SJSU Lurie College of Education 2019-2020 Annual Report by SJSU Lurie College of Education

At the Lurie College of Education, we prepare

TRANSFORMATIVE educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders. We do this through an

EMANCIPATORY approach across our teaching, scholarship, and service.

2019-2020 Annual Report sjsu.edu/education

ON OUR COVER After months of dialogue, deliberations, and reflections, Lurie College unanimously adopted a new 3-year strategic plan in January 2020. The plan focuses on 4 priority areas: • • • •

Community-engaged Culturally sustaining Holistic Interdisciplinary

Learn more about each priority area and watch a debrief with our students who participated on the planning committee at sjsu.edu/education/about

Design by Brian Cheung Dooley with support from Kasturi Paranjpe

WHAT. A. YEAR. IT. HAS. BEEN. Throughout this tumultuous year, I have been exceedingly grateful and proud to be part of the SJSU Lurie College of Education community. When we transitioned to “shelter in place” in March, our faculty and staff did a remarkable job of quickly pivoting to support our students and community partners. There was an immediate recognition of the multi-layered impacts that the pandemic would bring and a deep commitment to caring for our community.

The racial justice movements that have gained momentum across the country this year have further strengthened our resolve and pushed us to examine and reform racist and unjust policies, practices, language, and norms that persist within our own systems. I’m grateful for our students, faculty, staff, and alumni who have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to working for educational equity and racial justice.

Our team organized online teaching workshops for our faculty and K12 partners, provided laptops and mobile devices to students who otherwise wouldn’t have access to remote learning, hosted community building events, made phone calls to check in on the well being of students and colleagues, strengthened our outreach efforts to prospective students and their families, and raised funds to support students who were at risk of not being able to continue in their degree programs as a result of lost incomes due to the economic downturn.

In the midst of multiple global crises, our college has also successfully earned full accreditation renewal from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing; launched new degree, scholarship, and residency programs; increased our student enrollments and faculty research activity; and strengthened our community engagement.

As we’ve witnessed the societal inequities and structural injustices that have been laid bare and exacerbated by COVID-19, our core educational mission at Lurie College has taken on even greater urgency. In January, our college unanimously adopted a bold, forwardlooking strategic plan. The plan affirmed our priorities as a college with the statement found on the front cover of this report, and pushed us to pursue new initiatives that would make our work more community engaged, culturally sustaining, interdisciplinary, and holistic.

It has been a challenging and unpredictable year, but as you read through the pages that follow, I believe that you will also find reason for gratitude, pride, and hope in the work of our Lurie College students, faculty, staff, and alumni. With appreciation --

Heather Lattimer, EdD Dean and Professor SJSU Connie L. College of Education

For updates about #LurieCollege, connect with our @sjsulurie social media accounts at linktr.ee/sjsulurie

LURIE COLLEGE 2114 STUDENTS IN 2019-2020 ACADEMIC PROGRAM

17% 43% 21% 10%

97%

38%

22%

27%

64%

are residents of California

received financial aid (in 2018-2019)

52%

$274k

are residents of Santa Clara County (San José region)

RACE & ETHNICITY

scholarship awards to 111 students ($2.5k average)

857

total graduates 276 Fall 2019 581 Spring 2020 95 minors 262 bachelor’s 204 master’s 296 credentials

AT-A-GLANCE STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER SUPPORT 9029

1236

489

study space sessions

academic advising sessions

workshop attendees

+65%

+102%

+33%

from 2018-2019

OUR RANKINGS 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Education Schools #2 Among universities in the CSU system #5 Among universities in the Bay Area #16 Among universities in California

Discover Early Childhood EDU’s 2020 Top 64 Best Colleges with Early Childhood Education Master’s Degrees #2 Among CSUs and universities in California #34 Among universities in the United States

2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Speech-Language Pathlogy Programs #1 Among universities in the Bay Area #2 Among universities in the CSU system #3 Among universities in California

PayScale’s Best Schools for Education Majors by Salary Potential #7 Among universities in the United States Median early career pay: $47,500 Median mid-career pay: $74,500

SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS

ENROLLMENT GROWTH

“Last spring, my mother lost her job due to the pandemic. She applied for unemployment insurance benefits; however, unexplainably she never received the funds. I have been balancing studying full-time, working full-time, and supporting my mother’s needs (as she is also immunocompromised). I’ve lost my job this summer due to the pandemic and my father is soon to be out of work as well. I am having a hard time figuring out how to continue my studies as well as supporting my family emotionally and financially. I need help financially supporting my family. Otherwise, I may need to take the semester off to work before returning to school.” - Lurie College hardship grant student

As a result of our college’s proactive and collective efforts to support our students, our Fall 2020 enrollment has held steady in most of our programs and in some cases it has increased considerably, such as in our Department of Teacher Education, where enrollment doubled from 130 in Summer and Fall 2019 to 258 in Summer and Fall 2020!

When we transitioned to shelter in place in March of 2020, many of our students were directly impacted by income shortages and job losses, which led to food and housing insecurity and concerns about being able to stay in school. Our college immediately took action to address these hardships and raised over $66,000 in gifts from alumni, faculty, staff, and other donors to bolster our student hardship fund. We provided grants to 44 students during the Spring 2020 term and have received over 20 additional requests as we have transitioned into the Fall 2020 term. Help us continue to support our students at sjsu.edu/education/give

“Our department adapted our admissions process to develop a more holistic understanding of our applicants and to encourage more applications from BIPOC (Black, Indigineous, and People of Color) and bilingual candidates.” said Department of Teacher Education Chair Patty Swanson. “Additionally, our Student Success Center helped us recruit diverse candidates from within our university and our region’s high schools and community colleges; we’ve extended our bilingual authorization program from elementary into secondary education; and our faculty and program coordinators have consistently messaged our vision of emancipatory education when meeting with prospective students and applicants. It has been a team effort that has resulted in increased enrollment and, more urgently, to a more diverse incoming class and a robust cohort more than thirty entering bilingual candidates.”

K-12 ONLINE ACADEMY Anticipating that Fall 2020 would likely bring online learning for many K-12 students, we coordinated an online academy during Summer 2020 to support our credential candidates, alumni, community partners, and the larger education community to strengthen their online teaching skills. The series consisted of 23 live webinars on 23 topics from 24 presenters from June 15-July 14. The live webinars attracted over 3000 attendees and the recordings have accumulated over 17,000 views from midJune to early-October of 2020. Webinar topics included: • “Synchronous & Asynchronous Tools for Distance Learning” • “Developing Classroom Community in Online Spaces” • “Techquity- Culturally Responsive Teaching in the 21st Century Classroom”

“It’s important for us as teachers to be thermometers, not thermostats. A thermometer responds to whatever the temperature is, but a thermostat controls it. If we don’t create the culture, our students will.” - Eric Cross, “Techquity” presenter Visit sjsu.edu/education/k12-academy to access all 23 webinar recordings.

NEW ACADEMIC INITIATIVES

STRATEGIC PLAN GRANTS

MA, EMANCIPATORY SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

During the Spring 2020 term, we coordinated a grant proposal process within our college to advance the Lurie College Strategic Plan’s four priority areas - community-engaged, culturally sustaining, interdisciplinary, and holistic - and awarded funding to 6 groups’ projects for the 2020-2021 year:

Our new, innovative program is designed for emerging K-12 leaders who wish to engage with emancipatory leadership practices to improve educational opportunities for historically marginalized students. Grounded in a living case study approach, the program bridges theory and practice to provide students with the skills and understandings needed to be transformative school leaders. Learn more about the program at sjsu.edu/edleadership/mesl. IMPACT SAN JOSÉ FELLOWSHIP Our new fellowship program supports and develops educators who are driven by their passions for social justice, educational equity, and postively impacting their communities. We selected our first cohort of 11 fellows for the Fall 2020 term and they will each receive $5000 in scholarship funding, mentorship, and more. Each of our fellows has also committed to teaching in a Title I school upon the completion of their credential program. Learn more about the program at sjsu.edu/education/fellows.

