Congratulations, Rossier Class of 2011!

This week, Rossier master's and doctoral students will walk in their graduation processional during commencement ceremonies Thursday and Friday. The occasion will be marked by a number of commencement-related activities throughout the week.

On Wednesday, May 11, graduating MAT candidates will spend the day celebrating their Trojan Pride with a series of workshops and events from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in USC Davidson Conference Center.

That evening, don't miss the second annual In Tribute to Teaching lecture with Dr. Susan Moore Johnson of Harvard University providing the keynote address. In Tribute to Teaching takes place at USC Town and Gown from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

On Thursday, May 12, the 2011 Rossier School of Education Doctoral Commencement Ceremony kicks off at 3 p.m. in Founders Park.

On Friday, May 13, the 2011 Rossier School of Education Master's Commencement Ceremony will feature LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy delivering the commencement address. The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. in Founders Park.

Dean Gallagher Awarded PDK Service Key

Dean Karen Symms Gallagher was awarded the Phi Delta Kappa International Service Key by the USC chapter of PDK last weekend. The honor came at a PDK celebratory dinner over the weekend.
 
The service key is awarded to members who have contributed meritorious service, outstanding leadership, or significant research to PDK. It is voted on by an international committee. 

For more than 100 years, Phi Delta Kappa International has been the premier professional association for educators. PDK is one of the largest education associations in the world and has thousands of members dedicated to improving education, including teachers, principals, superintendents, and higher education faculty and administrators.

Congratulations, Dean Gallagher!

Literacy Panel Features Tips for Improving Literacy

If you missed the L.A. Times Festival of Books Rossier panel on literacy, you can now watch the entire panel discussion on our YouTube channel .

The panel, "What Did I Read?" Parents and Children Read Together: Important Interactions, Longstanding Positive Consequences,  informed parents about child and adolescent literacy, explored the future of reading, and provided real strategies parents can use to get their children reading at home.

Rossier faculty experts Dr. Eugenia Mora-Flores, Dr. Gisele Ragusa, Dr. Paula Carbone, and Dr. John Pascerella presented.

 Watch it here.

Ed.D. Research Summit Highlights Best Student Research

On Saturday, May 7, Rossier held the first Ed.D. Research Summit at USC Davidson Conference Center. The summit, which will be an annual event for Rossier, featured presentations and poster sessions on 16 of the best Ed.D. dissertations.

Dr. Mark Rocha (PhD '88), (right) Rossier Board of Councilors member and president/superintendent of Pasadena City College, provided the keynote address at the day-long summit. He spoke about his own experience defending his dissertation in English at USC, and offered words of advice to graduating doctoral students and education practitioners seeking to have a transformative impact on the field of education.

Student Visions for Hybrid High School

You are invited to stop by a special exhibit at the Shrine Exhibit Hall featuring models and plans for the future USC Hybrid High School by USC School of Architecture students. 

The exhibit depicts the students' interpretation of what the innovative new charter school, under the direction of Rossier's Dr. David Dwyer and slated to open fall 2012, should look like. The class focused on two hypothetical sites - one just west of Vermont and the other on Flower.

To visit the exhibit, which will remain on display today from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., enter off of 32nd Street and Shrine Place. The project space is off the center aisle, in the middle of the first large floor.

(Above: One of the student projects in the USC Hybrid High exhibit)

New Reach Focuses on Interdisciplinary Research

The new issue of Rossier Reach should be hitting mailboxes and campus news racks in a week. The May 2011 issue features some of the interdisciplinary research underway at Rossier.

The publication highlights Dr. Gisele Ragusa's recent project to develop multimedia training and resources about Autism Spectrum Disorder with colleagues from Cinematic Arts, Annenberg, and Keck. Also showcased is Dr. Ron Avi Astor's work with military-connected schools, which involves Rossier and USC's School of Social Work, and aims to address the unique challenges of students with parents who are deployed.

The collaborative work between Rossier and Keck to improve surgical training, led by Dr. Richard Clark, Dr. Kenneth Yates, and Dr. Maura Sullivan, is also explored. And Dr. Henry Jenkins' USC Serious Games Initiative is discussed in the issue.  Come to the Communications Suite on the 5th floor for extra copies.

Ahmadi Discusses Race, Gender and Identity

Shafiqa Ahmadi, J.D. was part of a panel titled, "The Re-mix of Race, Gender, & Identity: A Discussion of Performance as Critical Study" on April 29, at the USC's Massman Theatre.

The panel had a critical dialogue about the construction of identity and how identity is impacted by the cultural, historical, and political frameworks of modern society.

Venegas & Pendakur Named 2011 Remarkable Women

Two Rossier women were among 12 Trojans to receive the 2011 Remarkable Women Award.

Dr. Kristan Venegas, (right), chair of the master's governance committee and associate professor of clinical education at Rossier, and Dr. Sumun Pendakur (PhD '10), director of USC Asian Pacific American Student Services and recipient of the 2011 Rossier Ed.D Dissertation of the Year award, were recognized for their accomplishments in their fields, contributions to USC, and commitment to issues involving students and women.

Immordino-Yang Named APS "Rising Star"

Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang was featured in the May/June 2011 issue of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) Observer as a "Rising Star."

Read the article.

