Endeavors 2022

FROM THE DEAN

DEAR COLLEGE OF EDUCATION COMMUNITY

It brings me so much joy to introduce myself to you as the dean of the College of Education. While I’m still new, I’ve long had connections to the EdTerp community and know firsthand that the work we do has never been more important. We face critical shortages of teachers, counselors and administrators nationwide. The pandemic has put a spotlight on our strengths and shortcomings in meeting students’ diverse needs and creating effective and inclusive learning environments. Injustice and identity-based oppression inflict harm and limit our ability to ensure all have access to high-quality academic, professional and personal experiences. Health and well-being continue to be elusive for so many, yet essential to our ability to thrive. And our efforts to help others discern what is true and what is not are consistently challenged, threatening our classrooms, environment and democracy.

EdTerps are working hard to understand and address these issues, and so many are making significant contributions to our collective success and progress. This issue of Endeavors introduces you to alumni leading as superintendents, staff engaging in their local communities and scholars informing the most comprehensive reform of Maryland public education in a generation, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

I hope that these stories leave you as proud, inspired and hopeful as I am about our future, not only as a college, but also as a global society.

Sincerely, Kimbery Griffin, DEAN

THE BULLETIN

Five Questions with Dean Kimberly Griffin

‘No Grander Challenge’

First Cohort Graduates From Human Development Major

College Signs Pledge for Effective Teaching and Learning with Technology

A Useful Podcast

High Rankings for College of Education Graduate Programs IN

THE CLASSROOM

Coming Full Circle

The Difference Teachers Can Make

IMPACT

Study Aims to Improve State’s Outreach to Students With Disabilities

Research Insights for 2022

Researcher Helps Lead Nationwide Study of Early Childhood Brain Development

Researchers Study National Effect of Test-Optional Admissions

Creating Data-Literate Citizens

How AI Support Could Add Up to Better Math Teaching

Navigating Away from Online Misinformation

Faculty Awards and Accolades

Endeavors is published annually for alumni, friends, faculty and staff of the University of Maryland College of Education. Feedback and comments on the magazine and/or published articles should be sent to coecomm@umd.edu.

GALLERY

DEAN

Laura

Stephanie

WITH THE BULLETIN › NEWS

One of the advantages of being part of the COE faculty for 10 years before stepping in as dean in July was that Kimberly Griffin didn’t need to spend time learning her way around the sprawling UMD campus or struggle to remember the names of faculty and staff in the college. Instead, she’s dedicated much of her first few months to thinking deeply about where the field of education is headed, and the role the college can play during this time of rapid change.

Griffin spoke with Endeavors about the scope of her career, how the pandemic both exacerbated inequities and created opportunities to address them, and the challenges that keep her engaged. She also shares some of her favorite self-care practices and the music that moves her, providing a glimpse into who she is as a Black woman and educator.

BY NATIFIA MULLINGS

1After attending UMD as a student and serving a decade on the faculty, what does serving as dean mean to you?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. It’s a full circle moment for me. If I could go back and whisper in the ear of the 21-year-old who walked the hallways of the Benjamin Building and tell her that one day she’s going to be dean of the college, she would never believe it. It was a time when I was discovering that I liked research and might want to become a professor; and I had never thought of myself in that way before. The fact that I’m now dean is an opportunity to give back to a place that has given so much to me, a place that was the start of me becoming who I am.

2What initially sparked your interest in a career in education?

I was a psychology major trying to figure out what I really wanted to do post-graduation. I was taking education classes and conducting research for a course on educational disparities, specifically studying the Black-white test score gap. I read so many academic papers on the topic and can remember feeling angry. I had associated education with becoming a teacher, but I had this moment where I understood that there are people who study education and educational outcomes and work to solve big problems in the education field. I realized researchers focused on education can support teachers in doing their important work.

3What keeps you motivated and committed to this work?

It sounds simple but there are problems to be solved. If I look at my research agenda, there’s always a problem at the core of every paper or project. I often ask my students to think about the thing that keeps them up at night. Whatever the problem is, I think there’s a solution.

Over the years, I’ve honed my ability to understand complex problems and propose solutions that can make a difference. I like to think of myself as someone who talks about the hard things in a way that motivates, as opposed to defeats. If I’m going to talk about a problem, I want to discuss how we can work together to address it. When I see lots of problems, I’m like anybody else, I get overwhelmed and tired. Oftentimes, I want to shut down, but there’s so much at stake. We’re talking about issues that affect real people, and if I believe that education can do what I think it can do, then it’s worth it.

4What’s one piece of advice that you’ve received that you feel has prepared you for this role specifically?

Be yourself. I’ve received this advice countless times, but I think it’s sometimes easier to try to figure out who you are based on someone else’s expectation of you. But that doesn’t serve anybody. The hiring process is a great example. You shouldn’t put a false representation of yourself in front of the panel. They end up hiring who they think you are and they expect you to show up as that person. You can only be that person for so long. From my first faculty interview, I chose to be myself, to show up as myself. I wore my hair in braids, a decision that some people questioned, and I kept in my multiple earrings. I had to let them decide whether they wanted to hire me. If they did, great, and if they didn’t, I would be OK with that.

Fun facts:

As a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society, Dean Griffin’s name is inscribed on the ODK Foundation.

Dean Griffin taught a weekly yoga class up until July 2022. With

Read Dean Griffin’s bio at go.umd.edu/deangriffin

5If you could create a mixtape with three songs that speak to who you are, or that motivate you, what three songs would you pick and why?

The first song is “Video” by India Arie. I’ve always said that if there was a theme song that played when I walked into a room, this would be it. It’s my walk-up music. It serves as a reminder to be yourself and everything will be alright. It is also mellow and chill and makes me smile every time I hear it.

The next song is “Freedom” by Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar. There’s so much energy that surges through the song. Every time it says, “Winners don’t quit on themselves,” it reminds me that there will be moments when you just have to push through and show up, even when you’re tired.

The final song is “Finesse” by Bruno Mars and Cardi B. There’s just something nostalgic about that song. The first beat of it makes me smile and reminds me of being a teenager. It has a new jack swing and R&B vibe, and I love R&B.

a passion for cooking, Dean Griffin has a vegetable garden, where she grows tomatoes, eggplants, snap peas and squash.

‘No Grander Challenge’

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION’S FIRST ‘PINNING CEREMONY’ CELEBRATES STUDENTS HEADING INTO LOCAL CLASSROOMS

BY LIAM FARRELL

As teachers and school administrators across America work to recover from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering stress and staff shortages, College of Education students are stepping into the classroom with a definite sense of mission.

The college held a new ceremony on October 11 for 222 undergraduate and graduate students who started their yearlong internships at local schools this fall. Each attendee received a pin with the college’s name and logo, in the same spirit of events elsewhere for nursing students.

“There is no grander challenge than ensuring every child … has access to high-quality education,” said Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice, who spearheaded the ceremony’s creation while dean of the College of Education. “That starts with access to high-quality and diverse educators.”

Students will be working in Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s county schools in elementary, middle and secondary education, as well as early education and early special education. Once they

complete the program, they will be eligible for initial teacher certification in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., as well as U.S. territories.

Rachael Termini, a senior from Germantown, Md., is interning at High Point High School in Beltsville. While aware of the macro-level conversations taking place in American education, she said her mission as a teacher will focus on how she can help the students sitting in front of her.

“I was always one of those students who really loved being in school,” she said. “You need to go into it with a positive mindset about all the change you can create.”

She added that the pinning ceremony was also a good way to show how teachers provide “essential services” just like medical professionals. “It’s nice to have that acknowledgement, that we are really trying to contribute something good to society.”

+ READ MORE AT go.umd.edu/pinning

First Cohort Graduates From Human Development Major

BY NATIFIA MULLINGS

This spring, 16 students were the first to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in human development, a major that launched in Fall 2020 and has more than tripled in size since then.

“We are pleased to be able to offer a degree program that meets the academic interest of our students,” said Laura Stapleton, chair and professor, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. “The human development major adds to the robust degree options available to undergraduate students at the College of Education.”

PHOTO: STEPHANIE S. CORDLE

College Signs Pledge for Effective Teaching and Learning with Technology

BY NATIFIA MULLINGS

The College of Education has signed the Educator Prep Programs for Digital Equity and Transformation Pledge, reaffirming its commitment to preparing educators with skills to support student success in a digital environment.

The pledge, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Education and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), was created in response to the rise of online learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We recognize that accelerating transformative digital learning empowers students, and by signing the pledge, we establish another pathway to help prepare educators to advocate for equity,” said Ebony Terrell Shockley, executive director of Educator Preparation.

