Endeavors Winter 2014 by UMD College of Education

for alumni and friends of the college of education

+ university of maryland + college park

winter 2014 + Vol. 19 + issue 28

EDUCATION: Through a Social Justice Lens A Child’s Eye View of Race 4 “Fixing” Society: Education’s Undue Burden 8 Not an “EitherOr” Conversation 10 Widening the Lens 13

access

equity

Endeavors

Endeavors WINTER 2014 + Vol. 19 + issue 28

Also in this Issue:

A Child’s Eye View of Race

letter from the dean

fearless ideas

advancing the college

alumni

“Fixing” society: education’s undue burden

not an eiTher or conversation

staff

widening the lens

Editor Halima Cherif Writers Helene Karlson Cohen Joshua Lavender Shanna Yetman Design Lynne Menefee photos Craig Breil Photography © CJ Breil

letter from the dean Dear College of Education Alumni and Friends, Welcome to another issue of Endeavors! Equity, access, diversity, success and opportunity: these ideals are the very underpinning of much of our work at the College of Education. One of the things I am most proud of is the absolute dedication of our faculty, students and alumni to pursuing social justice in all contexts of education. We work as change agents in our respective fields and are committed to preparing scholars, leaders and educators who work to solve important problems with innovative approaches. This issue of Endeavors just provides a small glimpse into the work of four of our faculty whose research addresses issues of diversity, equity and opportunity from very unique perspectives. For example, in “A Child’s Eye View of Race” we highlight the work of Dr. Melanie Killen, professor in the department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. This study was commissioned by CNN’s Anderson Cooper AC360 news show as a special report examining how and how early children’s views of race are formed. Incredibly, the special report was the recipient of a 2013 News and Documentary Emmy Award for the Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis category! Truly a first for a College of Education! The University of Maryland has been working on a new “Fearless Ideas” branding campaign. When I first learned of the theme, I thought about all of the wonderful work that goes on in our College – and indeed we approach this work fearlessly! I am pleased to introduce a new standing feature in Endeavors focused on the College’s “Fearless Ideas.” In this issue, we highlight the passion of a COE alumna and her quest to change one small corner of the world; how our faculty are integrating technology to spur innovation in research and teaching; as well as the phenomenal research on early childhood development in the Infant & Child Studies Consortium. Finally, as we begin a new calendar year, I would like to sincerely thank our alumni and friends for all of your support – through time, talents and treasure – to the College of Education. You are helping to build of legacy of change and for that, we at the College are grateful. I hope you enjoy this issue of Endeavors. I wish you all the best for the coming year! Warm regards,

Donna L. Wiseman Dean

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a child’s eye view of race Children’s social-cognitive development and how attitudes about race, ethnicity, and culture emerge early

©CJ Breil ©CJ Breil

EDUCATION: Through a Social Justice Lens Play pretend for a moment: you’re a high school English teacher, and it’s the first day of school. You look at a room of new faces, new names. You wonder which students will turn out to be abstract thinkers, which ones are more language-oriented than others, which ones will sink their teeth into the Steinbeck novel you’re assigning, which ones might have learning disabilities. A big part of your work for the first month or so of school will be getting to know these students — their natural interests and inclinations and abilities, where the gaps are in their knowledge of the subject, and how they can be challenged. But some part of how you think about each student is being formed in this moment’s impressions: clothes, facial features, race and ethnicity, gender, even the surrounding environment. And, more than you might think, the perceptions you form right now — which may stem from your own personal biases and experiences — will impact the environment you create for students, which in turn will affect their social-cognitive development.

©CJ Breil

Such a moment and its lasting effects endlessly intrigue Professor

Melanie Killen, who studies social cognition, moral reasoning, intergroup relationships, exclusion, and prejudice in the College’s Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. Dr. Killen’s research is advancing our understanding of the environments we create for children and the long-term effects those environments have on the way children view the world and their peers. Her recent work in the field has enlightened not only educators but also the general public. In collaboration with the CNN news-magazine show Anderson Cooper 360, Killen constructed and led a study exploring how kids view interracial peer encounters in their daily lives, how their opinions on race are shaped, and how early they form those opinions. AC360’s report on the study, broadcast for five consecutive days in April 2012, won an Emmy this year for Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis. The basis of Killen’s groundbreaking work with CNN goes back many years. She began studying children’s moral reasoning and social cognition as a graduate student at UC Berkeley, and in the last decade she has investigated how moral judgments are applied in peer interactions,

particularly when peers come from different racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds. In 2002, as a consultant for the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, she helped develop a videogame to teach children

The findings for the younger children both challenge the common parental notion that children are colorblind and shed light on how adults discussing race with their children can set the tone for social interactions.

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©CJ Breil

constructive conflict resolution skills, focusing on inclusion and fairness.

biases by which they assess a student. These attitudes can significantly

But her method in the AC360 study arose largely from efforts to determine

influence teachers’ behavior toward students and, it turns out, the tenor of

how early children’s racial biases form and whether they attribute negative

the classroom setting itself.

intent to others based solely on race. Attributing such intent — assuming in

an ambiguous situation that someone intended to do something wrong —

start to happen,” Dr. Killen explains. “After you get to know your students,

can result in unfair treatment, and when assumptions are based on race,

your perceptions quickly change. That young kid who is a minority in urban

the outcome becomes a form of discrimination. This can happen at a

clothes turns out to be great at science or math, and his natural ability can

very early age, before children are even aware of the consequences of

prove your initial impressions wrong. The problem is that he may have to do

their judgments.

extra work because he has to overcome the initial bias you’re working with.”

Teachers can help children understand these attitudes and behaviors

— called implicit biases — but the complication is that some teachers

in social situations and the attitudes which underlie those behaviors have

hold these biases as well. So Dr. Killen’s research, while seeking to answer

a telling impact, sometimes in surprising ways, on how children treat one

developmental questions, is also designed to inform educators about

another. This is the subject of the AC360 report, “Kids on Race: The Hidden

how to reduce their own biases. In 2009, Dr. Killen recreated a first day’s

Picture.” With her research team — COE doctoral students Kelly Lynn

impressions for teachers with a tool launched at the Southern Poverty Law

Mulvey (Ph.D., 2013) and Shelby Cooley, who conducted interviews, and

Center’s Teaching Tolerance website (www.tolerance.org). Her innovation

Aline Hitti (Ph.D., 2013) and Laura Elenbaas, who analyzed the outcomes

for the site, the Teacher Perception Tool, is a survey that asks teachers a

— Killen talked with 145 children, ages six and thirteen, at six schools with

series of questions based solely on drawings. Presented with a student’s

varying degrees of ethnic composition across three states. The researchers

picture, teachers are asked to respond to questions such as “Is this student

presented children with depictions of interracial encounters, which were

likely to be in the school band or in the science club?” Since respondents

scientifically designed to be ambiguous, and asked them to interpret the

have no knowledge of the students beyond the visual information in the

situations. They then explored how children’s interpretations of the images

pictures, the survey prompts them to reconsider the implicit and explicit

changed when the races of the characters were switched. Starting with a

endeavors/college of education

“Unfortunately, the first day of school is when some of these biases

But the effects do not stop there: how teachers and parents behave

simple question — “What is happening in this picture?” — the interviewers

children both challenge the common parental notion that children are

developed frank discussions, illuminating children’s viewpoints on

colorblind and shed light on how adults discussing race with their children

race as well as the observations and interactions which underpin those

can set the tone for social interactions. And the ensuing trend reveals how

viewpoints. Analysis of the data revealed that biases were

the evolution of such discussions, not to mention the interracial encounters

largely influenced by whether the ethnic composition of the

in children’s lives, influences their attitudes.

schools the children attended was homogeneous or heterogeneous.

for the world of diversity and also for the world of potential discrimination,”

“As children grow, they get a lot of messages from the media about

“African-American parents are very early on preparing their children

stereotypes. When a child is exposed to a stereotype and doesn’t have

Killen explains. “In contrast, what we find is that many European-American

a personal experience to challenge it, he or she absorbs it,” Killen says.

parents have the view that if you talk about race you are creating the

“Schools are our children’s social world, exposing them to new peer

problem….By age 13, there are other issues that start coming up, like dating.

relationships and teaching them to navigate a complex social environment.

