of assessment and research for the College of Education, recently spent a yearlong sabbatical studying brain neurophysiology and mindfulness.

Back on campus, she is eager to share her knowledge with colleagues and students.

6 Putting Partnership into Action

According to Laura Bemel, acting director of the Center for School and University Partnerships, the Professional Development Schools’ Governance Council is uniquely collaborative. “We have 10 professionals sitting around the table not only sharing, but problem solving issues in education,” she said. “That has a huge impact across the region.”

12 Soaring to New Heights

Since 2010, when the Aviation Program was nearly eliminated, the program has more than doubled the number of students enrolled, gained exclusive access to state-of-the-art flight simulators and aircraft, developed several new agreements with airlines for priority recruitment and gained accreditation from the Aviation Accreditation Board International.

That is a pretty great five years.

8 Art Matters

Strong arts education has been shown to improve high school graduation rates. Anna Schultz said high school art classes were her refuge. Now she provides St. Paul middle school students with the education resources and support that were so important to her growing up. The preparation she received at Minnesota State Mankato equipped her with the skills to be an effective art teacher from her first day.

14 Leadership Academy

Patrick Duffy, director of leadership development for St. Paul Public Schools, said, “We need people system-wide who are prepared to lead for racial equity with courage, whether it is in the classroom, as a school administrator, or from the central office. Minnesota State Mankato was adaptive enough in its curriculum to help us realize that vision.”

10 Mentored to Teach

Akram Osman felt connected and inspired by faculty and staff in the College of Education. “I will be honest,” he said. “Sometimes it is hard to walk into a university setting where there are not a lot of people with whom you have similar life experiences. It was great to see two successful black women promoting education. You see their passion and it inspires you to keep moving forward.”

15 Undergraduate Research Goes National

Professor Elizabeth Sandell regularly mentors undergraduate researchers. This year, the College of Education will be represented by two research teams at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Asheville, North Carolina. More than 4,000 proposals were submitted from public and private institutions all over the United States.

Educate is also available electronically. If you prefer to receive Educate electronically, please contact the College of Education at col-of-education@mnsu.edu

The Brain-Body Connection “Everything is connected,” said Daria Paul. “Your body is your brain and your brain is your body.” Paul, director of assessment and research for the College of Education, recently spent a yearlong sabbatical studying brain neurophysiology and mindfulness. Back on campus, she is eager to share her knowledge with colleagues and students.

OVERVIEW OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

In order to make sense of her work, one must have a basic understanding of the relationship between the brain and the body. “The sympathetic nervous system evolved to help us survive. During primordial times, if a tiger came your way, your sympathetic nervous system took care of you,” Paul explained. “An adrenalin release prepared you to fight, flee or freeze.

Executive decision-making went on hold.”

Conversely, our parasympathetic nervous system dominates our relaxed state. “For example, a zebra grazing in the Serengeti is relaxed but still alert,” she said. “If it picks up the scent of a lion, the sympathetic system kicks in and it gets itself out of danger. As soon as the danger passes, its body relaxes and the zebra resumes quiet grazing.

“Research indicates that our parasympathetic nervous system— nature’s calming system—is being underused,” she said. “It seems that we are losing our capacity to engage our natural open and relaxed state of being.”

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Students who are open, listening and relaxed are better prepared to learn.

The stressors for students in 2016 don’t typically involve tigers.

However, they may include the bully at lunch, the bus ride to school or peer pressure. In addition, interaction with technological devices reduces time spent in the relaxed state of open awareness.

“We know that people frequently come into the classroom with all kinds of stress; we know that too much stress affects learning in negative ways,” said Paul. “We are just tapping into the idea of using the parasympathetic nervous system to help students and teachers reduce that stress.”

Although she is exploring various options to introduce her findings to pre-service teachers, she knows exactly where she will begin. “I will start with the brain. We teach educational psychology and cognition and intelligence in teacher preparation programs, but we don’t really teach much about the physiological functioning of the brain,” said Paul. “I think helping pre-service teachers understand neurobiological science is key to helping them understand mindfulness and social and emotional learning.”

MINDFULNESS TRAINING

Paul wants new teachers who graduate from Minnesota State Mankato to understand what may happen in the brain of a student who feels

Daria Paul, director of assessment and research, explained that thoughts affect brain chemistry and

PHOTOS BY BRUCE JONES

with mindful practice people can alter their individual brain chemistry.

threatened. It is important that educators understand how the fight, flee, freeze response is triggered and how the practice of mindfulness can calm the body’s response.