Institutions signing the pledge, more than 60,

are committing to preparing teachers to thrive in digital environments, use technology to pursue ongoing professional learning, apply frameworks to accelerate transformative digital learning, equipping all faculty to continuously improve expertise in technology for learning, and collaborating with school leaders to identify shared digital teaching competencies.

“Knowing how to use technology to support student learning is an essential skill for any teacher to thrive in a post-COVID world,” said Richard Culatta, CEO of ISTE and member of the college’s Board of Visitors. “I’m thrilled that the University of Maryland College of Education is committed to embedding tech skills into their program so all of their teacher candidates will be prepared to hit the ground running.”

A Useful Podcast

BY NATIFIA MULLINGS

A PODCAST BY A COLLEGE OF EDUCATION PROFESSOR HAS BEEN RANKED THE NO. 2 STATISTICAL PODCAST BY FEEDSPOT.

“Quantitude,” co-founded and co-hosted by Gregory Hancock, professor and director of the Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation Program, focuses on issues related to the development and application of quantitative methods, as well as academia in general. Entering its fourth season, the podcast boasts 100 episodes, 350,000 downloads, and was also ranked a top 50 social science podcast in the U.S. by Apple.

Hancock and co-host Patrick Curran, professor at the University of North Carolina, can be heard talking about serious statistical topics but without taking themselves too seriously on twitter.com/quantitudepod or quantitudepod.org.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE OF EDUCATION RANKING AMONG PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS THIS YEAR IN THE U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT’S BEST GRADUATE SCHOOL RANKING. THE COLLEGE RANKED 30TH OVERALL.

STUDENT

COUNSELING

AND

PERSONNEL SERVICES

The College has held the No. 1 spot in the country for 22 of the last 23 years.

Coming Full Circle

LEARNING AND LIFE INTERSECT FOR THIS RISING SENIOR.

BY AMANDA LOUDIN

rend forecaster Ayesha Siddiqi’s famous advice to “Be the person you needed when you were younger” is a guiding principle for senior Savannah Gerben ’23. A human development major and disabilities studies minor, she understands better than most how important it is for children to have caring, nurturing adults in their lives. Gerben herself experienced childhood domestic violence, and her choice of future career models the care and help she received from trusted school counselors.

As she works toward graduation, 27-year-old Gerben is already at work paying it forward. Following a recent internship where she provided childcare, support and resources at a local safehouse for women and children who have survived domestic violence, sexual assault or human trafficking, Gerben is taking on the role of crisis intervention advocate. That would be enough to fill anyone’s days, but Gerben is managing it while completing her studies and parenting two young boys—sometimes going it alone while her military husband is away on active duty.

Some of that drive might come from the fact that her mom modeled a similar ability to keep many balls in the air at once. “My mom was single, raising three kids and going to nursing school at the same time,” says Gerben. “That’s been very inspiring to me and has helped me push through for my own kids.”

Gerben completed her associate’s degree in education at Anne Arundel Community College in 2020, returning to school just as her youngest child turned seven months old. “I stayed up late studying and prepping, and had a vision of my boys seeing me walk across the stage at graduation,” she says. “Then the pandemic hit and I didn’t get that chance.”

Thinking hard about pursuing her next degree, Gerben took advantage of UMD’s remote learning opportunities as the pandemic shut down most in-person learning for a time.

“Virtual learning allowed me to succeed in spite of the hurdles,” she says. “I’m very grateful for the flexibility of my professors.”

One of those hurdles was being stationed at Ft. Gordon in Georgia at the time. But just as in-person learning returned, Gerben’s husband received a relocation to Maryland, which placed them close to Gerben’s mother. “She’s nearby and has been super helpful while I finish school,” Gerben says.

With all the obligations pulling her in myriad directions, Gerben has learned ways to manage it all. “You have to take time for self-care and prioritize yourself,” she says.

As Gerben heads toward her finish line this year, she looks forward to beginning a career that helps children who experience trauma. Recently, Gerben led her safe-house charges in an exercise to help break cycles of abuse and trauma. “I had them trace their handprints on paper and then write inside ideas of kind things they can do with their hands,” she says. “They wrote things like ‘picking flowers’ and ‘helping mom in the kitchen.’ I was impressed by their resiliency.”

And when it comes to resilience, Gerben would know.

“Be the person you needed when you were younger.”

The Difference Teachers Can Make

Bridget Cermeno ’23 had never heard of attention deficit disorder in second grade. All she knew was that she often had to miss recess to catch up with her schoolwork or to meet with teachers one on one.

But a teacher with a hunch suggested that Cermeno’s parents get her tested for a potential learning disability, and was correct. Her diagnosis set Cermeno on the path to academic success and played a role in her choice of UMD major and career aspirations.

“I was incredibly shy at first speaking up about my disability and didn’t often reach out for help,” Cermeno says, “but my teachers were there to support me. By high school, I was much more open about it.”

Cermeno was a native Spanish speaker, which compounded her ADD as she tried to improve her grasp of English. But her Spanish teacher also had a certificate in special ed.

“She made sure I felt comfortable inside and outside the classroom,” says Cermeno. “She helped me and my parents understand my issue, and it made a huge difference in my academic experience.”

As an education major, Cermeno participated in early field experience her junior year, spending eight weeks in two different special ed classroom settings before choosing a track on general education plus disabilities training.

During her fall semester, Cermeno is spending two days a week in a local elementary school classroom with two mentor teachers: one for general education and one for special education. In the spring, she will move to a five-days-per-week format, immersing herself in hands-on learning. And she’s not stopping after graduation.

“I just received my acceptance letter from UMD to get my master’s in special ed,” she says. “The classes I take this year will apply toward that degree. I’m excited to continue with this program and help students with the same disabilities I faced.”

BY AMANDA LOUDIN

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS KEPT HER FROM FALLING BEHIND, AND NOW SHE HOPES TO PAY IT FORWARD.

Study Aims to Improve State’s Outreach to Students With Disabilities

A $1.6 MILLION AWARD FROM THE MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (MSDE) WILL FUND A COLLEGE OF EDUCATION STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ITS OUTREACH TO STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES WHO ARE PREPARING FOR FUTURE EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING OR COLLEGE.

BY NATIFIA MULLINGS

Over the next two years, the college’s Center for Transition and Career Innovation (CTCI) will evaluate MSDE’s pre-employment transition services programs, including its outreach efforts and methods of communication, and develop a new model for assessing and delivering those services.

“The opportunity to work in partnership with the Division of Rehabilitation Services showcases Maryland’s collaborative resolve to affect policies and processes that aim to improve services

for students with disabilities and their lives after exiting school,” said Christy H. Stuart, CTCI director.

MDSE’s Division of Rehabilitation Services receives an annual average of 3,900 referrals for pre-employment transition services for students ages 14 to 21 who have an Individualized Education Program, a 504 plan or a documented disability.

Current services include job exploration counseling and work-based learning experiences both at and

after school, as well as experiences outside of the traditional school setting. Students can also secure internships, receive counseling about transition or post-secondary educational programs, training for workplace readiness training and independent living, and instruction in self-advocacy.

“Partnerships like this are critical to creating inclusive organizations and companies,” said University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines. “Individuals with different abilities can contribute to the workforce in a variety of ways, and tapping into the College of Education’s expertise in this way marks a significant step forward.”

“This work is a core part of our College’s commitment to promoting equity in education and society, and we are excited about the opportunity to work and learn alongside our MSDE partners,” added Kimberly Griffin, dean of the College of Education.

Researcher Helps Lead Nationwide Study of Early Childhood Brain Development

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT RESEARCHER’S COLLECTION OF BRAIN IMAGING DATA WILL CONTRIBUTE TO FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND COMPREHENSIVE INITIATIVE

BY SARA GAVIN

Distinguished University Professor of Human Development Nathan Fox will lead the collection of brain imaging data for a landmark national study designed to analyze the influence of prenatal substance use and other environmental impacts on brain development and behavior in infants and children and provide new insights on healthy brain development overall.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse, in collaboration with several other NIH institutes, selected the University of Maryland as one of 25 institutions across the country to implement the HEALthy Brain and Child Development study. This large, multi-year project will recruit a diverse cohort of pregnant people and follow them and their children into early childhood.

Researchers will examine typical developmental trajectories and how prenatal and postnatal exposure to alcohol, drugs and other adversities like poverty and trauma impact the structure and function of the brain, as well as the development of social, emotional and cognitive processes.

Using brain imaging methods—specifically, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalograms (EEG) collected at UMD—they will track brain development over time and assess which factors alter developmental patterns.

