Incoming LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy Announced as Rossier Commencement Speaker

Dr. John Deasy, who will succeed Ramon Cortines on April 15 as Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, was announced as the USC Rossier School of Education 2011 Commencement Speaker.

Prior to joining LAUSD as Deputy Superintendent in July 2010, Deasy (pronounced DAISY) served as deputy director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he led the initiative on teacher effectiveness.

Deasy, who is known as a public education reformer, has been a strong advocate of improving teacher effectiveness by linking evaluations to student achievement, and providing support for teachers through professional development and mentoring.

Read the full story here.

33rd Pullias Lecture Looks at Games in Learning

This year's lecture on Monday, April 4 will feature James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University and a renowned author on video games and learning.  His remarks, titled "Games, Learning and the Looming Crisis of Higher Education," will examine emerging research about how games, social media and digital technologies can affect the way students learn.

Henry Jenkins, USC Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts and Education, will serve as a discussant. Tracy Fullerton, associate professor and holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, will moderate the discussion.

  

The event, which is expected to have a capacity audience, will be held in Davidson Conference Center at 4 pm.

  

RSVP and Read more about the 33rd Pullias Lecture.

Ph.D. Candidates in Hong Kong & Singapore

Eight current Ph.D. students in the Urban Education Policy program recently traveled to Hong Kong and Singapore with Dr. Guilbert Hentschke and Dr. William G. Tierney.

Pictured left to right in the back row are: Catherine Leung -Director, USC China; Nadine Singh - Assistant Director, Ed.D. Program; Shirley Parry; Holly Kosiewicz; Hentschke. Front row: Jason Perkins, Tierney, Connie Iloh, Misty Sawatzky; Tracey Weinstein, Ji Zhou. 

Last week, 21st Century Scholar presented a series of blog posts highlighting the preliminary research begun on this trip. For more information about the students, please visit Introducing our Ph.D. Students.

In Tribute to Teaching Keynote Announced 

Dr. Susan Moore Johnson, Jerome T. Murphy Professor in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was announced as the keynote speaker for the second annual USC Rossier School of Education's In Tribute to Teaching event on Wednesday, May 11.

Johnson studies and teaches about teacher policy, organizational change, and administrative practice. A former high school teacher and administrator, she has a continuing research interest in the work of teachers and the reform of schools. She has studied the leadership of superintendents, the effects of collective bargaining on schools, the use of incentive pay plans for teachers, and the school as a context for adult work. 

In Tribute to Teaching will take place Wednesday, May 11, from  4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in USC Town and Gown. 

Inside Higher Ed & Chronicle of Higher Ed Note Tierney, Hentschke Report

Inside Higher Ed highlighted a report urging greater state incentives for California's private colleges, by Dr. William G. Tierney and Dr. Guilbert Hentschke.

The report from the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis argues that "the three public higher education systems in California cannot, by themselves, respond to increased demand for higher education" and that the state should provide funding for students to take classes at private institutions, create a common course numbering system to allow for easy transfers between all colleges, provide state incentives for non-profit private institutions to increase enrollment up to 10 percent, and change licensing requirements to make it easier for out-of-state programs to compete in California.

Read more.

The Chronicle of Higher Education highlighted the report, noting it recommends that California take steps to sharply increase enrollment at its private institutions to make up for the inability of public colleges to accommodate enough students.

Read more.

Tierney interviewed on KPCC

Lucido on Students Who Get College Rejection Letters

Dr. Jerome Lucido was quoted in a Fox Business article about what to do when you don't get accepted to any colleges.

"This will happen to a student who applied to a very, very limited amount of schools or some students who only applied to one school, which is not a good idea," says Lucido. "It usually means that you didn't do a proper college search."

He suggests students contact admissions offices to get a better understanding of why they were rejected and to find out if the school accepts appeals.

"[A] very limited percentage of students may see their decision change," says Lucido. "Sometimes a student's record isn't complete, and the student can provide new information that maybe wasn't a part of the application."

Read more.