“For a lot of students, the response triggered is fight,” she said. “They come from environments where aggressive responses to perceived threats are modeled by adults and peers. Further, students in our society are rarely taught to identify and understand their emotions. If someone looks at them the wrong way, their sympathetic nervous system reacts as if that person was sticking a gun to their head—it feels like the same thing. It is a very real reaction. The neuropathways in the brain that are wired to respond in a fighting mode are triggered over and over again. As a result, these pathways become deeply grooved and begin to function as the default mode.

“In a classroom, the default mode of aggressive or overly defensive reactivity doesn’t work very well,” continued Paul. “The good

news is that research is revealing the brain’s amazing capacity for neuroplasticity. We can significantly modify those grooved pathways.”

Paul wants to give people the knowledge and tools to change patterns associated with problematic neurotransmissions. “It takes work, but it can be done,” she said.

“We can learn more about how our nervous system and emotions are wired. This greater understanding, along with specific skills in mindful practice, gives us more power to choose our thoughts and actions.”

For example, Student A gives Student B a menacing look. Student B then wants to retaliate against Student A. “Through mindfulness,” Paul explained, “we train students to stop, breathe and notice how their body reacted to that stressor. Maybe their hands are clenched and their heart is racing. We want to help them to recognize the responses automatically triggered by their sympathetic nervous system.

“It is in that moment they have a choice.

This is what happened. This is how my body responded. These are the thoughts racing through my mind. Now, what am I going to do about it? Helping them find a moment between stimulus and response to decide what they want to do empowers them,” she said.

“Using mindfulness techniques, students can tap into their parasympathetic nervous system and calm themselves.

“That is where social and emotional learning comes into play,” said Paul. “Students can learn skills to manage their emotions and move toward a positive outcome.

Mindfulness can empower them to engage their parasympathetic nervous system in order to gain a better understanding of what is happening in their mind and body. When students realize they have the capacity to work effectively with emotions and increase their sense of calm, they become better prepared to learn.”

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PHOTO BY CHELSEA KOCINA

Putting Partnership into Action Typically, a meeting of education administrators is not unique. All across the country, superintendents gather around boardroom tables, give reports about the good things happening in their districts and politely listen to others do the same.

Similar things happen in Professional Development Schools (PDS) Governance Council meetings at Minnesota State Mankato.

But according to Laura Bemel, acting director of the Center for School and University Partnerships for the College of Education, that is where the similarity ends.

“This group is uniquely collaborative. We have 10 professionals sitting around the table not only sharing, but problem solving issues in education,” said Bemel. “That has a huge impact across the region.”

“The Council is crucial to the success and relevance of the College’s work. It has influenced a number of initiatives in our preparation programs,” said Jean Haar, dean of the College of Education. “Resources and responsibilities shared between the College of Education and the PDS partners directly benefit our teacher candidates as well as K-12 students. Some examples of successful initiatives include AVID (college readiness), the co-teaching model, technology implementation, and an increased number of teachers on special assignment with graduate fellows placement. The partnership also supports research initiatives.”

Haar added, “The exceptionality and success of our PDS structure has been

recognized regionally by the Archibald Bush Foundation and nationally by the National Association for Professional Development Schools.”

The Governance Council includes the dean of the College of Education along with superintendents from PDS partner districts— Bloomington, Centennial, Faribault, Le SueurHenderson, Mankato, Owatonna, Sibley East, St. Peter, Tri-City United and Waseca.

Brian Dietz, former superintendent of Waseca Public Schools and current superintendent of Centennial Public Schools, is a long-time member of the Governance Council. “We meet monthly, talk about the initiatives that we support within the PDS, talk about new issues that we want to bring to the forefront, as well as general partnership ideas to advance the cause of education in our state and our consortium.”

The uniquely collaborative atmosphere of the Council allows for open dialog that leads to training, services and support for all members. “If there is an issue or concern, we come together to identify the pieces and figure out a way to put a plan into action rather than spinning our wheels,” said Dietz. “That is perhaps the part I appreciate the most. We are not stuck too much on concepts; we move quickly to action.”

Dietz talked about a technology training initiative as a prime example of how the Council puts ideas into action. Technology is directly linked to 21st Century learning

skills. Sharing new ideas is vital. “Sometimes geographical realities leave us feeling a bit isolated,” said Dietz. “We still talk to people, but the ability to work collaboratively with space between is a bit more difficult.”

