M E S S A G E
F R O M T H E D E A N
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CHALLENGES WE FACE TODAY AND NEWS THAT MAKES US GRATEFUL
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 The University of Arizona does a good job of supporting students financially, yet many students graduate with debt. Given the level of beginning teacher salaries across our state, it is difficult for our talented graduates to begin and sustain a career in teaching.
Southern Arizona has a shortage of teachers, especially in math, science, and special education, but also teachers who are prepared to work with English learners and who can teach in dual language classrooms. We work hard to recruit local students who are committed to staying in Tucson to teach.
Our biggest and most urgent need is scholarships. Educational costs are about $10,000 a year for juniors and seniors majoring in education. Financial aid for qualified students can cover about 30-35 percent of that amount annually.
If the College of Education could come up with the difference, about $6,500, then that would take care of the remaining expenses. The student would still be responsible for living expenses.
To meet this need, we would need about $7 million to create 40 new scholarship endowments, which would provide this funding today and in perpetuity. Imagine what such financial aid would provide for decades to come to support our children and youth. After all, each scholarship recipient who goes on to teach will be creating future generations of innovators, athletes, entrepreneurs, and even more teachers.
If you were a recipient of a college scholarship, then you personally know the impact that scholarship had on you as you pursued your degree. This is a great opportunity for you to pay it forward to make it happen for others.
During the four-year Arizona NOW fundraising campaign for the UA, please consider our urgent need and contact me at ronmarx@email.arizona.edu. Any amount is helpful. To establish a scholarship endowment, the minimum is $25,000.
We also welcome legacy (bequest, charitable gift annuity, charitable trust) gifts. You can help us make a difference in Arizona with your sustainable support.
And here are some other good reasons to support the College of Education:
Read this story in the Arizona Republic about how we are boosting the education scene in Chandler.
Our Teachers in Industry program was featured in BizTucson.
According to the latest U.S. News & World Report the College of Education is ranked sixth in the country for rehabilitation counseling. We also are ranked 16 for our educational psychology programs. Read more about this here.
In addition, the Special Education Program Guide ranked the most highly regarded master's degrees in the United States and placed us at 16. Here's more.
Finally, we were placed in the Top 25 Secondary Education Programs in the country by Graduate Programs. Here are the rankings for the U.S.
We are grateful for so much good news, proof that our hard work pays off.
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Top-Ranked Rehab Program to Expand Training for Students
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Chou
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Faculty members in our top-ranking rehabilitation counseling program have received a total of $2.5 million in grant funding to expand training for students over the next five years. Associate Professor Chih-Chin Chou earned three new grants to increase the number of rehabilitation counselors entering the workforce. Chou and collaborator Sunggye Hong, also an associate professor, are deeply invested in the field. "As a daughter of a high school teacher who became deaf at the age of 39, my work in the rehabilitation counseling field is motivated by a strong desire to advocate for the basic rights of equity, access, and participation for those living with a disability or chronic illness," Chou said.
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NAME That Conference
National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) held its 24th International Conference in Tucson, November 5-9. The conference examined critical, social-justice oriented multicultural education and pressing social challenges. Many current and former faculty and students presented at the conference, which included topics such as 21st Century Linguistic Apartheid: English Language Learners in Arizona Public Schools.
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Academic Benefits of Mexican-American Studies Reaffirmed
 Researchers in our college have updated a study on Tucson's controversial Mexican American studies program that reaches the same conclusion: Students who participated in ethnic studies courses were more likely to graduate from high school and pass standardized exams they had previously failed. In the updated analysis, researchers put the results through the peer-review process at the American Educational Research Journal, one of the nation's top-rated academic education publications.
The new report, "Missing the (Student Achievement) Forest for All the (Political) Trees: Empiricism and the Mexican American Studies Controversy in Tucson," which appears in the December 2014 issue of the journal, includes additional data on the outcomes for students in the Mexican American studies program. The American Educational Research Association is providing free access to the study for the next month.
The authors of the report are Dean and Professor Ronald W. Marx, Professor Jeffrey F. Milem, and Assistant Professors Nolan L. Cabrera and Ozan Jaquette.
The report also was featured in this Education Week blog.
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Meeting Those Who Make the Difference
Our annual scholarship donor appreciation breakfast allows scholarship donors to meet their scholarship recipients. It's a wonderful way for students to meet those who are helping them get an education, and the donors love to see the difference their donations make in the lives of these students.
The 12th Annual Scholarship Donor Appreciation Breakfast was held last month in the Student Union with 135 donors, scholarship recipients, faculty, and staff. Speakers were Amber Defoe, an elementary education undergraduate student, Raul Gonzalez, a Teach Arizona graduate student, and George Evanoff, a donor with the Nancy Evanoff Zahn Scholarship.