And so that is when messages from parents and society start getting much

And the climate and messages that teachers and peers convey in school

more negative.”

have everything to do with how children develop ways of interacting with

Dr. Killen’s research in this field is ongoing, but in many ways it reflects

peers and adults in daily life.”

the ground she has already tread in twenty-eight years of studying moral

development. That history — and the focus of her research career — has

Race in childhood is a provocative issue. Killen’s study tackles it

fearlessly by asking questions many parents would rather ignore. Does

a lot to do with developing precise methodology and forming incisive

race affect how children choose friends or see conflicts? Are children really,

questions: “My more unique contribution to developmental science is to take

as many parents believe, colorblind? How, when, and why do they form

a rigorous scientific approach to how children apply their moral reasoning

opinions on race? How do these opinions change over time? How does a

and judgment to issues where there is potential bias, stereotyping, and

school’s racial diversity affect children’s opinions on race? The study found

prejudice. When do children understand equality and fairness, and when do

that children as young as six were making assumptions about race based

they understand that being prejudiced is unfair?” — JL & SY

on biases they may be learning from parents, peers, teachers, or the outside world. Sometimes, Dr. Killen asserts, biases are not actually apparent to the adults setting examples for their kids.

Dr. Melanie Killen teaches in the Department of Human Development

and Quantitative Methodology. She is the author of Children and Social

“When we’re in a situation in public and we have an opportunity to ask

two different people for help, we might just be more likely to ask someone

Exclusion: Morality, Prejudice, and Group Identity, as well as over 130

of the same race,” Killen says of implicit bias. “All of that really has a very

journal articles and book chapters. She has co-edited six books, including

powerful influence very early in children’s lives, much earlier than we think.” Interestingly, Killen also found that young African-American children tend to have more positive or neutral interpretations of interracial encounters than young European-American children — by a significant margin. Asked about the ambiguous depictions, 70% of European-

the Handbook of Moral Development, Social Development in Childhood and Adolescence: A Contemporary Reader, and Morality in Everyday Life. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Dr. Killen was

American six-year-olds attributed negative intent, while 38% of their

awarded the 2008-09 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award by the Provost

African-American peers did so. But by early adolescence those findings

of the University of Maryland.

begin to level out, at 59% and 54% respectively. The figures for the younger

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EDUCATION: Through a Social Justice Lens

“Fixing” Society: Education’s Undue Burden Exploring the relationship between education, inequality, and the social contract

engender social equality — to level the playing field past the point of access.

“There should be a social contract that goes beyond education,”

Dr. Croninger asserts. “Rather than having a robust conception of what constitutes a just society, everything has been focused on education as the institution that will address social inequality. The truth of the matter is that education probably can’t do that, not without some more broad-based conceptions that involve other social institutions.” The history of the shifting of burdens onto education, the conceptual dismantling of the social contract, and the gradual loss of “the civic purpose or collective goods of schooling” are the concerns taken up by Dr. Croninger and COE doctoral candidate Kathleen Hoyer in “Equitable Public Education: ‘Getting Lost in the Shuffle,’” a chapter they co-authored for Gail Sunderman’s new book on diversity in the schools, Charting Reform, Achieving Equity in a Diverse Nation. “Despite thirty-five years of legislation

©CJ Breil

and litigation, the quality of educational opportunities afforded children Education as the great equalizer: “If you work hard enough, pay attention

remains stubbornly unsatisfactory, especially for students from historically

in school, and study for your tests, eventually you will succeed in life.” For

disadvantaged backgrounds,” Croninger and Hoyer write. Against this

decades, American schools have bottle-fed children the idea that education

backdrop of inequality, the co-authors pose a question: “To what extent

levels the playing field — a notion which dovetails so naturally with the

are future federal and state policy efforts likely to reverse the negative

American Dream that it saturates the language we use to talk about

educational trends facing low-income students and ensure that they do

education. But when Americans speak of equal educational opportunity,

not get lost in the shuffle?” As Croninger sees the matter, answering this

we’re really talking about access to education. The assumption is that with

question requires us to look well beyond education, to adopt a perspective

access comes a level playing field and, for the student who only strives for

which recognizes the interrelatedness of various parts of our social fabric

it, inevitable success: landing a dream job after college and leaping into

and how those parts — and the public policy we exercise in their interest —

the echelons of the middle class or even the upper class. Thanks to this

can either advance or hinder educational opportunity.

assumption, society places a heavy burden on the education system —

a burden Robert Croninger thinks about a lot.

address problems of poverty or discrimination,” Dr. Croninger says. “Our

focus on education as a primary vehicle for reform took root after the

Before joining Maryland’s faculty in 1997, Dr. Croninger worked for

“The basic idea here is that you cannot rely solely on education to

nearly two decades with the Programs for Educational Opportunity, a

Great Depression. Changes in other sectors of society that could benefit

desegregation assistance center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Now an associate

children have lagged behind those made in education. Other sectors need

professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership,

to be involved in providing health services, employment opportunities, and

Croninger works with graduate students on research concerned with

community development.”

“redefining and re-conceptualizing what constitutes equal educational

Dr. Croninger praises recent reforms which he believes have broadened

opportunity.” He examines educational opportunity in terms of social justice,

the public investment in our children, namely the work of the Harlem

as well as the institutions that must work with schools and universities to

Children’s Zone and the Promise Neighborhoods Institute, the latter of

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which, according to its website, seeks to “wrap children in high-quality, coordinated health, social, community, and educational support from the cradle to college to career.” But Croninger insists that these reforms are not enough; their commitments need to be deepened by a more widespread effort. For instance, he identifies universal health care, especially prenatal care and postnatal care for the poor, as an advancement that will benefit children and most likely have a positive effect on educational outcomes. But he also posits that problems in schools and in society need to be addressed by finishing the work of desegregation.