“We have never seen a study of this magnitude combine data from so many mothers and infants all across the country, so it’s important we’re all using the same methods and metrics,” said Fox. “We will be collecting information on the families as well, which will help us identify risk and resilience factors that could have major policy implications.”

In addition to analyzing whether early adversity has lasting effects on brain development, researchers say the study will provide critical information that’s currently unavailable on healthy brain development trajectories.

“When parents take their children to the pediatrician, they can see how their child’s body is growing relative to a growth chart, which is based on data from thousands of children over a long period of time,” said Tracy Riggins, associate professor of psychology and another principal investigator for the study. “We don’t have anything like that for early brain development, but a study like this will help us map that out.”

The UMD research team will receive more than $1 million per year over the first five years of the project.

+ FOR THE FULL STORY, VISIT go.umd.edu/cxe

“We have never seen a study of this magnitude combine data from so many mothers and infants all across the country.”

Researchers Study National Effect of Test-Optional Admissions

RESEARCHERS WILL FOCUS ON HOW PANDEMIC-SPURRED RETREAT FROM TESTS AFFECTS EQUITY

BY MARYLAND TODAY STAFF

A $1.4

MILLION GRANT FROM THE BILL AND MELINDA

GATES FOUNDATION will support a study led by Associate Professor of Education Julie J. Park to assess the impact of a nationwide move to make the SAT and ACT tests optional for college admissions, or to eliminate their use altogether.

Park and colleagues will examine whether higher education institutions’ swift moves to alter their admissions processes in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic improved college access or equity for different student populations.

More than 1,800 accredited colleges and universities, including the University of Maryland, were using test-optional policies in admissions for Fall 2020, according to the nonprofit FairTest. The College Board reported that 1.5 million students in the Class of 2021 took the SAT, a drop from 2.2 million a year earlier. The organization attributed the sharp decline to COVID-related closures of schools and testing centers.

The broad retreat from testing came at a time of increasing scrutiny of standardized testing, with critics charging that this traditional gateway to college further stacks the deck against people from underrepresented racial or socioeconomic backgrounds, or with disabilities.

“This study is very timely, and has key implications for society and inequality,” Park said. “Test-optional policies are becoming more common; however, there needs to be more

research and data to inform decision-making. There also needs to be more research on how inequality affects other parts of the college application.”

Park is the lead researcher on the study and will collaborate with faculty members from Colorado State University, Penn State University and Southern Methodist University. Together they will analyze data on enrollment patterns from about 150 four-year institutions included in the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, as well as survey admissions professionals on the implementation of test-optional policies, and interview college admissions leaders.

Finally, they will use natural language processing and artificial intelligence techniques to analyze a dataset of millions of college applications submitted in recent years to understand possible patterns of inequality related to extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation from counselors. In doing so, they will shed light on how bias and inequality might affect non-standardized components of college applications.

“We are interested in learning about how and why admissions evaluation and decision-making policies and practices are changing,” said OiYan Poon, a visiting faculty specialist, and an associate professor affiliate at Colorado State University. “Put simply, our study will help shed light on how race and class inequalities are produced in admissions practices. We hope that what we find will help inform and encourage transformative changes.”

At the end of the two-year study, the team hopes to provide a set of recommendations for designing college admissions to advance equity, as well as provide greater transparency to students and families about changes to the college admissions process.

In addition to Park and Poon, the research team includes Kelly Rosinger, an assistant professor of education and public policy and a research associate at Penn State University, Dominique Baker, an assistant professor of education policy at Southern Methodist University, and Brian Heseung Kim, a visiting faculty specialist at the University of Maryland and Data Scientist at the Common Application.

Creating DataLiterate Citizens

RESEARCHERS WORKING WITH DC SCHOOLS ON NEW CAPSTONE COURSE TO ADDRESS DIGITAL INFORMATION INEQUITY

BY HAYLEIGH MOORE

A $1 MILLION NSF CAREER GRANT will support a College of Education researcher’s work to develop a data science curriculum for high school seniors in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).

The five-year project led by David Weintrop, assistant professor, could teach skills and brighten job prospects for soon-to-be grads who aren’t immediately headed for further studies in sciences, technology, engineering or math (STEM) fields. Perhaps just as importantly, it will give them a greater understanding of how the data generated through phone, internet or other device use could affect their lives.

“This project is in part a response to the inequitable use of algorithms in society and the often invisible ways that data impact us,” Weintrop said. “I think it’s essential that all students have a foundational understanding of the role data is playing in our lives. This is especially true for students from populations historically excluded from computing who are often most directly impacted by inequitable uses of data and technology,” including how biased algorithms could affect young people in a society that increasingly relies on artificial intelligence to make decisions.

In the project’s first year, Weintrop will oversee participatory design sessions

with high school students from DCPS to better understand their experiences with data and the role that data plays in their lives. He’ll also be using these sessions to understand what the students are passionate about and how they can use publicly available datasets to explore their interests.

A follow-up series of participatory design sessions will be held with high school math and computer science teachers to co-design some of the materials that will be used in the curriculum.

“We hope to empower students to take ownership over the use of digital data through coding and data analysis,” said Madison Kantzer, manager of assessment and instruction innovations on the academic innovations team in the office of Teaching and Learning at DCPS.

The curriculum resulting from the project will be freely available online around the world. Additionally, Weintrop plans to share his research at educator-oriented conferences, as well

as with other educational entities, such as the Maryland State Department of Education, with which he is currently working to aid the department’s mission to develop more data science courses for Maryland school districts.

The project also aligns with DCPS’s ongoing mission to develop a data science course that can serve as an alternative to current math offerings like pre-calculus. By collaborating with DCPS, the idea is to create a curriculum that’s open to all high school students across DCPS.

“I care a lot about urban education and my work having an impact in classrooms that have historically not had the opportunity to use innovative, cutting-edge technologies or curricula,” said Weintrop. “We want to empower students to ask and answer questions with that data available in their world.”

We hope to empower students to take ownership over the use of digital data through coding and data analysis.”

How AI Support Could Add Up to Better Math Teaching

BY CHRIS CARROLL

Think of a teacher who inspired you, made you think in a new way or even got you revved up to do algebra homework. There was likely more to their influence than just being a great person—like the way they listened carefully to what students said in class and rolled that into their lesson to boost engagement and understanding.

The technical term for that skill mastered by the best instructors is “uptake,” and it’s not easy to teach to teachers, or to assess how well they employ it. The traditional way to evaluate it and other teaching practices combines a yearly classroom observation and rating by experts in a process that’s infrequent, staffing-intensive and highly subjective. But a project led by Jing Liu, assistant professor of education policy, could one day provide frequent, automated measures of teacher performance.

Known as M-Powering Teaching, or MPT, the system last month was selected as one of 30 educational technology projects to win $250,000 in funding from the Learning Agency, a nonprofit education-focused agency supported by Schmidt Futures, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other high-profile philanthropies.

MPT uses natural language processing, a branch of machine learning and artificial intelligence, to analyze how math teachers instruct and interact with students, with the goal of providing a stream of near-instant feedback. It wouldn’t replace human-based ratings or feedback to teachers, and the system has plenty of human checks and balances, said Liu, whose research focuses on how education policy intersects with data science.

But when fully operational, it has the potential to be faster and more precise than humans can be when measuring performance.

“What we do is combine theory and knowledge from teaching, learning and linguistics, and use an automated process that generates useful insights from a transcription of the class,” Liu said. “We can measure, for example, how many times in the class a teacher is uptaking student ideas, or when the teacher asks questions, are they close-ended yes-no questions, or open-ended ones that can generate useful discussion?”

The technology was developed based on thousands of hours of archived recordings of math instruction housed at Harvard University—where Liu’s MPT partner Professor Heather Hill researches teaching quality and training programs—and at the University of Michigan. The third core team member, Dora Demszky, is an incoming assistant professor in educational data science at Stanford University who studies natural language processing.

It will soon be tested at a school district in Utah, and MPT should eventually be folded into a teaching improvement app fielded by another partner, the startup company TeachFX, which currently offers insights based on metrics on talk patterns in classrooms, like how long teachers speak before a student can get a word in edgewise.

Math instruction is just the beginning, Liu said. “Improving math skills is a national priority, and basis for STEM education, so it’s a natural thing to focus on,” he said. “But we are starting to expand it to apply to language arts, and it can be useful for many subjects and disciplines in the future.”

PROJECT CREATING AUTOMATED SYSTEM TO ANALYZE TEACHING QUALITY WINS FUNDING IN GLOBAL COMPETITION

ASK THE EXPERT, SARAH MCGREW

As a high school history teacher early in her career, Sarah McGrew often asked her students to read and analyze primary sources and answer big historical questions. While it might not have seemed relevant to their day-to-day lives, being able to ferret out reliable information while casting aside questionable claims is actually a key skill for the internet-driven information age, when a non-stop stream of information pours over us from new and existing technologies.

the author or organization than what you’d find on the “About Us” page or profile.

