NCCU Teaching Matters 2015

TeachingMatters SUMMER 2015

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION MAGAZINE

THE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE EAGLES AT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA Provost Johnson Akinleye, Chancellor Debra Saunders-White, Professor Wynetta Lee and Dr. Grace Hao

CONTENTS

north carolina central university

s c h o o l o f ed u c at i o n

International Issue 3 A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN 4 EAGLES TRAVEL TO CHINA

NCCU and the School of Education create a training program in China.

16 CONNECTING WITH CUBA Dr. Edward Moody discusses his 11-year educational relationship with Cuba.

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19 THE CULTURE OF COSTA RICA

Glynnis Hagins describes the Teaching Fellows’ 2014 international experience in Costa Rica.

6 INTERNATIONALIZING TEACHER EDUCATION

Dr. Diane Scott works to globalize teacher education.

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7 COLLABORATING IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Professors and students in The Communication Disorders Program assist children, families and schools in the Dominican Republic.

10 BEING RESPONSIVE TO STUDENTS: FORGING A CONNECTION OF RESPECT

21 MEET THE SOE‘S INTERNATIONAL FACULTY 24 ANNUAL SOE 5K RUN/WALK The SOE’s annual event generates $2,500 for DPS students.

26 FACULTY ACCOLADES 2014

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Dr. Diane Wormsley reflects on the global connectivity of educating students.

16 Teaching Matters

VOL. 10, ISSUE 1 / SUMMER 2015

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24 Editing/Production: Tom Scheft Layout Assistance and Design: Pandora Frazier Editing Assistance: Renee Elder Special Assistance: The NCCU Office of University Relations © 2015 All rights reserved.

TEACHING MATTERS SUMMER 2015

success beyond measures

A DEAN’S MESSAGE

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ELCOME TO THE 20152016 ACADEMIC YEAR. This year brings new leadership to the School of Education as we are striving to increase the number of candidates we serve as well as meet a reaffirmation mandate.

As I assume the role of interim dean, you will begin to see my vision and philosophy, which complement the work already begun by my colleagues.

Both the sound knowledge and practice of education result from the understanding of educational history, philosophies, and theories. Master teachers evolve through a lifelong learning process built upon the use of previous educational philosophies and new philosophies leading to new strategies. I believe that all students possess potential to learn and become teachers of empowerment. It is an educator’s responsibility to ensure that their opportunity for professional development is maximized.

All students are unique individuals who need a stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially.

To promote success in the preparation of educators and enhance delivery of skills and knowledge to their charges, we should heed the words of renowned educator and author Ignacio Estrada: “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way she

learns.” In the vernacular of our discipline, educators should be prepared to meet students where they are and move the students to higher levels of achievement, while employing best practices.

It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential in a university setting. The learning should transfer into the classroom of the future teacher. The effective transition from student to teacher will be manifested in a teaching style that matches the learning styles of individual students. Therefore, our students will utilize modalities and multiple intelligences to plan lessons to meet the needs of diverse learners. I believe that the School of Education at North Carolina Central University is on track to become the premier institution for preparing educational professionals to work with children from diverse backgrounds.

A reaccreditation process will occur at North Carolina Central University’s School of Education in May 2016. The evaluation team will examine how effectively the School of Education meets the National Council of Accreditation Teacher Education Standards (NCATE Legacy) that inform the public how well we are preparing teachers and other school professionals.

We also must address the syndrome that North Carolina educators have captioned “a new normal of rising expec-

tations and reduced support.” Since 2010, enrollment in teacher education programs in North Carolina has declined, according to figures provided by the UNC system.

As we do more with less, we must also recognize that, at least temporarily, fewer students are enrolling in teacher education. I am boldly and confidently committed to taking on all the challenges that face the School of Education.

Moving forward, we must develop and implement initiatives that will lead to increases in enrollment in the School of Education. Technology-based strategies, recruitment mapping, and the utilization of Future Teachers Clubs will be vehicles for recruitment. Additionally, models such as teacher cadet programs, community models, and enrichment strategies will be employed.

Finally, in accepting the mantle of leadership for the School of Education, I commit to working with all of the constituencies and stakeholders who engage with the School of Education at North Carolina Central University.

Audrey W. Beard Interim Dean

PROFESSOR WYNETTA LEE SPOKE WITH FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADERS FROM SEAWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL of Chapel Hill, NC,

in the SOE’s Curriculum Materials Center on Wednesday, April 29, 2015.

The visit was arranged by Dr. Josephine Harris, a professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Program. “The students had been studying the Civil Rights Movement and historically black colleges and universities. Coming to NCCU seemed like a next logical step,” explained Harris.

Professor Lee began by asking students about what they had been studying, and their conversation touched on in a variety of historical and contemporary concerns.

“The students were inspired by the dean,” said Harris. “They v Professor Lee quoted her throughout the visit, echoing her points about ‘study(upper right in red) stands with a group ing smart,’ ‘reading with great focus,’ and preparing now for their of future eagles. future as college students.”

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Provost Johnson Akinleye, School of Education Professor Wynetta Lee and Chancellor Debra Saunders-White celebrate a new alliance between NCCU and the Beijing Language and Culture University.

REACHING OUT TO MILLIONS NCCU and the School of Education create a training program in China to develop speech-language pathologists

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Officials at North Carolina Central University and Beijing Language and Culture University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a speech-language pathology (SLP) bilingual training program – one of only two such programs existing between Chinese and American institutions.

NCCU and the university in Beijing signed the agreement on April 29, 2014, during a visit to China led by NCCU Chancellor Debra Saunders-White, Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Johnson Akinleye, School of Education Professor Wynetta Lee and communication disorders professor Dr. Grace Hao. “The School of Education’s conceptual framework is grounded in culturally responsive pedagogy, and we have a well-established record of successfully producing highly skilled professionals,” Lee said.

Lee explained the program’s overseas expansion has been a natural progres-

sion thanks to the assistance of Professor Hao, who has been a catalyst between the School of Education and China. Hao received two medical degrees in China prior to earning a Ph.D. in speech science from Kent State University The NCCU School of Education has a well-established reputation for international collaboration that dates back to the tenure of former Dean Cecelia Steppe-Jones. With its strong focus on multiculturalism, the Communication Disorders Program (CDP) has been training bilingual speech-language pathologists for more than a decade.

Hao serves as advisor for students in the bilingual SLP track, as well as the Student Organization Global Medical Brigade, and has organized multiple student study-abroad and cultural-immersion trips, including trips to Panama and China.

Former CPD Chair Thomas Layton, Ph.D., and off-site clinical coordinator Katrina Miller also participated in student excursions to China. Through more

Chancellor Saunders-White accepts a present from Dr. Cui XiLiang of Beijing Language and Culture University.

than 100 hours of workshops over the past eight years, NCCU’s support for China’s communication disorders community has been effective and well received.

As part of the ongoing relationship with the Chinese, Lee and Hao traveled from Beijing to Chongqing to establish a second MOU at the Chongqing Autism Research Institute. The result is a joint institute between NCCU and Chongqing Ninth People’s Hospital with a focus on research and service delivery. A third agreement was signed between NCCU and Southwestern University in Chongqing, China, to provide training in communication disorders and special education.

“All individuals should have the right and ability to communicate,” Hao said.

“There should be no barriers in communication, not by language, not by the border of the countries, and not by an individual’s disability.”

Based on this belief, Hao and two other professionals founded the Chinese International Speech, Language and Hearing Association. After dedicating a decade to providing support to Chinese universities, centers and schools for individuals with disabilities, hospitals and other health facilities, Hao will now offer support to Chinese professionals in the field through formation of a strong, professional task force.

There is still a long way to go,admits Hao. Millions of Chinese have communication disorders, yet there are fewer than 10,000 speech-language pathologists in practice in China and a significant need for professional training remains.

With strong global support, Hao believes that eventually all individuals in China with communication disorders will be able to get help.

“I am proud that NCCU and the School of Education can play such a critical role in this life-changing development,” she said.

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Internationalizing Teacher Education SOE ASSOCIATE DEAN HELPS LEAD THE UNC, NCCU EFFORT

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HEN MARSHALL McLUHAN, a philosopher of communication theory, coined the phrase “global village” in the early 1960s, he theorized that electronic communication would unite the planet through the dissemination of information. Today, with the evolution of the Internet and social media, McLuhan’s theory is reality, as social and political events are shared in real time. News and information are continuously updated on a 24/7, 365-day schedule.

The computerized global community has transformed the way American education embraces multiculturalism. Educators and students can communicate through Skype, FaceTime and other applications that let people around the world talk to, view and write to each other. With the rise of distance education, anyone with a computer and the appropriate software can be a student at a university like NCCU. While certain aspects of this movement are simple, there are also some concerns, problems and unanswered questions on issues related to finances, standardized regulations and logistics, as various countries unite electronically for the purpose of education.

Among the international educators leading this quest is Dr. Diane Scott, associate dean of the NCCU School of Education. Making international education a practical, successful reality is a mission she has long embraced for NCCU and North Carolina.

“The UNC system has been pursuing internationalization of teacher education in North Carolina for over six years,” Scott said. “In the fall of 2013, Dr. Jayne Fleener, dean of the College of Education at North Carolina State University, received funding from the Longview Foundation to further the efforts of the UNC system to internationalize teacher education. Previous state-wide efforts were initiated by the University Council on International Programs (UCIP), which was comprised of faculty and administrators from the UNC-system colleges of education.”

The UCIP shared effective strategies for internationalizing teacher education along four dimensions: 1) student teaching abroad, 2) service and practica course experiences abroad, 3) utilizing local international

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resources, and 4) utilizing virtual learning.