• “Creating an Inclusive Climate: Queering Our Classrooms and Our Campus” • “Early Childhood Connections” • “Education Leadership Minor” • ”Health Development Clinic” • ”Interprofessional Education Project” • ”Interprofessional Summit”

“The Health Development (HD) Clinic is a community-engaged, multidisciplinary clinic that will offer values-based, culturally sustaining, and trauma-informed care to children, youth, and families,” said Child & Adolescent Development Department faculty Cara Maffini. “The goal of the HD Clinic is to maximize the developmental, behavioral, and familial wellness of those served while providing interprofessional training to future professionals.” Learn more about each project at bit.ly/lurie-strategic-plan-grants.

ETHNIC STUDIES RESIDENCY Our new Ethnic Studies Residency Program is a collaboration between San José State University, East Side Union High School District and William C. Overfelt High School. Ethnic Studies helps students connect with their power by highlighting the strengths in their personal, community, and cultural backgrounds. The Ethnic Studies Residency Program supports teacher candidates and their mentor teachers at Overfelt High School in cultivating the mindsets, knowledge, and skills to design culturally sustaining curriculum for their students and turn their classrooms into spaces of solidarity and liberation. Our Program Coordinators, Associate Dean Marcos Pizarro, Faculty Associate Dean for Research Mark Felton, and Department of Teacher Education faculty Luis Poza are very excited about the direction and initial outcomes of this partnership:

“The engagement of the teachers and candidates has been incredible. They are working as true partners with a deep commitment to Ethnic Studies approaches that are healing, emancipatory, and a model to the rest of the school on what learning communities need to look like in 2020.”

MEET OUR SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS Thanks to generous support from alumni and friends, Lurie College was able to award 111 students a total of $274,000 for the 2019-2020 academic year, with an average award of $2469 and a median award of $1000. These awards are becoming even more critical during a time when our communities need transformative educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders and when so many of our students are experiencing financial hardships. Gather some insights about five of our amazing 2019-2020 scholarship recipients on these two pages and watch their video interviews at sjsu.edu/education/give, where you can also make a gift that can impact the trajectory of our students’ lives!

Jennifer Villegas Lopez BA, Child & Adolescent Development “What I’ll remember the most is the friendly, welcoming, and inspiring environment that my department has to offer. The staff here are such an inspiration to me and I see myself being like them one day. They’re such a great example of being motivators for students. I’ll also remember all of the fun events. They’re so fun and it’s a way to meet other peers and create those connections that will be very beneficial in the long run.”

Nicole Ellis MA, Counseling & Guidance “The last two years in my grad program have been the most introspective and reflective time of my life. I’ve been able to grow in so many different ways by honing in on what my passions are, what my purpose is, and my ‘why’ for doing this work. There have been so many opportunities to grow my confidence, specifically in finding my voice.”

Allyson Landreth Single Subject Credential “I knew I wanted to pursue a career in education pretty early on when I was a sophomore in high school. I had the privilege of being in a program called BioSITE where I was able to mentor 4th grade students in an outdoor setting. We were able to engage with them and teach them science concepts like environmental stewardship and that really opened my mind to education.”

Christian Ponce MA & Multiple Subject Credential “For our credential and master’s program, we were sent out into the field to teach for two semesters. Towards the end of my first semester, some of the kids wrote me letters when I finished student teaching and one of them left me a letter saying that they’ve never had a male teacher before and that it was really cool and they hoped they could have me as a teacher in the future. That was really cool for me because I knew I had made an impact.”

Leslye Tinson Ed.D., Educational Leadership “One word I would use to describe education is ‘Fun.’ I think that education is something that we may approach from a very serious perspective, especially as college students and doctoral students, but the other part is remembering to have fun and remembering to embrace this as an experience like other experiences, remembering to be inquisitive, to be curious...and taking the time to build relationships with the people that wil ultimately be my colleagues.”

FACULTY SECURE

$600K $333K

MAJOR GRANTS

In addition to supporting our students on their educational journeys, our talented and diverse faculty are dedicated to conducting impactful research, scholarship, and other creative activities that align with the four priority areas of our strategic plan: community-engaged, culturally sustaining, holistic, and interdisciplinary.