Immordino-Yang also delivered a keynote address to 800 participants attending the Learning and the Brain Conference on May 7 in Chicago. The title of her address was "Embodied brains, social minds: How culture shapes emotion, self-awareness, and learning."

Tierney Talks about Importance of Research Funding

The Chronicle of Higher Education quoted Dr. William G. Tierney about the importance of research funding to a university's faculty and leaders.

Tierney said the prestige of both faculty members and university leaders is tied to research success. "Let's say someone is a provost at a second- or third-tier institution, and he or she wants to move up," said Tierney. "The way you move up is to say: 'While I was provost, I doubled the research at my university.' And we go: Oh, my. He doubled the research funding at his university. And the board goes: Wow."

The same thing happens again when the provost wants to become president. "You say, 'I doubled my research funding again.' It's an emblem," says Tierney. "But we need to look hard and fast at if we need all of these research universities."

Read the article.

Hentschke Discusses Professor Evaluations

The Chronicle of Higher Education quoted Dr. Guilbert Hentschke about professor evaluation at nonprofit and for-profit colleges.

Though nonprofit colleges also evaluate professors based on student satisfaction, "they don't monitor failure the same way for-profits do," on an instructor-by-instructor basis, says Hentschke. For-profits, he said, tend to "assign more accountability down to the department chair or the professor themself."

"The power is much closer to the classroom," he says.


Read the article.

Lucido and Schulz Co-Author Journal Article

Dr. Jerry Lucido and Dr. Scott Schulz of the USC Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice (CERPP) had their article recently published in the Journal of College Admission.

The article, "Who We Are: An In-Depth Look at the Educational Backgrounds, Career Paths and Development Needs of Chief Admission Officers and Enrollment Managers," discusses the results of more than 50 semi-structured interviews with chief admission officers and enrollment managers from a diverse group of two- and four-year colleges and universities.

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) featured a story on their article in its blog.

Read the story.

Polikoff Receives USC Grant and Speaks in D.C.

Dr. Morgan Polikoff received a $20,000 grant from USC's Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences program for his proposal, "Content and Instructional Strategies for Students with Special Needs."

Polikoff also will participate in the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy/Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) panel discussion on "The Road Ahead for State Assessments" on Monday, May 16 in Washington, D.C.

More about the panel discussion.

Kaplan Speaks at Two Conferences on the Gifted 

Dr. Sandra Kaplan was one of the key presenters in the Conference by the Capitol, held in Austin, Texas last week. Her presentation focused on differentiating curriculum for gifted students using the "Layered Curriculum" model.

Kaplan was also one of the featured speakers on "Advanced Reading Strategies for the Gifted" in the full-day symposium on Gifted Education and Reading offered at the International Reading Association Conference in Orlando, Florida, which was also held last week..

LAUSD School Named After Rossier Alumnus

Los Angeles Unified School District renamed a San Pedro school in honor of a Rossier alumnus last week.

William J. Johnston (BS, '49, MS '51), who was the superintendent of LAUSD from 1971 to 1981, began his three decade career with the district in 1950 as a teacher at Gardena High School.

As superintendent, Johnston established the All-District Honors Band,  and spearheaded the participation of LAUSD schools in the state academic decathlon competition. He co-authored the book, "Heroes and Teachers," about the service of soldiers during World War II and their subsequent years of services to LAUSD students.

Read the press release.

MAT Students Affected By Recent Natural Disasters

MAT Program Director Erika Klein reports that several Rossier MAT students and their families have been affected by the recent natural disasters in Japan and the American South, but she is happy to report that all students have been accounted for.

MAT faculty and advisors are working with students in the affected areas to accommodate their needs and work around obstacles, such as power outages. The MAT Program Office encourages people to donate to relief organizations, such as the Red Cross.

The aforementioned students have missed little class in the wake of the crises due to the ability of the LMS and the MAT faculty to adapt to events around the U.S. and the world.
View Trojans for Japan blog.

This Week on CHEPA's 21st Century Scholar

USC-PDK Leadership Summit for Teachers & School Leaders

Teachers and school leaders interested in learning  best practices in teaching, leading and learning from education experts should register now for the 2nd annual USC-PDK Leadership Summit 2011.

The one-day summit, which takes place Wednesday, June 1, at the USC Davidson Conference Center, is an informative, hands-on event, with role-playing sessions, participant interaction, and demonstrations. Some of the conference sessions include:

Dr. Sandra Kaplan: "Closing the Experiential Gap for Students of Diversity"

Dr. Eugenia Mora-Flores: "Literacy Across The Curriculum"

Dr. Angela Hasan: "The Algebra Project"

Dr. Gabriela Mafi: "Maximizing Post-Secondary Success for all Students: One District's Experiences with High School Reform"

Dr. Brandon Martinez: "New Media as Critical Praxis: Teaching Language Arts Literature in the Age of Participatory Culture"

Marge Hoctor: Giving Students a GPS for the Information Highway: Integrating Information Literacy Skills"

Wendy Marshall: "University Ready: Engaging Parents in College Planning and Preparation"

Lisa Regan, M.S.: "The Missing Link: Reaching and Teaching Diverse Students"

Debbie Devine & Jay Adams: "Teaching as a Performing Art (TAPA)"

Register for the USC-PDK Leadership Summit 2011 here.
More info about the event.