“De jure segregation has pretty much dismantled the policies that were

put in place to keep the races separate, but it hasn’t dismantled what is sometimes called de facto segregation,” Dr. Croninger explains. “The major reasons for de facto segregation are the result of residential segregation, but such segregation does not represent only residential choice. Income inequality

…to adopt a perspective which recognizes the interrelatedness of various parts of our social fabric and how those parts — and the public policy we exercise in their interest — can either advance or hinder educational opportunity.

plays a major role, as well as state tax law and the decisions of community

University, which suggests that as America’s income gap has grown, so

planners and corporate heads. By some estimates, our school system is

too has the achievement gap between economically advantaged and

almost as segregated now as it was just after Brown v. Board of Education.”

disadvantaged children. Moreover, that achievement gap is nearly twice

as large as the achievement gap between white and black students — the

Beyond the de facto segregation of neighborhoods and schools, what

effects do myopic public policies have on the public schools themselves?

reverse of what the situation was fifty years ago. The implication is that

Croninger argues that what was a social contract became an educational

growing economic inequalities are driving a widening achievement gap. But

contract, a belief that schools alone can “fix” a damaged social fabric

Croninger is doubtful about whether reorienting enrollment policies toward

simply by escorting individuals into better socioeconomic conditions.

socioeconomic justice will be enough by itself to counteract this trend.

That belief not only undermined the other social values in education but

Asked about the Supreme Court’s decision this year in Fisher v. University

actually helped to stratify educational opportunities. “When education

of Texas (see our article on Dr. Julie Park’s research for a fuller treatment

becomes the primary policy lever for prosperity — individual and social

of the issues in that case), Croninger grants that there may be some merit

— the competition for private benefits tends to dominate,” Croninger and

to class-based affirmative action but that it is not a cure-all. Ultimately,

Hoyer write of the cause-and-effect behind the shift away from education’s

he argues, we must reconstruct our beliefs about society and reinvigorate

collective value and the resulting stratification of opportunity.

the social contract if we are to have any real hope of achieving truly

To clarify the nature of this stratification, Dr. Croninger points to a recent

equal opportunity.

study by Sean Reardon, a researcher of education policy at Stanford

“It bothers me that school systems cannot use race, even in a limited

way, to promote integration and greater diversity in schools,” Dr. Croninger says of the premise represented by the Fisher ruling. “In 2007, the Court disallowed the use of race for K-12 enrollment decisions in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District 1, but did suggest, as in Fisher, that income might be used as a factor. There’s some reason to argue that the use of income is long overdue, especially in K-12 enrollment decisions. A number of schools have explored the possibility, but it is not common, and I am not confident that it will become a lever for integrating schools. Schools will not be able to turn that trend around without political reforms and policies that promote employment and reasonably paying jobs.” — JL & SY

Dr. Robert Croninger is an associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership. Before joining Maryland’s faculty, Dr. Croninger served for nineteen years as a Researcher and Associate Director with the Programs for Educational Opportunity, a federally-funded desegregation assistance center affiliated with the University of Michigan. He ©CJ Breil

holds an M.A. in Sociology from the College of William & Mary and a Ph.D. in Education Studies from the University of Michigan.

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EDUCATION: Through a Social Justice Lens

NOT an “Either-or” conversation Investigating the dynamics of affirmative action

©CJ Breil

endeavors/college of education

The results suggest that racial and socioeconomic diversity can be mutually reinforcing. “Students who attended more socioeconomically diverse institutions were more likely to interact across class lines, and interacting across class lines was associated with greater interaction across racial groups,” Park writes of her findings. “In an indirect but notable way, we found that class diversity can actually help and enhance campus race relations.”

But when she zeroed in more closely on the question of whether class

diversity is every bit as good for students as racial diversity, Park found that “race and class diversity are related to each other, but not interchangeable. “In our study, having a racially diverse student body was strongly and directly linked to student interaction across race, and the effect was stronger and more consistent than the effect associated with class diversity. Our research shows that both race and class diversity in a student body are needed to support positive race relations on campus.” The long and short of Park’s study is that class diversity supports racial diversity but cannot replace it as a means to secure positive race relations and diverse student interactions. Or to put the matter another way, achieving ©CJ Breil

class diversity does not bring about “de facto racial diversity,” despite what some critics of affirmative action would have us believe. And another

There is value, both academic and social, in diversity. However, the

argument of such critics — one which equates race-conscious admissions

means by which our institutions of higher education pursue diversity

with discrimination — may prove crippling in practice. Exactly what effects

are under fire from many directions — lobbyists, lawmakers, and, it now

can arise from applying that argument to public policy is the concern taken

seems, the Supreme Court. A particular idea seems to be gaining ground

up in When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion, and Affirmative Action in Higher

in the national conversation about affirmative action: America is no longer

Education. In this book, Dr. Park documents the evolution of an InterVarsity

as stratified as it once was along racial lines, and instead of race we should turn our attention to the problem of income inequality. This trend worries Dr. Julie Park, an assistant professor in the College’s Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education. Writing on the Huffington Post blog in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas, which seems to agree with the reasoning of this shift away from racial justice and toward socioeconomic justice, Park asserts that “class diversity is a worthy goal for institutions” but maintains that, as her research indicates, “race and class cannot be an ‘either-or’ conversation.”

…class diversity supports racial diversity but cannot replace it as a means to secure positive race relations and diverse student interactions.

Park bases her conclusion on a study she led examining “what class diversity does for a campus environment beyond the point of admission.”

Christian Fellowship (IVCF) chapter at a California university from a mostly

That study, which appeared in the American Educational Research Journal

white to a diverse organization and the reversal of that evolution after the

this summer, powerfully underpins her inquiry into the effects of California’s

1996 passage of California’s Proposition 209, which banned affirmative

ban on affirmative action—the subject of Dr. Park’s new book from Rutgers

action statewide. In the book’s preface, Park explains that at first she was

University Press, When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion, and Affirmative

interested in this IVCF chapter because it was an exemplar of racial diversity

Action in Higher Education.

on a campus where racially homogenous worship groups were the norm.

In the AERJ paper, Park and fellow researchers Nida Denson and

Nicholas Bowman confront a twofold question. First, are race-related

and how students were reacting to the experience of participating in a

mechanisms the only way to yield outcomes associated with racial

multiethnic community,” Park writes. “Eventually, however, I began to hear

diversity? But secondly, how might a university’s structural conditions or

a puzzling repetition, a remark along the lines of ‘We’re diverse, but not as

student interactions with other types of diversity, not necessarily racial,

diverse as we used to be.’ That repeated comment pushed me to wonder

affect a campus climate? Park’s team analyzed a national dataset of surveys

what was happening to IVCF and why.”

of almost 15,000 students at 88 colleges and universities collected by the

When Diversity Drops seeks to answer two questions. How did the

UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. Significantly, the study looks

IVCF chapter emerge from homogeneity into diversity? And why was its

not only at responses collected from freshmen but also at what those same

diversity now declining? Park addresses the first question by documenting

students had to say four years later about their experiences, providing

organizational change, showing how a once-homogenous religious

insight into the environments produced by certain types and levels of

student group became racially diverse both through intentional changes in

diversity rather than considering diversity as a stand-alone fact.

organizational culture and through individual actions and efforts. To answer

“My initial plan was to study how IVCF had made that diversity possible

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The Future of Affirmative Action?

the second question, Park examines the structural inequities which inhibited

University admissions officers took note of the Supreme Court’s

the group’s ability to sustain its diversity. She finds that a key reason the

decision in Fisher v. University of Texas, and so should educators

fellowship was losing ground was a sharp decrease in African-American

who believe in the academic value of diversity. At issue was

students at the university following the passage of Prop 209. Not only did

the use of race-based affirmative action in admissions. The

the drop in African-American enrollment limit the number of black students

plaintiff, Abigail Fisher, claimed that the University of Texas at

who could potentially join the group, but the ensuing strains on the

Austin denied her admission because she is white and that less

campus’s racial climate made it less likely that black students would want

qualified minorities were admitted. The university argued that,

to spend free time in groups where there were few peers of their own race.