The Center for School-University Partnerships and the Governance Council recognized the opportunity to share expertise and resources to benefit the region. “We gathered superintendents, principals, technology people and teachers to identify needs and resources,” said Dietz. “The College of Education was a great partner, providing the facilities, some financial support and most importantly, facilitating the process once it got to the campus. Those opportunities don’t always happen in other university-K-12 relationships because of barriers of time, space and money.”

Dietz continued, “I appreciate that when someone brings a conversation to the Council table, instead of hearing, ‘No we cannot do that. We don’t have enough money or we cannot ask for that space,’ we hear, ‘Let’s talk about what that looks like. We will look into that and if we can do things to help you out, we are there.’ The idea does not even need to be in our core initiatives,” he said. “It can just be about what is good for kids, good for our education program at the University, good for our districts overall or the greater good of the University. It is a great example of putting partnership into action.”

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PHOTO BY GINA WENGER

Art Matters

ARTIST: LUCIANA GARZA

Growing up in Woodbury, Minn., Anna Schultz did not enjoy school. “I had a lot of anxiety about school, my confidence in my academic abilities was low,” she said. “I got through school because of my art classes. It was the art teachers who really pushed me.”

Her experience of using art classes as a lifeline to graduation is not unique.

A two-year study of more than 200 public high schools in New York City found schools with the highest graduation rates had higher levels of arts teachers, dedicated arts spaces, partnerships with cultural institutions, and opportunities for students to attend a performance or visit museums. Doug Israel, director of research and policy for the Center for Arts Education reported, “These findings are consistent with national studies that attest to the success of strong arts programs as a

means to prevent the disengagement that typically precedes dropping out.”

Schultz not only graduated from high school, she is also a 2014 graduate of Minnesota State Mankato, teaching art at Ramsey Middle School in the St. Paul Public Schools District and entertaining thoughts of one day returning to graduate school.

Schultz’s high school art teacher suggested she would make a good teacher.

Still, as a first-year student at Minnesota State Mankato, she was undecided. Undecided, that is, until she took an art class. “I loved it from the beginning. I knew then that I wanted to teach,” said Schultz.

It’s not surprising that Schultz loved the art class. The Art Department at Minnesota State Mankato is well respected. “We have a very strong art department with a stellar reputation,” said Gina Wenger, professor of art education, “and the art education program here is unique. Very few universities have faculty with K-12 teaching experience as well as a Ph.D. in art education.”

As a former K-12 art teacher and with a Ph.D. in art education, Wenger offers students an experience that is far closer to their field and stronger art education preparation than most university programs. Art education candidates must become proficient in art as well as pedagogical practice; they learn to do as well as to teach.

“My time at [Minnesota State] Mankato was eye opening. It was like having a double major,” said Schultz. “Faculty from the art department supported my teacher preparation and my education faculty supported me as an artist, which made it a bit easier.”

“For example,” said Schultz, “the TeachLivETM lab with Dr. [Scott] Page

was super helpful for practicing classroom management. Professor [Mika] Laidlaw gave me tips, teacher-to-teacher, and made sure I had the skills to run an art department like starting and operating a kiln. And Dr. Wenger helped make a lot of connections for me.”

One of the major requirements of the education program is field experience. “At the time, it seemed like a lot to balance, but I don’t know how I would have been ready to teach on my own without all the classroom experience. Theory and case studies only take you so far,” said Schultz. “Anytime I was invited to a classroom, I went. My goal was to see and experience as many different art classrooms as possible. I observed, assisted students during class and sometimes helped plan lessons. I did not have one bad field experience.”

Not only does Wenger make sure art education candidates are well prepared as teachers; she also pushes them to think of themselves as artists. “We have senior art shows just before they go out to student teaching,” said Wenger. Schultz’s senior art show focused on ceramics.

Schultz appreciates her education from Minnesota State Mankato. As a teacher, she watches her students become more confident, increase their academic skills and open up emotionally in her art classes; it feeds her passion for education. Schultz’s personal goal is to return to graduate school someday.

“There are a lot of changes happening in education,” she said. “I am not sure what is in store for me, but I am passionate about this generation of kids getting the education they deserve. Even if one kid can feel good about school because of art, I consider that a victory.”