“The Longview Foundation grant focuses on building a knowledge infrastructure and creating a policy environment that supports efforts across the four dimensions of internationalizing teacher education in North Carolina,” Scott noted.

Representatives from the 16 UNC-system campuses and the 36 private institutions of higher education in the state that offer teacher preparation are encouraged to participate in the Internationalization of Teacher Education in North Carolina (ITE-NC) group, which was formed as a result of the grant funding. Scott serves as the SOE’s representative for ITE-NC, along with representatives from UNCChapel Hill, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Charlotte, Western Carolina University, East Carolina University, North Carolina State, NC A&T State University, Lenoir-Rhyne University, the NC Department of Public Instruction, UNC-General Administration, and the Center for International Understanding (CIU).

“The committee structure was revised early in 2014,” Scott said.

“Three current committees each focus on a major concern: 1) best practices, 2) partnerships policy, which designs policies on establishing partnerships in foreign countries as well as establishing collaboration among UNC universities so more students can study abroad, and 3) research, which collects and analyzes data on the effects of studying abroad on student attitudes and behavior, as well as its effects on students once they enter the classroom as teachers.”

Scott serves on the Best Practices Committee. “We’re researching best practices in studying abroad,” she said. “The committee examines topics such as how to establish partnerships in other countries and how to prepare students to study abroad. Our committee will be creating a manual that will be shared with all universities.”

(Pictured left to right) Michelle Haddad, Cassandra Wade, and Shauna Phillips screen a student at Emanuel House.

Collaborating in the Dominican Republic Professors and students in The Communication Disorders Program have a rich history of connecting with children, families and schools

BY SHEILA BRIDGES-BOND AND SANDRA C. JACKSON

THE CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF HISPANIOLA is often recognized as home to the country of Haiti and the site of a horrific earthquake in 2010. Incredibly, the adjacent country of the Dominican Republic, while also part of Hispaniola Island, did not experience the degree of devastation felt by Haiti, yet the people from both of these disparate cultures were intertwined and shaken to the core by the disaster.

The plight of Hispaniola Island following the 2010 earthquake affected people around the world. At NCCU, Jonise Cromartie-Brown, M.Ed., a clinical faculty speech-language pathologist in the Communication Disorders Program (CDP), joined Doctors Without Borders to help with the global initiative to restore the broken lives of the Haitian people.

In spring 2012, inspired by CromartieBrown’s commitment, two other CDP faculty members, Sandra C. Jackson, Ph.D., and Sheila Bridges-Bond, Ph.D., joined her in addressing the needs of the people in the Dominican Republic.

Today, there are homeless and orphaned children with health, education and literacy needs throughout the Do-

minican Republic. More than 1.1 million citizens are identified as illiterate. While speech, language and hearing services exist, they remain accessible to only a few due to prohibitive costs, lack of awareness, and inaccessibility of rural communities.

Jackson, Bridges-Bond, CromartieBrown and graduate student Heather Perkins journeyed to the Dominican Republic in 2012. Their long-term goal was to establish a program to help meet the language and literacy needs of underserved children and families in a way that would also provide bilingual/transcultural clinical experiences for CDP graduate students. This initial trip served to establish a collaborative service-delivery program with the Dominican Republic’s caregivers and educators.

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(Pictured left to right) Shauna Phillips and Michelle Haddad work with a student at Emanuel House.

The CDP group gathers with children at Pasitos de Jesus Orphanage: (from left) Dr. Sandra Jackson, Dr. Sheila Bridges-Bond, Michelle Haddad, Shauna Phillips, Cassandra Wade, and Jonise Cromartie-Brown.

To make this goal a reality, they formed a partnership with Kenny Dickerson, president of Sports Evangelism and Mission (SEAM) and SCORE International, a service organization that sends church, school, medical, dental and construction teams on short-term domestic and international mission trips. SEAM collaborated with SCORE to coordinate travel to and from the Dominican Republic. Their long-time partnerships with after-school programs, orphanages and child care centers in Boca Chica, La Romana, Juan Dolio and the nation’s capital, San Domingo, extended the CDP’s outreach to children,

educators, and childcare providers.

When the team from NCCU arrived in the Dominican Republic, outstretched arms and warm smiles confirmed their welcome and offered reassurance that a long-term partnership would be formed that would transcend language and cultural differences. Caregivers and educators shared their stories and showed a deep commitment to the well-being of children, many who were battling homelessness, poverty and abuse.

The following year, in March 2013, Jackson, Bridges-Bond, and CromartieBrown returned to the Dominican

The CDP team shared knowledge through teamwork, searched for solutions to the needs of the children using established problem-solving methods, and implementd assessment, intervention and prevention activities by engaging in evidence-based practices.

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Republic. Accompanying them were three graduate students – Shauna Phillips, Cassandra Wade and Michelle Haddad. The students had been required to attend a special topics graduate course to prepare for the trip. The course provided specific guidance for working with underserved children in Spanish-speaking countries, including language and literacy development, communication styles, and cross-cultural competence. The students prepared literacy kits, speech and language resources, and assessment materials in Spanish. Preparation was made for safe travel, dissemination of health, hygiene and learning materials, as well as caregiver and teacher training.

During the 2013 trip, the team visited the all-girls orphanage of Pasitos de Jesus, the Emanuel House Child Care Center after-school program, and Lily House, a childcare center and women’s mission, as well as La Cubana Village, a local neighborhood.

The CDP team observed and participated in individual and group activities involving children, caregivers and educators. Roundtable discussions and group meetings provided a forum for collaboration and partnership as needs, concerns and solutions were explored. Resources were provided in the form of financial donations, therapy materials, literacy kits and assessment instruments.

These semi-formal discussions provided caregivers with an opportunity to ask questions and share their concerns about children’s speech, language and literacy development, and learning needs. During the discussions, questions were encouraged and invited. Participants exchanged views, shared ideas and gained insights, while the NCCU delegation developed respect for and understanding of the day-to-day struggles, celebrations, and challenges of the Dominican people.

The CDP team identified caregivers’ concerns about children’s developmental

needs, learning and language differences, and behavioral needs. Although language differences posed a problem at times, the communication exchanges led to a successful collaboration. Assessment and intervention activities were implemented through more formal connections.

Cultural and linguistic differences were considered during assessment and intervention. The CDP team partnered with interpreters for book-reading activities and speech-language screenings. Transcending the boundaries of traditional clinical settings, the CDP team delivered a variety of services including screenings, consultations and in-service training to early child care and after-school programs. These direct interactions not only provided insight about the children’s abilities and needs, but also provided opportunities to observe and model strategies.

The CDP team engaged in prevention activities by sharing with caregivers the language and literacy kits made by our student clinicians. The kits contained reading and writing materials in Spanish to help educators and caregivers address language and literacy needs. The kits also contained a Spanish-language manual that describes speech, language and literacy disorders, as well as suggestions for caregivers and educators to help facilitate children’s development. The student clinicians reviewed and discussed all materials in the kits with the caregivers and educators. The CDP team also provided literacy items to children, including paper, pencils, crayons, markers, and books written in Spanish, along with incidental items, such as toothbrushes.

At the Pasitos de Jesus Orphanage in Boca Chica, the children were excited to receive the books and other literacy materials. They shared their books with each other, and the older children spontaneously sat down to read to the younger ones. The CDP team marveled to see the children drawn into new worlds that were opening before them through words and pictures. As the team departed, the children showed their gratitude by exchanging hugs with their visitors and singing a farewell song.

Above: Michelle Haddad (left, standing in front of Dalma Florian, the director of the Boca Chica Orphanage), Cassandra Wade, Jonise Cromartie-Brown, an interpreter and Shauna Phillips review the literacy kits. Left: Children check out a new book provided by the CDP team.

The CDP faculty solicited feedback about the program from caregivers and educators in the Dominican Republic, as well as from our student clinicians.

The educators and caregivers from all programs invited the team to return to the country to continue to partner with them and provide services.

CDP students were asked to complete a program evaluation about their overall educational experience and to indicate whether they would recommend the program to other CDP students. The students rated the program at the highest level. One student wrote: “I was able to become more culturally competent prior to the trip, as well as during the experience and following the trip.” Another explained: “This is an experience that will never be forgotten.

It has enhanced my professional training as an SLP and my life as a service-oriented individual.” All the students indicated that

they would recommend the program to other CDP students.

Collaboration and partnerships established with caregivers and educators were essential for implementing the program in the Dominican Republic. Establishing relationships and building rapport provided the underpinnings of the CDP’s outreach.

These collaborative experiences were multifaceted, involving clinical supervisors, student clinicians, caregivers, educators and translators. The CDP team shared knowledge through teamwork, searched for solutions to the needs of the children using established problem-solving methods,and implemented assessment, intervention and prevention activities by engaging in evidence-based practices.

Today, the CDP team continues to pursue long-term collaborative relationships to identify service-delivery solutions in meeting the speech, language and literacy needs of underserved children in the Dominican Republic.

Recently, Jackson and Bridges-Bond have joined forces with Elisha Blankson, co-director of the CDP Bilingual Program, and the three are making plans to visit the Dominican Republic again next summer. They anticipate graduate students will accompany them.

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Dr. Wormsley works with a student in the Upper Classroom of Highland Lutheran School, Amapyaka, Papua New Guinea, 1984. (Inset) Dr. Diane Wormsley.