while race-conscious policies are part of its diversity agenda,

“The book’s main argument is kind of a statement of the obvious,” Park

Fisher did not qualify for admission regardless of her race.

says. “You can’t have a racially diverse student subculture without a racially

Rather than ruling on the case’s merits, the Supreme Court

diverse student body.”

finally kicked it back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals with a

stern reprimand to gather more facts and apply “strict scrutiny”

higher education, our national conversation might benefit enormously from

in examining the university’s policies.

being reminded of the fact. If the Supreme Court’s recent behavior — not

only in Fisher v. University of Texas but also in regard to the Voting Rights

“Strict scrutiny,” said a Court majority opinion, “imposes

Perhaps that is obvious, but when it comes to affirmative action in

on the university the ultimate burden of demonstrating, before

Act — is any indication, Americans may be forgetting how new and fragile a

turning to racial classifications, that available, workable race-

part of our social history diversity really is. — JL & SY

neutral alternatives do not suffice” to achieve diversity. While

affirmative action remains intact for now, the Court expects a

university to show “that its plan is narrowly tailored to achieve

Dr. Julie Park is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling,

…the benefits of a student body diversity,” as Justice Anthony

Higher Education, and Special Education. Her ongoing research includes

Kennedy wrote. In sum, the Fisher decision places greater

studies on the relationship between socioeconomic and racial diversity,

burdens on universities to craft policies for pursuing diversity.

the role of religion in social capital networks, and conditions affecting

By that token, it widens the doors for future challenges to

interracial friendship. Park serves on the editorial board of the Journal of

affirmative action, especially those arguing that class-based

College Student Development and on the research advisory board for the

or socioeconomic affirmative action sufficiently replaces a race-based policy. But Dr. Park’s research calls into question that argument, particularly as it was expressed in 2009 by Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, an organization opposing race-conscious admissions.

“The educational benefits that supposedly flow from a

National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE). She earned her Ph.D. in Education, with a concentration in Asian American studies, at UCLA’s Department of Higher Education and Organizational Change, and her B.A. in Sociology, English, and Women’s Studies at Vanderbilt University.

diverse student body are rooted in differences in perspectives and experiences — not in skin color per se,” Clegg said. “Weighing socioeconomic status would provide such diversity to a similar degree as race, and without the ugliness, divisiveness, and myriad other costs of racial discrimination.” Clegg’s language is interesting, perhaps distressing, for how easily it labels affirmative action a form of “discrimination” — an idea common in the American dialogue about affirmative action. In her SCOTUSblog commentary on Fisher, Associate Professor Melissa Hart of the University of Colorado’s School of Law, who specializes in affirmative action, argues that this idea influenced the Supreme Court’s ruling. While conceding that “the Court affirmed diversity in higher education as a compelling state interest,” Hart says the ruling was “also a victory for opponents of affirmative action” because it “firmly rejects the notion that racial classifications designed to increase opportunity for or redress discrimination against racial minorities can be treated differently from those classifications intended to exclude or oppress minorities.” — JL ©CJ Breil

endeavors/college of education

EDUCATION: Through a Social Justice Lens

Widening the Lens The argument for expanding higher education’s alumni donor base

“The need for colleges and universities to fundraise is greater than ever

There can be little doubt about Drezner’s assertion. Whether impacted

and there is no sign that it will lessen,” Noah D. Drezner wrote in an online

directly by state budget cuts or indirectly by the trickle-down effects of

op-ed for Inside Higher Education. “American higher education once saw

federal sequestration, higher education is feeling the pinch of austerity.

philanthropy as a means to separate eminence from excellence. Today,

Naturally, colleges and universities are casting wider nets in their quests for

voluntary support is needed to simply make budget and provide students

funding, an effort which sooner or later will give rise to soul-searching

with access.”

about alumni relations. But the politics of austerity are arguably overshadowing

WINTER 2014

much more urgent reasons for institutions to rethink how they engage with

they donated to their universities precisely because they had had “horrible”

their alumni — and which alumni they might be ignoring. As the demographics

experiences as students on campus and wanted future LGBTQ students to

of public universities evolve, the engagement of historically marginalized

receive better treatment. The majority of interviewed alumni professed a

alumni may become a matter not only of diversity but also of survival.

willingness to disclose their orientation to their alma maters and an interest

Diversity is the heart of the research on alumni engagement conducted

in LGBTQ issues on campus. While some alumni reconnect with institutions

by Dr. Drezner, an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling,

via affinity groups, the study’s findings suggest that universities need to

Higher Education, and Special Education. Informed by his background as

take more proactive steps to redress past discrimination, make diversity

a development officer and his doctoral work on fundraising at historically

integral to their priorities, promote more inclusive campus environments,

black colleges and universities, Drezner looks at how race, ethnicity, and

and broadcast their progress in diversity as a cornerstone of their

sexual orientation influence a person’s willingness to give. His research

engagement efforts.

underpins the call for more inclusive strategies in alumni offices voiced by

his Inside Higher Ed article.

universities have come when it comes to identity discrimination,” Dr.

In the Inside Higher Ed piece, Drezner critiques a video celebrating

Drezner says. “The first thing to do is to engage with these alumni and

the history of alumni associations, released this year by the Council for

start the healing process. These communities need to understand that the

the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He calls the video a

institution has changed. Get out there and talk about how the campus might

“We need to celebrate diversity and how far many colleges and

“whitewashing of history,” arguing

be an affirming place for a queer

that its failure to acknowledge

student. Get those stories out that

contributions by people of color “is indicative of how most higher education institutions still view their engagement and solicitation work — through a white, wealthy, male and heterosexual donor lens.” Dr. Drezner is no stranger to such blinkered viewpoints: while fundraising for

…the politics of austerity are arguably overshadowing much more urgent

our alumni need to hear.” The first part of Drezner and Garvey’s ongoing study

reasons for institutions to rethink how

appeared in the September 2013

they engage with their alumni — and

in Higher Education. This winter,

which alumni they might be ignoring.

a nationwide survey of LGBTQ

issue of the Journal of Diversity they will expand the research with

the University of Rochester, he

alumni. Meanwhile, the issues and

became disillusioned with the alumni

attitudes unearthed by the study’s

association’s overwhelming focus on only this one population of donors.

initial findings offer an illuminating window into the pioneering new book

Intrigued by an apparent neglect of non-traditional alumni, he pursued

Drezner has edited on social identity’s relation to philanthropy, Expanding

graduate studies investigating how these alumni practice philanthropy.

the Donor Base in Higher Education: Engaging Non-Traditional Donors, in

which he makes the case for more consciously “donor-centric” engagement

Now, Dr. Drezner is mapping the full scope of the lens of sexual

orientation. Alongside fellow researcher Jason Garvey — a former COE

practices. But Expanding the Donor Base broadens the topic well beyond

doctoral student and now an assistant professor at the University of

the lens of sexual orientation: other non-traditional donor populations

Alabama — he is examining institutional attitudes toward LGBTQ alumni, how

considered by the authors include African-American, Latino/a, Chinese-

those alumni arrive at their giving decisions, how campus climates affect their

American, and female alumni. Several chapters encourage institutions to

outlook on their alma maters, and what efforts colleges and universities can

look closer to home by engaging young graduates, doctoral alumni, faculty,

make to bring this marginalized population back into the fold.

staff, and even current students in efforts to create a culture of giving.