“Ultimately, the idea is that residents will be hired in the participating districts,” says Dr. David Whitenack, Professor of Teacher Education. “The support that they receive after they are hired is also coordinated with the residency partnership so that it’s more of a seamless process.”

This year, numerous faculty secured substaintial grants to address critical needs and create opportunities for our students, our college, our university, and our region. Learn about some of those faculty and their grants on these pages and catch up on other faculty news and stories at sjsu.edu/education/faculty

Dr. Whitenack and Dr. Lisa Simpson, Assistant Professor of Special Education have expanded the work around their teacher residency program with the help of a $600,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Learn more about the residency program and its impact through a podcast and video with them at bit.ly/lurie-lisa-david

“It is not a secret to those of us in speech pathology,” says Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences Chair Nidhi Mahendra “that California has one of the most dire shortages in the nation of speech-language pathologists and audiologists.” Dr. Mahendra and her department have responded to this shortage by securing a $333,000 grant from the CSU Chancellor’s Office to attract and train more speech therapists. Given all of the events of 2020, Mahendra and her department are also hopeful they will be able to utilize the grant to train a more diverse, justice-oriented wave of students. Listen to our podcast with Nidhi at bit.ly/lurie-nidhi-mahendra

$1.69M $300K

SELECTED FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Our faculty regulary contribute to the growth of their fields through publications, presentations, and more. Read a subset of our faculty contributions from the past year below and on page 10 of this report.

“In this moment in history, the most exciting part of this grant is that it creates space for a true reimagining of undergraduate STEM education,” says Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Tammie Visintainer. Dr. Vistintainer, along with Associate Dean Marcos Pizarro and a team of interdisciplinary faculty from across SJSU, were recently awarded a $1.69 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation for their proposal “Transforming Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Through Culturally Sustaining, Active and Asset-Based Approaches to Introductory Science Courses,” which aims to increase diversity and retention in STEM. Read the story at bit.ly/lurie-tammie-marcos

“We are the pipeline to the current and next generation of leaders who are looking for new, innovative ways to serve youth in foster care and youth experiencing homelessness in extraordinary times,” says Dr. Lorri Capizzi, Assistant Professor of Counselor Education, after she and Dr. Brent Duckor, Associate Professor of Teacher Education, secured a $300,000 grant from the CSU’s Center for Closing the Achievement Gap. Dr. Capizzi and Dr. Duckor plan to utilize the grant to establish the SJSU Center for Collaborative Research Excellence in Education (CCREE), which will elevate our commitment to students in foster care and youth experiencing homelessness. Read the press release at bit.ly/lurie-brent-lorri

KATYA AGUILAR, with LARA ERVIN-KASSAB, contributed “Professional Growth Among Mentor Teachers in a Co-Teaching Model of Preservice Education” to the CCTE SPAN 2020 Research Monograph, 34–41. JOLYNN ASATO, with Sumer Seiki, contributed “Online digital science resources: A survival toolkit for teaching through the pandemic” to Connected Science Learning 2(2) ALLISON BRICEÑO, with Clauda Rodriguez-Mojica, contributed “Critical Consciousness in Bilingual Teacher Preparation for Emancipatory Biliteracy” to Bilingual Review/Revista Bilingüe. SYLVIA BRANCA, with EMILY SLUSSER, presented “Understanding Student Expectations and Experiences in Large Classes” at the Teaching for Active and Engaged Learning, Lilly Conference in San Diego, CA in 2020. REBECA BURCIAGA, with ANDREA GOLLOHER and DAVID WHITENACK, contributed “Intersectionally reculturing educational leader preparation and practice for all students” to the Journal of the California Association of Professors of Educational Administration, 31, 2019.

