M E S S A G E
F R O M T H E D E A N
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Seeing caps and gowns across campus is a sure sign the school year has come to an end. The last part of the semester brought about some exciting news in the College of Education.
The STEM Learning Center launched in April. A collaborative effort between the UA Colleges of Education and Science, the center is housed in the Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium. At the same time, the center will become an important part of President Barack Obama's 100Kin10, a national initiative to train 100,000 new STEM teachers in 10 years. That is a big challenge, and it's vitally important for our future. Read more from UA News and Inside Tucson Business.
After presenting at the American Educational Research Association (AERA; more about that below) last month, I went to Atlanta for a small invited working group with the Southern Regional Education Board to discuss the use of assessment for teacher-education program improvement. There has been a lot of talk nationally about this, and the SREB, with some current funding from the Gates Foundation, is interested in advancing how programs can be improved with better use of program assessment data.
At the end of May, I will be going to China (Beijing and Xian) with UA Provost Andrew Comrie, Vice President Mike Procter, Public Health Dean Iman Hakim, and Confucius Institute at the UA (CIUA) Co-directors Zhao Chen and John Olsen. The CIUA is a collaboration between the UA and the Hanban in China. CIUA is one of a small number of Confucius Institutes situated in a top-ranked U.S. research university. We will be in Beijing to sign a Memo of Understanding that will govern our work with the Hanban and our Chinese partner. Then, we'll visit Shaanxi Normal University in Xian, our partner in the Confucius Institute.
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Calling All College of Education Alumni!
The Alumni Council is looking for class representatives for Homecoming 2013. Help us rally alumni, distribute information about upcoming events (via email and social media), and collect class notes to be published in Imagine magazine. Reconnect with old friends, and Bear Down! Contact Jen Varela to learn more.
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A CLOSER LOOK AT THE COLLEGE
The College of Education hosts high school visits to the UA, and we also go to schools for career fairs. To arrange a field trip to the College of Education for your class, or to invite us to your college career fair, please email our recruitment coordinator, Letty Gutierrez.
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Children's Advocate Naomi Karp
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Naomi Karp (center, in flowered top) is honored at the ceremony.
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Our friend and supporter Naomi Karp, a College of Education Honorary Doctorate recipient, was honored in April by the Southern Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children. She received a Board Award for recognition of her public service supporting children's issues and political advocacy. We'd also like to express our deep gratitude to Naomi for serving as president on the College of Education Advisory Board, a position she held for four years. Thank you for all the hard work you've done for us, Naomi. Fortunately, she will continue to be a member, something she's done since 2005.
Post Your Cap on Facebook!
 We put out a call on Facebook for seniors to post their decorated caps. We're getting some great entries. The cap on the right was submitted by Alana Sorge. Take a look.
Encouraging News
The Arizona Daily Star published this encouraging opinion piece, written by Nicholas Clement, superintendent of the Flowing Wells School District and co-chair of the college's Professional Preparation Board. The PPB is an independent committee of 40 professionals representing the community and public, charter, and private schools.
Speaking of professional preparation, we have visitors here this week from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Chile. They are learning about our teacher preparation programs and discussing a possible partnership. They have received a large grant from the Chilean government to revamp all of their teacher preparation programs.
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Fiesta Bowl Court
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The Fiesta Bowl Court talks to students about majors and career fields.
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Project SOAR (Student Outreach for Access & Resiliency) held career/major fairs at five Tucson public middle schools this semester. About 50 UA undergraduates visited schools to present information about their major or minor programs at the UA. Using interactive posters they created, SOAR mentors talked about classes and possible careers. At Roskruge Bilingual School in April, the Fiesta Bowl Court, which included former SOAR mentor Savanna Fletcher, joined current SOAR mentors. About 100 8th-grade students participated.
Technology Resource Center Available Now
 The Project FOCUS Technology Resource Center (TRC) hosted its first faculty training in April. First up: A one-hour introduction to Prezi, which was organized by Garry Forger from the Office of Assessment and Instruction (OIA) and facilitated by Phyllis Brodsky, an adjunct instructor in our Disability & Psychoeducational Studies. (Prezi allows groups to brainstorm, create, and present ideas in one shared virtual whiteboard.) Faculty participants from the College of Education, College of Engineering, School of Journalism, and the OIA filled the 10 Mac stations available in the TRC. Templates, text, zoom, images, and videos were all demonstrated and practiced by participants. The TRC is available to all UA faculty and students. For more information, please contact Phyllis Brodsky.
Kevin Parrom Likes Our Tweets
 Wildcat School visited the UA, where basketball star Kevin Parrom and other athletes and students in Assistant Professor of Practice Mark Jenks' course taught teamwork activities. Kevin liked our tweet so much, he retweeted it to his nearly 7,000 followers: Wildcat School visits @UofA where @KevinParrom3 & other UA athletes teach #teamwork activities! @AZATHLETICS pic.twitter.com/hRS6R0iIGT.
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How Does Your Garden Grow?