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Mentored to Teach Osman began teaching special education at Rosa Parks Elementary in Mankato, Minn., in Fall 2015. “There is a great team at Rosa Parks. And I feel fortunate to work in a district that believes

PHOTOS BY BRUCE JONES

education is for all and models those ideals.”

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At age 7, Akram Osman moved with his family from Somalia to the United States.

“I did not know anyone or speak English, so it was hard,” he said. As he faced those many challenges, he was unaware of how the mentors who helped him assimilate into a new school, community and country would later help shape his passion for serving others.

Osman actively participated in a variety of high school activities. He played varsity soccer, volunteered in the community as a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council president. His principal mentioned he thought Osman could make an impact in education and urged him to consider teaching.

“I didn’t have any family members working in education. I didn’t take it to heart initially, but the seed was planted,” said Osman. He filed the principal’s comment away as he coached girls’ high school soccer and pursued a degree in exercise science with minors in coaching and sports medicine.

In his second year of college, Osman began working as a liaison between the Mankato Public School District and students and families in the limited English proficiency program. Personal experience helped him understand the challenges students and families had connecting with a school district, especially when there are cultural differences and a language barrier.

While working as a liaison, the seed of the idea planted years earlier by his senior high principal began to germinate. “My work as a cultural liaison allowed me unique opportunities and insight into the field of education,” said Osman. “It helped me realize that my passion was serving students and families.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, Osman enrolled in the Masters of Special Education program at Minnesota State Mankato. As a graduate assistant, Osman worked with Teachers of Tomorrow (ToT). The ToT program supports and mentors students as they pursue an education degree.

He found his involvement with ToT to be as helpful to him as it was to his mentees.

“I will be honest; sometimes it is hard to walk into a university setting where there are not a lot of people with whom you have similar life experiences. It was great to see two successful black women [Mymique Baxter, student relations coordinator and Robbie Burnett, Maverick teacher recruitment] promoting education. You see their passion and it inspires you to keep moving forward.”

Osman provided his own brand of inspiration for others. “I mentored a group of young men who wanted to be educators but needed some extra support. We talked about study habits and time management. We had homework sessions, developed study plans and identified ways to keep track of assignments,” he said. “We had a lot of conversations about setting goals and the importance of allowing ourselves to grow and not be afraid to become who we want to become.”

Educators spend their careers helping people become who they want to become, no matter where they began. Osman recognizes the power of the profession and wants to make sure others understand it as well.

“Without teachers, there would be no other professions,” he said. “As teachers we need to talk to students more about the profession and share the positives about how we impact lives everyday.”

“My life is full of mentors and people who inspired me to move forward. Now it is my turn.�

~Akram Osman

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North Star Aviation, Minnesota State Mankato’s flight training partner, provides flight simulators, aircraft and flight instructors for the aviation program.

It recently added two new twin-engine Piper Seminoles and two new Piper Warriors equipped with state-of-the-art Garmin 1000 flat panel technology.

“These will be the first coupled with autopilot,” said Mark Smith, president of North Star.

The planes’ advanced navigation and approach overlays are comparable cockpits look like. The new planes real-time weather also provide pilots up-to-date radar and complete weather conditions throughout North America.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH STAR AVIATION

to what the new airline

Soaring to New Heights

Tom Peterson found that being housed within the College of Education was a real benefit during the accreditation process. “From the dean on down, people in the College have been really supportive,” he said. “They provided hours of help that they didn’t have to give and celebrated with us when we were accredited. It might be an unusual place for an aviation program, but it works great for us.”

Great things have been happening in the aviation program at Minnesota State Mankato.

Grassroots community support saved the program from the University’s budget cuts in 2010. Today, it is the only aviation bachelor degree program in Minnesota.

In the five short years since it was nearly eliminated, the program has more than doubled the number of students enrolled, gained exclusive access to state-of-the-art flight simulators and aircraft, developed several new agreements with airlines for priority recruitment and gained accreditation from the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI). That is a pretty great five years.

The program’s additions and accomplishments come at the perfect time for students interested in professional aviation.

The Air Lines Pilots Association projects that 21,000 pilots will retire from large U.S. carriers in the next 10 years. The anticipated surge of retirements will make room for new professional aviation graduates.

“Airlines already struggle to find qualified candidates,” said Tom Peterson, assistant professor and aviation program coordinator. In fact, there were a record five different airlines recruiting at the Fall 2015 aviation program orientation. “However,” said Peterson, “we have to be careful that our students don’t get the wrong idea. It is relatively easy to get hired; that is only the beginning.”