Dean Marx introduced three new scholarships:
Esther N. Capin Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Lauren Faye Edwards Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Matthew Georgelos Scholarship in Special Education
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Alma Preciado (center) with Renee Creswell (left) and Ruston Agte, who created a legacy for their daughter with the establishment of the Lauren Faye Edwards Memorial Scholarship Endowment
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Undergraduate student speaker Amber Defoe (left) with Rose Santellano-Milem, who oversees all scholarships in the college
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Diane Ravitch Reports on Lopez Review and Rebuttals
Educational Psychology Associate Professor Francesca Lopez found herself in the middle of a debate when she reviewed a study of charter schools by Julian R. Betts and Y. Emily Tang of the University of California at San Diego.
The critical study by Lopez was published by the National Education Policy Center and posted on Diane Ravitch's blog. (Ravitch is a historian of education, an educational policy analyst, and a research professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.)
Betts and Tan then wrote a rebuttal, also reported on the blog here.
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Lopez
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Lopez wrote a response to the rebuttal earlier this month, again described on the Ravitch blog.
If there's a rebuttal to the response to the rebuttal of the review, we'll report it to you!
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EVERY CHILD DESERVES A CHAMPION
 American Graduate Day 2014 celebrates the exceptional work of people across the country who help youth stay on track for college and career success. It's an all-day event that is broadcast live from the WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City. UA President Ann Weaver Hart introduced the local broadcast, which included an interview with Dean Marx. The stories are inspirational. Read and watch the moving story about a UA student who was featured in the broadcast.
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Meet Our Peter Likins Graduate Fellow
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Jaime-Diaz in front of El Tiradito
shrine on a beautiful day in Tucson
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Jesus Jaime-Diaz was named a Peter Likins Graduate Fellow, named after the UA's 18th president. Recipients are first- or second-year graduate students who have overcome substantial adversity.
Jaime-Diaz is from the rural community of Hermiston, Oregon, and has cultural roots in the regions of Nayarit and Durango, Mexico. He is a Ph.D. student in Language, Reading & Culture with a minor in Mexican American Studies. He earned a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies and a bachelor's degree with a double major in ethnic studies and speech communication from Oregon State University. He also earned an associate's degree and a GED from Blue Mountain Community College in rural Northeastern Oregon.
He is an ethnic-studies advocate, and his research focuses on how gender, social class, and race intersect in education. Jaime-Diaz was especially honored to have lunch with President Likins and Dean Marx.
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Share Your Cooper Memories
If you or someone you know experienced the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning (aka Camp Cooper), we want to hear from you.
What do you remember most about your experience? Did it change your life?
Keep the Cooper memories going as we celebrate 50 years of environmental learning!
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 Young people who succeed in algebra are better prepared to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, but our research shows students must begin mastering math fundamentals that lead up to algebra as early as the fourth grade.
To improve math skills of students across Arizona, College of Education researchers designed online workshops for teachers of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders aimed at improving the teachers' understanding, skill, and knowledge about pre-algebra instruction.
Algebra Ready is a free, teacher professional-development program designed to improve the instruction of rational numbers and early algebra concepts in elementary and middle school. The nearly four-year project is primarily supported by a $560,000 award from Helios Education Foundation, a partnership that broadened the project's reach and scope.
Helios Vice President of Educational Practice Jo Anne Vasquez reports that Helios is pleased to see the progress and they are especially pleased "to see the project come to the point where it now helps hundreds of teachers --- and for free!"
Take a look.
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ANNOUNCING OUR ERASMUS CIRCLE SCHOLARS
Congratulations to our students who were selected as 2014 Erasmus Circle Scholars, many of whom have made contributions to their communities, the College of Education, and the University of Arizona. Scholars are outstanding students who show promise in their areas of study and research. They were honored at a special reception at the home of Dean Ronald W. Marx and Anne Marx in early November.