MORE FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS KYOUNG MI CHOI’s co-presentation “Third Culture Kids: Growing up among world” was accepted to the 32th International Congress of Psychology in Prague, Czech Republic (conference canceled due to COVID-19). ARNOLD DANZIG co-edited Who Controls the Preparation of Education Administrators? (2019) MARK FELTON, with ELLEN MIDDAUGH and HENRY FAN have been invited to co-present “Building productive online civic discourse: Examining the intersection of platform, issue and individual aims” at the Association of Internet Researchers Conference. MARIA FUSARO, with Karen LaPro, Christine Lippard, and Gina Cook, contributed “Relationships in early practicum experiences: Positive and negative aspects and associations with teacher characteristics and teaching efficacy” to the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. DINA IZENSTARK, with ELLEN MIDDAUGH, presented “Past family-based nature activities and improved family functioning in adulthood” at the Academy of Leisure Sciences conference in Champaign, IL in 2020. SAILI KULKARNI, with HYUN-SOOK PARK and Luanna Meyer, contributed the chapter “Culturally Responsive Special Education in Inclusive Schools” to Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives, 10th Edition.

JASON LAKER contributed the chapter “Academic Curriculum” to Men and Masculinities: Theoretical Foundations and Promising Practices for Supporting College Men’s Development. MATTHEW LOVE, with EDUARDO MUÑOZMUÑOZ, and MARCELLA McCOLLUM, co-presented “Past, Present, and Future Directions of Dual Language Immersion in California Post Proposition 58” at the National Association of Bilingual Education conference in Las Vegas, NV in 2020. MEI-YAN LU’s presentation “Generation Z College Students’ Perception on Leadership: A Case Study at San José State University” was accepted to the California College Personnel Association (CCPA) conference in San Francisco, CA (conference canceled due to COVID-19). CARA MAFFINI, with LISA SIMPSON and Rachel Schuck, contributed “Examining Use of School Personnel in CBT Interventions for Anxiety in Students with ASD” to Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 54, 301312.. NIDHI MAHENDRA presented “Designing for equity: Big, bold thinking for speech-language pathologists in 2020” at the Bilingual Therapies Symposium. ROBERT MARX, with Heather Hensman Kettrey, conributed “Effects of bystander sexual assault prevention programs on promoting intervention skills and combatting the bystander effect: a systematic review and meta-analysis” to the Journal of Experimental Criminology, 1-25.

COLETTE RABIN, with GRINELL SMITH, Marilyn Watson, and Lara Daly, contributed “Building a Classroom Community That Supports Students’ Social/Moral Development” to Teacher Education Quarterly, 46, 4, 10-31. MAUREEN SMITH co-presented “Women in Engineering: Promoting identity exploration and professional development” at the virtual American Society of Engineering Education Conference and Expo. PEI-TZU TSAI’s co-presentation “Adults with aphasia and children with stuttering sing together: An intergenerational study” was accepted to the California Speech Language Hearing Association Annual State Convention, in Anaheim, CA (conference canceled due to COVID-19). NEW FACULTY ROLES ALLISON BRICEÑO received tenure & promotion to Associate Professor REBECA BURCIAGA has become Interim Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership LISA SIMPSON received tenure & promotion to Associate Professor WENDY QUACH received promotion to Full Professor FACULTY RETIREMENTS STEVE BERTA has retired from the Department of Counselor Education GARY CAVA has retired from the Department of Child and Adoelscent Development For more faculty news and bios, visit sjsu.edu/education/faculty

NEW FACULTY ONMEET THE OUR HORIZON JANET BANG, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR CHILD & ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

“My research focuses on how children learn language from their everyday interactions,” says Dr. Bang. “This work includes families from a variety of diverse linguistic backgrounds as well as families with typically-developing children and children with developmental disorders.” With that in mind, Dr. Bang is dedicated to using her research to empower families and educators with new insights into how to support children’s development.

LORRI CAPIZZI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR COUNSELOR EDUCATION Dr. Capizzi has extensive experience working with first-generation low-income students in K-12 and in higher education. “My professional interests include examining social justice-based school counseling and its role in increasing access to higher education for foster youth and students experiencing homelessness,” says Dr. Cappizzi. Previously, she taught both undergraduate and graduate-level courses and placed and supervised school counselors with Lurie College. REBECCA CRUZ, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

“My research interests include teacher education and development, critical disability theory, cultural and linguistic diversity, and policy impact on schools as well as issues of equity, inclusion, and attitudes toward individuals with disabilities,” says Dr. Cruz. Prior to her doctoral studies, she earned a master’s degree in special education from SFSU and worked in middle and high school settings to develop co-teaching and inclusion models.