Pensavalle on Student Scores As Measures of Teacher Performance

Dr. Margo Pensavalle was quoted in the Santa Monica Daily Press about the use of student test scores to evaluate teacher performance, after a survey of Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association teachers gauged opinions on class sizes, the role of student test scores in teacher evaluations and teacher salaries.

Pensavalle noted that test scores are indicators primarily about the student, not just about the teacher. "The goal for test scores is to help us understand what students are achieving and what outcomes we have for learning," she said. "It's important to stay focused on the student."

The scores should be envisioned as a package of data put together for students, and considered alongside a myriad of other components when considering how a teacher's effectiveness is impacting student learning, she said.

Effective teachers are created by instructional leaders on a site level, Pensavalle said. "We look so myopically at the test scores because principals are so busy they don't get into the classrooms to see how teachers are doing."

Read the article.

Faculty Candidate Discussion on Mathematics 

Join Dr. David Stinson, teacher education tenure track candidate, as he facilitates the discussion, "Exploring the Radical Uncertainty of Critical Postmodern Mathematics."

The talk will take place Wednesday, March 30, Noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Davidson Conference Center Club Room. Lunch will be provided. RSVP to Lori Givens at lgivens@usc.edu.

More about Stinson.

Using Multiple Measures to Gauge School Performance

Dr. Guilbert Hentschke, Dr. Priscilla Wohlstetter, and doctoral students Jennifer Hirman and Dara Zeehandelaar co-authored a journal article published in School Leadership & Management.

Their article, "Using state-wide multiple measures for school leadership and management: costs incurred vs. benefits gained," looks at the utility of using multiple measures of school performance for school leaders and managers.

Read the article.

Stillman and Anderson Present on Student Teachers

Dr. Jamy Stillman (above) and Dr. Lauren Anderson (below) presented papers at the Spring Conference of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) in San Jose, CA last week.

The theme for the conference was "Closing the Opportunity Gap: How Context Matters for Teaching and Learning."

Their papers were titled: "Generating learning from opportunities to learn: Supporting student teachers as learners in urban field placements," and "What we know and what we need to know about student teaching in urban, high-needs schools: Insights from and gaps in literature."

More about the 2011 Spring Conference of CCTE

Rossier Faculty Present at AEFP Conference

Several Rossier faculty members and doctoral candidates presented at the 36th annual conference of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) in Seattle last week. The conference was titled, "Taking Stock in Race to the Top: Research to Inform the Next Generation of Education Reform."

Dr. Tatiana Melguizo presented "The Assessment and
Placement Policies in Developmental Mathematics in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD)" in the session on Transitions to Higher Education, and served as discussant for the session on State Merit Based Financial Aid Programs.

Dr. Morgan Polikoff presented  "State Policy Effects on Instructional Alignment," and Dr. Katharine Strunk presented "The Use and Efficacy of Capacity-Building Assistance for Low-Performing Districts: The Case of California's District Assistance and Intervention Teams," in the session on Improving Instruction. Also, Strunk was elected to the Board of Directors for AEFP for a term of three years. She was a discussant for the session on Teacher Layoffs and Teacher Contracts, and Polikoff was a discussant for the session on Consequences of Accountability.

Dr. Dominic Brewer, who is on the AEFP Board of Directors, was discussant for the session on Charter Schools: Location and Selection. Dr. Larry Picus chaired the session on State Education Reform. Doctoral candidate Andrew McEachin presented "An Unintended Consequence of No Child Left Behind: The Impact of School Accountability Pressures on Algebra Enrollment Patterns for California's Eighth Graders," which he co-authored with Strunk, in the session on Improving Math.

And doctoral candidate Imre Meszaros presented "Understanding California School District Parcel Tax Elections" in a poster session.

More about the AEFP conference.
View the full program.

Strunk and McEachin Publish in AERJ

Dr. Katharine Strunk's article, co-authored with doctoral student Andrew McEachin, will appear in the next issue of the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ).

The article, titled "Accountibility Under Constraint: The Relationship Between Collective Bargaining Agreements and California Schools' and Districts' Performance Under No Child Left Behind," can be viewed here.

