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Rossier's Carol Fox Elected as USC Trustee
Carol Campbell Fox (MS '62), vice-chair of the USC Rossier Board of Councilors, has been elected to a five-year term on the USC Board of Trustees.
Carol is an independent educational consultant and is the outgoing president of the USC Alumni Association. In appreciation for her years of service to her alma mater, Carol received a USC Alumni Service Award in 2006, and in 2007 was honored with USC Rossier's Recognition of Outstanding Support/Service for Education Award, which recognized those who have helped advance knowledge and practice in the field of education.
She has taught at several Southern California universities, has worked in several school districts, and served as a consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. In addition, she was appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to the Child Care Advisory Board and the Child Care Planning Council of Los Angeles County.
Carol resides in Rancho Palos Verdes and is the proud parent of a second-generation Trojan, her son, Chris '92, a USC volunteer leader currently serving as president of the Trojan Club of San Pedro-Peninsula.
She joins two other members of the Rossier BOC who are also USC Trustees - Dr. Barbara J. Rossier (MS '62, EdD '71) and Dr. Verna B. Dauterive (MS '49, EdD '66). Read the full story. |
$1 Million Bill & Melinda Gates Grant is Awarded
Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA), in partnership with the USC Game Innovation Lab, received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the development of a suite of college preparation games called Collegeology.
The project builds on the team's " Application Crunch" card game, (formerly "Pathfinder"), which will be available through online purveyors including Amazon.com in September. USC gave away 1,000 free copies of the game to college counselors in high-need schools across the country, and the USC Rossier School's Center on Outcomes Research and Evaluation has been testing and tracking results.  The Gates grant supports two additional games aimed at helping students hone their college knowledge, one aimed at middle schoolers, the other on educating students in high school and beyond about financial literacy and colleges of choice.
Read the full story on USC News.
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Marsh Study Prompts NYDOE to End Bonus Program
 Rossier's Dr. Julie Marsh is the lead author of a new study from RAND that found that a New York City schoolwide performance bonus program had no effect on students' test scores, on grades on the city's controversial A to F school report cards, or on the way teachers reported doing their jobs. As a result of the findings, the New York Department of Education ended its program. Release of the study has garnered national media attention, including an article in today's New York Times."We did not find improvements in student achievement at any of the grade levels," said Marsh. "A lot of the principals and teachers saw the bonuses as a recognition and reward, as icing on the cake. But it's not necessarily something that motivated them to change." Marsh and her colleagues found that the program did not, by itself, improve student achievement, perhaps in part because conditions needed to motivate staff were not achieved (e.g., understanding, buy-in for the bonus criteria) and because of the high level of accountability pressure all the schools already faced. Read the NY Times article. Read "A Big Apple for Educators: New York City's Experiment with Schoolwide Performance Bonuses." |
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USC Hybrid High School Names Founding Principal 
Dr. Stephanie McClay has been selected as the founding principal for USC Hybrid High School. The announcement was made by Rossier's Dr. David Dwyer, Executive Director of the project.
Hybrid High will be the first charter school launched under a nonprofit charter management organization based at Rossier. Located at a site in the USC neighborhood, its doors will be open seven days a week, 10 hours a day and 50 weeks a year to accommodate the schedules of local students with family and job responsibilities. The school is slated to open in the fall of 2012. Dr. McClay began her career as a special-needs teacher at the Dover Area High School in PA and developed a profound focus on students and their individual needs. Among the innovations she brought to her classroom was the creative use of technology, a practice that later resulted in her appointment as Instructional Technology Applications Facilitator in LAUSD. She was appointed founding principal of Cal Burke High School in  LAUSD in 2004 and opened the new school in 2005. The program serves 200+ high-need students annually. She completed her Ed.D at CA State University, Northridge. For more information about USC Hybrid High, go to the website. |
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Hasan Talks About New Parent Trigger Rules  Dr. Laila Hasan was interviewed for a KPCC story on the "Parent Trigger" rules approved by the State Board of Education that give parents more power to force changes in low-performing schools. "I think it's very significant and I think it provides a foundation for parents to think outside of the regular structure." Hasan said. Listen or read the story here. |
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Rossier Contributes to August Issue of AERJ
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Ragusa Talks to Science Teachers at Iowa State 
Last week, Dr. Gisele Ragusa gave two presentations at Iowa State University, one to middle and high school science teachers and the second to science and engineering faculty.