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BEING RESPONSIVE TO STUDENTS: FORGING A CONNECTION OF RESPECT When DR. DIANE WORMSLEY, the newly retired SOE endowed chair, was asked to write an article about her experience as an international educator, she balked. “I don’t really think of myself as an ‘international educator,’ ” she said. “I’m simply a teacher.” However, with a little coaxing, she decided to give it a try. As she began writing and, more importantly, continued writing, Wormsley revealed how the universality of teaching transcends cultures and continents.

BY DIANE WORMSLEY

My career as an educator began 46 years Teachers who are responsive to the differences in others and see ago, when I started teaching children who these differences as valuable starting points for conversations realize were blind or visually impaired at the New York State School for the Blind. Since then, that effective teaching involves tapping into the stories our students I have spent a great deal of time trying to tell and helping them tell their stories. get out of my own head and into the heads of the students I’m teaching in order to assist them in their learning. I have long known that in order to people were in my small-town world. It taught me to respect those understand someone, you had to learn to think the way they did. who were different and intrigued me. From that time on, I was I made that realization at seven years old when playing with a encouraged to get into other people’s minds, so I could find out neighbor, Betty, who had come from New Jersey. She thought my how they thought and could try to think the way they did. From friends and I spoke with an accent and we insisted that she was then on, whenever I met someone who was different from me, I the one who had an accent! When I consulted my parents to ask was excited. I had a new brain to explore! who was right, my wise parents didn’t take sides with either Betty Throughout my years as an educator, I’ve had ample opportuor me and my friends. They simply told me that we all were right. nities for just that type of exploration. My first teaching position The answer, they said, depended on where you were from. They was as a junior high English teacher at the New York State School convinced me that if I had grown up in New Jersey and came to for the Blind. There, I was able to learn what it is like for students visit, I would talk just like Betty, and I would think my friends had who are blind to experience the world. I wasn’t that much older an accent too. than many of the senior students at the school, and as the senior This was a mind-boggling concept for a young child who class advisor, I had ample opportunity to talk with them about had grown up thinking that everyone was just like her – as many how they perceived their world.

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The students shared with me that there were things they simply didn’t understand – things that we sighted people take for granted. For example, I remember a student who was in the senior class play whose role called for back and forth pacing. He didn’t know what “pacing” was.

We spent a long time teaching him how to pace in the appropriate scenes and what the action would mean to the audience.

We also talked about how sighted people read each other’s body language.

Later on, I would think about this in relation to early literacy experiences for children who are blind or visually impaired and how I might assist them in gaining concepts to fully understand their world.

When I was partway through my doctoral program, I had an opportunity to teach in Australia. My husband, an anthropologist, was going to Papua New Guinea for his doctoral dissertation field research. I wanted to tag along, but since there were apparently no special education jobs in PNG, I instead went to Brisbane, Australia, where I taught at the Narbethong School for Visually Handicapped Children for three years.

I was considered the “bloody Yank” and had the opportunity of getting to know

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“I LEARNED MORE THAN JUST HOW TO TEACH READING FROM THIS EXPERIENCE TEACHING IN THE MOUNTAINOUS HIGHLANDS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.” ______

D R . D IA N E WO R M S E LY

lots of Aussies. I particularly liked the kids who were considered different, even by the Australians. The aboriginal students who were visually impaired were a quandary to some because of their sporadic absences – going into the bush on “walkabouts,” where they simply left the campus to commune with nature.

I enjoyed listening to their stories upon their return. But since they generally talk-

ed about their experiences only with each other and seemed uncomfortable when I asked them questions, I could only learn from what I happened to overhear. I never succeeded in gaining their trust; to them I was the teacher and definitely an outsider.

But I do think that they sensed that I respected their privacy, and I also think that they understood that I saw their absences as they did – a way to keep in touch with their culture.

On school holidays I joined my husband in the PNG village where he was living. He shared with me the manner in which, as an anthropologist (ethnologist), he had gained the trust of the Imbonggu people he was living with. He was becoming familiar with their language and culture and their concepts about life in general. The sense of respect he and the villagers displayed towards each other always struck me during these visits. He didn’t see the Imbonggu as primitive – although they lived in grass houses, didn’t have much education, and believed in spirits and magic. He saw them as people from whom he had much to learn, and he welcomed hearing their stories and learning about their beliefs They, in turn, were pleased to include him in their lives and share their stories

B

A. Ialibu, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, 1976. B. Wormsley (right) with students and teachers at Highland Lutheran School, Amapyaka, PNG, 1985.

with him. They saw him as someone who also had things to share that they couldn’t obtain easily on their own, such as information about Western beliefs and values.

He also had money to purchase items that they wanted but could rarely get, such as soft drinks and trade blankets.

In 1981-1985, we returned to PNG after Bill accepted a job as an anthropologist with the Enga Law and Order Project under a World Bank Development Project. He happily rode off to study tribal warfare every day in his Suzuki jeep, while I taught in a two-teacher international primary school run by the Lutheran Church. We lived on the church’s mission station where the school was located, which also housed several Lutheran missionary families.

At any one time, the school had from 30 to 50 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. I was the designated reading teacher for all the grades, and since reading was one of my loves, I was thrilled to have this experience. Approximately one-

third of the children were Papua New Guinean, spoke English as a third language and came from families that were wealthy enough to afford the tuition.

Another third were Filipinos, who spoke English as a second language and whose fathers were working for the government as contract workers.

A final third was made up of expatriate children whose families were either missionaries or expatriate government workers. In that group we had children who were Maori, Australian and American, whose first language was English, but we also had two students who came to school speaking only German.

For instructional purposes we grouped the students into two classrooms, K-3 and 4-6, and divided the day by teaching math and reading in the mornings, while covering science, social studies, art, music and physical education in the afternoons.

The K-3 room was mine, but since I had all ages for reading, I split my mornings, teaching in the lower-grades classroom

in the first part of the morning and the upper-grades classroom in the second half.

While each group of students had reading stumbling blocks related to their own native languages, I immediately saw that some of the kindergartners started with a lot less experience with words and letters than others. Many had never held a book.

As I was searching for something I could use to help them understand what reading was all about, I came across the book Teacher by Silvia Ashton-Warner, which was based upon her work with Maori children in New Zealand. Her approach permitted students to select their own words for their first reading words. She called them “key” vocabulary words because they unlocked the door of reading for her Maori students. This helped them learn that reading could be meaningful and related to their own experiences.

I decided to try this with my students and found that the approach was fun and stimulating for all of the students, not just the Papua New Guinea students whose backgrounds were more limited. We used this approach along with more traditional approaches. Most interesting to me was the words the students picked. Some made similar choices, such as “Mom” and “Dad,” but others were unique to each student. In

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paying attention to the words the students selected, I was able to see each student as an individual, with different hopes and fears, likes and dislikes.

The key vocabulary words also generated discussions among the students in a way that typical reading series don’t. Why one student selected a specific word was a common topic of discussion each morning as we spilled our word cards out on the carpet to practice reading them with each other. Using this approach allowed me to view my students in a new light – different from how I might have seen them using only the traditional basal reading system.

Eventually we transitioned to a more traditional approach to teaching and learning reading and writing, but the key vocabulary approach definitely was a fun way to begin this instruction.

I learned more than just how to teach reading from this experience teaching in the mountainous highlands of Papua New Guinea, which was in the midst of tribal warfare. Sometimes people from the Ambulyin and Wapukin tribes would be seen crossing the station during school hours, while brandishing bows and arrows and spears. The head teacher was fluent in Pidgin English and left the school occasionally to go outside and gently admonish the trespassers, explaining to them in Pidgin that coming on to the station with weapons was taboo. She and I and the children were usually the only people on the station in the daytime. Sometimes it would occur to me that perhaps we should be a bit fearful of the tribal warriors, but the warriors who crossed our paths were respectful and apologetic and assured us that they had only crossed the station because it was a shortcut to get home. They would retreat over the edge of the station quickly, saying “Sori, Missus!” and waving goodbye.

The children at HLS were all print readers. However, my real love of and interest in teaching reading has always been braille. We left PNG in 1985. Ten years later, after serving in administrative positions at the University of Wyoming and the American Foundation for the Blind’s regional centers in San Francisco and

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Atlanta, I became the education manager at Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia.

As part of my work, the superintendent asked me to see if I could help a teacher in an ungraded Life Skills classroom. She had among her students three young women, ages 16 to 18, who had not yet learned to read braille. Although they had been receiving braille instruction since they were six or seven, they had only learned about half of the letters of the alphabet and were having a lot of difficulty decoding words.

In short, they were not reading. In fact, they did not like reading at all. They never gave their teacher any difficulty but found no joy in their braille lessons. The teacher was ready to give up on braille as a goal

puns. The third had a brain tumor that sometimes affected her with headaches.

She showed me her new earrings and told me in a very soft voice how much she loved jewelry and clothing.

As I thought about how different each girl was from the others, the thought of Silvia Ashton Warner’s approach – the one I had used in PNG – popped into my head. I had never thought about using this approach with braille readers because braille is usually considered as a characterby-character approach to reading. While the idea of sight words for braille readers wasn’t new, it wasn’t the typical part-towhole approach that was used with most students learning braille.

Nonetheless, I broached the possibility

OUR CHALLENGE AS TEACHERS IS IN TRYING TO GET INSIDE OUR STUDENTS’ HEADS SO THAT WE CAN SEE ALL CHILDREN AS WORTHY, THEIR STORIES WORTH LISTENING TO, AND THEIR EXPERIENCES OF VALUE. BY DOING SO, WE CAN HELP THEM LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LARGER WORLD. for these young women and to streamline their course of study to include only nonacademic subjects.

I wasn’t sure how I could help this teacher, but I wanted to talk with the students before deciding what to do.

