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TAKING EDUCATION TO NEW HEIGHTS
WINTER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Ronald W. Marx
Dean and Professor ofEducational Psychology
It is hard to start any conversation about the state of higher education in Arizona without some mention of the crushing recession we endure. At the University of Arizona College of Education, we have responded to the unprecedented budget reduction with a renewed commitment to the educators and children of Arizona and the nation.
Last year, UA Provost Meredith Hay began a transformation process to help the university respond to the new budget realities and to prepare us for new opportunities as they emerge. In the College of Education, we moved secondary-teacher preparation from our undergraduate program to our graduate Teach Arizona program, and we made the difficult decision to discontinue the undergraduate physical education program.
On the administrative side, we combined the Program in Educational Leadership with the Center for the Study of Higher Education to create the new Department of Educational Policy Studies and Practice. We continued the Department of Educational Psychology, but we moved the school-counseling program from that department and combined it with school psychology, rehabilitation, and special education to form the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies. We also combined the Department of Language, Reading, and Culture with the Department of Teaching and Teacher Education to create the new Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies.
Because of the high quality of our programs and the reputation they all hold, we continued using the program affiliations from our previous structure. For example, we still have graduate programs in Language, Reading, and Culture in the new Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies. And our graduate program in higher education continues in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Practice. Please go to our new Web site at www.coe.arizona.edu to view all of these changes.
Our new administrative structure saves money and helped us absorb our budget cuts over the past two years with minimal reduction in our instructional programs. Of course, we are uncertain about what the future might hold, so we are preparing for additional hardships in the next year or so.
As you will see from the pages of this issue of Imagine, despite our financial challenges, we are hard at work in our efforts to prepare high-quality educators and to do all we can to improve education in Arizona and America.
Ronald W. Marx
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WINTER 2010
DeanRonald W. Marx
EditorAna Luisa Terrazas
WritersAna Luisa TerrazasMargaret ReganJennifer P. RichKate Jensen
ProofreaderJennifer P. Rich
DesignPam Stone
Send items of interestfor publication andaddress changes to:
Ana Luisa TerrazasDirector of CommunicationsThe University of ArizonaCollege of EducationP.O. Box 210069Tucson, AZ 85721-0069
or by e-mail:[email protected]
www.coe.arizona.edu
IMAGINE is published for alumni and friends ofthe University of Arizona College of Education.
The University of Arizona prohibits discrimination inemployment and in its educational programs andactivities on the basis of creed, religion, sex, age,disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, genderidentity, or association.
If you need this information in an accessible format(Braille, digital, tape, or large print), please contactAna Luisa Terrazas.
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And the Award Goes to . . .
Powerful Punch
She Digs Philanthropy
A Taste of South America
Teach Arizona Now Covers Pinal County
The Erasmus Circle Fellows
Fellows & Scholars Reception
The Honor Roll
Honorary and Memorial Gifts
Fulfilling a Promise
Welcome, New Faculty
New Shoes
Grant Busters
Holding Power
Making Waves: Lacey Nymeyer
Alumni News
Silver & Sage UA Anniversary
Honorary Doctorates
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We are green! Imagine is printed on recycled paper.
On the cover:Why is Professor Walter Doyle reflected in this horse’s eye? Turn to page 16.
Cover photo by Jen Ryder
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It’s not every day the Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction makes a stop at a Tucson school, never mind that he was bringing an award with him.
More than 90 students were on hand when Tom Horne presented the Arizona Learns Achievement Award to our very own Wildcat School last fall. The school went from “underperforming” to “performing-plus” and from “not making adequate yearly progress” to “making adequate yearly progress” — a feat rarely accomplished in such a short time.
Expectations for students enrolled in the charter school, affiliated with the UA since it opened its doors in 2006, are high. And many students are struggling when they enroll. One student confided to his teachers his inability to read,
while another admitted to never turning in an assignment or any form of homework. Despite those odds, students markedly increased their performance on state assessments and various other measures of school performance.
A new director and a new location at Stone and Drachman, closer to the UA, also don’t hurt. Director Lina Susee, a one-room schoolhouse teacher from Alaska (“no cars, no telephones, no TV, no electricity, but plenty of backyard brown bear, 2000-pound moose, and white-tailed deer,” as she like to say) has infused the school with a new sense of energy.
Horne said great students have great teachers and asked the students if they agreed. Their response? They clapped, yelled, and stomped their feet!