“Information influences how we think, even in ways that we don’t always recognize. We have to be careful when deciding what sources we use to gather information,” explains McGrew.

Today, the assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership researches how students find and evaluate online information on contentious social and political topics—and how schools can better support students to learn effective strategies.

BY NATIFIA MULLINGS

N A V I G A T I N G AWAY FROM ONLIN E

WHAT STEPS CAN WE TAKE TO MAKE OURSELVES RESISTANT TO MISINFORMATION?

We should train ourselves to think about where the information we see is coming from and whether we trust that source. A great way to investigate online sources is to use a technique called lateral reading, which Sam Wineburg, professor of education at Stanford University, and I learned from watching professional fact checkers evaluate websites. Anytime you see a site or a post whose source you don’t recognize, open a new tab and search outside the site for more information about its source. If you leave the site and do a quick search for more information, you’ll likely learn so much more about

Next, we can practice click restraint while we navigate search results. Research suggests that many young people, and adults too, assume that the top search result is the most reliable. We just click on the first few links and consume whatever information those websites provide. Search engines use algorithms to determine what appears in front of us and the order that it appears. Instead of trusting the algorithm to put the best site first, we should spend time scanning the search results, considering the kind of information we’re searching for, and making a better decision about where to click first.

Finally, we should rethink some of our assumptions about how to tell if online information is reliable. For example, there’s a belief that .org websites are more reliable than .com websites, and that’s not necessarily true. Anyone can register for a .org domain. Or, we might have learned that Wikipedia is not a credible source, but Wikipedia can be a great starting point for online research, especially because one of their community standards is that there should be references at the bottom of the page to any claims that are made.

MI SI N F O R MAT I O N

HOW CAN WE COMBAT MISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

First, there are some misconceptions about what makes social media posts more reliable that we need to tackle. People often assume that social media posts with higher levels of engagement— more likes, shares and comments—or that come from accounts with lots of followers and engagement are more reliable. Again, that’s not true; the best way to decide is to read laterally about the source or investigate the claims a post makes through sources you trust.

FACULTY AWARDS AND ACCOLADES

Second, we should be thoughtful about how we treat posts that we discover are false or misleading. If we engage with or share those posts (even to point out how wrong they are), it further expands the circle of people who are going to see them. This is one way that misinformation spreads so quickly on social media. If you really want to debunk a post, start a new post that leads with accurate information in a clear, concise statement, then explain why the falsehood is misleading, and finally restate the accurate information again.

Finally, we know that social media algorithms often prioritize showing us content that makes us feel strong emotions. It makes us more likely to engage and stay on social media longer. Instead of reacting quickly to content that makes us feel angry, sad, or elated, we should slow down. Take a moment to check our emotions, and try to think about the questions I already described: Where is this coming from? Do I trust that source?

WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, CAN WE TRULY STOP THE SPREAD OF MISINFORMATION?

It may feel like we’re losing the fight against misinformation, but I still have a lot of hope. My research shows that when we teach strategies like lateral reading and click restraint, even though just a few lessons, students get significantly better at evaluating online information. Right now, there’s not a lot of focus in the curriculum on helping students learn to navigate digital information—so in some ways, it’s not surprising that we’re not very good at it. The Internet has grown and changed so quickly, and education just hasn’t kept up. But, if we start teaching these strategies to students at a younger age and across subjects, we can help students be a lot more effective at evaluating information—and hopefully they can help teach their parents and other community members!

KELLI CUMMINGS, associate professor (CHSE), was awarded a $3.7 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences to investigate the efficacy of reading mastery on first graders’ reading achievement, reading disability (RD) identification and risk of RD.

DREW FAGAN, associate clinical professor & TESOL program coordinator (TLPL), has been named president of the Maryland Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Organization, and became a member of the Maryland State Department of Education’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future: Workgroup in English Learners in Public Schools.

SHARON FRIES-BRITT, professor (CHSE), was honored with the American Physical Society’s Excellence in Physics Education Award, and the American Educational Research Association’s Social Justice in Education Award

KIMBERLY GRIFFIN, professor (CHSE) and dean, was named a Top 200 Education Scholar by Education Week.

GREGORY HANCOCK, professor (HDQM), was honored by the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, receiving their 2021 Tanaka Award for outstanding article in Multivariate Behavioral Research. He also received the American Educational Research Association’s Division D 2021 Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology Award.

BRIDGET TURNER KELLY, associate professor (CHSE) and diversity officer, was awarded the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ 2022 Pillar of the Profession for providing significant service to NASPA through regional and/or national leadership roles within the Association.

ROSSINA ZAMORA LIU, assistant professor (TLPL), was elected to serve on the American Folklore Society Executive Board from 2022-24.

WILLIAM MING LIU, chair and professor (CHSE), was selected for the Columbia University Teachers College’s Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship for his work in psychology and education. Liu was also named editor of the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Counseling Psychology, becoming the first person of color to serve in this role.

DOUG LOMBARDI, associate professor (HDQM), and SARAH MCGREW, assistant professor (TLPL), received a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to research middle and high school students’ reasoning and learning about controversial topics related to fossil fuel use, environmental sustainability, and the climate crisis.

SARAH MCGREW, assistant professor (TLPL), received the 2022 National Academy of Education/Postdoctoral Spencer Fellowship Award to study how young people evaluate online information on social and political topics and how schools can better support students to learn effective evaluation strategies.

KELLY MIX, professor (HDQM), received a $1.7 million National Center for Education research award from the Institute of Education Sciences to explore factors related to elementary students’ use of spatial tools, such as diagrams, charts and sketches, during mathematics problem-solving.

COLLEEN O’NEAL, associate professor (CHSE), received the Shapiro Mid-Career Award to expand on her study on the cultural competence and inclusive socioemotional supports of school personnel (e.g., school psychologists, counselors) around immigrant students in the evolving context of COVID-19.

JULIE J. PARK, associate professor (CHSE), was selected for a $551,000 National Science Foundation grant to study the intersection of race, religion and education. Her research project will examine how Black undergraduate and graduate students view the relationship between religion and science, and how it impacts their experiences in science, technology, engineering and math.

SOPHIA RODRIGUEZ, assistant professor ( TLPL ), was selected as a 2022 William T. Grant Scholar. She will receive $350,000 to conduct a three-part study that explores how school districts and school personnel can facilitate the educational success and social inclusion of recently arrived Central American immigrant students. Rodriguez is also the recipient of the American Educational Research Association Division G 2022 Early Career Award.

RACHEL ROMEO, assistant professor (HDQM), received the National Institutes of Health’s Pathway to Independence Award and was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science.

KENNETH RUBIN, professor emeritus (HDQM), and colleagues at Boston University received a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health to examine how the biological mechanisms underlying intrusive-controlling parenting behaviors impact the stability of children’s temperament and risk for anxiety disorders.

MARGARET ANNE WALKER, associate clinical professor (TLPL), was named Maryland Higher Education Art Educator of the Year for her outstanding service and achievement as an educator, visual artist and strong advocate for the arts for nearly 30 years.

CIXIN WANG, associate professor (CHSE), received the American Psychological Association’s Anti-Racism Award for her anti-racism work through scholarship and outstanding service in local schools and community and national organizations.

JI SEUNG YANG, associate professor (HDQM), YANG LIU, associate professor (HDQM) and PETER STEINER, professor (HDQM), were awarded $883,198 from the Institute of Education Sciences improve the generalizability of causal effect and examine the heterogeneity of the treatment effect in regression discontinuity analysis by reinstating the latent measurement models.

DEPARTMENT ABBREVIATIONS

CHSE | Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education

HDQM | Human Development and Qualitative Methodology

TLPL | Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership

I believe EMT Toledo’s character is shown simply through his decision to join the fire department during the peak of the pandemic.

CARLY ROSENFELD CAPTAIN, BRANCHVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY

WHEN HE’S NOT HANDLING DEPARTMENT FINANCES, DAVID TOLEDO IS SAVING LIVES

During the first spring of the pandemic, David Toledo was locked down alone, pacing around his living room and watching the news.

“The case numbers were climbing, there was a horrible accident in the area with a lot of injured, and all the other headlines,” remembered Toledo, the director of administrative services and finance for the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. “I thought, ‘The world has enough accountants right now … I can’t just sit by and watch all these horrible things happen in the world.”

Instead of stockpiling toilet paper and binging on “Tiger King,” Toledo—an accountant by trade with an MBA and a knack for finance—turned his restless energy into something constructive.