 School gardens are innovative and powerful educational tools for exploring local ecologies, nutrition, the culture and politics of food, and practical life skills not limited to horticulture. The UA Community and School Garden Program is an internship-based course that provides the opportunity for motivated and self-directed UA students to participate in the growing school-garden movement. Students are trained by staff from the Community Food Bank Food Resource Center School Gardening Program and supervised by a field coordinator and faculty member to assist a Tucson school with a garden and gardening education or to support a community garden in one of Tucson's neighborhoods. Lacey Wilson, a student in our new degree program, Literacy, Learning, and Leadership (which just celebrated its first-year anniversary), loved the program so much, she's participating in the internship again next year. Read more in UA News.
Our Tree-Ring Project: Branching Out
Twenty-two students and four educators from Walatowa High School in Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, visited the UA as part of two National Science Foundation-funded projects to learn how tree-ring research is being used to understand forest fire ecology and climate modeling. Highlights included guest speakers from the Tree Ring Laboratory (including
Regents' Professor and Director Tom Swetnam and Professor of Natural Resources Russell Monson), a mentoring dinner with UA Native American students, a cultural exchange with San Xavier (organized through San Xavier Education Director Sylvia Dawavendewa), and field experiences on Mt. Lemmon that included taking core samples from trees for sanding and analyzing back at UA's Tree Ring Laboratory. The NSF outreach efforts are directed by College of Education Director of Education Outreach Sara Chavarria.
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American Educational Research Association Conference
Here's a list of all College of Education AERA presentations. Also:
Jill Koyama, who joins Educational Policy Studies & Practice faculty as an assistant professor in the fall, received the AERA Division A, Emerging Scholar Award.
Associate Professor Rose Ylimaki, also in EPSP, received the William J. Davis Award for an article published in Educational Administration Quarterly last year.
Assistant Professor Erin Turner in Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies co-authored Empowering Science and Mathematics Education in Urban Schools, which received the Outstanding Book Award from Division B, Curriculum Studies.
'Tis the Season for Awards
College of Education Awards
Assistant Professor Nolan Cabrera of Educational Policy Studies & Practice and Associate Professor Carl Liaupsin of Disability & Psychoeducational Studies were named Erasmus Circle Fellows at the annual Erasmus Circle Reception at Westward Look on April 24.
The college's Outstanding Senior Award is Gabriela Serrano, an early childhood education graduate.
The Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant is Maria Acevedo, who taught Children's Literature in the Classroom, Birth to Age 8, in Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies.
Disability & Psychoeducational Studies Awards
Professor Sheri Bauman received the Outstanding Faculty Service/Outreach Award.
Assistant Professor Michael Sulkowski was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the University of Florida.
Justine Huggins is the Outstanding Senior -- Deaf Studies.
Anushka Shaheedha Mohideen is the Outstanding Senior -- Rehabilitation.
Natalie Morse is the Outstanding Student Teacher -- Cross-Categorical Special Education.
Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies Awards
Professor Patty Anders received the Outstanding Faculty Service/Outreach Award.
Chelsea Granillo is the Outstanding Student Teacher -- CREATE Early Childhood Education.
Rebekah Acosta is the Outstanding Student Teacher -- Elementary Education.
Lori Foster is the Outstanding Student Teacher -- Teach Arizona.
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People
Disability & Psychoeducational Studies
Assistant Professor Michelle Perfect's sleep research was referenced in two articles, one in Australia's Happy Child and the other in UPI.com.
Did you know a polar bear can smell a seal up to one mile away? Read more from Associate Professor of Practice L. Penny Rosenblum, who is the UA project director for AnimalWatch VI Suite, at Paths to Literacy, a resource for students who are blind or visually impaired.
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"I love showing people that not everyone in a wheelchair needs to be helped, that we're not all fragile," says Falnes. Photo by Scot Litteer.
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Cross-categorical special education student Chelsea Falnes was recruited from Wisconsin to play quad rugby for the UA Adaptive Athletics Program. She was was featured in UA News and on the UA website.
Educational Policy Studies & Practice
in the face of decreased state appropriations -- is taking a toll on racial and socioeconomic diversity at the institutions. Read more in Inside Higher Education, which features work by Assistant Professor Ozan Jaquette. He also was featured in the Huffington Post.
One of our master's degree students, Lea Lopezgamez, a teacher at Los Amigos Technology Academy in the Sunnyside Unified School District, recently was named a Rodel Aspiring Principal. She received her bachelor's degree from our college in 2009 and is just one of 21 educators from across Arizona to receive this honor. This month, she begins a two-year course of training, shadowing, and mentoring with a Rodel Exemplary Principal as she prepares to become a principal at a high-need school.
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Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies
Assistant Professor of Practice Courtney Koestler co-authored Connecting the NCTM Process Standards the CCSSM Practices, published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Here's more.
Francesca Lopez, who will join our faculty as an associate professor in the fall, was selected to be a 2013 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow. The program encourages researchers at the postdoctoral level to pursue critical education research projects.
Natiely Munguia Nunez, an incoming UA master's student, is among the nine students across the U.S. named members of the final cohort of Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Aspiring Teachers of Color. She competed against nominees from universities across the nation. Fortunately for us, Natiely has chosen to use her fellowship to participate in our Teach Arizona program. More in UA News.
Enjoy your summer!
Dean Ronald W. Marx
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1430 E. Second Street, Tucson, Arizona 520.621.1462
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