Fostering RelationshipsO U T R E A C H
We’re taking professors and professionals directly to the students, most of whom are teachers, at the end of their workday. The Central Cohort Master’s Program — widely endorsed and supported by Tucson’s school districts — is held at Rincon High School.
“This program captures an authenticity that can only be provided by faculty who are respected experts — people who can give the students a well-structured and experienced analysis of what they are studying,” said J. Robert Hendricks, head of our Department of Educational Policy Studies and Practice.
As part of the curriculum, students are exposed to prominent professionals, including lawyers, accountants, and school superintendents. “The professors are one of the most impressive groups I have had the chance to work with. Every professor has practical experience in education. Even our law professor is an education lawyer,” says student Andrew Walanski. The camaraderie of the cohort also captivates: “In the first semester, it was easy to see that we all share a passion for teaching and leading. That’s what brings us together so easily,” says student Tara Bulleigh. Applications are being accepted for the next cohort, which begins this fall.
Students from Wildcat School have access to science and research resources
on campus, thanks to the school’s collaboration with the UA
ADDItIONAl INfORMAtION
Director John Pedicone520-626-8605 | [email protected]
And the Award Goes to…
< Andrew Walanski English teacher Sahuaro High School
Prominent Professionals ProvidePowerful Punch
tara Bulleigh >Broadcast Journalism teacher Pueblo Magnet High School
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She PhilanthropyDigs
the Emily Meschter Early learning Center has broken ground — in more ways than one!
Late last year, a formal groundbreaking was held for this $2.8 million project, a unique collaboration between the University of Arizona College of Education and Flowing Wells School District. In addition to serving preschool special-needs and at-risk children, the 14,022 square-foot building will include an onsite UA classroom for preservice training of early learning educators plus six classrooms. The building will be named for Emily Meschter, a philanthropist and longtime benefactor of Flowing Wells School District and the College of Education.
Dean Ronald W. Marx, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony, says “Emily Meschter is a stellar example of what philanthropy is all about.”
Meschter began her extraordinary service to the Flowing Wells School District in 1994 when she began the Dreamer program by “adopting” an entire fourth-grade class at Laguna Elementary School and promising them a college education if they completed high school. In addition to the Dreamer scholarships, Meschter continues to support students’ college
hopes by providing one student with a full-ride scholarship each year through the Scholarship
for a Better Future Program.
Fortunately for us, she is also quite active in her service to the College of Education
and provides strong support for numerous
programs, including the Rodel Teacher
Mentor Program.
Twenty college students from Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru — some of whom had never been on a plane
before — landed at the UA this spring to learn about U.S. history, culture, and environmental sustainability and participate in community service. It’s all part of the Western Hemisphere Institute, now in its third year at the UA. Directors of the institute, Assistant Professor Alberto Arenas of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies and Assistant Research Anthropologist Marcela Vásquez-León of the Bureau of Applied Anthropology, received a grant of almost $400,000 from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to finance the 2010 institute.
The institute fits into a larger mission of improving cultural understanding and exchange through education. “All the students are community organizers in their home countries, first-generation college students who come from families of modest means, and indigenous or Afro-Latin American. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the ties of solidarity among peoples of the Americas and to nurture future political, social, and cultural leaders,” Arenas said. “Many of these students are leaving their countries for the first time. It’s the first time they have been on a plane, or even worked side by side with people from other countries,” Arenas said.
A new cohort of students from Mexico and Guatemala arrives this summer.Emily Meschter (left)
and flowing Wells School District Director of Special Education Sue Shinn ADDItIONAl INfORMAtION
Assistant Professor Alberto Arenas520-626-3783 | [email protected]
A Taste of SouTh AmericA!
Phot
o by
Mar
ilyn
Hans
on
WHI students take a rest after attacking buffelgrass with the Sonoran Desert Weedwackers in the mountains of Tucson
And the Award Goes to…
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A shaky economy and job cuts have convinced many to rethink their careers. Among those are people who have always dreamed of being a
teacher. That dream may be closer than they realize, thanks to our Teach Arizona program, which is now offered in Pinal County.
Teach Arizona is a one-year master’s degree program for people who have earned a bachelor’s degree and want to become middle- or high-school teachers. Graduates receive a master’s degree in secondary education, along with certification, to teach grades seven to 12.
