For innovation in education: more innovators.
NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS 2013
DEAR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES, At the VCU School of Education, our goal is to shape the future of education in powerful and productive ways. We are working to ensure today’s students become tomorrow’s leaders in schools and communities across the U.S. and around the world. To help make this happen, the School is growing and we are recruiting outstanding new colleagues to help us in these efforts. I’m delighted to introduce 11 new faculty who have joined VCU this fall. Their knowledge, professional skills and expertise reflect the School’s commitment to 21st-century learning, teaching and workforce development. We are fortunate to have attracted world-class talent in these hires; each brings a commitment to cutting-edge research and evidence-based practice. Please read on to learn more about the new faculty. I also encourage you to visit the School’s new website at www.soe.vcu.edu to learn about upcoming events, recent awards and ongoing research and development projects by almost 500 VCU School of Education faculty and staff. We are proud of the progress we’re making as we continue to shape the future of the field of education. Best,
Christine S. Walther-Thomas, Ph.D.
Dean, VCU School of Education
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Dr. Thomas H. Beatty comes to VCU from Richmond Public Schools, where he served as the Executive Director for Secondary Education. In that role, he provided leadership for the school system’s middle and high school principals. Prior to that appointment, Dr. Beatty was the principal of Richmond Community High School, which has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the country. He was also principal of Thompson Middle School, an urban school that serves a large number of children from public housing projects. Dr. Beatty is a recipient of the R.E.B. Award for Distinguished Educational Leadership, which came with a $15,000 cash award. He used the money from the award to fly a group of students and chaperones to New York City to study the Harlem Renaissance. Dr. Beatty continues to build capacity for school excellence by providing staff development to school leaders across the Commonwealth of Virginia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English degree from VCU, a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction degree from The College of William & Mary and a Doctor of Education in Administration degree from The College of William & Mary.
H. Beatty, Ed.D. Assistant Professor, >> Thomas Department of Educational Leadership
MORE TEACHERS. MORE THINKING. MORE DOING. Dr. Yvonne W. Brandon returns to VCU after a long career in K-12 public education. Dr. Brandon served Richmond Public Schools for 36 years in various capacities, moving through the ranks from substitute teacher, teacher, guidance counselor, assistant principal, principal, director of instruction, deputy superintendent and associate superintendent to superintendent. In 1990, she was a project coordinator at VCU for a peer- and teacher-led intervention program. Dr. Brandon has made presentations to numerous local, state and national audiences. Most notably, she provided insight to the Joint House Staff Committee on the Reauthorization of No Child Left Behind; provided testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension; and has made several presentations at Harvard University. Dr. Brandon received her Doctor of Education in Supervision and Administration degree from Nova Southeastern University, her Master of Education in Guidance Counseling degree from Virginia State University and her Bachelor of Science in Biology degree from Randolph-Macon College. She also is a graduate of the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy.
W. Brandon, Ed.D. Associate Professor, >> Yvonne Executive in Residence
Dr. Ross Collin joins us from the Department of Literacy Education at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. This highly regarded educator focuses his research on the dynamics of language and power in English classrooms and, more broadly, in education. In his classes and research, Dr. Collin examines schooling in times of socio-economic transformation. Specifically, he studies how literacy and literacy instruction serve the social, political and economic needs of various groups. Dr. Collin has published articles on literacy and the politics of schooling in leading journals, and he has presented papers on these topics at regional and national conferences. A frequent co-author with educational theorist Michael Apple, he has an impressive and productive record of early-career scholarship. Dr. Collin received his Bachelor of Arts in English Education from The University of Iowa. He also received a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is one of the top English education programs in the country.
Collin, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, >> Ross Department of Teaching and Learning
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VCU SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS 2013 Dr. Abigail H. Conley comes to VCU from the University of Central Florida College of Education, which has been ranked one of the top 10 counselor education programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Her research interests include interpersonal violence survivorship and healing, spiritual diversity and spiritual development, stereotype threat and underrepresentation in STEM fields, and best practices in program evaluation and research methodology. Dr. Conley was recently awarded Research and Best Practices Grants from the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling and is the Quantitative Associate Editor for its official journal. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Psychology and Religion from Wake Forest University, a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Lewis & Clark College and a Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education from North Carolina State University, where she studied under nationally known scholars in counselor education.
H. Conley, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, >> Abigail Department of Counselor Education
Dr. Autumn Cyprès brings with her an impressive level of both academic and hands-on experience in education. Prior to joining our team, she served as professor and founding director of the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Tennessee. Her research centers on the politics of school leadership and reform with an emphasis on principalship. Her international work has focused on building university collaboratives and reforming school systems through the development of leadership preparation programs. As a former principal, Dr. Cyprès has a wealth of experience as a school administrator at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In 2011, she was awarded the William J. Davis Award for her groundbreaking theory concerning school politics and the hiring procedures of principals. This is the highest honor for research given in the field. Her contributions as a scholar and leader have been recognized by various organizations, including the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education. She also served the University Council For Educational Administration as its 50th president. Dr. Cyprès earned a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education from Arizona State University, a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Arizona State University.