As I spoke with the young women, I could see that despite some intellectual disabilities and blindness, each had definite likes and dislikes. One was a singer with a deep rich voice who loved performing in the gospel choir at her church. She told me about a recent concert and named all of the songs performed by the chorus that night.

Another had been in a car accident when she was younger and had only the use of one hand. She loved joking around and showed she was able to understand

of using the key-words technique with the teacher, and she was excited about trying it. She also had read about Ashton-Warner’s approach and was willing to work with me to give it a try.

It was easy to help the young women pick their first reading words. We also wrote stories with them using a languageexperience approach. When learning to read braille became relevant to them and their interests, rather than merely the task of learning letters and their sounds, we were amazed by the change in the attitudes. But even more amazing was the success they began to demonstrate in reading. By the time the three young women were ready to graduate at 21, they were reading at a second-grade level and could apply reading and writing skills in

numerous daily-living tasks, such as writing out shopping lists, keeping track of their schedules, writing notes and cards to each other and to other students in the school, and more.

One of the students was proficient enough in reading to be asked to read children’s books to the kindergarten and first-grade students at the school on a weekly basis. This was the beginning of an approach I now call the I-M-ABLE: the Individualized Meaning-centered Approach to Braille Literacy Education, which developed from working with these three young women.

As the approach evolved, the rationale for it became clearer to me. When students – like the Papua New Guinean students I had worked with or these young women – could learn words that had important emotional significance to them, they became engaged in a way that was absent when using typical reading materials. This engagement, coupled with teaching methods that provided only for success in learning the words with no option to fail, motivated them to learn. They began to involve themselves in selecting additional words they wanted to learn to read.

Having now worked with teachers and students using this approach for the past 20 years, I can say that many of the initial reading words students asked for were more than individualized; they were unique. How many students’ first reading words are “colonoscopy” or “tattoo” or “Jordin Sparks” or “corrugated”?

I’m always impressed by another side effect of the strategy. Teachers suddenly realize each student they have been struggling to teach is a unique individual. They begin to learn more about their students by creating individualized reading stories for them and through talking with them about their interests.

One teacher mentioned how her student, who was asking to learn the name “Lady Gaga,” prompted her to listen to Lady Gaga’s music. The teacher and the student began talking about which songs they liked and would keep each other posted on concerts or television shows

Lower classroom students from Highland Lutheran School, Amapyaka, PNG, 1984.

where Lady Gaga was going to be appearing. This teacher watched her student become more self-assured as she learned to read additional words.

The teacher eventually realized that her attitude towards her student had changed, as she now saw her as someone who had things to teach her! By being responsive to students, which is the basis of the IM-ABLE approach, teachers begin to see students – some for the first time – as individuals deserving of respect.

Somewhere along this journey, I read a book by Christopher Kliewer titled Seeing All Kids as Readers. The key to student learning, according to Kliewer, is to view each student as someone who is worthy, someone who can show you how to teach him or her.

It occurred to me a while ago that this was the same principle I had been operating under for a long time – starting from when I had been taught to respect differences by my parents. I began seeing differences as starting points rather than as obstacles in teaching my Australian and Papua New Guinean students. I watched with interest as my husband interacted

with Imbonggu and Enga clansmen. I recognized “all students as readers,” as Kliewer did.

Teachers who are responsive to the differences in others and see these differences as valuable starting points for conversations realize that effective teaching involves tapping into the stories our students tell and helping them tell their stories. When we show respect for them and their stories, we demonstrate that we believe they are capable of many things, including learning to read.

The theme of this particular issue of Teaching Matters is international or global education. While I really don’t consider what I do “international or global work,” it is those varied experiences that helped shape the type of work I do today.

Our challenge as teachers is in trying to get inside our students’ heads so that we can see all children as worthy, their stories worth listening to, and their experiences of value. By doing so, we can help them learn more about the larger world.

Our world, and theirs, will be a much better place in which to live if we can just do this one simple thing.

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A

CONNECTING WITH CUBA

A PROF REFLECTS ON 11 YEARS OF T E A C H I N G A B R OA D

BY EDWARD MOODY

hen I was first asked about going to Cuba over 12 years ago in 2002, I was initially hesitant. A friend of mine, Ron Callaway, had been teaching there on and off since the 1980s. He described how the people would be interested in receiving training in counseling, and he suggested that one visit to the island would be all it would take for me to fall in love with the people and the culture.

He kept talking about it and eventually I agreed to go. We began planning and preparing for the trip and received the documents required at that time to go to Cuba. My situation became complicated after my father-in-law became very ill, and I almost backed out of the trip. However, I knew the Cubans had taken extensive steps to prepare for my trip, so I decided to go ‌ but just this once.

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Traveling to Cuba in those days was extremely difficult. It required permission from the American and Cuban governments. Communication between the island and the U.S. was limited. I was able to talk to my family briefly after we arrived in Havana, but couldn’t do that again until I returned to Havana to leave for the States. I was constantly worried about my father-in-law. Later, when I returned to Miami, I learned North Carolina had been struck by an ice storm and virtually shut down for a week.

Because of the adversarial relationship between the Cuban and U.S. governments, everything at the time was complicated. You couldn’t miss the rift between our two countries.

Everywhere there were signs about “freeing the five,” referring to five Cuban prisoners held in the U.S. One was released in 2011, another in February 2013, and the remaining three were granted clemency by President Barack Obama in December 2014.

There were frequent protests outside the U.S. Interest Section. Though the U.S. does not officially have an embassy in Cuba, the Interest Section performed that function. Despite the tension between countries, one of the first children I saw on a street in Havana was wearing a shirt with a picture of the Twin Towers and the phrase “We will never forget” written upon it.

During the first visit to Cuba, I was taken to the home of two medical professionals. One worked at a hospital and the other taught medical students at the University of Havana.

Their daughter, an only child, had died one morning as she walked to school. I had thought I would be able to accomplish very little in Cuba because I could not speak Spanish. However, I was quite surprised at how we were able to communicate through an interpreter and felt I was able to understand their body language. In the following years I have often stayed with them and at times without an interpreter. They do not speak English and I do not speak Spanish well enough to really communicate, but somehow we seem to get by.

On the first trip we had to travel west to Pinar del Rio. If you are a history buff, you’ll go by the area where the Soviets delivered some of the missiles during the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you like cigars, you’ll go to the area where Cuban cigars are made.

In Pinar del Rio I taught my first class at the Cedars of Lebanon Seminary. I was struck at how items we take for granted were treasured. Everyone wanted a pencil with the NCCU logo on it. Handouts were treated with care. For that first visit I gave out NCCU planners. Over the years I’ve observed that some of these students who have taken subsequent classes with me still have their planners.

Once the class began, I was taken aback at how attentive the participants were, even though I spoke through an interpreter. I’ve never experienced anything similar anywhere else. The students’ thirst for knowledge was exhilarating and sparked an excitement in me that is hard to describe.

A. Dr. Edward Moody (third from left) stands with members of the School of Psychology at the University of Havana.

The dean of the school is to his right. B. Moody (left) stands with Dr. Lorenzo Alexis, president of The Cuban Society of Psychology. C. Moody (back right) teaches a class on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders at the University of Havana.

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“ONE OF THE PROUDEST PARTS OF MY TEACHING IN CUBA WAS THE ABILITY TO CONFRONT LACK OF AWARENESS, INCLUDING MY OWN.” — Dr. Edward Moody Over lunch and into the evening I consulted with people and faculty. This led to discussions about other topics I could teach – like psychological first aid, psychosocial development, assistance for children with emotional and learning problems, and basic counseling skills – which resulted in my returning to offer these classes on an average of once every year. In turn, the faculty and students helped me gather research on these topics.

In my early work I was often surprised by the similarities between the issues that Cubans and Americans face.

It was hard to get used to the concept that I had to bring everything I might need – even little things like toilet paper and aspirin. Though Cuba’s income average is only $20 a month and theirs is a very different culture, Cubans and Americans share similar mental health issues, including suicide, substance abuse and domestic violence. I remember a female physician, during a class discussion about domestic violence, ex-

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pressing surprise after learning that we had that problem in the United States.

One of the proudest parts of my teaching in Cuba was the ability to confront lack of awareness, including my own. In 2009, I began to collaborate with the dean of the School of Psychology at the University of Havana. I met with key faculty of the school (the equivalent of our department chairs) and gave a presentation on the state of counseling and psychology in the U.S. Their faculty members also described the state of psychology in Cuba. We learned that their students do work that is similar to ours, and I was surprised to learn that we shared common concerns about a number of issues, such as the rise in the use of psychotropic medication, and also that we shared an interest in the impact of assessment and counseling on health.

Moody (below, second from right) meets after class with Cedars of Lebanon students.

After one of the talks an older professor presented me with an article on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) that he had written, as he said, “before you were born” (although I was actually two years of age when he published the article).

I also met Dr. Manuel Calvino, the Dr. Phil of Cuba, except more widely known. Calvino, a true celebrity, has a weekly program in psychology and how it applies to life in Cuba.

Since those initial meetings I’ve returned to speak to the rest of the faculty and students at the University of Havana. Most recently they asked me to present at their bi-yearly national conference. In Cuba an international conference is truly international. As you address the crowd, translators in another room render your talk into Spanish and French. Participants listen through headphones and may ask questions of you, which, in my case, were translated into English.

My experience with Cuba has turned out as my friend predicted over a decade ago. I have fallen in love with the people there, and though I find myself going to help them, I have gained much more than I have given. ...........................................................

Edward Moody is the chair of the SOE’s Department of Allied Professions.

Teaching Fellows Soak Up The Culture of Costa Rica Back row: Associate Dean Theo Pikes.