“For the Pinal County program, we combine online lessons with face-to-face instruction in Pinal County schools,” said Reyna Pisaño, coordinator of the program. “After initial online courses during the summer, participants will be placed in a Pinal County high school or middle school, where they’ll be paired with a mentor, a seasoned teacher at that school.
“During the fall and spring semesters, students will divide their day between coursework and a student-teaching assignment. This is one of the best aspects of the Teach Arizona program because students are able to spend an entire year at their assigned school.”
TeAch ArizonA now covers Pinal county
ADDItIONAl INfORMAtION
Reyna Pisaño | 520-449-3449 | [email protected] | www.coe.arizona.edu/ta
Teach Arizona is a cohort program — all admitted students begin the program together, take coursework together, and finish as a group.
Graduates have praise for Teach Arizona. Cris Robson, a 2006 graduate, said, “If there is one program I would recommend to anyone considering teaching, it’s this one.” Carrie Lindsay, a 2007 graduate, said, “This program has prepared me to be a teacher for life.”
Students accepted into the program will complete the majority of their coursework online between May 2010 and May 2011. Classroom internships will occur during part of the school day, with coursework to be completed at times convenient to the student during the remainder of the day.
Qualified applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and a strong background with approximately 24 units in one of the following areas: math, physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, general science, Spanish, English, history, political science or American government, or middle-school social studies (history or political science units only).
Erasmus Circle Fellows
luis C. MollProfessor of Language, Reading, and Culture
Respected in both national and international settings, Luis C. Moll is the recipient of two of the most prestigious awards in education: election to the National Academy
of Education and the Sylvia Scribner Award of the American Educational Research Association. His career path and accomplishments exemplify his deep commitment to developing a theoretical research base from which to design and improve educational practice for linguistically and culturally diverse learners. Moll has distinguished himself in many areas, especially in learning and development related to second-language learners, early literacy development, and sociocultural approaches to teaching and learning. His book, Vygotsky and Education, is tremendously influential and has been translated into both Spanish and Portuguese. He inspires colleagues and students to apply the ideas of Lev Vygotsky — the founder of cultural-historical psychology — to educational research and practice. Moll is particularly known for his application of the “zone of proximal development” to create instructional settings that lead children to leverage their existing skills while learning new skills. A tireless contributor to professional associations and editorial boards, he still finds time to be a supportive mentor to junior colleagues and goes to great lengths to help students achieve their educational goals.
See page 11 for a story on Moll’s latest honor.
Ana Christina DaSilva IddingsAssistant Professor of Teaching and Teacher Education
Ana Christina DaSilva Iddings has compiled an impressive record in teaching, scholarship, and service in her three years as an assistant professor at the College
of Education. Her publication record is notable and reflects a critical research agenda focused on understanding the social, cultural, political, and educational circumstances of young immigrant children. Iddings is a superb teacher who works effectively with both young undergraduate and advanced graduate students. Students at all levels give her high ratings and seek her out as a teacher and mentor. The local community also benefits from her work, particularly through her research that addresses pressing issues in our schools. An excellent example is her project on the developing literacy of immigrant children in the San Manuel School District. Iddings has been invaluable in planning new undergraduate degree programs at the college and in creating the proposal for First Things First External Evaluation, the five-year evaluation for Arizona’s early childhood initiative. She plays a key research role in this project, which now is in progress. With her expertise in early childhood education, she is poised to become a leader in the state.
Building DreamsD O N O R S
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It was a full house at the fall Erasmus Circle Fellows & Scholars reception, held at the home of Dean Ronald W. and Anne Marx. The annual event recognizes faculty and students, as well as the donors who provide funding for awards and scholarships. This year, 13 graduate and 13 undergraduate students received scholarships and, as is tradition, two faculty members were given awards for their accomplishments in education, teaching, and research. (See page 5 to read about the fellows.)
“There was a record attendance of nearly 80 people,” said events committee chair Dottie Larson. “It was a perfect afternoon filled with positive messages from Dean Marx and scholars. Even though the college has suffered serious budget cutbacks, it is procuring grants and donations to keep the college solid. As a result, the college has been able to retain its high quality in students, faculty, and programs. Truly, the College of Education is honoring the ‘best of times’ during the ‘worst of times,’ ” she said.