To commence their study, Drezner and Garvey visited six colleges and

This book breaks promising new ground in alumni relations, working from

interviewed more than 130 fundraisers, alumni relations staff, and LGBTQ

Drezner’s premise that, in an era of belt-tightening, colleges and universities

alumni. Two important initial findings are that “sexual identity is a bigger

can’t afford to leave any stone unturned. — JL

factor in the motivation to give than LGBTQ donors readily admit” and that such donors are “more likely to support their alma maters if an institution’s president and administration were seen as supportive of gay students.” But

Dr. Noah Drezner is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling,

perhaps more telling is the resistance that Drezner and Garvey encountered

Higher Education and Special Education. He is also an affiliate faculty member

as they sought out data and interviews. In some cases, they were denied

of the University of Maryland’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit

access and even barred from campuses. Administrators offered a range of troubling explanations: discomfort with the issue, insistence that there was no need to engage specifically with LGBTQ alumni, worries about collecting data on sexual orientation, and even blatant fear that such efforts of engagement would alienate older, conservative alumni. Drezner believes that these institutional attitudes are simply unjustified. Some of the LGBTQ donors he and Garvey talked with, in fact, said that

endeavors/college of education

Leadership and chairs the President’s Commission for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues. Dr. Drezner is the author of Philanthropy and Fundraising in American Higher Education (Wiley, 2011); co-author of Race, Gender, and Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011); and most recently the editor of Expanding the Donor Base in Higher Education: Engaging Non-Traditional Donors (Routledge, 2013).

fearless ideAS

ENHANCING AND DISRUPTING THE WAYS WE TEACH: Technology Integration at the College of Education

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It might be hard for us to imagine, but in 1841 the chalkboard was a

While both PK-12 and higher ed landscapes retain much of what has

cutting-edge innovation, and its inventor was declared “among the best

always defined them, in other ways they would be unrecognizable

contributors to learning and science, if not among the greatest benefactors

to visitors from the past. A great variety of hardware and software is

of mankind.” There has always been a direct link between advancements in

enhancing and disrupting how we understand the educational process.

technology and how we teach in schools. From chalkboards to overhead

Teachers now use wikis, blogs, virtual classes, interactive white boards,

projectors, mass-produced textbooks to digital subscriptions, U.S. classrooms

tablets, flipped classrooms, electronic texts, podcasts, MOOCs, brain

have evolved from generation to generation. The most recent wave of

imaging, open source lessons, and quick response devices. As a result,

technological innovation is no exception. It is also having a profound,

they are transforming courses.

transformative effect on how we understand and teach learning.

©CJ Breil

At the College of Education, our faculty

combines three types of technology: social media

Students in Roberta Lavine’s Teaching English

members are leading the way in using

to help kids collaboratively develop questions

to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

technology to achieve instructional, research,

relevant to their everyday lives, vote those

Methods course meet with a senior-level class in

and community-building goals. This grassroots

questions up or down, and design experiments

Taiwan, Teaching English as Foreign Language

movement is growing within the college to

together; storytelling tools, like Storykit, to help

(TEFL) Methods. During an eight-week period,

include all departments, programs, and levels

them reflect on their scientific experiences by

students collaborate — synchronously and

— from STEM to humanities, undergraduate

telling their own personal stories; and visualization

asynchronously — on tasks appropriate for

to doctoral work, qualitative to quantitative

tools to help kids organize and make sense of

pre-service and in-service teachers of English

research methods. Here’s a look at tech-enabled

the data they’ve collected by storytelling.

language learners, including reflections on the

teaching and research of some COE faculty:

cross-cultural similarities/differences in the

ROBERTA LAVINE

educational systems of both countries and the

TAMMY CLEGG

Collaborating across Languages and Miles

creation of videos and accompanying lesson

Making Science Meaningful in Children’s Lives

Each fall semester since 2010, University of

plans on relevant topics. Maryland students

Tammy Clegg, in the division of Science, Math

Maryland graduate students collaborate with

provide individual feedback for the written work

and Technology, focuses on designing mobile

their peers at Tamkang University in Taiwan

of Tamkang students. Students use such tools

technologies for promoting science learning

in a joint effort sponsored by the Embassy of

as a private Facebook group, Google docs, and

in children’s lives. She is developing a learning

Taiwan, the College of Agriculture and Natural

Adobe Connect.

environment, called Kitchen Chemistry, which

Resources, and the College of Education.

endeavors/college of education

fearless ideAS that students are more willing to revise their

investigating how we can use social computing

work, expand their vocabulary, and pursue more

and new media to engage learners in novel

ambitious inquiries.

ways. Specifically, his work with MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and P2PU

©CJ Breil

DAN CHAZAN Animations of Math Classroom Interactions Dan Chazan, Director of the Center for Mathematics Education, has been focusing on how to create a new kind of representation of math classroom interactions for use in teacher education and research. Through a joint NSFfunded project with the University of Michigan, his team is creating an environment called Lesson Sketch, where video and animation live together and around which questionnaires and discussion forums can evolve. Since animations and comic strips do not record what actually transpired but instead represent what might have transpired, instructors can explore alternative courses of action which support a discussion of “what to do next” — the tactical and strategic aspects of teacher decision-making.

JOSEPH MCCALEB Engaging Writers through Digital Media Aided by a grant from the National Writing Project, Joseph McCaleb, Director of the University of Maryland Writing Project, has been documenting the effectiveness of 1-1 iPad instruction in elementary school. Teachers explore the use of applications such as EduCreate, Storyrobe, and iMovie for student research and composition. Students then publish their reports to a countywide online platform called My Big Campus, where their work is shared with other students, teachers, and parents. The project has generated a marked increase in student motivation, engagement, and on-task behaviors. Teachers also report

LEIGH ABTS

(Peer-to-Peer University) is not merely about

e-Portfolio Design Process in Engineering

providing educational resources online — it’s

Leigh Abts, in Bioengineering and Education,

also about understanding how communities

is exploring the feasibility of an advanced

form around the ubiquitous availability of

placement course in Engineering Design.

information. What motivates learners? How

This ongoing collaborative study utilizes an

can the platform be designed to foster better

e-portfolio to collect, track, and assess students’

learning experiences? And what types of

project-based design experiences from grade 7

participatory literacies/skills do learners need

through graduate school. Since the beta launch

to become valued contributors to this online

a year ago, over 10,000 individuals from all fifty

learning community? In a related project,

states have signed up to use the e-portfolio. In

Sci-dentity, Dr. Ahn is working with inner-city

another collaboration, Dr. Abts is developing

middle school students using science fiction and

a model for a national Energy 101 course — to

new media, creating stories about superheroes

be implemented through the Department of

and superpowers to increase student interest

Energy’s open-source Internet platform NTER —

in STEM, unconstrained by traditional literacies

which employs media-rich prototype modules

(particularly reading and writing level).

to engage students’ interest in such topics as heat transfer and deliver curriculum in a flipped

DEBRA NUEBERT

classroom environment. The eventual intent is

Reaching Diverse Audiences through UDL

to align these project-based activities with the

Debra Neubert, in Special Education, has

e-portfolio-based design process in order to

developed an education course on Universal

capture and track students work.