“I thought, something has to change and the thing I can change the quickest is myself: to make myself better while I

“I believe EMT Toledo’s character is shown simply through his decision to join the fire department during the peak of the pandemic,” Rosenfeld said. “Throughout his training he has been upbeat, motivated, and incredibly easy to work with—which are all skills impossible to train. His calm and comforting demeanor, even as a trainee, relieves the tension that a patient is experiencing during their emergency.”

Toledo said he learned hard work from his family, which emigrated from the Philippines. His mother worked as an accountant for Doctor’s Community Hospital, his father worked as a bank clerk.

“I know how hard it was for my parents to come here, to get us set up and to get us educated,” he said. “I really want to pay it forward to families who have similar struggles.”

The EMT work, he said, “fills my soul.” During a recent emergency call, Toledo found himself caring for a family’s 18-month-old child while his fellow EMTs worked on a parent. On the ride to the hospital, Toledo amused the toddler and fed him baby crackers.

Not just sitting by

BY SUSAN THORNTON HOBBY ’97, M.A. ’95

slowly try to make the world a better place,” Toledo said, and becoming an emergency medical technician (EMT) looked like the best fit for him.

The deadline for the Fall 2020 class sign-ups was imminent, so he rushed to file his registration paperwork. By December 2020, he had joined the Branchville Volunteer Fire Company. He passed his certification exam in February 2021, and ever since, he has been working ambulance calls on a night shift or two a week with the Branchville company.

“It’s very humbling to work with patients, to go into their lives and see what they’re going through, whether they’re in cars wrapped around a tree, on a sidewalk, in their homes or apartments, or homeless,” he said.

Not that Toledo didn’t have enough to do already. He’s worked full-time at the college for the last year, after nine years at the university in other capacities; he’s chair of the College of Education’s Senate; and he’s co-chair of College Park City Council’s education advisory committee supervising grants, book drives and scholarships.

Toledo’s captain at the Branchville company, Carly Rosenfeld, said Toledo’s presence on the ambulance has been an asset.

“You never want to see a child that young in distress,” he said. Working as an EMT has taught him unexpected lessons, like staying calm for the sake of patients.

“At the university, everything is so urgent all the time, and I definitely want to be as efficient as I can,” he said. “When you’re working with patients, you don’t want to lose your composure, then your patients will think things are worse than they are.”

He remembers what it’s like to suffer in a medical situation. Toledo was 24 when he got a call that his 63-year-old father was having a heart attack. Hospital staff flew his dad by helicopter to a cardiac unit, but by the next morning, Toledo’s father was gone.

“The loss has definitely shaped me, but as much as I miss my father, I’ve grown a lot since then,” Toledo said.

On a recent ambulance call, EMTs were working on a patient having a heart attack. Toledo managed to lower their blood pressure and heart rate, get them to the hospital and see them recover, helping to spare another family the pain his went through.

“To see it come full circle like that, it’s pretty meaningful to me,” Toledo said.

THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION:

A Major Player in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future

BY JOY KLAUDER

he state of Maryland’s landmark bill to reform education in public schools has the College of Education’s fingerprints all over it.

Approved by the General Assembly in 2021, the $3.9 billion “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” will invest in teachers, students and families statewide over the course of 10 years, hiring an additional 15,000 educators and raising the minimum teaching salary to $60,000.

The plan also calls for major investments in equity. Funding will increase for English-language learners, special education students and schools in high-poverty areas. Access to free, publicly funded pre-K will expand, and one-third of all Maryland schools will become community schools—providing students and families with academic support, nutrition services and health care.

The plan is based on the work of a state panel known as the Kirwan Commission (named for former University System of Maryland Chancellor and former UMD President William “Brit” Kirwan). At the time it was formed, Maryland students were underperforming on a variety of learning outcomes. Statewide, National Assessment of Educational Progress scores had fallen to about the national average, for example, and less than a third

of Maryland’s high school graduates were considered “college and career ready.” Plus, Maryland was seeing significant inequities in scores based on income, race, and disability.

From the commission’s start in 2016, the College of Education has helped shape its recommendations. Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice (then the college’s dean) served as an expert on several workgroups—bringing cutting-edge research and evidence-based policy recommendations to the table.

Today, as the policies outlined in the Blueprint shift into action, faculty and staff continue to take a leading role in transforming education for the nearly 900,000 students enrolled in Maryland public schools.

MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS 2025 PROJECT

“We know from research that teachers are the single most important school-based factor in creating educational opportunities for all students,” says Provost Rice. “However, as a society, we’ve very much under invested in teachers.”

The average teaching salary in Maryland is 25% below that of professions with comparable education requirements and nearly half of all Maryland teachers in their second year aren’t returning for a third.

The second pillar of the Blueprint addresses this issue

head on, calling for increased salaries and better professional development. “If we want excellent education,” explains Rice, “we need to support excellent and diverse teachers. As a college of education, that’s core to what we do.”

As such, the college launched the Maryland Professional Development Schools 2025 Project—a collaborative effort between UMD, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS), Montgomery County Education Association and Prince George’s County Education Association.

Funded through the Teacher Collaborative Grant Program, the project creates a “teacher career ladder” as called for in the Blueprint. The career ladder outlines clear pathways for advancement and professional development by creating new roles for practicing teachers in MCPS and PGCPS. The project also reimagines the student internship experience and creates a Supervising Mentor Teacher Academy.

Lawrence Clark, associate dean in the Office of Undergraduate Studies and mathematics education faculty, is the principal investigator (PI) for the project, and Megan Madigan Peercy, associate dean for undergraduate and graduate studies, is the co-PI.

“Policymakers inside and outside the state are really watching Maryland around this,” Clark says. “So it’s quite exciting for the College of Education to be in the position to influence and support the decision-making process of the two largest school districts in the state that could potentially influence how teacher career ladders are structured throughout the entire country.”

TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES (TESOL) The Blueprint also recognizes the need to provide more support for vulnerable students, establishing a Workgroup on English Learners in Public Schools to accelerate the academic achievement of the state’s 98,000 multilingual students.

Drew Fagan, associate clinical professor and TESOL program coordinator, was invited by the State Superintendent’s Office to serve on this workgroup as the English language learner advocate. His role involves amending school and educator certification requirements to ensure that English learners have a more equitable experience, one that allows them to achieve both academic success and language proficiency.

Fagan is also the 2022-2023 Maryland TESOL Association President and has worked extensively throughout the state creating teacher education and administrator degree programs that help all educators learn how to address English learner needs across the K-12 curriculum.

According to Fagan, “Maryland has the opportunity right now to be at the pinnacle of addressing the needs of multilingual learners.” MSDE is now making amendments to educator preparation and certification programs and promoting the

expansion of dual certification programs in Maryland’s colleges and universities.

EARLY CHILDHOOD CERTIFICATION AND PRE-K CURRICULUM

With the expansion of early childhood and Pre-K programs, the state will need an influx of certified teachers to cover the additional classrooms. Fortunately, the College of Education is building a pipeline of highly qualified, certified educators.

“Our graduates are certainly well-prepared to step into these positions,” says Christy Tirrell-Corbin, director of the Early Childhood/Early Childhood Special Education Program, explaining that the unique, dual-certification program at UMD prepares graduates for both early childhood general education (Pre-K-3rd grade) and early childhood special education (birth-3rd grade).

Additionally, Tirrell-Corbin developed a Pre-K curriculum that’s currently used in over 200 classrooms statewide and aligned with Maryland’s early learning and development standards. She also serves on several groups related to the Blueprint’s early childhood pillar, including the Early Childhood Research Advisory Committee and the State Interagency Coordinating Council.

ACCOUNTABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION

To ensure the successful implementation of the Blueprint’s many goals, lawmakers created an independent unit of government known as the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB).

This seven-member board, in cooperation with four advisory committees, is responsible for monitoring the use of Blueprint funds allocated to state and local government agencies. It’s also charged with evaluating and reporting on numerous outcomes associated with Blueprint initiatives.

The college has both a faculty member and a doctoral student serving on the AIB: Laura Stapleton, professor and chair of the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, and Joe Manko, program officer at the Abell Foundation, who is writing his dissertation on community schools.

CATALYZING TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE

Much of the Blueprint’s early work involved looking at the world’s best systems and understanding what they were doing that Maryland wasn’t. Now however, Rice believes the state is on the other side:

“We’ve studied, we’ve brought research to the table—excellent, cutting edge research that involves our faculty. And as a state we’re implementing practices and policies that have the potential to completely transform educational systems, both in terms of their excellence, and their equitable approaches.”