Her first talk was on science literacy and its link to students' content knowledge. Her second addressed science motivation and interest in secondary education, and its link to students' achievement.
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Rossier Faculty Present MAT@USC Successes
 Dr. Brandon Martinez, Dr. Corinne Hyde, and Dr. Kimberly Ferrario gave four presentations at the Sloan Consortium 4th Annual International Symposium on Emerging Technologies for Online Learning. The trio, all of whom teach in the online MAT@USC program, presented concrete ways to use sites like Facebook and Twitter to extend the learning environment outside of the physical or virtual postsecondary classroom. More. They also presented on how USC Rossier faculty used emerging technologies, new media literacies, and student/instructor feedback to create a concrete working model to redesign a course that is already online, More., and highlighted how one course's discussion boards were modified into engaging, multimedia collaborations using free web 2.0 tools. More.Ferrario and Hyde also presented on how synchronous online learning communities have the potential for transforming the way we prepare teacher candidates to become fully credentialed teachers. More.More on the Sloan conference. |
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Rossier's First K-12 Leadership Development Conference Deemed a Success
 The first annual Rossier K-12 Leadership Development Conference, held on July 14, featured successful site administrators, district office leaders and superintendents who shared what it takes to get to the next level.
Over 135 alumni, students, and other educators heard an introductory address by L.A. County Superintendent Art Delgado and a keynote address by Rossier faculty member Dr. Rudy Castruita (above), as well as attended panels targeted at their next career move.View video, photos, and summaries of the event highlights on Storify. |
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SummerTIME Kids Have Stories to Tell...
Once again, this year's SummerTIME participants, local high school graduates, are filling Waite Phillips Hall to gain college preparation and writing skills before heading off to college in the fall. Many have inspiring stories to tell... "Oswaldo Reza's voice cracks as he recounts how his aunt and cousin were gunned down in July on their way to a Mexican medical clinic, victims of the country's drug-related violence. But the recent Manual Arts High School graduate is determined not to let these events derail his dream of attending College of the Holy Cross this fall...."Read the whole USC News story. |
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Ed.D. Office Welcomes Two New Advisors  Two new Ed.D. Program Advisors have joined Rossier in the Ed.D. Office, where they will be the primary contacts for doctoral students as they complete their program. Yevgeniya (Yevy) Kopeleva (right) is a recent PASA graduate ('11) and a proud Trojan alum. She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, a minor in Leadership Studies, and as a Service-Learning Scholar. Born and raised in Ukraine, Yevy is fluent in Russian and enjoys traveling.  Nina Nieves (left) is also a recent PASA grad ('11). She completed her undergraduate degree in Business Administration at Cal State Dominguez Hills. During her two years at USC, she has served as a member of the Student Affairs Graduate Student Experience Committee as well as with the Rossier Recruiting and Admissions office as a graduate assistant. She is a Los Angeles native who enjoys outdoor activities such as camping and hiking.
Both Yevy and Nina will report to Assistant Director Nadine Singh. Come by WPH 802 to welcome them! |
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This Week on CHEPA's 21st Century Scholar
Monday: Bill Tierney talks about the life of John Henry Newman, a 19th Century religious figure and educator. Tuesday: Randy Clemens talks about conducting meaningful research centering on neighborhoods and their residents. Wednesday: Bill Tierney continues his discussion about John Henry Newman, this time focusing on his Dublin lecture series, The Idea of a University. Thursday: Kristan Venegas links pop culture, technology, college access, and financial aid. Friday: Lisa Garcia gives advice about how to effectively counsel a student who does not have adequate funding for college. Go to CHEPA's 21st Century Scholar. |
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L.A. Teachers Invited to Explore Participatory Learning
LAUSD educators grades 6-12 are encouraged to explore participatory learning techniques in a collaborative, exploratory setting this August in a professional development program called Summer Sandbox.Teachers will work together to embed the new media literacies into their curriculum. In the training, teachers will engage with innovative USC scholars; harness new technology; re-configure their classrooms to support participatory learning; create curricula individually and in groups; reflect on their own work and offer feedback to others in face-to-face and mediated contexts. Summer Sandbox is offered by New Media Literacies, an education-oriented research group led by Dr. Henry Jenkins with a mission to support participatory learning, and provide opportunities for teachers and students to practice the social, cultural and emotional skills needed for success online and off. Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools 701 S. Catalina St. Los Angeles, CA 90005 More information about the Summer Sandbox. |
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