Design for Learning (UDL), a framework which helps educators ensure that instruction is

KATHRYN ALVESTAD

inclusive for all learners. Maryland state

Formative Assessment through Clickers

regulations require that, by the 2014-15 school

and e-Conferences

year, administrators report how teachers are

Kathryn Alvestad, in the Assessment and

using UDL to build curricula, select materials,

Evaluation program, is experimenting with

and conduct professional development.

student response devices (“clickers”) and online

Evolving technologies are vitally important in

student feedback conferences. Her research

this arena since they help teachers address the

shows that students like the use of clickers to

three principles of UDL: engaging students in

gather formative assessment information during

the learning process, representing content, and

class. They find the information they receive to

assessing student growth — all through multiple

be individually useful, and they recognize that

means and methods.

the devices help the instructor be more responsive to their immediate needs. They have also

NATHAN FOX

responded in an overwhelmingly positive way

Effects of Experience on the Brain and Behavior

to individualized online conferences. They like

Nathan Fox, in Human Development, studies the

the flexibility of being able to meet with their

effects of experience on the brain and behavior,

instructor when it is convenient for them, and

as well as the underlying brain architecture

they recognize the value of these interactions to

associated with attention and emotion regulation.

both their comprehension and their grades.

For his research and analysis, he utilizes recordings of brain electrical activity (EEG) in infants and

JUNE AHN

children who are responding to different tasks and

Engaging Learners through Science Fiction

stimuli, functional MRI for the study of older

and MOOCs

children and adolescents and the identification of

June Ahn, in a joint appointment between

the underlying brain circuitry associated with

the iSchool and the College of Education, is

emotion regulation, and video recordings of behavior.

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sources. Students learn to interpret SI resources, build a museum collection on a topic of their own choosing, and use their collection to create National History Day projects.

JEFF HARRING Quantitative Methods for Group Comparison Jeff Harring, in the Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation Program, integrates innovative statistical software into his teaching in order to expose students to state-of-the-art advancements in applied statistics and psychometrics computing. His research focuses on methods for repeated measures data, nonlinear structural equation models, and

©CJ Breil

mixtures of both linear and nonlinear growth

CHRISTY TIRRELL-CORBIN

Kinesiology, Dr. Bolger is conducting studies

Blogging to Promote Critical Thinking

which involve brain imaging before and after

Christy Tirrell-Corbin, Director of Early

five weeks of web-enabled working memory

Childhood Education, has pre-service and in-

training, as well as identifying genetic markers for

service teachers blog — and evaluate their peers’

Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive control. Can

blogs — by posting substantive online comments

brain training increase cognitive ability and stave

and private peer evaluations. She finds blogging

off the effects of cognitive decline in adulthood?

an especially effective tool to promote critical thinking about research and educational policy

SUSAN DE LA PAZ

models — all of which can be used to investigate group comparisons. In addition, Dr. Harring recently utilized a computer-based Monte Carlo simulation to investigate nuances of nonlinear effects in structural equation models.

DIANE JASS KETELHUT Immersive Virtual Environments Diane Jass Ketelhut’s research in Science Education

Smithsonian-Researched National History Day Projects

is about the positive impact that immersive

Susan De La Paz’ work focuses on teaching

disenfranchised students who have had little

diverse learners to engage in technology-

academic success. She has found that IVEs help

enhanced, project-based learning. In

bridge a gap between the school environment

collaboration with the Smithsonian Institute, she

and the world in which many students are

is leveraging technology to help middle school

comfortable, encouraging them to bring their

students at College Park Academy learn to use

natural skills into the classroom. She is currently

research directly.

a special search engine prototype, which gives

the principal investigator of the Situated

them access to thousands of Smithsonian digital

Assessment using Virtual Environments for Science

DJ BOLGER

resources such as artifacts and primary

Content and Inquiry (SAVE Science) project. — HKC

issues because it’s individualized, collaborative, and has real-world applications. For example, in her graduate course on the Social Basis of Behavior, in-service teachers use research about social development to write informative blogs for the parents of their students. The blogs are written to be accessible to parents who need the information but who are not reading the

Robust Brain Training DJ Bolger, in Human Developmental and Quantitative Methodology, is researching robust brain training and its impact on second language acquisition, fluid intelligence, reading, and mathematical ability. More specifically, he is collaborating with researchers in the Psychology department and at the Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL) to develop an app for the iPad that helps with second language learning. The app, called The Code War, is a game-like interface where participants try to “decode enemy transmissions” in the foreign language they are studying. In addition, along with colleagues in Psychology, CASL, and

endeavors/college of education

©CJ Breil

virtual environments (IVEs) can have on

fearless ideAS Elizabeth Barkley (M.Ed. ’13) is giving El Salvadorean children an opportunity to receive a high school education

One Quarter at a Time

What’s the true value of twenty-five cents? To many

Americans, it’s just pocket change hiding a car seat or between the sofa

solve this problem. Inspired by her grandfather, who co-founded a nonprofit

cushions. But to children in El Salvador, it is nothing less than the opportunity

to ensure that every child graduating from Columbus City Schools has an

to receive a high school education. Elizabeth Barkley (TLPL, M.Ed. ’13) is

opportunity to earn a college degree regardless of financial situation, Beth

working to deliver that opportunity — one child at a time, one quarter

started to put away 25% of her own paycheck in order to pay for kids she

at a time.

had met to continue their education. In 2011, she drew up the paperwork to

create an official scholarship fund named Sueños, Educación, Realidad (SER).

Beth first journeyed to El Salvador in 2010 as part of a sophomore-year

Beth felt challenged to do something practical and tangible to help

study-abroad experience. Her visit was transformative. “The people in

Hacienda Vieja welcomed me with open arms and I instantly fell in love

transform dreams into reality, and my hope is that we are creating

with these incredible people, whom I now call my family,” Beth recalls.

opportunities for students to be their dreams.”

She promised to go back, and did in 2011 and 2012.

The students that Beth supports with her own savings have now

During her visits, Beth discovered that for Salvadoran students, money

begun to graduate, and with each new donation, more and more students

is the biggest hurdle to getting an education. While the schools are free,

are able to become their dreams. She continues to set aside 25% of her

students need funds to pay for books, uniforms, shoes, and transportation.

own money for the scholarship, and she’s inspired others to give as well.

In the community Beth visited, there is no schooling past 9th grade, so

Beth is now preparing to move to El Salvador in 2014 to teach for a full

high school students there — if they haven’t already dropped out to start

year in the community she loves. In the meantime, she is working on a

working — must take a bus to another school. For this, they need the

book, DOCUMENTED, to convey the voices and stories of undocumented

25-cent bus fare. But in a community where most adults make $5 from a

immigrants. All proceeds from the book will go to support SER scholarships.

12-hour workday, scraping up that fare is nearly impossible.

Please visit http://ter.ps/justicia for more information.