He explained that although there may be openings, the profession requires a unique combination of personal characteristics and high-level professional skills. “Commercial airline training programs are tough and there are really no second chances,” he said.

Fortunately, Minnesota State Mankato’s aviation program faculty and its flight school partner, North Star Aviation, work hard to ensure graduates are prepared to succeed.

The ongoing quest to provide a topquality education drove the program faculty to pursue AABI accreditation. The accreditation process involves a rigorous, yearlong self-study and continuous assessment and improvement.

Of the more than 200 professional flight programs in the country, fewer than 40 have achieved AABI accreditation.

“While preparing and applying for accreditation, we increased our awareness about the outcome of our flight training procedures and courses, both in content and instruction delivery,” said Peterson.

As a result of the process, procedures for flight training are standardized and the safety program is active and engaged. Student progress is evaluated weekly. If someone is falling behind, faculty and staff work to find out why. Is he or she not studying, not getting out to the airport or do they just not get it?

Likewise, the program content and delivery methods are reviewed.

“We track it all,” said Peterson. “Our curriculum and processes are constantly under review. We are actively fulfilling our intentions regarding program accountability and flight training safety.”

The professional pilot program is rigorous. In addition to the technical flying skills, professional pilots must have highlevel communication, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. “Of course, a pilot needs to understand aerodynamics, but it is human error that causes most accidents,” said

Peterson. Achieving the required level of skills seems to be a combination of hard work and innate ability.

“There have been lots of studies, but there isn’t any real predictability about who will make the best pilots,” said Peterson. “We explain to students that they cannot be in this program and pass with a C. The FAA standard is an A- and we don’t grade on a curve.

“You cannot fly 90 percent of the flight perfectly, really screw up the last 10 percent and call it an A,” he added. “There are not a lot of do-overs.”

Time in the jet flight simulator, which North Star Aviation installed on campus in 2014, allows Minnesota State Mankato aviation students to safely gain experience in highstress situations. Another simulator is located at the Mankato Airport, about 20 minutes from campus.

“More and more of our students are meeting the high expectations of the military and commercial airline industry,” said Peterson. In fact, since 2010, nearly 100 percent of Minnesota State Mankato’s professional pilot aviation graduates have successfully completed commercial or military flight training.

So, what is next on the horizon for the thriving and successful aviation program?

Peterson said they have set their sights on offering an online graduate degree for professional pilots. Considering what the program has achieved in the past five years, interested pilots might begin preparing application materials now.

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Leadership Academy: a collaboration between the Department of Educational Leadership and St. Paul Public Schools

“St. Paul Public Schools has long been dedicated to developing leaders,” said Patrick Duffy, director of leadership development for the district. “We recognized a partnership with Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Educational Leadership would be a way to deepen the experience for our [leadership] interns.

St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS) wants every one of their leaders to possess strong instructional leadership, racial equity leadership and servant leadership skills. “Candace [Raskin], Melissa [Krull] and Minnesota State Mankato exude those characteristics. The University had a vision and a plan for partnering with us around our goals,” said Duffy. “We have a great deal of respect for Dr. Raskin and Dr. Krull, their experience as superintendents, their commitment to racial equity and their courage as leaders.”

Although SPPS enrolled 30 interns in the 12-month Academy, the district does not expect to have 30 principal openings. “We need people system-wide who are prepared to lead for racial equity with courage, whether it is in the classroom, as a school administrator or from the central

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office,” said Duffy. “Minnesota State Mankato was adaptive enough in its curriculum to help us realize that vision.”

From 180 applications, 30 interns were selected to be part of the Academy cohort. They were selected based on their qualifications as well as their desire to grow as leaders.

“Interestingly, I think because of the nature of the program itself and the intentionality of St. Paul’s public schools to ask candidates to explore their views around student learning and racial equity issues, we ended up with a very diverse pool of people,” said Duffy.

The Academy began in Summer 2015. While the group is only about halfway through the program, the district already feels the excitement as cohort members reflect on and apply their learning to their work. “There is a real strong vibe about it now, but it is early,” said Duffy. “We look forward to seeing its impact as time goes on.”

Districts interested in collaborating with the Center for Engaged Leadership may contact Candace Raskin at candace.raskin@mnsu.edu or 952-818-8881.