The Erasmus Circle Fellows & Scholars program was developed to create new funding support for deserving faculty members and students of education. Gifts from Erasmus Circle patrons are matched by Dean Marx and provide an equal number of graduate and undergraduate awards. Other Erasmus Circle member donations provide discretionary funds for the dean’s use and support college-program enhancements, faculty travel, and visiting lecturers.
For more information about Erasmus Circle memberships, contact Director of Development Stacey Turner at 520-621-7143 or [email protected]. Or go to www.coe.arizona.edu and look for “Giving.”
Please meet Stacey Turner, our new director of development. A veteran major-gifts officer at the University of Florida Foundation, she brings strong experience in fundraising for higher education.
“I’m delighted to be on the College of Education team. There is tremendous work being done here to improve education from all aspects and at all levels, and it’s being done on behalf of every student with a dream and every teacher on a mission,” she said.
Turner hopes to expand alumni activities, especially in Maricopa County and Northern Arizona, and to increase financial support for the college. “Opportunities abound for increased alumni activity statewide and nationally, and I look forward to meeting people who want to become more involved with the college,” Turner said. “And they should want to — it’s an inspiring place to be!”
“In gIfts, the spIrIt Is what matters.”erasmus
Introducing...
“In gIfts, the spIrIt Is what matters.”erasmus
e The Honor Roll wIf we have inadvertently overlooked you or reported your gift inaccurately, please accept our sincere apologies
and send corrections to Director of Development Stacey Turner at 520-621-7143 or [email protected].
Sincere thanks to donors making gifts between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009.
Donors making gifts of $250,000 and more
Paul Lindsey & Kathy Alexander ’73
Donors making gifts of $10,000 - $49,999
Therese Velasco Berg ’42
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
Ruth Danielson
The George Mason Green & Lois C. Green Foundation
Longview Foundation
Rodel Charitable Foundation
Southern Arizona Foundation, Inc.
AASRA Scholarship Foundation
Ak-Chin Indian Community Tribal Council
Ann ’53 & Fred Boice
Kris Bosworth
Mary ’64 & Robert Calmes
Sandra Camacho ’75 & Lawrence Camacho ’79
Esther Capin ’77
Evelyn Carswell-Bing ’68
Casino Del Sol
Central Arizona Project
Barbara & Gary Cropper ’60
Nina ’77 & Timothy J. Daldrup ’75
Edward Donnerstein & Deborah Levine-Donnerstein
Edythe Fairbanks Whiteman Family Foundation
Brenda Even ’75
Shirley Fisher ’73
Anita Fonte ’96 & Mark J. Grushka ’75
Duffy Galda
Yetta & Kenneth S. Goodman
Nancy Goodwin ’71
Michael Grassinger ’78 & Stevie Mack ’78
Prudence Haney ’42
J. Robert & Anne M. Hendricks ’88
Jane Hill
Naomi ’64 & Gene Karp ’58
Dottie Larson & Michael Byrne ’68
Ronald & Anne Marx ’83
Emily Meschter
Kim Moen ’77
James & Shelli Moore
Richard & Mary J. Munroe ’74
Barbara ’56 & Vernon Myers ’52
Sally ’59 & Stanley J. Papp
Pima County Retired Teachers Association
Susan ’66 & Charles Ramsey ’68
Doris ’61 & John J. Redfern
Patricia Roediger ’52
Darrell & Donna L. Sabers ’91
Salt River Project
Purvi Shah ’08
Soderstrom Architects, P.C.