An honors student, she’d grown up seeing her teachers around their West Baltimore neighborhood, and could see herself as one of these highly regarded Black career women.

At Frederick Douglass High, the city’s school for Black students, the counselor invited her lighter-skinned friend to apply for a scholarship. But she wouldn’t write the required recommendation for Johnson Coates. Instead, she encouraged her to become a secretary.

Pain-filled tears flowed during a longdistance call to her mom, a domestic worker who lived in New York City. Alma Johnson offered her daughter unique advice: “Recommend yourself.”

Johnson Coates matriculated to Maryland in Fall 1955 with a full scholarship, beginning a path-breaking yet often-painful four years that led to her becoming the university’s first Black female to earn an undergraduate degree.

“I walked onto the campus frightened, somewhat apprehensive, but with a plan and purpose,” said Johnson Coates. “I began UMD at a much different time and my journey was not easy.”

For Johnson Coates’ parents, UMD’s location along

Baltimore Avenue provided easy access, should racial unrest warrant her quick removal from campus. Alma Johnson and Robert Johnson, a railway porter, proudly escorted their intelligent, yet frightened daughter to campus. She was determined not to let them down.

At newly completed Caroline Hall, white dorm mates smiled and greeted her. The dorm mother, Johnson Coates recalls, was good and kind. Another Douglass graduate, Cecilia deFord, shared a third-floor room with Johnson Coates. They had known each other in high school only in passing, but the new roommates soon did everything together and grew close.

Johnson Coates thought of herself as a friendly person and expected others would reciprocate, but not everyone did. Too often, when other residents of the dorm knocked on the Black women’s door to announce a phone call, she or deFord excitedly rushed down the hall to pick up the receiver, only to hear nasty remarks, racial epithets or even a bomb threat.

The roommates endured daily isolation and verbal attacks. Unsurprisingly, Johnson Coates did not recall other campus friendships, and she rarely encountered other Black freshmen among the 10,000 undergraduates.

AT AGE 17, ELAINE JOHNSON COATES BELIEVED THE SUPREME COURT’S NEW RULING ENDING “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL” EDUCATION FOR BLACK STUDENTS WOULD OPEN THE DOOR FOR HER TO ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. SHE DIDN’T EXPECT HER OWN HIGH SCHOOL GUIDANCE COUNSELOR TO TRY TO SLAM IT SHUT.

BY MONICA SMITH

I count it an immeasurable privilege to have this building erected in my name, affording me a legacy and standing in testament that my journey mattered.”

In September, 2022 Elaine Johnson Coates returned to the University of Maryland to celebrate the official opening of Johnson-Whittle Hall, a residence hall that honors her legacy as the first African American woman to graduate with an undergraduate degree, and fellow trailblazer Hiram Whittle, who enrolled at UMD in 1951 as its first Black undergraduate student.

“I am thrilled to be a part of the university’s honor, recognition and promotion of diversity and inclusion,” Johnson Coates said. “I count it an immeasurable privilege to have this building erected in my name, affording me a legacy and standing in testament that my journey mattered.”

Johnson Coates has also been recognized by the University of Maryland Alumni Association. She was one of seven Terps honored at their first annual Celebration of Terps: Featuring the Maryland Awards in 2019. She also addressed the Class of 2019 at their Commencement ceremony and received an honorary degree at UMD’s Spring 2020 commencement ceremony.

At semester’s end, deFord found life at UMD unbearable and left Maryland. Johnson Coates returned to campus with no one to sit or eat with in the dining hall, no one to talk to in the dorm room. Perhaps cowed by peer pressure, white residents spoke to Johnson Coates only inside Caroline Hall. Letters from her mom bolstered Johnson Coates, who hid her tears.

But her mistreatment extended beyond the dorm. Professors often graded her more harshly than her white classmates. Inside Caroline Hall, Johnson Coates compared responses with a friendly student. Opening their blue books, “I would write the same thing,” Johnson Coates said, “and mine would be marked ‘C’ while hers was an ‘A.’” She was not brave enough to challenge the professors directly, so the marks stood. At her mother’s suggestion, Johnson Coates instead enrolled in “mini-mesters” to raise her grades. Studying occupied much of her free time.

Occasionally, a pastor from the Church of God drove her to Baltimore services. The insular, supportive community was important to Johnson Coates, even amid the church’s strict rules. Dating was permitted only within the church fellowship. There, she met James Coates, who became her college prom date and future husband.

not place Black educators in predominantly white schools, and Black instructors were not leaving their coveted placements. Johnson Coates pivoted, taking a social worker position at Baltimore’s Department of Social Services. She later joined the Douglass High School staff, teaching business education. Her husband’s military service took them to Pensacola, Florida, then to Germany, where her dream of teaching little kids came to fruition in Stuttgart. Meanwhile, she and her husband started their own family.

Raising children and a return to Baltimore social work marked the next four decades of Johnson Coates’ life. She said social work improved her teaching by developing her ability to read moods and evaluate the needs of the whole student—financial, housing or “whatever is going on in their life.” As a single mother after her divorce, she wanted to branch out beyond casework, to supervise others and better herself—goals she achieved by earning a master’s degree in social work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 1980. The MSW led to her crucial work in pediatric and adult trauma at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Emergency Department.

Author Note: On June 9, 1951, Rose Shockley Wiseman, Myrtle Holmes Wake, and John Francis Davis received their graduate degrees from the College of Education. They were the first Black students to march in commencement ceremonies at College Park. All of their coursework was taken at Bowie State from UMD professors.

Johnson Coates fulfilled her student teaching requirement at Baltimore’s Carver High School. No Black College of Education students were placed in Prince George’s County schools. She attended the senior prom, completed her business education degree and participated in graduation at Cole Field House, along with another Black student in the college, J. Alexander Wiseman, who completed a doctorate.

But Johnson Coates had to abandon her plan to teach after five months filling out-of-state Board of Education applications. Maryland did

Johnson Coates, the proud parent of two UMD alumni, is impressed by the university’s growth and diversity. Awarded an honorary doctorate in 2020, she advised students to decide on their goals, then develop a plan for getting there. “Opportunities are there,” she said, “walk around barriers, there will be an opening…if you are determined.” She said students might never know who they will impact, who will be observing them, or who will benefit from their struggles.

Despite the challenges of her journey, Johnson Coates remains grateful and gracious: “The University of Maryland has embraced me with such welcome, respect, and honor. They’ve afforded me a legacy and a remarkable opportunity, and have forever touched my heart and my spirit.”

ANNUAL ALUMNI OF COLOR CELEBRATION College Awards

Elaine Johnson Coates Scholarship

On May 25, the College of Education hosted its 2nd Annual Alumni of Color Celebration, where Carly Holmes ’22, the first recipient of the Elaine Johnson Coates Scholarship, was recognized for her ongoing work to support the success of students of color, both on and off campus.

THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Nyumburu Cultural Center.

Full gallery at go.umd.edu/aocc

Where OffRoading and Academics Intersect

AMANDA KNAPP USES HER PASSION

FOR DIRT-BIKE RACING TO HELP UMBC UNDERGRADS FIND THEIR WAY.

BY AMANDA LOUDIN

On the surface, it might seem that racing dirt bikes and education have little in common, but dig a little deeper, and you might be surprised. At least, that’s the case Amanda Knapp Ph.D. ’13, would make. As associate vice provost and assistant dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and an avid off-road motorcycle competitor, Knapp knows of what she speaks.

Knapp wears many hats. She manages the Academic Success Center, which provides centralized support services to all undergraduate students, while in her role as assistant dean, she provides leadership in the areas of student retention, academic success and graduation.

She’s also a first-generation college student which keeps her closely tied to UMBC students, 25% of whom are first-gen attendees as well. “For these students, it’s very helpful to know they’re not alone and that we’re here to support them,” says Knapp.

That’s where Knapp’s racing career comes into play. “There are many parallels from sport to life,” she says. “It takes a lot of perseverance to succeed, and you’ll have many ups and downs. It’s all about how you overcome those barriers and get back into the race and finish up.”

SUCCESS ON THE RACE COURSE

Amanda Knapp began her career in off-road motorcycle racing a decade ago and has enjoyed as much success there as in her academic career. Some highlights from over the years include:

• Champion of the AMA East Coast Harescramble, a cross-country event characterized by multiple laps over a several-mile long course

• Sprint Cross-Country Women’s Class Champion

• Finisher of eight- and 24-hour challenges

• Participant in the 2022 Tough Like RORR race, described as “one of the toughest enduro races in North America”

to the ‘checked flag’ called graduation.”

Students often react with shock when they learn of Knapp’s off-road racing passion, she says. “Especially when I show them a photo of me covered in mud,” she laughs. “They’re so used to seeing me in professional attire. I can see the walls begin to break down then, which goes a long way in student success.”