“‘Ser’ is the verb ‘to be’ in Spanish,” Beth explains. “Education can

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Infant & Child Studies Consortium

endeavors/college of education

fearless ideAS

The Infant & Child Studies Consortium is a cooperative venture of researchers in various colleges and departments at the University of Maryland. For over ten years, the Consortium has blazed new trails in the study of social, cognitive, and linguistic development in infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children. Dr. Nathan Fox leads the Child Development Lab at COE’s Department

Dr. Meredith Rowe leads the Language Development and Parenting

of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology which researches

Lab in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative

the effects of early experience on the brain and behavioral development of

Methodology. Her research examines the role of children’s early language

infants and children. Currently two projects, both funded by the National

experiences in their language and literacy development. Some current

Institutes of Health, are ongoing at the lab.

projects include studies of low-income fathers’ linguistic influence on their

children’s language development (with Dr. Cabrera, also in HDQM), the

A longitudinal project that started when children were four months old,

the Temperament Over Time Study (TOTS) examines individual differences

relation between children’s use of gesture and later language development,

in young children’s reactions to unfamiliar and novel situations, as well as

and connections between parents’ use of decontextualized or abstract

the effect of temperament on social competence in the school years. They

language and children’s vocabulary skill. Participants in the Infant and Child

are especially interested in the emergence of social anxiety during middle

Studies Consortium have contributed to Dr. Rowe’s recent lab studies on

childhood, and so ook at factors that may lead to the development of

parent-child interactions when reading picture books versus chapter books,

anxiety. Their current assessments are with twelve-year-olds transitioning

children’s narrative development, and parents’ beliefs about their children’s

from elementary to middle school — a time of significant change in peer

literacy skills.

relationships. With this age group, researchers are examining individual patterns of social behavior with both familiar and unfamiliar peers as well

Dr. Geetha Ramani directs the Early Childhood Interaction Lab in

as the roles of temperament and attention processes in social-emotional

the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology.

outcomes in early adolescence.

Her work focuses on how children’s social interactions influence their

cognitive development, mainly in the areas of mathematics and problem

Another large project in the lab, called Functions and Development of

the Mirror Neuron System, focuses on the emergence of social cognition

solving. Specifically, Dr. Ramani examines how parent-child interactions,

— that is, how children come to understand the social signals of others.

peer interactions, and informal learning activities, such as playing with

They test infants, children, and adults in different situations, all the while

board games and blocks, can promote children’s math and problem-solving

recording brain activity.

skills. In her work with the Infant and Child Studies Consortium, Dr. Ramani

has sought to understand parents’ beliefs about their children’s math

Additional studies in the lab examine training of executive function and

selective attention and the influence of cognitive control on social behavior.

development and has investigated how parents and children work together

All of the studies are designed to advance our understanding of children’s

to complete math and problem-solving activities.

typical and atypical social behavior, as well as the cognitive mechanisms and external experiences that influence the development of social behavior throughout life.

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advancing the college

scholarshipS Thanks to the generous and continuous support of our donors, the College of Education is able to provide over 80 students with scholarship money every year. These students pursue unique opportunities in our top ranked programs that wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been possible without scholarship support. Scholarships at the College of Education promote the transformation of passionate students to high quality education professionals who have a positive impact on the quality of education in the state of Maryland and beyond.

Congratulations to the 2013 Recipients of $1,000 Endowed Scholarships George Merrill Memorial Student Aid Fund Bruce Carrington Sean Gruber Alison Harrington Hallie Lease Lacey Smith

endeavors/college of education

Philip and Ora Ordwein Scholarship Fund Priya Bhasin Michelle Eirhart Miji Jim Riah Joo Kristen Klotz Angela Pontorno Lauren Stewart Brianne Valenti

Donald Robinson Memorial Scholarship Fund Diem-Han Dinh Do Hee Lee Jennifer Tarangelo

Our development team leads the College of Education in obtaining funding for crucial elements of the college, from scholarships to student and professor sponsored research. If you are interested in supporting our efforts, please contact one of our team members:

spotlight on Niel and Helen Carey Donors of the Carey Graduate Award Endowment

College of Education Development Team

An Interview with Niel

What motivated you to go into the field of education?

I benefited so much from good teachers and professors and had a very positive experience during my elementary, secondary, and collegiate education. I thought it was a good field to consider because I liked working with people and the process of helping people learn; these two factors come together in education.

Director of the Career Development Association. The Maryland State PTA gave me the Golden Apple Award for outstanding educator in Maryland. Finally, one of my proudest moments

and Alumni Relations 301-405-8874 | kstevelt@umd.edu

was when I received the outstanding Alumni Award at the University of Maryland.

What motivated you to devote a scholarship to career development and counseling?

My wife and I started as teachers of math and What advantage did you have by going to UMD College of Education?

science and we both moved into career counseling. As I did my graduate work at UMD, I simply saw

I spent my undergraduate career at Salisbury

the need for students who were in counseling

University and at the time I graduated, there

to have coursework and the opportunity to focus

were no graduate programs in education on

on the career development part of the program.

the Eastern Shore of Maryland. UMD gave me

Then when I was a high school counselor, I saw

the opportunity to pursue graduate studies in

the need for counseling and support for students

Education. Now, the Counseling and Personnel

to make plans in their own careers.

Services Department (CAPS) at UMD is recognized

as one of the best programs in the country. My wife and I are extremely proud of it and we are glad to support it in any way we can.

Kelly Stevelt Director of Development

What have been some of your career highlights as an educator?

and Annual Fund 301-405-5607 | aaltshul@umd.edu

What is the best advice you have for someone going into a career in career development and counseling?

Students in career development must realize that career development is a critical aspect for most of us. Our work is a major part of our lives. As future counselors, they need to be prepared

When I was at the State Education Department,

and aware of this. Career development is

the group I coordinated developed the first

important for individuals, communities, schools

state-wide plan for career education in the

and ultimately, our society.

country. Later, I became the first Executive

Andrew Altshuler Associate Director of Alumni Relations

Sarah H. Davis Donor Relations Coordinator 301-405-0903 | shdavis@umd.edu

alumni

Linda Beck Pieplow (MA ’78, BA ’72)

The College of Education Alumni Chapter Board is comprised of

President

passionate alumni who coordinate events to serve the common interests of the College of Education and its alumni. The board is dedicated to hosting events which celebrate the

Jennifer Blatchley (BS ’08) Secretary Sharon Stein (PhD ’07, BS ‘72) Treasurer Kimberly Fleming (PhD ’08, BA ’94) Patricia Jamison (PhD ‘81, MEd 72) George Pappas (MEd ’00, JD ‘92) Diantha Swift (MEd ’96)

accomplishments of the students and alumni. Some of these great events include welcoming students back to the Benjamin Building after summer break with an ice

cream social, playing terp trivia on Maryland Day among other activities, and most notably the “Jump Start Your Job Search” student dinner. It’s events like these that help carry on the tradition about which our great Terp educators dream, experience, and reminisce. Thank you to all past and present board members for your dedication to serving this prestigious College of Education. For more information about the board and how you can get involved, please contact Andrew Altshuler at aaltshul@umd.edu.