MEGAN CUELLAR, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS & SCIENCES Dr. Cuellar researches and teaches coursework in neurological communication disorders with a specific interest in swallowing disorders and motor speech disorders. “My research aims to use whole EEG neuroimaging techniques to explore the effects of stimulating mirror neurons in order to enhance swallowing and motor speech communication abilities in clinical populations,” says Dr. Cuellar.

MARÍA LEDESMA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

“My research interests include equity oriented critical policy analysis, including contextualizing and historicizing the history and application of race-conscious social policy in higher education and the examination of leadership for social justice,” says Dr. Ledesma. She is also interested in exploring the experiences of faculty of color who identify as first-generation. As a doctoral student, María was selected to sit as the 32nd Student Regent for the University of California, the first Latina to hold this post. AUBREY URESTI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR COUNSELOR EDUCATION Dr. Uresti, a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) and a National Certified Counselor, has experience in all levels of K-12 education as a teacher, school counselor, therapist, supervisor, and consultant. “My research focuses on the individual, family, and extended family-level experiences of adolescents who have a parent in jail or prison, as well as their meaningmaking processes regarding parental incarceration,” says Dr. Uresti.

INVESTING IN OUR STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL TRAJECTORIES At Lurie College, we believe that a little bit of support for our students can go a long way. That’s why we provide a range of grants for our students to conduct research with faculty, to acquire research supplies, and for travel to attend conferences and leadership development opportunities. Learn more about the experiences that some of our outstanding undergraduate, graduate, and credential students had as a result of receiving these grants over the past academic year.

Luz Nicacio and Liliana Adler, undergraduate students in our Child and Adolescent Development program, received financial support to attend the Latinx Leads Conference in New York with Student Success Center Director Janene Perez and Chicanx/Latinx Student Success Center Program Director Lily Gangai.

“I think it’s important that everyone knows that there’s people who grow up a lot differently than you do and have different values than you do, so it’s important to educate yourself about those kinds of values and be an open ear and an ally to people who may not look like you,” said Adler. Listen to our podcast episode with Luz and Liliana at bit.ly/lurie-luz-liliana James Chow, graduate student in our Speech Pathlogy program, received financial support to conduct research on alternative methods to help people with aphasia communicate with medical providers and received faculty support and mentorship from Associate Professor Nidhi Mahendra.

“Something challenging or surprising that I’ve seen and experienced this year working with this project is just how little resources we have for adults in geriatrics with these types of communicative disorders such as aphasia or dementia,” said Chow.

Listen to our podcast episode with James at bit.ly/lurie-james-chow

Alexandra Murueta, Michelle Ballou, and Liz Cagle, undergraduate and graduate students in our Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, recieved financial support to attend the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) convention.

“I really encourage any of the students in the CDS program to apply for the ASHA convention sponsorship next year and any other student who is contemplating going for a scholarship or sponsorship just to go for it and take the plunge because it really is life changing,” said Murueta. Listen to our podcast episode with Alexandra, Michelle, and Liz at bit.ly/lurie-ali-michelle-liz Monica Gonzalez, graduate student in our Department of Special Education, received financial support to conduct research on the development of a graphic organizer for ELLs with high incidence disabilities.

“I noticed that there was specific research on English language learners, specific research on children with autism, specific research on children who have a specific learning disability, but not a lot of research on English language learners who have autism or a specific learning disability,” said Gonzalez. Listen to our podcast episode with Monica at bit.ly/lurie-monica-gonzalez Kyah Cobb and Robby Abarca, undergraduate students in our Communicative Disorders and Sciences program, collaborated with Professor Paul Cascella on a project that explores communication supports for edlers dually diagnosed with dementia and an intellectual disability.

“The whole research project is about the connection between intellectual disabilities and dementia. What we have been looking into focuses on aspects of Down syndrome and the correlation in communication strategies for those who are also dual diagnosed with dementia,” said Abarca. Listen to our podcast episode with Kyah and Robby at bit.ly/lurie-kyah-robbie Joana Gaeta and Samuel Bland, graduate students in our Special Education program, collaborated with Assistant Professor Saili Kulkarni on a project that examined beliefs about disability and race among special education teachers of color.