Middle row (from left): Curtis McPhatter, Deidra Hunter, Taylor Braxton, Inez Walls.

Front row (from left): Timothy Ray, Glynnis Hagins, Maryssa Wright, Tyronna Hooker.

Teaching Matters

talked with Glynnis Hagins, a senior NCCU Teaching Fellow, about the Fellows’ fall trip to Costa Rica. The interview took place in early April 2015, during Hagins’ student teaching of 11th and 12th grade English classes at Jordan High School.

The following piece uses reflections taken from the Hamlet, N.C., resident’s journal, which are set in italics.

As the fall 2014 semester came to a close, the NCCU Teaching Fellows boarded a jet plane, leaving the sloping hills and verdant green for an international learning opportunity in the mountainous and verdant country of Costa Rica. Some in the group, like me, journeyed with preconceived notions and apprehensions about the trip. These expectations were shattered in positive ways throughout the eight days spent traversing the country of Costa Rica.

For Hagins and the other Teaching Fellows – Timothy Ray, Curtis McPhatter, Deidra Hunter, Taylor Braxton, Inez Walls and Maryssa Wright – the preconceptions included images of lush, tropical landscapes and perpetually sunny skies. The group would learn that it rains most of the year in Costa Rica, and while they escaped the rain for much of their visit, their time in the mountains was overcast. With the schools out on break, the Fellows took to exploring the cities and the surrounding areas.

Two of us were first-time flyers. For most of us, this was our first time traveling abroad. Isn’t everyone a bit anxious when you’re a stranger in a strange land? We were venturing into a non-English-speaking world, and that was definitely out of my comfort zone. All of us knew some Spanish, so we had some confidence in our ability to communicate with the local folks. But what would we eat? That was a BIG concern. How would we get around? Nobody knew much about the local currency, the colon.

The seven Fellows, led by program director Tyronna Hooker and SOE Associate Dean Theodore Pikes, flew into San Jose.

It reminded us of the cities we’re used to in the United States.

One apprehension, the food, was immediately confronted.

Our first meal – a traditional dish named casado, consisting of meat, salad, plantains, and rice and beans – placated the Fellows’ qualms about starving the entire trip and opened our minds to consider other misapprehensions we had.

After that, they journeyed to La Fortuna, a volcano connected to hot springs.

In La Fortuna, some of us explored the volcano and hot springs by hiking on hanging bridges; others went on a boat trip over the creeks connected to the major lake in La Fortuna, a small town with many local shops that served as excellent places to purchase souvenirs. One Fellow, Inez Walls,

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I am motived by the SOE conceptual framework, Preparing Educators for Diverse Cultural Contexts in the 21st Century. I came with a desire to discover Costa Rican authors. purchased postcards for her family members and mailed them from the post office in La Fortuna. After that it was on to Monte Verde, which reminded us of the North Carolina mountains. You don’t see people for miles. It was also difficult to get to. We started out on a boat, and then we had a three-hour drive on bumpy, unpaved roads.

Typically, the mountains are pelted with rain for most of the year, and this was supposed to be the rainy season, but the rain held off. The weather was humid and overcast. One night the Fellows took a hike – keeping an eye out for snakes and other animals.

We saw one little green snake and a possum.

Spending time in the mountains pushed many of the Fellows out of their comfort zones.

Besides the possibilities of snakes, there were other challenges. In scaling the mountain, one Fellow had to drive herself to overcome a fear of heights. There was also a scary zip line. I certainly didn’t try it, but Taylor Braxton did.

Next came Quepos, the beach area where it was sunny and hot.

While in Quepos, we went on a boat ride that included snorkeling in the Pacific Ocean. Many Fellows overcame a fear of swimming in large bodies of water as they ventured into the water to explore the cavernous coral reef. The cool water was a welcome relief to the hot, humid climate of the beach. The coral reef was a beautiful sight, like a painting or mural of stunning colors. After the relaxing boat ride, we hiked up a mountain to Manuel Antonio National Park, a wildlife reserve. Before dipping our toes or, for a few, immersing ourselves in the Pacific Ocean, we spotted several different species of monkeys.

After leaving the beach area, several of us realized our clothes had turned green while in the ocean.

For Hagins and her peers, the trip was an important educational opportunity.

International travel is an amazing addition to the traditional university experience. The Fellows considered Costa Rica a rich time of learning stimulating lessons outside of the classroom. Traveling to Costa Rica meant applying the knowledge gained in the classroom to real world, practical situations – like getting from Point A to Point B, navigating through customs, and meeting new people who don’t speak English.

Hagins brought a camera on the trip. An aspiring English teacher, she wanted photographs she could use to add multicultural depth to her lessons.

I am motived by the SOE conceptual framework, Preparing Educators for Diverse Cultural Contexts in the 21st Century. I came with a desire to discover Costa Rican authors. I came to take pictures so that I might relate my experiences and pictures to what we were studying in the classroom. For example, one of my current classes is studying Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel written in 1937

by Zora Neale Hurston, who would be hired by James E. Shepard

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in 1939 to teach drama at NCCU. While in San Jose, I snapped a picture of a woman. As part of my teaching this semester, I’m using that photo to have students compare that image with perceptions of African-American women, as well as their global perceptions of women of color.

Assumptions about Costa Rican food continued to be proven groundless.

Many memorable adventures and experiences consisted of eating delectable meals cooked by wonderful Costa Rican chefs. Several Fellows fell in love with a vinegary brown sauce called Salsa. It’s similar to N.C. barbecue sauce but saltier. Certain Fellows sprinkled it liberally on their food and stashed several bottles in their luggage to take back to the United States. We all enjoyed the indigenous fruits and the delicious juices made from them. I particularly liked a juice made from starfruit, also known as carambola, which combined the tartness of real lemonade and the sweetness of canned lemonade.

One expectation that didn’t pan out for Hagins was the ability to skillfully communicate with the locals.

I came to Costa Rica ready to put my Spanish skills to the ultimate test. I had successfully completed a total of three courses in Spanish, two in high school and one at NCCU, and thought my Spanish skills were sufficient. Boy, was I wrong! I could translate road signs and store fronts. That’s the easy stuff. But conversing with the locals proved very difficult. I could only recall a few of my Spanish vocabulary words, and these words were often irrelevant to the conversation. I couldn’t have full conversations. As I became frustrated, I thought about students who are in similar situations. As an English teacher, I encounter students who have difficulty reading and writing. Some students may be English language learners; some may be native English speakers. From my Costa Rican experience, I realized more than ever that my job is to create achievable goals to help students gain effective communication skills.

From this experience it’s clear that Hagins found a way to turn a negative into a positive. As the saying goes: When life gives you starfruit, . . .

Nervous and apprehensive, I left Durham excited and willing to learn. I returned to Durham with a plethora of knowledge to share with family, friends, and most certainly my students. One of the main lessons I want to tell them about is how important it is to challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone and see the things you might never see. The English poet Hillaire Belloc once wrote, “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” As a child I had a clichéd dream to travel the world, but that dream never considered visiting Costa Rica. That was not on my travel radar. I planned to travel, but only to places where English was spoken. After traveling to Costa Rica, I would definitely recommend including this beautiful country on a wanderlusting global traveler’s list.

The trip made Hagins consider her role as an educator.

I want to be an educator who puts her students first. This was exemplified by the efforts of Ms. Hooker and SOE Professor Wynetta Lee, who persevered and demanded that the Fellows receive our international experience. Without their tenacity, this collegiate study-abroad experience would not have happened. What a loss that would have been to our personal and professional growth.

MEET THE SOE'S INTERNATIONAL FACULTY o DR. ELISHA KOBINA BLANKSON, born in Accra, Ghana, is a

Prince Hycy Bull

“America provides me with an opportunity to experience other cultures and nationalities without extensive travel outside of the country.”

— Prince Hycy Bull

clinical supervisor in the Communication Disorders Department.

He teaches a practicum class, as well as courses in Spanish phonetics and bilingualism.

“Being a teacher in the School of Education gives me the opportunity to expand my research horizons in various disciplines,” he said. “I find it very gratifying to help students achieve their academic goals. I enjoy working at NCCU because of the diversity it offers and the global orientation of its programs.”

Blankson said he also enjoys “the freedom and the opportunities that the United States offers and the beautiful weather in North Carolina.”

Still, he misses his homeland, primarily the social life and the ocean. “I miss interacting with family and friends,” he said.

Blankson has plans to begin working with the University of Ghana to start an allied rehabilitation program, which will include a communication disorders department.

o DR. PRINCE HYCY BULL, born

in Bo Town, Sierra Leone, is chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Department and teaches six instructional technology courses.

He loves the SOE’s collegiality and the opportunity to work with faculty on interdisciplinary projects.

He misses the culture and traditions of his homeland and has managed to remain involved through professional development activities.

“I have served as an advisor on educational matters to the World Bank in Sierra Leone, worked with my high school by providing professional development and supplies, worked with an elementary school by providing teaching supplies, worked with the Milton Margai School for the Blind by providing resources for instruction, and made several presentations to groups, students and organizations about Sierra Leone,” said Bull.

He is fond of North Carolina’s Southern hospitality and loves America’s ability to provide opportunities to achieve dreams and goals. “America provides me

with an opportunity to experience other cultures and nationalities without extensive travel outside of the country,” he said. o Recently retired from the SOE, DR. DOGONI CISSE was born

in Boudibougou, a small village in the southern part of Mali, and was a member of the Department of Educational Leadership, where he taught courses in statistical methods and the methodology of educational research.

Being a teacher in the School of Education is important to Cisse.