Lyle Spiesschaert ’81
The Stocker Foundation
Danielle ’72 & Steven Thu
Ashwini Tiwari ’07
Akira Yamamoto
Donors making gifts of $1,000 - $9,999
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AHazel & Willie Adams
Roxann Alleman
William Allen
David Allen
Mary ’57 & Ethan Allen
Melanie Allen ’08
Marsha ’64 & Derrell Allen
Elizabeth ’71 & Ronald Allen
Mary Allen ’83
Nancy ’80 & Warren Alter ’90
C. Diane ’94 & Mark Alvarez ’94
Carmen Alver ’96 &
Patricia Anders
Valerie Andersen ’76
M. Anderson
David Anderson ’74
Martin Anderson ’80
Janet Andrews ’75
Corinna Andrews ’90
Anonymous
Shirin Antia & George Price
Jennifer ’94 & William Aragon
Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Inn
Arizona Red Cross, Southern Arizona Chapter
Arizona State Museum
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Julia ’76 & Neal Armstrong
Amber Ashley
Beth Ashley ’76
Clairoise Ann Auchincloss ’72
Suzanne ’75 & Michael Aupperle
Aram ’84 & Michal Ayalon
BCarla & Alan Bachman ’75
D. Glenn Baird ’75
Lance & Natalie Baker ’79
Lynn Baker ’57
Sheila ’53 & Edwin Baker
Stephen & Billie Balashek ’75
Jacqueline ’66 & Ronald Baldwin
Marilyn Balluta
Paula Baltes ’82
Laura Banks-Reed ’43 & Eugene Reed
Gale ’78 & Rex Barney
Catherine Barone ’67
Jan Barshis ’69
Marian ’57 & Walter Beam
Damon ’85 & Peggy Sue Becker
Marjorie ’81 & Paul Becklund ’83
Bonnie Beckmann ’61
Peter ’05 & Cathleen Becskehazy
Jolynn Begay ’05
Julie Bell ’97
Sharon Bender ’64
Rhonda Benitez ’02
Barbara ’72 & Rudolph Benitez
Beverly Benjamin ’99
Ellen & William Benney ’65
Millie Bentley ’70 & Cary Birenbaum ’68
Lisa Berber ’98
Jill Berg ’00
Gabriela Bernadett
Susan Bernal ’69
J. David Betts ’94
Carol Bickford ’61
Norma Billard ’66
Susan ’71 & Thomas Bingham ’73
Christine Birong ’09
Barbara ’67 & James Black
Karen ’63 & Cary Blair
Catherine Blasewitz ’56
Milo Blecha
Donna Bleyle ’69
Virginia ’51 & James Boardman
Sally ’89 & Eric Bockisch ’88
Boeing Company - Matching Gifts
Mimi ’74 & Stephen Bolduc ’73
Jane ’77 & Keith Boles ’80
Heather Boone ’76
Dusty Booth ’78
Borders Books & Music
Betty ’65 & Guy Bowdle
Sarah ’65 & Peter Bowie
Gloria Bowman ’74
Mary Boyatt ’93
Walter ’51 & Jacqueline Boyd
Audrey Boyle
Nancy Bradley ’78
Linda Bradner ’70
Mary Ann Bravo ’69
Teresa Brearley ’61
Rosemary ’65 & Michael Brechko ’65
Stacey Breger ’03
Ann Breslauer ’55
Jane ’74 & Kirby Brewer
Frances Brickell ’55
Bonnie Briggs ’60 & Robert Sprague
Nancy Bright ’07
Millicent Bright ’66
Susan ’60 & Ronald Britton
Phyllis Broad ’66
Jane Broestler ’79
Dennis Brogna ’75
Filomena ’62 & Roger Brooks ’67
Gilbert Brown ’04
Howard Brown
Jean Brown
Erin Brown ’74
William Burge
Ingrid ’73 & Steve Brunett
Marilyn Burnson ’55
Jean Burr ’65
Gerald ’49 & Gladys Butler
CLavaun ’67 & Gilmer Callison
Mayra Camacho
Charisse Caniff ’77
Angelina Canto ’96
Esther Capin ’77
Robert ’71 & Susan Carey ’72
Warren & Marilyn Carpenter ’97
Sally ’59 & John Carr ’61
Eloise Carrillo ’65
Joseph Carroll ’67
Edward Caruthers ’68
Rebecca ’84 & Robert Cavazos
Linda Chadburn ’93
Rita Champlin ’74
Henry Charles ’77
Anne ’71 & Brian Cheney ’69
Susan Christian ’59