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Erasmus Circle Graduate Scholar Katherine Stoll (left) with our Director of Field Experiences and Erasmus Circle Patron Shirley Fisher
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Erasmus Circle Undergraduate Scholars with Dean Marx (top center)
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Erasmus Circle Graduate Scholars with Dean Marx (top center)
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Erasmus Circle Undergraduate Scholar Katherine Fouts (center) with Erasmus Circle Patrons Larry and Carol Bahill
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Erasmus Circle Graduate Scholars
Maria Acevedo
Doctoral Student in Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies
Ashley Anderson
Doctoral Student in Educational Psychology
Benjamin Caldera
Master's Student in Educational Psychology
Martha Canipe
Doctoral Student in Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies
Lisa Fetman
Doctoral Student in Educational Policy Studies & Practice
Zack Hojnacki*
Doctoral Student in Educational Psychology
Erin Matyjasik
Doctoral Student in Educational Policy Studies & Practice
M. Christina Rivera
Doctoral Student in Disability & Psychoeducational Studies
Amanda Sugimoto
Doctoral Student in Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies
Diana Sesate
Doctoral Student in Educational Policy Studies & Practice
Katherine Stoll
Doctoral Student in Disability & Psychoeducational Studies
Amanda Tachine
Doctoral Student in Educational Policy Studies & Practice
Matthew Turley
Doctoral Student in Disability & Psychoeducational Studies
Erasmus Circle Undergraduate Scholars
Eric Beal
Cross-Categorical Special Education
Molly Beaver
Elementary Education
Kasey Bellafiore
Cross-Categorical Special Education
Hilaria Courtright
Elementary Education
Kaitlyn Dennis
Early Childhood Education
Amy Dias
Elementary Education
Ashley Edson
Cross-Categorical Special Education
Katherine Fouts
Elementary Education
Catrina Hines
Early Childhood Education
Amanda Montgomery
Elementary Education
Hannah O'Hearn
Elementary Education
Marisa Rodriguez
Elementary Education
Angela Saltz
Elementary Education
*Because Zachary was a swimmer and diver at Arizona from 2009 to 2012, his honor also was mentioned on the Arizona Swimming and Diving website.
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Linking Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning
The Southern Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children held its annual conference, Celebrating Connections: Linking Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning, last month at the UA. The college is a co-sponsor of the annual conference, which, at 500 attendees, has doubled in size since the first conference was held in 2006.
The keynote speaker was Ellen Booth Church, a renowned early childhood educator and advocate whose speech, Mind and Hearts Together: Inseparable Tools for Learning, captivated the audience.
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Ninth-grade integrated science students at the Western Institute for Leadership Development are evaluating how societies respond to and mitigate epidemics, such as those caused by the Ebola virus, and investigating how symptoms of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever compare to those of the zombie virus they have been reading about in The Zombie Autopsies, written by Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Steven Schlozman.
Students also will find out what their peers, families, and community members know, or think they know, about Ebola, in preparation for creating public service announcements to help increase public understanding of this important and timely socioscientific issue.
It's all part of the Community Engagement and Youth Leadership in Science Education project led by Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies Assistant Professor Sara Tolbert in collaboration with science teacher Nicole Snook, and TLS doctoral student Corey Knox.
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It's Time to Reserve Your Place at Convocation
Get ready to celebrate!
College of Education
Fall 2014 Convocation
Thursday, December 18, 2014
2 p.m.
Centennial Hall
All faculty and graduating students who plan to attend the convocation ceremony must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. Friday, November 21.
Faculty and graduating students should arrive at Centennial Hall at 1 p.m. for check-in, procession information, and seating assignments.
RSVP today!
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EDUCATIONAL POLICY STUDIES & PRACTICE
 Assistant Professor Ozan Jaquette's research was referenced in this New York Times op ed, "Why Poor Students Struggle," by Vicki Madden.
 Associate Professor Jenny Lee's work in South Africa as a Core Fulbright Scholar was featured in University World News.
TEACHING, LEARNING & SOCIOCULTURAL STUDIES
 Professor Emeritus Yetta Goodman is the winner of the 2014 National Council of Teachers of English James R. Squire Award. From an article in the September issue of the Council Chronicle: "For Goodman, 1979 NCTE president, teaching is about creating spaces and opportunities that nudge students to construct knowledge in a way that makes sense to them. It's an individualistic approach that this educator says she has embraced throughout her career."
Doctoral student Corey Knox was selected as a 2014-2015 CADRE (Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education) Fellow.
She is a research associate on the NSF-funded Secondary Science Teaching with English Language and Literacy Acquisition Project. Here's more on the CADRE Fellows.
Etta Kralovec is an associate professor of teacher education and director of graduate teacher education at the University of Arizona South. She is the author of The End of Homework, Schools That Do Too Much, and Identity in Metamorphosis. We tweeted a CNN opinion piece she was featured in, and CNN Opinion retweeted our College of Education tweet.
 Associate Dean and Professor Renee Clift was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the University of Florida and will be recognized at a future commencement.
Jack Murphy, who graduated from our teacher education program and teaches fifth grade at Centennial Elementary in the Flowing Wells School District, was a Top 10 Finalist for Arizona Teacher of the Year. He was honored at a luncheon at the Arizona Biltmore this month.
With gratitude,
Dean Ronald W. Marx
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1430 E. Second Street, Tucson, Arizona 520.621.1462
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