“Teaching is a noble profession, and teaching those who will go on to teach future generations is important work,” he said. “I’m happy I got to do so in the SOE.” However, Cisse said he misses his homeland. “Mali is quite far from the USA and it is quite expensive to go there frequently,” he explained. “I miss the culture the longer I stay abroad. However, I enjoy the numerous possibilities living in the United States has afforded me, especially in terms of educational and career opportunities. North Carolina’s temperate

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weather and beautiful seasons make it an enjoyable place to live.” o DR. LEVETTE S. DAMES, born in Nassau,

Bahamas, is a counselor and allied health professional who teaches principles of group counseling, human sexuality counseling, counseling theories and psychosocial development.

As a former teacher and a school counselor in the Bahamas, her greatest joy was working with students. “If I had students experiencing behavioral issues, it gave me contentment to see improvement in their behavior,” she said. “Here in the School of Education, it gives me pleasure to see students understanding counseling concepts and having those ‘aha!’ moments."

Dames misses her friends, family, and the food of her homeland. “There is a shellfish back home we eat called conch,” she explained. “We eat it raw with tomatoes, sweet pepper, onions, cucumbers, limes and lemon.

This tastes so good. We also ‘crack’ it, which is to mix it in a flour and egg batter and then deep-fry it. It may not be healthy in the deep fryer but it tastes good.

“We also have native dishes like fried grouper, boiled fish, chicken souse, peas and rice with potato salad and macaroni and cheese.

Bahamians love their starch food group.”

Her development as an educator has deep roots in Nassau. “My dissertation was based on my hometown,” she explained. “I looked at career thoughts, optimism and the spirituality of Bahamian women diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer is the number one cancer in the Bahamas and has a high incident death rate. Women in the Bahamas tend to be quiet about this condition, so it is often a taboo subject.”

Dames said North Carolina often reminds her of home, especially the areas that are rural.

“The people are also friendly like Bahamians,” she said. “Durham is not a major metropolitan area so I really like it.”

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o DR. PHILLIPH MASILA MUTISYA, born in Machackos, Kenya East Africa, teaches a variety of courses for the Curriculum and Instruction Program. These include orientation to teaching, educational psychology, diversity and social change, human growth and development, multiculturalism and the practice of schooling, advanced research, and global leadership.

As an SOE professor, he enjoys “the unique experiences I get from engaging students in transforming their thinking.” He also appreciates the positive impact that occurs when students practice what they have learned by working with the surrounding community, an experience he calls “Comm-Uni-Versity.”

“I use the curriculum to prepare our students for diverse cultural contexts and deconstructing social injustices,” Mutisya added.

Mutisya said he misses the flora and fauna and natural beauty of his homeland, as well as the people. He has initiated a professional development program that has kept him in touch with his colleagues there. “Interacting with colleagues across the seas helps in connecting with my country spiritually,” he said. “I miss the lifestyle in Kenya, which is mostly stress-free.”

Mutisya developed an international exchange program between Kenyatta University (KU) and NCCU in 2005 that continues today. “The program involves various activities that include two study-abroad visits for SOE Teaching Fellows,” he said. The visits include presenting two workshops at Kenyatta University: one on integrating technology in teaching and another on infusing process education in teaching and professional development.

“I have engaged KU faculty in The Association for Educational Research and the Academy of Process Education,” he added. “The involvement and collaboration will result in the renewal of the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between NCCU and KU in order to continue the initiatives that we have developed.”

Working in North Carolina has given Mutisya “the privilege to exercise academic freedom and the opportunity to develop a life-long career in education,” he said. “It has given me the ability to impact the world through transformational education development, which is direly needed globally.”

Mutisya obtained his master’s degree in international education and doctorate in instructional leadership with a concentration in curriculum development in bilingual and multicultural education at the University of Massachusetts at the Center for International Education. “The experience I gained at UMASS has been invaluable in integrating international and global perspectives in teaching and research, and bridging the two cultures of Africa and America,” he said.

“THE PROGRAM INVOLVES VARIOUS ACTIVITIES THAT INCLUDE TWO STUDY-ABROAD VISITS FOR SOE TEACHING FELLOWS.” — Philliph Masila Mutisya

o DR. JIANPING GRACE HAO,

born in Mudanjiang, China, is a member of the Communication Disorders Program and teaches about dysphagia, motor speech disorders, voice disorders, feeding disorders, craniofacial disorders, autism spectrum disorders and cultural immersion. She is also a clinical supervisor.

Hao says the things she likes best about being an SOE professor are “the collegial support and diversity, the great students, and the tremendous opportunity to develop new programs.”

While living in the U.S., she has retained professional ties in China, founding the Chinese International Speech Language and Hearing Association and contributing to professional development efforts. (See story on page 4.)

“Global understanding and international collaboration should be a concept embraced by all higher education professionals,” she said. “Country or language should not be the barrier to stop human communication.”

For Hao, life in the United States and North Carolina is all about enjoying culture, friends and weather. o DR. DIONNE V. MCLAUGHLIN

was born in Coventry, England, a small industrial town in the Midlands about 200 miles north of London. Both of her parents are Jamaican. Her mother is from Kingston and her father is from St. Mary’s Parish.

A part of the Department of Educational Leadership team, she teaches community relations,

which includes building social capital for school change, school leadership and transformational practices, and the internship seminar.

“As a former high school and elementary principal, I enjoy sharing my experiences from the field and problem-solving with students,” she said. “I love visiting the administrative interns in their schools.”

She also enjoys the SOE’s collegial environment, adding: “I’m thrilled to be working with passionate scholars who love working with students.”

McLaughlin’s family relocated to North Carolina from the Boston area 10 years ago. “I love the North Carolina climate and often wonder what took us so long to come down here,” she said.

Because she’s been in the United States for many years, McLaughlin considers herself “fairly Americanized,” but she still misses Coventry and her relatives.

A favorite memory involves the royal family. “When I was a young girl, the Queen came to Coventry, and we were permitted to leave school to see her,” she explained.

“We had to go back to school afterwards, but it was an incredible experience.”

England’s largest cultural metropolis is another place she misses and would like her own sons to experience. “I have older siblings who live in and around London, so my children have missed growing up with their cousins,” she added.

However, McLaughlin said she appreciates many aspects of life in America and North Carolina.

“In England, the society is very class conscious,” she explained.

“You are judged based on how you speak, how you hold a knife and fork. There are a lot of limits placed on what you can accomplish based on the family you were born into.

“When I met a colleague from London recently, I was reminded about the challenges blacks face in England. We have a lot of work to do in England in terms of addressing race issues and effectively educating all children.”

Recent academic work in November 2014 took McLaughlin to Montego Bay, Jamaica, for the International Conference on Urban Education. Her presentation was titled “How Expert Principals Make Difficult Decisions About Evaluating Teachers: Case Studies and Practical Applications.” o DR. JIANLIANG “ALBERT” ZHANG, born in Wuxi, Jiangsu

Province, China, is a faculty member in the Communication Disorders Program, where he teaches neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, scientific bases of speech, speech and language development, fluency, bilingualism, research design in communication disorders and instrumentation.

He enjoys the abundance of talented students from diverse cultural backgrounds who participate in the program. “My happiest moment every year is seeing them graduate,” he said. “After that, I get ready to help others in need.”

While he misses his family, food, and the native languages of China, he likes living in North Carolina, where “there are not so many people everywhere you go, even the beach at summertime.”

Levette S. Dames

Jianping Grace Hao

Dionne V. McLaughlin

Jianliang “Albert” Zhang

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MOVING FORWARD Annual SOE run/walk raises $2,500 to benefit DPS students

Hundreds of runners, walkers and event volunteers joined together on behalf of a program that provides nutrition for approximately 1,000 students each year in Durham Public Schools.

“It’s impressive and gratifying to see NCCU, the Durham community, Durham Public Schools and surrounding public school systems come together and support each other,” said Cheresa Clemons, organizer for the Second Annual Fill My BackPack 5K Run/Walk. “The leaders of the Inter-faith Foodshuttle Backpack Buddies Program were thrilled with our donation.”

The funds raised during the walk, which took place on Saturday, September 27, 2014, will help the program provide students with balanced meals and snacks each weekend throughout the school year.

Runners and walkers had plenty of support as they traversed the 5K. “Our cheering stations made such a difference,” Clemons said. “You can’t help but increase your stride when people are smiling, clapping and encouraging you.”

Loud, positive encouragement was heard throughout the route thanks to cheering from the Orange County Jammers (a senior co-ed cheerleading squad), the NCCU Royal Court, the Githens Middle School Cheerleaders, the Southern High School Cheerleaders, Hillside High School Team 17, the Josephine Clements Early College High School Students, Alpha Athletics Cheerleading, Phillips Middle School Falcons Avid Students, and Jordan High School’s cheerleading squad.

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The annual 5K gives students an opportunity to learn how to coordinate a service-learning project and fundraiser, Clemons said. “Most important,” she noted, “is involving them directly in the process. The students shoulder much of the responsibility. They learn the satisfaction of being agents of change.”

Particularly gratifying for Clemons was seeing a number of students from the previous year return to help with the event, as well as the many graduates who came back as walkers, runners and contributors.

Also satisfying for Clemons was a growth in sponsorship. “This allowed us to offer more raffle gifts and provide breakfast for our volunteers,” she said. “I really love the raffles. Everyone holds the tickets so tightly, waiting for their number to be called, as if it’s a million dollar lottery. Our prizes varied from food items to overnight-stays at hotels and $50 Walmart gift cards.”