Knapp hopes that sharing her passion outside of work serves to inspire. “I’m a firm believer in work-life balance,” she says. “I have a career in public service, I’m a mother of three, and I have an outside hobby that I love.”

At the very least, Knapp’s racing passion has inspired her family. Husband Ryan, director of operations at UMD, as well as two sons and a daughter all ride. “You might not think of off-road motorcycle racing as a family sport, but it is,” Knapp says. “It has instilled good quality and character in my kids. They’ve learned to be great sportswomen and men, they understand what it means to fall and get back up and to work hard at something.”

All good lessons that prove motorcycles and life success can indeed carry over into the academic arena.

firm believer in work-life balance. I have a career in public service, I’m a mother of three, and I have an outside hobby that I love.”

PHOTO: MARLAYNA DEMOND, UMBC

Amanda Knapp (standing) with UMBC colleagues and students.

HOMEGROWN LEADERSHIP: Darryl Williams, Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools

BY JOY KLAUDER

Growing up near the D.C.-Maryland line, Darryl Williams would cruise down University Boulevard, grabbing a bite of pizza from Ledos or some homegrown comfort food from the Hot Shoppes on New Hampshire Avenue. The University of Maryland was only a few miles away, but he never thought he’d get in.

Fast forward to 2011, and Williams is walking across the stage at the UMD College of Education, earning his doctoral degree in educational policy and leadership.

Williams received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Hampton University, his master’s degree in educational leadership from American University, and began attending UMD as a part-time graduate student in 2002, the same year that he became a middle school principal in Montgomery County and welcomed his third child with his wife; so life was busy.

Williams attended classes for nine years while climbing the administrative ladder. In 2005 he became a high school principal; in 2007, principal of the largest high school in MCPS; and in 2011, a community superintendent.

“It was difficult,” Williams admits, recalling his doctoral experience. “There were times where I wanted to give up. But my advisors, my professors, they knew what the other students and I were going through. So that understanding and encouragement was extremely helpful.”

More challenges lay ahead for Williams. Not a year into his first term as superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, COVID-19 struck. A few months later, in the midst of managing extraordinary change, a

cyberattack on BCPS shut down the school system’s entire network—crippling virtual learning and erasing decades of work.

Williams gives the College of Education a lot of credit for preparing him to handle both of these crises. Not only had he gained experience solving problems within small teams, but he’d also learned how to use outside resources— a skill that guided him to rely on health experts during the pandemic and IT experts and government authorities during the cyberattack.

Plus, Williams believes that by forging bonds with teachers and administrators from all across the state, he was able to rely on them during both crises—and to this day.

MARYLAND EDTERP SUPERINTENDENTS

Jeffrey Blank ’87

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Allegany County Public Schools

Cheryl L. Dyson M.Ed. ’99

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Frederick County Public Schools

Michael Martirano ’81, M.Ed. ’85, M.Ed ’92

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Howard County Cynthia McCabe M.Ed. ’99

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Carroll County Public Schools

McKnight Ed.D ’14

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Montgomery County Public Schools

Now, Williams is excited to execute his strategic plan for the 111,000-student school system. Titled “The Compass: Our Pathway to Excellence,” his plan is structured around five areas of focus:

1. Learning, accountability and results

2. Safe and supportive environments

3. High-performing workforce and alignment of human capital

4. Community engagement and partnerships

5. Operational excellence

Williams is also excited to spend another year working with students—his 34th since walking through the door at

Benjamin Banneker Academic High School as a math teacher in 1988. And while he may not be interacting with students on a daily basis anymore, it’s still the best part of the job for him.

“Folks always tell me it must be so hard being superintendent,” he says, “and it is hard. But it’s also the most rewarding job because I still get to see the students. I get to see how they grow over the years, and I’m just so excited to welcome them back for another great school year.”

Monifa

PHOTO: STEPHEN JONES, BCPS-TV

1950s

NANCY YOUNG ’56 wrote the book “Unlock Your Child’s Learning Potential. The Key to Reinforcing Classroom Lessons with Imaginative and Stimulating Activities K-6,” published by Green Dragon Publishing.

1960s

JUDITH LESE ’69, M.ED. ’74 has retired after 53 years of teaching. She was a classroom teacher for five different elementary schools in Montgomery County Public Schools.

DENNIS D. URBAN ’69 wrote the book “The Making of a Civilian Soldier in the Civil War: the First Diary of Private William J. McLean Along the C&O Canal and the Affair at Edwards Ferry,” published by New Academia Publishing.

WILLIAM D. WARGO ED.D. ’68 served as a professor of industrial education for 35 years before retiring. He then earned a Marine Sea Turtle permit from the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission, serving as the director of the Alligator Point Sea Turtle Patrol from 2004 to 2021.

1970s

MERRY HENRY SPENCE WHITE ’71, ED.D. ’96 celebrated her 75th birthday and her 51st wedding anniversary to her husband Frederick. After a long career in education, teaching music to PK-12 students, and serving as a principal and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, she now serves as a choir director at Pitts Creek Presbyterian Church.

FRANK LYMAN PH.D. ’78 wrote the book “100 Teaching Ideas that Transfer and Transform Learning: Expanding Your Repertoire,” published by Routledge Press, which is a compendium of insights gained through 36 years in teaching, much of the experience was at UMD.

MARY O’LEARY WILEY M.A. ’79, PH.D. ’82 completed her term as president of the Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 17 of the American Psychological Association. She previously served as president of the American Board of Counseling Psychology.

TOM POTEET ’70 has retired after working 50 years in both the private and public sectors. Since 2012, he has self-published a dozen books on Amazon. His last two books are a bonded set titled “Mornings with Father” and “Evening with Father.”

RALPH SODANO ’73 has retired after 41 years of teaching. The last 30 years were spent serving as the Steele Planetarium instructor for Denver Public Schools.

JEAN

SAPP

TAYLOR M.ED. ’76, PH.D. ’80 of Chicago, Illinois, died on Dec. 24, 2021, at age 95. Born Sept. 14, 1926 in Fordsville, Kentucky, Taylor was a long time educator. She was the co-director at the Outdoor Nursery School in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and an assistant professor of education and director of the Onica Prall Child Development Laboratory at Hood College.

1990s

CHERYL DYSON M.ED. ’99 was named superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools. She previously served as an area associate superintendent in Montgomery County Public Schools. In her 23-year career as an educator, she’s also served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal intern, principal, director of family and community engagement, and director of school support and improvement of elementary schools.

DAWN LISTER M.ED. ’98 earned her doctorate degree from Liberty University.

DANIEL RODRIGUEZ PH.D. ’98, a professor of public health at LaSalle University, has published two textbooks: “Research Methods” and “Core Statistics: Practical Knowledge for the Health Sciences.”

DEBBIE ROVIN MURPHY ’91 a teacher for 28 years, wrote the children’s book “Jackie and the Mona Lisa,” which was published in March 2022.

CLEMMIE SOLOMON PH.D. ’96 is the recipient of the 2022 American Counseling Association Presidential Citation.

SUSAN STUDDS PH.D.’90 died on July 10, 2022 in Louisville, KY. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on Jan. 30, 1954, Studds received a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College, a master’s degree from Miami University, and a doctorate degree from UMD. She spent years teaching domestic and international students, representing the country at NATO conferences, consulting with military and civilian leaders in eastern Europe, and being the education heart of military higher education, before retiring in Madison, WI. In May 2022, she was named provost emerita during the National Intelligence University graduation ceremony.

2000s

PAIGE HABER-CURRAN M.A. ’06 was promoted to professor at Texas State University.

ROBERT KELLY PH.D. ’05 was named president of University of Portland, becoming the first person of color to lead the institution. Previously, he served as vice president and special assistant to the president, and clinical professor at Loyola University Maryland. He has also held senior administrative and teaching positions at Loyola University Chicago, Seattle University, and Union College, among other institutions.

LARRY NELSON PH.D.’00 is serving as the past-president of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood, an international organization with a focus on theory and research related to emerging adulthood. He has also co-edited two books: “Flourishing in Emerging Adulthood” and “The Handbook of Solitude.”

FRANNY WOOLER ’01, M.ED. ’11 was appointed assistant principal of Stonegate Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland.

2010s

CARLOS BEATO ED.D. ’19 joined the Next Generation Learning Challenges as its co-director. He previously spent seven years as the founding principal at the International High School at Langley Park. He also co-authored a paper titled “Unearthing Hidden Gems in an American Public High School: A Three-Pronged Approach to Meeting the Needs of Diverse Students Through an Equity Lens.”