Carol Christine ’97
Marcy ’95 & Dustin Christner ’95
William Cihon ’61
Margaret ’73 & Thomas Cisar
Josephine ’69 & Elton Clark ’74
Louise Clay ’62
Nancy Clevinger ’56
Caleb Clinkingbeard ’00
Judith Clothier ’61
George Clovis ’61
Cary Cochran ’72
Lara Coggin ’03
A. Scott Collins ’75
Mary Carol Combs ’95
Jeanne ’68 & Nicholas Conrad
Constellation Energy Group Foundation
Norma Contreras ’77
William Conway ’81
Margery Cook ’57
V.J. Cook-Morales
Christina Coolidge ’81
Ryan Coors ’05
Shelley Copeland ’78
Corporate Health Management
Joan ’70 & Joseph Cosentino
Janet ’87 & Richard Couch
Kathleen & Jack Cox
Shelly ’91 & Edward Crabtree ’98
Marilyn ’80 & Andrew Craig
Freyda Craw
Jackie Craw
Thaddeus ’65 & Barbara Crews
Ardith ’52 & William Cronin
Ramolda Crooke ’90
Mary Crosby ’69
Chris ’61 & Virginia Crowder ’55
Deborah ’76 & John Cummings ’77
Lois ’02 & Thomas Curti ’76
DElizabeth Dagdigian ’75
Lou Ann ’70 & Roger Daldrup
Roberta Dalton
Judith Daniel
Mimi Daniel
Mark Danielson ’70
Kristen Danielson- Musgrove ’82
Judith ’66 & George Davies ’66
Jane ’54 & Peter Davis
Valerie Davison ’64
Marian Dawson
James de Dario ’87 & Kathie Dunlap de Dario ’89
Michele Dearborn ’77
Renae & Paul Dearhouse
Anthony DeJonghe ’74
Dolores Dement ’75
Janet ’54 & John Demmler
Arthur ’56 & Patricia Dempsey
Norma Dever ’78
Gloria Devore
Marilyn Dhahir ’86
Kenneth ’62 & Lynda Diamond ’62
Luis Diaz ’08
Lawrence Dibble ’64
Maxine McCain Dick ‘47
Juanita Diggins ’80
Gloria & Roy Dille
Sherrill Dillingham
Shirley Dixon ’51
David Doerrer ’61
Ronald Dominguez ’73
Timothy ’00 & Christina Donovan ’98
Peter & Terry Downey
Walter Doyle
Toby ’83 & Donald Drakulich ’72
Heather Drummond ’90
Martha Drummond ’73
Carol Duffy ’78
Vivian ’93 & Lyle Dunbar ’87
Terri ’66 & Robert Duncan
Nancy Dunkle ’67
Peggy Dunlap
Margaret ’79 & Lawrence Dunlap ’72
Ellen ’98 & George Dunscomb ’79
Alex ’90 & Shelly Duran
Sandra Durazo
Edward ’70 & Denise Durazo
Joy Dyer-Raffler ’74
E Robert ’80 & Cindy Eager
Barbara Earnest ’84
Harold ’62 & Janet Eastin
Rhea & Gary Edelson
Awilda ’78 & William Edgar ’73
Shelly Edgar ’92
Barbara Ehrlich ’67
Bonnie ’86 & Jonathan Eisenhamer ’86
Lynn Elberson ’80
Nathania ’71 & Daniel Elder
Lowell ’82 & Julia Embry
Sandra Engoron-March ’00 & Richard March
Jane Erin
Janet ’79 & Jeffrey Esfeld
Adam ’82 & Veta Estrada
Carol Evans
Jane ’51 & Richard Evans
Ali Evans-Crawford ’70
Lawrence Evers & Barbara Grygutis ’68
ExxonMobil Foundation - Matching Gifts
f Fabas Inc
Frances Fair ’75
Nancy Falconer
Tracy Farrell ’00
George & Mary Favela ’90
Louis Fazio ’86
Jason Feld ’88 & Gale Silverman-Feld ’73
Cathy ’68 & Robert Fickas ’68
Maria & Carlos P. Fierro
Frank & Maria Figueroa ’87
Gwynne ’78 & James Fijan ’77
Donald Fila ’64
Dean ’82 & Raquel Finkbeiner
Judith ’51 & Calvin P. Fischer
Andrea ’04 & Jeffrey Fisher ’01
Tracy & Brian Fitzgerald ’91
James ’73 & Diane Fleming
Patricia Fohs ’75
Sharon Foltz ’70
Bonnie ’81 & Richard Foster
Glennalee Foulk ’57
Amy Fountain
Framing Plus
Hilda Franke
Sylvia Franke ’67
Anna Baker Free ’83
John ’87 & Marilynn I. Freese ’90
Luanne French ’59
Vincent ’63 & Loretta Frighetto
