MAT@USC Wins Innovation Award

New Tenure Track Faculty Member

Dr. Gale Sinatra will be joining the Rossier faculty as Professor in the educational psychology concentration. She starts later this year.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Professor is Editor of Educational Psychologist, a Fellow of APA and AERA, and Vice President of AERA's Division C, Learning and Instruction.

 

Her model of conceptual change learning emphasizes the role of motivation in conceptual change. She is currently Co-PI on a National Science Foundation grant exploring the challenges of teaching and learning about biological evolution in the US, which include emotional and motivational barriers. She is also Co-PI on an NSF EPSCoR Climate Infrastructure grant entitled "Losing the Lake", which is developing a simulation to teach middle-school children about the effect of climate change on declining Lake Mead water levels.

 

More about Sinatra. 

USC Hybrid High School in the Works

This week Rossier is announcing the latest news on USC Hybrid High School, an innovative 24/7 education environment which blends classroom and online experiences. It is designed for L.A. students at risk for dropping out due to family responsibilities and other issues.  The school, which will be located in the USC neighborhood, is slated to open in the fall of 2012.

The innovative concept is under the direction of Dr. David Dwyer, Research Professor and Katzman-Ernst Chair in Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Innovation at USC Rossier.  Watch for a story on USC News.

Deans' Role Changing, according to CHE 

The Chronicle of Higher Education this week dedicates a major profile article to the changing role of successful university deans in the new era, stating that they are "no longer middle managers with an inward-facing focus on academics, ...but fill the roles of college ambassador, chief visionary and major fund raiser."

Tierney Elected AERA President

Dr. William G. Tierney was elected President of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for 2012-2013.

Tierney is the first scholar from USC to be elected president of the 25,000-member organization, as well as the first with higher education expertise.

He will be inducted as president-elect at the 2011 AERA conference in New Orleans.

Read the story.

Dr. Dominic Brewer and Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon have been named AERA Fellows this year, a prestigious designation that will also be celebrated at the AERA conference.  They join six other Rossier faculty members who have previously been so named.

AERA Reception in New Orleans

Mark your calendars for the 2011 USC Rossier School of Education AERA Reception this year.

In conjunction with the AERA conference, the reception will take place on Sunday, April 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. in New Orleans. It will
be an opportunity to honor our newest AERA Fellows,  Estela Mara Bensimon and Dominic Brewer, as well as the AERA President-Elect, Bill Tierney.

  

The location will be confirmed this week.  For more information,  visit rossier.events@usc.edu.

Slaughter to Receive Honorary Degree

Dr. John Brooks Slaughter has accepted an invitation to receive an honorary degree from Howard University at its 2011 Commencement Convocation.

Slaughter will be conferred an Honorary Doctor of Science at the university during the May ceremony. It will be Slaughter's 30th honorary degree.

Tierney on Investing in For-Profit Higher Ed

The Chronicle of Higher Education quoted Bill Tierney about investor interest in for-profit higher education.

The article noted that Tierney writes frequently about for-profit colleges and academic governance, and says the investors he gets connected to, some of them from Europe, don't know very much about American higher education.

Tierney said in the story that he suspects many are low-level analysts hired by investment funds, or private-equity firms, to scope out the landscape. And there's no doubt about their interest: "It's always about for-profits. It's not about tenure or academic freedom.'"

Read the article.

Faculty Candidate Discussion This Week

Faculty, students and staff are invited to attend the faculty candidate discussion on Wednesday, March 9, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in WPH 403, with Qing Li, teacher education tenure track candidate. Li will facilitate the talk, "Building a Learning World: From Constructivism to Enactivism." Lunch will be provided for attendees.

To RSVP, contact Lori Givens at lgivens@usc.edu.

Wohlstetter Heads Webinar on Charters

  

At noon today, Dr. Penny Wohlstetter will moderate a National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Webinar, "What Research Tells Us About Charter Management Organization Success." 

CUE Benchmarking Tool Helps Community Colleges

CUE will conduct workshops at Santa Ana College, Los Medanos College and Diablo Valley College this week and next to help them set benchmark goals for improving student outcomes and racial-ethnic equity in retention and completion. Through CUE's Benchmarking Equity and Student Success Tool™ (BESST), the workshops, generously funded by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, offer a hands-on approach for California community colleges to incorporate data and set concrete goals to close the achievement gap among underrepresented racial and socioeconomic student groups. The benchmarking workshops will take place on March 11th at Santa Ana College and March 17th at Los Medanos and Diablo Valley College.

CUE's Linda Wong Talks Strategies to Increase College Success Rates at San Francisco Forum

 
On Friday, March 4th, CUE executive director Linda Wong spoke at a San Francisco regional forum sponsored by the Campaign for College Opportunity.  Using CUE's ongoing work with Los Medanos College as an example, Wong addressed the importance of integrating data analysis with systematic inquiry to find out what lies behind the data on low completion rates before determining the interventions to take.

The Campaign highlighted key Bay Area findings from its report Divided We Fail, which looked at community college success rates across the state.  For the Bay Area, only 24% of black students and 19% of Latino students successfully completed college, compared to the overall success rate of 31%.  Wong emphasized the need to thoroughly investigate the causes before devising solutions and learning what challenges exist at the ground level that can help inform and improve policy making at the state level. The forum was cosponsored by Policy Link, Greenlining Institute, Californians for Justice Education Fund, and the Institute for College Access & Success. The audience consisted of legislative staff, policy analysts, and representatives from social justice organizations.

This Week on 21st Century Scholar

Alumna Elected to College Board Committee

Dr. Hasmik Danielian (EdD '09) was elected to the Academic Committee of the Western Regional Council for a 3-year term. Her election was announced at the College Board's Western Regional Forum in San Francisco in February.

Daneilian is the Associate Superintendent for Secondary Schools, grades 6-12, at Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. Her dissertation on Data-Driven Decision Making received accolades and honorable mention for outstanding dissertation from Rossier.

Annual PASA Network NASPA Social

The National Association for Student Personnel Administrators conference in Philadelphia this week will include a Rossier reception on Saturday, March 12th from 8:30 - 11:00pm. Rossier PASA faculty, alumni, and students are invited to
Maggiano's Little Italy (1201 Filbert Street Philadelphia, PA 19107), located a few blocks from the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Hors d'oeuvres, non-alcoholic beverages, and a cash bar will be available. 

To RSVP, please contact Anne Bautista at annebaut@usc.edu.

Fundraiser for New Zealand Earthquake Relief

Tuesday, March 8, Noon-1:00pm
Location: SOS B49
Open to all Staff, Faculty and Students
Contact/RSVP: Andy Chen andysche@usc.edu

Join us for a special potluck fundraiser in support of those affected by the earthquake that devastated  Christchurch, New Zealand.

The event is open to faculty, students and staff.  Individuals can help out in one or all of the three following ways.

1.  Make something/bring something for the potluck

2.  Attend the potluck and enjoy the food(suggested $10 donation)

3.  Donate money separately to the Red Cross by giving it to Tiffany Fong or Lali Acuna in the USC Rossier business office

See video of earthquake aftermath created by webmasterTara Harding, a New Zealand native.