“We’re trying to see how teachers position themselves to help out our students when we see disparities – whether it’s behavioral issues or academic issues within the school setting – and then how we as the special education teachers contend with that on the education front,” said Gaeta. Listen to our podcast episode with Joana and Samuel at bit.ly/lurie-joanna-samuel

MORE HIGHLIGHTS

FUTURE OF LEARNING SUMMIT This inaugural summit brought together educators, thought leaders, policymakers, and students to listen to a series of 10 speakers and engage in a dialogue about how we learn today and consider how teaching and learning can and should evolve in the years ahead. The speakers consisted of a mixture of current SJSU students, Lurie College faculty, and external keynote speakers such as Arun Ramanathan, CEO of Pivot Learning Partners.

“What if we actually believed that multilingualism led to economic success and that it’s better to retain your language and also learn English? If we didn’t view children the moment they entered our schools as broken because they spoke the language of their parents, we might actually change that label and look at all kids as emerging bilinguals instead of viewing these children as broken and needing to be fixed,” said Ramanathan. Listen to all 10 speeches at sjsu.edu/education/fli

FACES OF LEARNING PROJECT Student voice is central to the work of our college. Listening to and learning from our students, especially our students who have historically been marginalized, is essential if we are to work toward a more equitable and inclusive future of learning. The Faces of Learning Project engaged SJSU undergraduate students in a year-long project to learn about, reflect upon, and amplify the voices and experiences of their peers through the use of interviews and photography.

“This has been a beautiful experience but it’s also been thoughtprovoking and emotional,” said Co-Researcher Alberto Camacho. “It takes a toll because sometimes you resonate with them or they bring something to the table that you haven’t dealth with yet.” Meet our co-researchers, read through their book of student stories, and watch their panel discussion at sjsu.edu/education/faces

FROM 2019-2020

SPRING 2020 CELEBRATIONS

ACCESS AND EQUITY IN STEM

Despite the transition to a remote teaching, learning, and working environment for the latter half of the spring semester, we were intent on hosting many of our Spring 2020 Lurie College celebrations like our Dean’s Scholars Honors Ceremony, Celebration of Teaching Ceremony, Learning Showcase, and Graduation Celebration to highlight the academic achievements of our current and future students, even if those celebrations had to take place online.

Our STEM+C Teacher Institute creates opportunities for our current SJSU students, recent alumni, and teachers in partner districts to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities to teach math, science, and/or computer science and earn foundational teaching credentials through a culturally sustaining pedagogical approach. Thanks to a generous grant from the State of California and the CSU Chancellor’s Office, we are able offer the program at no cost. During Summer 2020, we offered the program fully online and grew our enrollment to over 120 future STEM educators.

• Watch our video that recognizes our 218 Dean’s Scholars at sjsu.edu/education/deans-scholars • Watch our video that recognizes our 64 Celebration of Teaching awardees at sjsu.edu/education/celebration-of-teaching • Watch our video series of 10 students sharing their academic refelctions and insights at sjsu.edu/education/showcase • Watch our video that recognizes our 581 Spring 2020 graduates at sjsu.edu/education/graduation

“This was the best teacher training that I’ve had in 30 years. It was very thought-provoking and with the diversity of the students in the class, I learned a lot.” - Kelly Herz, 5th grade teacher at Stonegate Elementary School Learn more about the institute and listen to our students’ testimonials at sjsu.edu/education/stem-institute

TEACHER OF THE YEAR Clarissa Johnston, recent graduate of our moderate-severe credential program in our Department of Special Education, has known she wanted to support students in special education since she was young. “I wanted to become a special education teacher when I helped out with a camp called the Baby Fold camp in high school,” Johnston explained. “I was a day camp counselor for students with emotional disturbances. I just fell in love with them and I wanted to work with them however I could.” Since Clarissa moved to California from out of state, she enrolled at Lurie College to clear her credential and continue pursuing her goals and dreams as an education specialist. While enrolled at Lurie College, Clarissa has also been teaching at Ryan STEAM Academy in the Alum Rock Union School District and was recently selected by her peers as the Teacher of the Year for both her school and district for the 2019-2020 academic year! Watch our full video interview with Clarissa at bit.ly/lurie-clarissa-johnston

STATE FINALIST Each spring, the CSU system hosts a statewide research competition made up of students from all of the CSUs, and SJSU identifies its finalists for that event from a campus-wide research competition. Communicative Disorders & Sciences Graduate Student Grace Shefcik was selected by Lurie College and SJSU to participate in the CSU competition for her research, which focuses on assessment of non-binary individuals’ self-perception of voice.