Ebony Terrell Shockley (PhD ’12) Jenni Yun (BS ’12) Kimberly Davison (BS ’12) Dara Feldman (BS ’84) Stacey Lillis (MEd ’00, BS ’97) Jeffrey Martinez (MEd ’84, BS ’80) Meri Robinson (EdD ’15, BS ’96) Joan Rothgeb (BS ’79) James DeGeorge (MA ’73, BA ’69) Emily Cunningham ’14 Claire Jacobson ’15

Every Alum, Any Amount…A Huge Impact Maryland is a frontrunner in American education, and here at the University of Maryland, the College of Education is trailblazing advancements in the quality of education throughout the nation. Giving to the Dean’s Initiatives Fund strengthens that impact by supporting student projects, research, and technology. If every COE alumnus gave $25, there would be nearly $1 million to support such initiatives! Please visit Ter.ps/DIF to make your annual gift to the Dean’s Initiatives Fund. For more information, contact Andrew Altshuler at aaltshul@umd. edu or call (301) 405-5607.

Join the Alumni Association! Your Membership Supports Education!

Join the University of Maryland’s Alumni Association, and a portion of your membership will support an undergraduate or graduate scholarship in the College of Education! In addition, you will enjoy exclusive product discounts and social events on campus and through our 60+ alumni clubs and chapters. That means tailgate parties, networking happy hours, golf outings, wine tastings, and more — all with devoted Terps like you! Go to Ter.ps/AAMEM to sign up today! For more information, please contact Andrew Altshuler at aaltshul@umd.edu or call (301) 405-5607. 24

endeavors/college of education

Your Job tart S “Jump

student earch”

dinner

The “Jump Start Your Job Search” student dinner is an opportunity for students to share an evening with current and past professionals in the educational field. This year’s special guest speaker is Mrs. Carole C. Goodman (MA ’78, BA ’73), Associate Superintendent for Human Resources and Development at the Montgomery County Public Schools. “The dinner was an outstanding experience, not just for the students but for the alumni as well. We had a great opportunity to help and guide these young professionals as they prepare for the challenges and successes of their careers,” said Alumni Chapter Board president Linda Beck Pieplow (MA ’78, BA ’72).

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Jean Mullan The College of Education was thrilled to recognize Jean Mullan (BS ‘68) as

Ms. Mullan served as president of Maryland’s College of Education Alumni

the 2013 Distinguished Alumna of the Year at the 13th Annual UMD Alumni

Chapter, where she organized events and reached out to the more than

Association Awards Gala. Jean was one of twenty-four individuals honored

38,000 Education alumni by launching the Endeavors newsletter.

by the University.

She established two endowed professorships in the College of Education:

Jean Mullan earned her teaching degree from the College of Education and

The Jean, Jeffrey and David Mullan Professorship in Teacher Education and

taught elementary school for many years. A devoted volunteer, she has also

Professional Development and the Jean Mullan Professorship in Literacy.

been a civic leader in support of child welfare, education, gardening and

She also endowed The Jean Mullen Scholarship Fund at the Robert H. Smith

culture. Jean has two sons – Jeffrey and David, is an avid Terps basketball

School of Business. Ms. Mullan has chaired the College of Education Dean’s

fan, and breeds prize-winning West Highland White Terriers.

Cabinet for Development and served on the University Board of Trustees.

The entire field of education is quite fortunate to have the generous and guiding light of this wonderful teacher.

endeavors/college of education

classnotes Keep in touch! Submit your classnotes via email to endeavors@umd.edu or on the College of Education’s website: http://ter.ps/COEKIT

1960s Artist Jean Doran (BA ’62) has recently been involved in charity to benefit the Lewes Historical Society in coastal Delaware.

1970s Kathleen Cowles (BS ’75) has joined a team of top-level principals at Deep Water Point, a business navigator for federal contractors located in Bethesda. Valerie Stasik (BS ’70) published her first novel, Incidental Daughter, earlier this year. John Tomaselli (BA ’79) is Chief Operating Officer for SAP National Security Services, a software provider for national security and critical infrastructures. Jim Wharton (BS ’73) is retiring after forty years of service as a music teacher in schools around Baltimore, most recently Catonsville High, where he has taught since 1988.

1980s Jan Cullinane (MEd ’80) has written a new book, AARP’s The Single Woman’s Guide to Retirement, which was published last October by John Wiley & Sons. Eric D. Ebersole (MEd ’86), who has taught in Howard County for 33 years, is running for a seat representing District 12 in the Maryland House of Delegates — assisted in his campaign by his wife Dr. Tara Ebersole (MEd ’87) and his daughter Caroline Ebersole (MEd ’13). Cheryl LaSota Holdefer (MEd ’89), currently an assistant principal in Montgomery County, has published her first novel, Victoria’s Run, which is informed by her experiences as a marathon runner and race organizer.

Dr. Martin Nadelman (EdD ’87) is retiring after

Dr. Daniel Rodriguez (PhD ’98) was appointed

a 41-year career as an administrator in higher

last year as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and

education, most recently serving as President

Human Behavior at Brown University.

of Alamance Community College and Martin Community College. Dr. Thomas O’Brien (PhD ’87), professor of

2000s Dr. Tara Beziat (BS ’02) recently earned her

science education at Binghamton University, is

Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Kent State

the co-editor of a new book from NSTA Press,

University and began teaching last fall at the

Science for the Next Generation: Preparing for

University of South Carolina, Aiken.

the New Standards, a guide for K-5 teachers using the Next Generation Science Standards.

Jennifer Jimenez Maraña (MEd ’03) has been named Director of Diversity and Multicultural

Dr. Brad Sachs (PhD ’83), founder and director

Affairs at McDaniel College.

of The Father Center in Columbia, Maryland, has published a new book, Family-Centered

George McGurl (BS ’02), a science teacher at

Treatment with Struggling Young Adults:

Burleigh Manor Middle School, has been named

A Clinician’s Guide to the Transition from

a finalist for 2013-14 Maryland Teacher of the

Adolescence to Autonomy (Routledge, 2012).

Year, having already been honored earlier this year with an Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher

Daniel Souders (BS ’87) has taken a position

Award from the Washington Post.

as Senior Safety and Health Specialist at EA Engineering, Science and Technology, Inc.

Dr. Andre Perry (PhD ’04) has been named the founding dean of the new College of Urban

Dr. April L. Vari (MEd ’86) has been named Vice

Education at Davenport University.

President for Student Affairs at Delaware Valley College.

1990s Charles Askew (BS ’93) has been appointed the Northeast Regional Director of the Education division of Kajeet, a wireless provider which serves educational institutions and schoolchildren.

This March, Jennifer Markey Reed (BA ’08) and her husband Timothy welcomed into the world their second son, Connor Jacob Reed. Mrs. Reed is a school counselor with Queen Anne’s County Public Schools.

2010s Amilcar Guzman (MA ’12) is an associate

Dr. Jacqueline Leonard (PhD ’97), newly

for federal policy initiatives at Data Quality

appointed as Director of the Science and

Campaign in Washington, D.C., supporting

Mathematics Teaching Center at the University

the development and use of longitudinal data

of Wyoming, has co-edited a new book, The

systems to promote student success.

Brilliance of Black Children in Mathematics (Information Age, 2013). Stephanie McKenna (BA ’99) has been named Teacher of the Year at Weathersfield High School in Connecticut, where she teaches ninth- and

tenth-grade English.

WINTER 2014

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