Sponsors for the run/walk included Dream Studios, the Durham County Sherriff’s Office, Team 23 of Michael Jordan Nissan, NCCU Athletics, the NCCU Police Department, Smoothie King, Subject 2 Change, Walmart, Whole Foods, Residence Inn/Courtyard Marriott, Omega Sports-Renaissance, Pepsi, Skinsation, Chick-Fil-A (Hillsborough Road, Durham), and Impression House.

Precision Race was the race management company that handled timing and registration for the past two years. “They played a big role in making sure the race was a success,” Clemons said.

FACULTY ACCOLADES 2015

Sheila Bridges-Bond

Robin Gillespie

o DR. SHEILA BRIDGES-BOND, DR. ROBIN GILLESPIE, DR. JAMES OSLER, DR. TOM SCHEFT and Communication Disorders Program alumna JASMYNE SPELLER teamed

up to write “Individual Identity, Authenticity, and Cultural Community: The Perception of Dialect by Students from a Historically Black College/University.” Their article was published in ECHO, an e-journal of the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing.

Speller initiated the idea for the research and began the project under the advisement of Bridges-Bond. However, she was unable to continue her work as she approached graduation and her time was completely consumed by her new full-time job upon graduating.

“She was excited to have Robin [Gillespie] and I see her brainchild through as a completed

James Osler

study, presentation and now article,” BridgesBond said.

“The article advances the message that cultural dialects are valid, rule-based and of social value as defined by their community of speakers. Discrimination based on dialect is a troubling past and present phenomenon.

Understanding and respecting the validity of all dialects is critical for speech-language pathologists to be culturally competent in the delivery of services to a diverse clientele.

“As the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association points out, service should not jeopardize ‘the integrity of the individual’s first dialect. Elective service must be functional and must emphasize the appropriateness of the first and second dialects for different contexts.’”

Gillespie explained that certain dialects associated with African-Americans are often

Tom Scheft judged as wrong or below standard. “Clearly certain dialects are stigmatized,” she said.

“This is common in cultures worldwide. It’s important for educators to address this, while also helping students learn to code-switch, which utilizes various dialects based on setting, audience and purpose.

“It’s also important that clinicians understand the social attitudes towards dialect use and appreciate the communities and cultures of speakers of African-American English, which include millions of Caucasian speakers, in order to provide culturally responsive service. Our article discusses the dialect use in the perception of identity [individuality, authenticity and cultural community] from a cross-disciplinary perspective and from the perspective of college students attending a historically black college or university.”

o DR. C.E. DAVIS continues to serve as vice president for colleges and

universities for the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Central Region. Davis invited NCCU student QUINN RUSS to serve as the first Central Region student representative.

Davis and DR. JAMES OSLER published “Investigating Pre-service Candidates’ Images of Mathematical Reasoning: An In-depth Online Analysis of Common Core Mathematics Standards” in The Journal on School Educational Technology. Davis presented the article at the 2014 Association for the Advancement of Educational Research.

Davis will serve as the principal investigator in the sub-award for a NASA grant.

Through Professor Wynetta Lee’s leadership, this grant partners NCCU with Texas State University, Howard University, Norfolk State University, and other minority-serving institutions.”

— DR. C.E. DAVIS

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Student Athlete Leadership Academy (SALA) equips student athletes with vital life skills o The Student Athlete Leadership Academy (SALA), under the direction of DR. HARVEY HINTON III, is a college-readiness and character-development initiative designed to foster the academic, social and emotional needs of middle grades student athletes.

“SALA leverages youth interest in sports and athletics to create pathways to post-secondary education and equip student athletes with vital life skills that promote positive academic performance and prosocial behaviors,” Hinton said. “We assist student athletes in making healthy life transitions, increasing their self-esteem and self-worth, while challenging individual and social forces that stymie academic achievement.”

During the 2014 summer camp that took place June 23-July 25, 22 students in grades five through 10 met from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. each Monday through Friday.

The SALA curriculum is designed to mirror the NCAA student athlete development model, which emphasizes development in the areas of athletics, academics, professional goals, personal goals, and community service. Over the five-week period the students completed a service project at R.N. Harris

Elementary School, registered with the College Foundation of NC website, explored college admissions and NCAA eligibility requirements, completed summer learning assignments and prepared for the SAT. “We discussed sport science and safety, finances, equity and human rights,” Hinton said.

“Students participated in role playing activities, physical fitness, martial arts and toured the NCCU campus. The camp ended with Signing Day, where participants signed the Future Eagle Flight Plan reaffirming their commitment to college readiness.”

Hinton is quick to praise his staff. “We have assembled of group of professionals who are passionate about youth development,” he said. “I have had the pleasure of working with several of the coaches when they were in my professional studies classes at NCCU. It was great to see them provide instruction, and I was impressed with their depth of knowledge.

I learned a lot from the staff. There is much to say in teacher education literature about the impact of teachers’ sociocultural background on student outcomes. I am pleased to have a staff that understands pedagogy as well as what it is like to be a student athlete.”

A

The SALA staff is composed of Coach Donavon Harbison, a licensed high school math teacher who was a former student athlete in football and a Teaching Fellow at NCCU; Coach Amy Linder, an instructor in the NCCU Physical Education Department and Ph.D. candidate, who was a former student athlete (basketball) and collegiate coach; Coach Tremayne Perry, a licensed middle school math teacher with a host of experience in youth camps and an NCCU alumnus; Coach Kristina Robinson, an instructor in NCCU’s Physical Education Department and sports enthusiast; Coach Zayd Shakur, a martial arts instructor with over 20

B

A. Dr. Harvey Hinton III works with a camper on the computer. B. Mark Wright, a SALA counselor and graduate student in instructional technology, teaches mental representation and focus through archery. C. As part of their community service, the campers pick up trash at the NCCU track.

C

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v Tramaine Perry, a SALA counselor and teacher at Research Triangle Charter, teaches the campers financial literacy.

years experience working with urban youth; Coach Nealie Whitt, a licensed middle school physical education teacher who was a student athlete (track and field) and is an NCCU alumnus; Coach Rashard Lee Worthy, a student earning his teacher’s license at NCCU and a former professional basketball player and student athlete at the University of Tennessee.

SALA had a host of special guests and experiences that made the past year a success.

Current NFL player and NCCU alumnus Xavier Proctor spoke to the campers on the purpose of education. NCCU undergraduate admissions counselors Dominique Oliver and Chrystal Winston met with the group each week to discuss the NCCU admissions process; Oliver and Winston also directed Signing Day. Clayton Mack from the NCCU Quiz Bowl team led weekly sessions on study skills, which proved that learning can be fun. Mark Wright, an SOE graduate student, led a session on archery and the importance of focus and meditation; students learned the importance of visualization to achieve goals. Stephan Charles-Donatien from the NCCU tennis team shared his experience as an international student from France and discussed the role of sports and education in creating opportunities.

The seriousness of SALA is interspersed with times of joy and humor. Hinton recalled a story about a rising ninth grader. “I have been working with him for about three years, and he came to the camp one day to get help with a summer math assignment,” said Hinton.

“Donavon Harbison met with him for tutoring.

As the young man was getting his materials prepared for his tutoring session, he realized

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he did not have his calculator and asked Donavon if he had one. Donavon responded, ‘Why do you need a calculator?’ The young man grinned and replied, ‘Oh yeah that’s right; you are one of Coach Hinton’s guys.’ ” For Hinton, that story illustrates SALA’s mission. “We want young people to be responsible for their education, but that responsibility is not always intrinsic,” he explained.

“First, the young man knew that he needed

help and he came to SALA for that purpose.

Second, the young man received help from a licensed math teacher that he could relate to socioculturally. Third, instead of simply being provided a calculator, the young man was asked to think about why he needed it.

Fourth, the young man recognized his expectations and was then able to meet them. Fifth, the young man was able to receive tutoring from a former student athlete.

“SALA is the perfect attempt to bring theory into practice while supporting the lives of young people,” said the director. “I hope to continue this project and find ways to learn more about youth development from our experiences.”

2014 ACES AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED o Counselor education professors DR. KYLA KURIAN, DR. GWENDOLYN NEWSOME and DR. LEVETTE DAMES, counselor education graduate student WHITLEY GRANT of the Mental Health Counseling Program, and DR. ROBERT HORNE, a recent addition to the Mental Health Counseling Program faculty, won a 2014 Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Research Grant Award. ACES is committed to funding research that enhances the understanding of professional development in counselor education and supervision. The award was announced on Oct. 10, 2014, at the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES) Conference in Birmingham, Ala. Their proposal, “Preparing Counselors of Color in Training for Diverse Cultural Contexts: Exploring the Experiences and Education of Students of Color in Counseling Programs,” was selected as a part of a competitive, peer-review process by the ACES Research Grant Award Committee. An award for $1,465 was presented to the research team at the SACES award luncheon.

o DR. TESSA McCARTHY received an award for Outstanding Contributions to the Low Vision Rehabilitation Division of the Association of Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). During the conference presentation, McCarthy spoke on one of her most recent research projects, “An Evaluation of Using Artificial Intelligence to Reinforce Braille Acquisition.”

In The Journal of Special Education, she and Dr. Mark Wolery published “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Roadside Instruction in Teaching Children with Visual Impairments Street Crossings.”

In The International Review of Research on Developmental Disabilities, she and Dr. Robert Wall Emerson published “Orientation and Mobility for Students with Visual Impairments: Priorities for Research.” In The Division of Visual Impairment Quarterly, McCarthy and Mrs. Jill Bohlen published “The Possibilities for Using K-Sonar with Individuals Who are Deaf-Blind.” ......................................................................................................... o DR. DIONNE MCLAUGHLIN’s first book, Insights: How Expert Principals Make Difficult Decisions, was published this spring by Corwin. She also has a book chapter, “New South Realities, Demographics, Cultural Capital, and Diversity” in A Guide on Educational Leadership and Management published by Sage in spring 2015.