Seli Presents on Impacts of In-Class Polling

Dr. Helenda Seli presented at the USC Center for Scholarly Technology's Faculty Forum Series on March 4 on the use of "clickers" for in-class polling.

Seli presented research she conducted along with Dr. Brandon Martinez and alumnus Dr. Jerry Sun (EdD '10) on the relationship between polling students prior to, during, and after class and student learning, engagement, and self-efficacy.

Research Lunch Talk with Liliana Garces

Join Liliana Garces of Harvard University for the Research Lunch Talk, "Considering race in graduate admissions: The impact of affirmative action bans on the enrollment rates of students of color in graduate programs," on Thursday, March 31 from Noon to 1:00 p.m. in WPH 403.

Garces will present results of her dissertation study, in which she examined whether affirmative action bans in Texas, California, Washington and Florida have reduced student of color enrollment rates in graduate fields of study.  She will discuss the implications of her findings, other areas of her work and her future research.

CUE Co-Directors Weigh in on Latino Success in STEM

Today, Dr. Alicia C. Dowd participates on a panel of research experts at the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) 2011 Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico to discuss social science research on Hispanics.  Called Unifying Efforts to Advance Hispanics, the event includes workshops and panel presentations to foster dialogue that could help advance students' careers in computing. Dowd will be joined by scholars who are currently involved in social science research pertaining to Latinos, higher education and the STEM disciplines.

Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon is also speaking at a panel discussion today at the Latino Education & Advocacy Days (LEAD) Summit at California State University, San Bernardino, in which she will discuss strategies to attract and graduate more Latinos in STEM.

Welcome Kathy Hernandez!

Kathy Hernandez has joined Rossier in the new position of Social Media Strategist. She is eager to help the school leverage new media tools for communications efforts and alumni community building, and she will divide her time between the communications and advancement departments.

Hernandez has designed over 150 websites and engaged in social media consulting for a variety of clients over the past 10 years, including within the La Canada Unified School District at the elementary, junior high and high school levels. She served as the President of the local educational foundation and is a member of the Governing Board of the Stanford Associates, and has written a class notes column for the Stanford Magazine for over 20 years.

Her husband, Don, is an attorney in Pasadena, and her daughter, Kristen, is a freshman at USC. Her son, Stephen, is a senior in high school. 

Welcome Julie Tieu!

Julie Tieu has joined Rossier as a Student Services Advisor for the Master's Program Office, reporting to Arman Davtyan, Director of Master's Programs.

Tieu has advised students for the past 5 years in public and private postsecondary institutions in various functional areas. In addition, she recently obtained her M.S. in Counseling, College Counseling/Student Services option from Cal State Northridge.

This Week on 21st Century Scholar 

Be sure to check out the following posts on the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA)'s 21st Century Scholar blog this week:


Monday: "Globalization and Study Tours for Graduate Students" by Bill Tierney

Tuesday: "Los Angeles officials need to get their priorities straight" by Randy Clemens

Wednesday: "April Fool's Edition" by Bill Tierney

Thursday: "The Thursday Pop with Kristan Venegas"

Friday: "First Friday with Dr. Mark DeFusco: A Completely Different View of March Madness"

Go to 21st Century Scholar.

Student Wins CATESOL Student Research Award

TESOL student Chris Van Booven won this year's CATESOL Graduate Student Research Contest for his paper, "A Case for Adult Two-Way Bilingual Immersion."

Van Booven will accept the award at the annual CATESOL conference in Long Beach in April, where he will present his paper. His paper will also be published as a feature article in the upcoming issue of CATESOL Journal. He graduates this year.

Biden Releases "College Completion Tool Kit"

On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden released a "College Completion Tool Kit" designed to help states meet the Obama administration's goal of having the most college graduates in the world by 2020.

The tool kit identifies seven no-cost or low-cost policies that states can use, as well as a list of existing federal resources.

Biden also called on governors to host college completion summits in their states and announced a federal grant competition to spur universities to improve their completion rates.

Learn more.

For more info to speak with Jennifer Grodsky or Jean Brodeur please call 202-824-5860 or visit the USC Federal Relations website.