Cyprès, Ed.D. Professor and Chair, >> Autumn Department of Educational Leadership
MORE TEACHERS. MORE THINKING. MORE DOING. As a new addition to our Department of Counselor Education, Dr. Donna M. Gibson comes to us from the Department of Educational Studies of the University of South Carolina’s College of Education. Her research interests include the professional identity development of counselors-intraining, counselor educators, counselor education doctoral students and practicing counselors. She also has research interests in transformational leadership of school counselors. Dr. Gibson has served as associate editor of qualitative research for the Journal of Counseling and Development as well as editor of the Chi Sigma Iota International Honor Society Exemplar newsletter. She is a past president of the Association for Assessment in Counseling, a division of the American Counseling Association, and is a Nationally Certified Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor. Dr. Gibson received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Master of Science in School Psychology and Specialist of School Psychology degrees from Winthrop College, and her Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling and Counselor Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
M. Gibson, Ph.D. Associate Professor, >> Donna Department of Counselor Education
Lynne J. Gilbert comes to VCU from a long career as a secondary school teacher in Virginia’s Chesterfield County Public Schools. She is a National Board Certified Teacher in the content area of Physical Education. During her time with Chesterfield County, Gilbert was involved in numerous teacher leadership projects, in both physical education and teacher education. Her research interests include the impact of physical activity on academic success, and the importance of assessment in physical education as it relates to student achievement over time and impact on teacher performance. Gilbert has presented in numerous teacher leadership venues. Her interest in teacher education is driven by her focus on the relationship between teacher pedagogy and student achievement. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education from Longwood College, and she received her Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from VCU.
J. Gilbert, M.Ed. Assistant Professor, >> Lynne Department of Teaching and Learning
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VCU SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS 2013 Dr. Mary Ellen Huennekens is a graduate of VCU’s Doctor of Philosophy in Education program, with a concentration in Special Education and Disability Policy. Her research interests include early childhood inclusive special education, second language and literacy development among young children, assessment of young children and multicultural education. Dr. Huennekens was selected as a 2011-2012 Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Research/Doctoral Student Scholar. This highly competitive scholars’ program is designed to expand special education research and foster collaboration among scholars across the country. Dr. Huennekens worked as a student researcher in an Early Reading First project that included over 250 preschool-age children from 14 Head Start classrooms across five elementary schools in Richmond, Virginia. Her thesis research examining the effects of a shared storybook reading between parents and children who were English Language Learners was published by the Early Childhood Education Journal. Dr. Huennekens earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Education in Early Childhood Special Education from VCU.
E. Huennekens, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, >> Mary Department of Special Education and Disability Policy
Dr. Ross A. Larsen joins us from the University of Virginia Center to Promote Effective Youth Development. His research focuses on quantitative methodology, specifically Monte Carlo simulations, Bayesian statistics, multilevel modeling and missing data techniques. Dr. Larsen has studied social-emotional interventions at the elementary school level, specifically, the effect these interventions have on student achievement. He is also interested in leadership interventions aimed at making principals more effective and their eventual effect on student achievement. Dr. Larsen received his Bachelor of Science in Biostatistics and his Master of Science in Statistics from Brigham Young University, and his Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology Research and Measurement from Texas A & M University.
A. Larsen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, >> Ross Department of Foundations of Education
MORE TEACHERS. MORE THINKING. MORE DOING. Dr. Deborah L. Speece came to VCU from the University of Maryland, where she was a professor of special education and director of the doctoral leadership training program in learning disabilities. She also served as the Commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, where she was responsible for the national research agenda for special education. Her work on children at risk for reading failure is published in the leading journals in special education and educational psychology and funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Dr. Speece has the Bachelor of Science and Master of Education in Special Education degrees from Bowling Green State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
L. Speece, Ph.D. Professor and Associate >> Deborah Dean of Research and Faculty Development,
Department of Special Education and Disability Policy
Our new Director of Graduate Studies joins us from the Ohio University Patton College of Education Department of Teacher Education, where she served as a professor, coordinator for Adolescent and Young Adult and Multiage Programs, and the associate director for the Stevens Literacy Center. While at Ohio University, Dr. Wan taught and advised both undergraduate and graduate students. She was named the 2009 recipient of the Media Literacy Award by the National Council of Teachers of English, and received the 2010 Margaret Lindsey Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Her research interests include the education of a diverse population, media literacy education, English as a Second Language, and teaching and learning in the 21st century. Dr. Wan holds a Master of Arts in English Language and Literature from Shanghai International Studies University, China; a Master of Arts from the University of Warwick, UK; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction from The Pennsylvania State University.
Wan, Ph.D. Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, >> Guofang Department of Teaching and Learning
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1015 West Main Street P.O. Box 842020 Richmond, Virginia 23284-2020 804.828.3382
www.soe.vcu.edu