Tessa McCarthy

Masila Mutisya

o The Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School (JDC) teamed up with several SOE professors to refine the learning process and expand course offerings.

Under a new program titled STEM to STEM (Strategies that Engage Minds to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), DR. MASILA MUTISYA and University Liaison TERESSA TAYLOR collaborated with Mr. E. Rick Copeland, president/CEO of Global Health Connections International, and Dr. Dan Apple, president/CEO of Pacific Crest, to incorporate process education strategies in JDC’s daily instruction.

“Process education is about teaching students to be self-learners,” explained Taylor.

“They learn to be self-growers and facilitators rather than merely waiting for a teacher to give them information. While teachers guide the process, students do research and prepare information. They acquire knowledge through firsthand problem-solving and critical thinking.”

Mutisya and Apple, under the direction of JDC Principal Gloria Woods-Weeks, introduced the JDC faculty to the process education strategy of Learning to Learn. The first workshop on November 19, 2014, was a part of the JDC’s staff development initiative. “I then used Learning to Learn as the core curriculum for the Dimensions of Learning course taught to the JDC students,” Taylor said.

Copeland has assisted by creating a pipeline with Shepard Middle School. “Initially, we want to attract students to JDC, prepare them for college, and eventually have them enroll in NCCU,” Taylor said.

In developing the technology skills of JDC students through Blackboard Learning Management System and other forms of online learning, DR. PRINCE BULL, chair of the SOE Curriculum and Instruction Department, and DR. JAMES OSLER are revamping EDU 2600: Orientation to Teaching “to allow JDC students to gain greater insight and experience with the technology required in NCCU college courses,” Bull said. “This course will be a hybrid course [both online and face-to-face] that will meet three times a week.”

(Left to right): Whitley Grant, Levette Dames, Gwendolyn Newsome, Kyla Kurian

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o DR. NANCY REESE-DURHAM pub-

lished “A Discussion Strategy For an Online Class” in College Teaching. “This article describes a strategy which allows students to be engaged as facilitators or participants in the Discussion Board section of the Blackboard course,” ReeseDurham explained. “As facilitator, the student would provide prompts based on the weekly reading and be responsible for interacting with his/her classmates who responded to the prompts for that week. As a participant, the student was responsible for responding to the weekly prompts from the facilitator for that week. This process encouraged a wealth of discussion, which

was similar to the type of interactions experienced in a face-to-face environment.”

Working with DR. C.E. DAVIS and Dr. Dorothy Singleton, she published “The Saint Augustine Four: Living Life on the Edge” in Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement and Thereafter: Profiles of Lessons Learned,

published by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Company Inc. In the same book, she also worked with Davis and A. Holbrook to publish “Stokely Carmichael: The Rise of ‘Black Power.’ ” Along with Dr. Agnes DeWitt, Reese-Durham presented “Self Identification of Adult Developmental Theories: Comments from Educators” at the 32nd Annual Teacher Education Forum NC-ACTE in Raleigh in September. Reese-Durham was also a member of the event’s planning committee.

She spoke on “What Educators Need to Know About Copyright and Fair Use in Multimedia Settings” at the SOE’s Sixth Annual Technology Institute for Educators.

STUDENT TEACHERS WITH iPADS The Fall 2014 student teachers in elementary and middle grades education were given iPads to use in an attempt to bring more technology to their planning, instruction and classroom management. The student teachers could also use the devices to video themselves teaching, then reflect and adjust their teaching based on their personal observations. Tow row left: Dr. Delores Fogg and Dr. Jeanette Beckwith. Top row right: Quincey Farmer, Janet Walker and Shelly Gilliam. Middle row (standing, from left): Dr. Gerrelyn Patterson, Dr. Yolanda Dunston, Tina Casto, Natalie Vail, Jill Shea, Aubrey Godette, Tashima Price, Angie Schooff, Nicole Walker, Tiffany Pulliam, April Brown and Crystal Coley. Front row (from left): Tiffany Pearce, Kristyn Annas, Chantal Cooke, Anjane Jacobs, Professor Wynetta Lee, Rashina Spivey and Aeedah Hamidullah.

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o The highlight of DR. DIANE WORMSLEY’s

year was a short trip to Ireland, where she served as an external evaluator on a dissertation defense at the Northern Ireland University of Maynooth. The dissertation involved a research project examining how braille readers use their fingers in reading braille – one of Wormsley’s long-time research interests.

She continues to serve on the Braille Authority of North America (BANA). “The biggest emphasis of the year for BANA has been the involvement in the transition of the United States to Unified English Braille (UEB),” explained Wormsley. “As part of that work, I and another BANA representative from Canada presented a full-day workshop/training this fall in UEB to 40 teachers.” The NC Department of Public Instruction sponsored the presentation.

Wormsley also led a full-day workshop and a learning lab session at the Association for

Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) International Conference in the summer of 2014.

“I’ve also been working with DPI staff on the North Carolina implementation plan for UEB,” she said.

As editor-in-chief of the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness (JVIB) this past year, Wormsley oversaw the work of three associate editors – one editor emerita for practice and a technical reviewer, plus a part-time administrative assistant housed at NCCU for purposes of managing the various submissions and peer reviewers for the journal. As editor-in-chief, she presented workshops for peer reviewers at two conferences. She continues as editor-in-chief of JVIB until September 2015.

Wormsley recently submitted her practice guide for The Individualized Meaningcentered Approach to Braille Literacy

Education: I-M-ABLE to AFB Press, whose peer review process for the publication was paired with field-testing by the American Printing House for the Blind in spring 2015.

“The goal is for the practice guide to be published by AFB with APH purchasing it and making it available for teachers of children with visual impairments through the Federal Government Quota System,” she explained. “This is the culmination of over 20 years of working on the evolution of this approach.”

Wormsley retired from the SOE at the end of December 2014. In addition to moving to Pittsburgh, she also spent three months in Louisville at the American Printing House for the Blind in the spring as executive in residence.

Part of her work was geared around fieldtesting of I-M-ABLE, but the remainder of the work was collaborating with APH staff in a variety of projects underway through APH’s Research Department.

OSLER AWARDED NCCU CHANCELLOR'S AWARD FOR INOVATION o DR. JAMES OSLER won two awards – the first Determining Teaching Efficacy Through the Use of NCCU Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and The Qualitative Single Subject Design, Student Learning “We had a dynamic, National Council of American Executives: Top Ranked Outcomes, and Associative Statistics,” published in hands-on, interactive i-manager’s [International] Journal on School EducationExecutive for 2014. session, during which al Technology (written with M.A. Mansaray); “Tri-Center He also published eight articles: “An In-depth Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis to Determine the we experimented with Analysis: Determining Measures of Trichotomous CenFactors that Affect the Existence of African-American tral Tendency for the Parametric Analysis of Tri-Squared and explored over 12 Women Superintendents in the North Carolina K-12 Test Results,” published in i-manager’s [Internationdifferent free Google Public School System,” published in i-manager’s al] Journal of Educational Technology; “Calculating online tools.“ [International] Journal on School Educational Technology Tri-Symmetrical Analytics: A Guide into the In-depth ______ (written with R.L. Webb); “Triostatistics: The Application Processes Associated with the Post Hoc Advanced D R . JA M E S O SL E R of Innovative In-depth Advanced Post Hoc Statistical Statistical Metrics Used to Determine the Value of SigMetrics for the Assessment and Analysis of Statistinificant Tri–Squared Tests,” published in i-manager’s cally Significant Tri-Squared Test Outcomes,“ published in The Kentucky [International] Journal on Mathematics; and “The Need for a ConcepJournal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning; “Educational tual Framework for Leadership and Shared Governance between Faculty Technology Assessment: Analyzing Online Psychometric Tests Via the and Administrators,” published in The International Journal of Process Trichotomy-Squared Advanced Statistical Analysis of Student Ratings of Education (written with DR. MASILA MUTISYA, P.F. Bitting, and J.P. Rotich).

Instruction,” published in The Handbook of Research on Educational Tech At the Sixth Annual Technology Institute for Educators in the School nology Integration and Active Learning (written with M.A. Mansaray); “Acof Education, Osler presented “Google Apps for Educators: Dynamic ademic Freedom Paradigm and the Contemporary Faculty Perceptions: Are Online Tools for Instruction and Learning.” “We had a dynamic, hands-on, We There Yet?” published in The 2015 Conference on Higher Education Pedinteractive session, during which we experimented with and explored over agogy (written with C.R. Jain, Dr. Philip Mutisya, and A. Kanu); “A Model for 12 different free Google online tools,” he said.

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north carolina central university

s c h o o l o f e d u c at i o n a d m i n i s t r a t o r s INTERIM DEAN Dr. Audrey W. Beard DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION Dr. Prince Hycy Bull, Chair

DEPARTMENT OF ALLIED PROFESSIONS Dr. Eddie Moody, Chair DIRECTOR OF ALTERNATIVE LICENSURE AND FIELD EXPERIENCE Dr. Sharon Spencer SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTIONAL COORDINATOR Ms. Daneika Bynum

DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY-SCHOOL TEACHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS Dr. Paquita Yarborough DIRECTOR OF RECRUITMENT ADVANCEMENT AND MARKETING Ms. Edith Thorpe

H. M . Michau x Jr. School o f Educat ion • 700 Cecil St reet • Durham, N.C. 27707