PHOTOS BY BOBBY MCFALL

Undergraduate Research Goes National

College of Education students mentored by Professor Elizabeth Sandell, elementary education, are taking their research to the national stage. Two undergraduate research teams will be giving oral presentations of their projects at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Asheville, North Carolina, April 2016. More than 4,000 proposals were submitted from public and private institutions all over the United States.

Thanks to recent efforts of the University’s Honors Program, the Undergraduate Research Conference, and dedicated faculty mentors, Minnesota State Mankato is developing a solid reputation in undergraduate research. NCUR reviewers—professors and experts in related fields—commented that the College of Education teams presented abstracts that “demonstrated a unique contribution to [their] fields of study.”

In addition to making contributions to the field of education, Sandell said, “Undergraduate students who participate in research gain significant insight into the world of academic research. They learn specific skills that will help them design and conduct scholarly research projects in the future, especially those interested in graduate programs.”

Students who are not sure their career path will lead to graduate school also gain tremendously from participating in research as undergraduates.

Elementary education student John Seipel said, “I have gained both professional and administrative skills in undergraduate research. Going through training, writing proposals and grants, analyzing data and reaching out to community members are all skills that are valuable for many life applications.”

Arinn DiSalvo, elementary education, noticed improvement in her time management skills. “The most difficult thing about research as an undergrad is actually taking the time to do the research. I also gained experience in writing grants. I had no idea where to begin. Through this amazing opportunity, I have learned the necessary skills of writing a grant.”

Kasey Jacques, elementary education, appreciated the faculty support. “Each of my professors demonstrated full support and encouraged me to attend NCUR, even though it means missing some days in the classroom. I can tell they are excited for and proud of our research teams.”

All of Sandell’s undergraduate research team members recommended the experience to others. Reflecting the teams’ sentiments, elementary education student Jordan Hassemer said, “I recommend undergraduate students participate in research because of the experiences and knowledge that you take from it. It’s a low-risk opportunity to learn more about subjects that interest you.”

Impact of Coaching Feedback on Cultural Competency of Undergraduate Students Authors: Jordan Hassemer (EEC), Arinn DiSalvo (EEC), Kwame Opoku Akyeampong (Biomedicine), Chloe Nicol (Creative Writing) Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Sandell, Elementary Education How does the timing of coaching feedback have an impact on cultural competency of undergraduates? Cultural competency is beyond knowledge and understanding. It involves reflection, critical thinking, and adaptation of behavior. Something more than classroom instruction may be necessary to foster cultural competency. This team of student researchers wondered if experience with diversity combined with structured coaching might make a larger difference in cultural competency. Subjects included 70 students participating in the Fall 2015 course “Human Relations in a Multicultural Society.” The statistical analysis showed the coaching did make a significant difference in students’ growth in cultural competency. Outcomes of the study will be used for program assessment by the College of Education.

Impact of Community-Based Cultural Arts Programs on Youth Authors: Kasey Jacques (EEC), John Seipel (EEC), Trelijah Miller (Math), Nyairah Abdullah (Psychology) Graduate Assistant Mentor: Jessica Deselms Community Mentor: Alice DeYonge, Director Project GEM Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Sandell, Elementary Education How have community-based cultural arts programs impacted academic achievement, academic performance and self-esteem among youth, aged 13 to 24 years old?

Our study took an approach known as “Positive Youth Development (PYD).” According to Ersing (2009), “PYD is a promising approach that rejects labeling young people as “at risk” for a host of social, emotional, and behavioral problems and instead embraces a philosophy that views youths as capable individuals striving to achieve their full potential.” Five adult focus group members were identified based on their professional experience and roles working with youth in the local community. Results of this study may be used by participating community agencies in advocacy, marketing and fundraising.

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PHOTO BY DAN MOEN

118 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001

Leading Courageously for Racial Equity—third annual conference Committed to positively affecting the achievement gap and students of color, the Department of Educational Leadership is hosting its third annual Leading Courageously for Racial Equity Conference. This year’s conference includes two keynote speakers: Nekima Levy Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of NAACP, founding director of the civil rights legal clinic Community Justice Project, and a nationally recognized expert on race and public policy and Yvette Jackson, best-selling author, CEO of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University.

Thursday, April 21, 2016 Minnesota State University, Mankato at Edina 7700 France Avenue, Edina, Minn.

1:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Registration Deadline: April 20, 2016 Register Online: http://link.mnsu.edu/edld The conference is made possible, in part, by the generous support of Darryl Hill. One person has the power to motivate others and together we can make a difference.