RODERICK CAREY PH.D. ’15 was named one of the nation’s top 15 emerging scholars under the age of 40 by “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.” He is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Delaware.

MONIFA MCKNIGHT ED.D. ’14 was named superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools. Since 2001, she has served in the school district as a teacher, principal, and district administrator.

KC MCNALLY ’13 is celebrating her 10th year of teaching high school English at Westfield High School in New Jersey. She and her Terp husband, Luke, also celebrated their daughter Eleanor’s first birthday.

ALEX MILETICH M.ED. ’19, a teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, received the Leader in Civic Engagement Award from Prince George’s County Public Schools.

STEVE MOBLEY PH.D. ’15 was named one of the nation’s top 15 emerging scholars under the age of 40 by “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.” He is an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Alabama.

FARHAANA NYAMEKYE PH.D. ’10 joined UMD College of Education as a secondary mathematics professional development school coordinator in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership.

PEGGY PUGH PH.D. ’14 was appointed chief academic officer for Montgomery County Public Schools. Previously, she was the associate superintendent for administration and leadership for Washington County Public Schools.

HELEN SCHURKE FRASIER PH.D. ’13 joined the University of California, Davis as an assistant dean for Student Success Initiatives.

SARAH SIRGO PH.D. ’14 was named chief of staff in the Office of the Superintendent for Frederick County Public Schools. She previously served as the director of learning, achievement and administration for Montgomery County Public Schools.

2020s

BELOVED KANU M.ED. ’22, a teacher at Samuel Ogle Middle School, received the Rookie of the Year Award from Prince George’s County Public Schools.

FRANK ROJAS ’21 joined NORC at the University of Chicago as a statistician.

SELVON WALDRON M.A. ’20 attended the 29th Annual International Conference on Learning in Valencia, Spain, where he presented his research paper “Pathways to Profession: On Economic and Racial Equity in Career Advancement.”

Boosting Student Scholarships

As an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, Rocky Lopes ’80 kept a busy schedule. He was pursuing a bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and microbiology, and engaged in several student organizations and committees, including Homecoming, University Sing, Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Student Government Association and the Student Alumni Board (now called the Student Alumni Leadership Council).

Lopes may not have known it at the time but his involvement on campus and education courses would prepare him for an award-winning career in the field of emergency management. Lopes is recognized for developing and implementing a national, award-winning education and public safety program for the American Red Cross, and creating a “Masters of Disaster” standards-based curriculum used by thousands of educators across the country—both a nod to his time as an elementary school teacher.

“A lot of my accomplishments can be attributed to the skills, experience, and knowledge I gained at the College

BY NATIFIA MULLINGS

of Education as well as serving as a student leader,” he said. “Faculty and staff molded me into an educator, and it’s because of them that my career has had such an impact on the nation’s public safety, health and well-being.”

It was the recent loss of Lopes’ husband, Chuck Angelucci, that prompted the reflection. Angelucci died from pancreatic cancer in 2021, and when updating his own will, Lopes developed a strong desire to leave an impactful legacy. As a result, he has committed to a $1M planned gift to fund a scholarship for students in the college’s educator preparation programs.

The gift comes at a time when the country is facing a teacher shortage and colleges of education nationwide are experiencing stagnant or declining enrollments.

“I was afforded so many opportunities at Maryland, and I’m now in a position to give back to the next generation of students who are preparing to make a positive impact in the classroom and beyond,” he said. “My hope is that this scholarship makes it easier for students to realize their dreams of becoming a teacher.”

Alum Establishes Scholarships for Students in Special Education Teacher Preparation Program

BY HOLLY LEBER SIMMONS

Elliott Jaffa ’65, A.G.S ’68, Ed.D. ’73 knows first-hand the challenges and joys of working with students with learning differences. As a behavioral specialist for over 40 years, Jaffa has worked with students with different abilities throughout his career.

To encourage and foster future generations of special education teachers, Jaffa has committed to giving $133,000 to establish two merit-based scholarships for undergraduate students in the University of Maryland College of Education Special Education Teacher Preparation program. Scholarship recipients must demonstrate

leadership and innovation in the field of special education.

“Special education teachers work with students who have a physical or intellectual disability or an emotional and behavioral disorder, and they bring a unique set of skills and instructional practices to their classrooms,” he said.

“The work is sometimes hard and I’d like to support these students in their academic pursuits. There is a continued need for qualified special education teachers in Maryland and across the country.”

Jaffa credits Maryland for preparing him to enter and remain in the field. He took every behavioral psychology course

available through the college, studying under professors like George Marx, head of the department of counseling and personnel services, and Lewis Gollub, professor of experimental psychology department.

In 2020, he participated in a Zoom call to hear a handful of students speak about their work and studies.

There was one young woman, a freshman, who blew me away,” he said. “She projected more confidence and articulated her goals significantly better than any of the other participants.” He suggested to a friend who is the head of a Maryland private school that the student be hired as a summer teacher with the standard staff salary.

Fifty years later, he continues to be impressed by how prepared—and not only willing, but eager—Maryland’s special education teaching students are to make a difference.

ALUM COMMITS TO FUNDING SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS IN EDUCATOR PREP PROGRAMS

ALUMNI AWARDS

The College of Education Alumni Awards honors outstanding alumni for their professional achievements or volunteer accomplishments.

Selected by the Alumni Network Board, awards are given to distinguished alumni every year.

OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD

This award honors an alum who has demonstrated excellence and achievement through their leadership, contributing their professional skills, academic scholarship or service to make a difference in their field and community.

ALANA MURRAY ’98, PH.D. ’12

Shady Grove Middle School Principal, Montgomery County Public Schools

Murray’s culturally responsive leadership has inspired her colleagues and countless students in understanding the importance of leading in equitable ways that foster learning and achievement for all. She has supported the college’s social studies program in a variety of ways over the years, through fieldwork, volunteerism, and mentorship, as well as curriculum development and ongoing professional development.

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD

This EdTerp has dedicated their time, talents, and resources to add to the richness of the college community through volunteer service.

TIFFANY “TIKI” AYIKU ’05

Assistant Vice President for Professional Development, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators

For nearly a decade, Tiki has served as a mentor to College of Education students. Through NASPA, she has hosted incoming masters and doctoral students in the higher education and students affairs program and presented on professional development and ways to be engaged in the field. She is also actively engaged with the College of Education Alumni Board, serving on the professional development committee.

MEET THE ALUMNI NETWORK BOARD

Members of the reestablished Alumni Board represent a diverse group of alumni who support the College of Education’s efforts to engage and connect alumni to the school and each other.

CHAIR

BARBARA FRIEDLANDER ’85, MA ’90

Learning & Achievement Specialist, Montgomery County Public Schools

VICE CHAIR

MERI ROBINSON ’96, ED.D.’16

Administrator, Prince George’s County Public Schools

TREASURER/MEMBERSHIP CHAIR

CANDICE LIETZKE ’98

Teacher, Kensington Parkwood Elementary School, Montgomery County Public Schools

SECRETARY

PAT MYERS ’65 Retired Teacher

BOARD MEMBERS

PAST PRESIDENT

LINDA PIEPLOW ’72, MA ’78

Teacher, Clarksville Middle School, Howard County Public Schools

CHERYL DYSON M.ED ’99

Superintendent, Frederick County Public Schools

DARRYL WILLIAMS ED.D ’11

Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools

EVE CASE ’03

Social Studies Coordinator, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

NICOLE LONG ’11, PH.D ’12

Assistant Vice President, Student Experience and Belonging, University of Delaware

JAKE GOLDBERG ’12

Data Coach, Laurel High School, Prince George’s County Public Schools

KRISTAN SKENDALL PH.D. ’12

Senior Program Manager, Aspen Institute Affiliate Assistant ProfessorStudent Affairs Concentration, UMD College of Education

LISA WHITEHEAD ’98 Visual Art Supervisor, Prince George’s County Public Schools

NORKA PADILLA ’87

Instructional Specialist, Montgomery County Public Schools

TIA WASHINGTON ’03

Instructional Specialist, Montgomery County Public Schools

TIKI AYIKU MA ’05

Assistant Vice President for Professional Development, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators

GET INVOLVED

Send event ideas to EdTerpsAlumni@gmail.com

To learn more about the Alumni Board and keep abreast of upcoming alumni events, visit education.umd.edu/alumni-giving

Whether you just turned your tassel or it’s been decades since you last rubbed Testudo’s nose, membership in the University of Maryland Alumni Association will keep you connected to your alma mater.

Get this FREE limited-edition T-shirt when you join by Dec. 31. Visit alumni.umd.edu/membership to grab one before they’re gone.

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