“Many trans people report a desire to modify their voice, and some receive services from a speech-language pathologist, or SLP,” said Shefcik. “During this initial assessment, the SLP will typically have the client report their self-perception of voice and voice-related concerns through a questionnaire measure. There currently exist two questionnaire measures that are widely used for this, but neither of these were developed for non-binary clients, so it would be inappropriate to use them for this population. In my research, I developed and validated the first questionnaire that assesses non-binary individuals’ self-perception of voice and voice-related concerns. I wanted to pursue this research to address a gap in resources available for this population.”

Listen to our podcast episode with Grace at bit.ly/lurie-grace-shefcik

EDUCATORS OF IMPACT SERIES The COVID-19 crisis made abundantly clear the critical role that educators play in our society. With that in mind, we wanted to annually recognize the importance of all educators by highlighting individuals who have made a significant impact. During the end of the Spring 2020 semester, we sent out a wide call for nominations and received dozens of submissions of our alumni, such as Mario Rocha.

“Mr. Mario Rocha joined the O.B. Whaley Elementary School staff during the 2019-20 school year as a Resource Specialist Teacher. Immediately, he was a perfect fit for our student population, a diverse Title 1 school. He created an inviting learning environment where students easily made connections with him and felt his genuine love for them. Within weeks of him as the school’s new resource teacher, student absenteeism improved, students made academic gains, and students enjoyed school! Mr. Rocha is one of a kind, and we are so fortunate to have him as an educator.” - Mario’s nominator Learn about dozens more Lurie College Educators of Impact at bit.ly/lurie-impact. Nominate more Educators of Impact by emailing barbara.ybarra@sjsu.edu.

EdD PROGRAM REACHES NEW HEIGHTS During his first year as our Ed.D. Leadership Program Director, Dr. Brad Porfilio has led the department towards achieving several notable accomplishments!

“First, the program modified its mission and vision to reflect the program’s commitment to being the preeminent academic unit for preparing students to eliminate oppression within P-20 schools,” said Porfilio. “Second, several Core Ed.D. faculty members generated new Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) in order to better ensure the program’s assessment effort improves student learning outcomes. Third, the faculty established several core key hallmarks of program including the program’s transdisciplinary nature, the option to complete a dissertation through the production of a documentary, the inclusion of global-learning experiences, a focus on social justice, and the support from a graduate writing fellow, in order to increase the amount of socially diverse learners admitted to the program. With the hallmarks of program established and articulated to students across the Bay Area, the program nearly doubled its applications from 2018-2019 and admitted its largest cohort.” Learn about our newest cohort of doctoral students at sjsu.edu/edd

Connie L. Lurie College of Education One Washington Square San José, CA 95192-0071

“We both went to San José State, and it had a huge impact on our lives. The value of our education wasn’t just in what we’re taught in the classroom. It’s the way professors at San José State interact with students. They care.” The Shelley and Chris Swircek Endowment for Education will provide multiple scholarships for students preparing to become teachers. Read the full story at legacy.sjsu.edu/supporters-like-you. You can positively impact and create opportunities for our Lurie College of Education students. Provide a monetary gift at sjsu.edu/education/give and learn about additional ways to get involved at sjsu.edu/education/alumni.

SJSU Lurie College of Education 2019-2020 Annual Report

Articles inside

More Highlights From 2020-2021

Investing in Our Students’ Trajectories

Faculty Highlights

Meet Our Scholarship Recipients

Meet Our New Faculty

Faculty Secure Major Grants

Message from Dean Heather Lattimer

Leading In An Unusual Year