Raymona Fritz Stapleton ’60
Paula Fuhst ’78
Anna Fulton ’50
Joyce Funk ’87
G Salvador Gabaldon ’98
Ernest ’70 & Marie Galaz
Candace Galla ’03
Rufino & Leiola Galla
Patricia Gallagher
Gallery in the Sun
Gannett Foundation - Matching Gifts
Lisha Garcia ’75
Gail ’71 & Robert Garin ’72
Cristina Gastel-Pendarvis ’76
Linda Gatson-Ward ’75
Carol Gaxiola
Deborah Gebhardt ’71
Virginia Geib
Sybil George ’63
Veronica Geronimo ’94
Elizabeth Giangiulio ’71
Margaret ’87 & David Gibson
Jane ’61 & Byron Gibson
Katharyn ’82 & Richard Giever
Patricia ’67 & John Gifford ’66
Perry Gilmore
Valeri Gilstad ’81
Margaret ’60 & Richard Glasco
Shelby ’59 & Tom Goad ’59
Gudrun Godare ’68 & Randall Smith
Lawana ’72 & James Goeller
Robert Golden ’82
Bernie ’68 & Joy Goldstein
Rosalie Goll ’80
Cynthia Gomez ’79
Norma ’72 & Rodolfo Gonzalez ’70
Yvonne Gonzalez-Lewis ’89
Rose Goodrow ’57
James ’79 & Dianne Gossett
Virginia ’62 & John Grady
Richard Granum ’72
Jerry ’69 & Tania Gray
Jon Greene ’62
Victoria Green-Morga ’78
Carolyne Greeno
Beverley ’92 & Dwaine Greer
Jeanne Slaughter Grier ’98 & Joseph Grier ’95
Sally ’74 & William Griffeth ’77
Anna Grose ’69 & Tom Moore ’60
Maria Guerrero
H Drenda ’66 & Marvin Haddock
Linda Hagar ’78
Anne Hajduk
Sara Hale ’55
Louise & Alan Hall ’60
Tom Halm ’85
Anne Hamilton ’02
Jerry ’70 & Andra Hamilton
Glee ’60 & Donald Hamilton
Michael Hammond & Diane Ohala ’92
Diana ’57 & Harry Hancock
Rolland Hankey
Marie Hanna
Nancy Harden ’86
Bradford ’83 & Anna Harkins ’83
Mark ’92 & Carolyn Harlan ’95
Heidi Harley
Brad ’75 & Mary Harper
Nancy Harris ’75
Susan ’69 & John Harrison
David Harrison ’79
David Harvey ’73
Laurie ’67 & Robert Haskett
Donna Haugabrook ’75
Barbara Hawley ’81
Joan ’61 & Thomas Hayes
Lauris Hazlett ’64
Health Education Center, Inc.
Marilyn Helmers ’76
Alisa ’74 & Donald Henderson
James ’74 & Tycie Henderson
Carl Hendrix ’06
Harold ’71 & Patricia Hennes
Susan Hergenhan ’71
Raul Herrera
Charles Hiatt ’66
Donna Hill ’61
Kay ’63 & Monte Hill
Edith ’84 & Ben Hillebrecht
Alice Hinton ’46
Leanne Hinton
Joan Hirt ’92
Linda ’84 & Michael Hitt ’76
Gail Hobrock ’74
Elizabeth & William Hobson ’74
Mary ’63 & James Hocker ’63
Donors making gifts of $999 or less
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Angeline Hoffman ’01
Joan Holbert ’79
Tawni ’02 & William Holland
Amanda Holmes ’08
Ellen Honan ’89
David ’71 & Barbara Hosley
Kenneth Hosto ’08
Patricia ’90 & Donald Howard ’83
Carol ’06 & Jonathan Howe ’00
Barbara Hoyle ’97
Nancy ’62 & Joseph Huber
Arlene Hughes
John & Janet Hughes
Nichole Humes ’08
Jeffrey Hund ’77
Jo Ann Hurley
Penelope Hurst
Rhonda Hyatt ’84
I
IBM International Foundation - Matching Gifts
Lon & Claire Ierley ’69
Sonnia ’66 & John Iliescu
Barbara ’62 & H. Fred Inderlied ’62
Kathryn Inouye ’77
Laurel Irwin ’89
Alyce Isaacson ’85
JMarie Jacks ’48
Alicia ’03 & Jeremy Jackson
Cynthia Jacobs
Carilynn Jenkins ’94
Janis Jenks ’74
Carol ’57 & Richard Joachim ’57
Christopher Johnson
Holly Johnson ’97
Judy Johnson ’75
Mary ’89 & Harrison Johnson
Michael Johnston ’74
Anna Jolivet ’50
Gretchen ’49 & Russell Jones ’48
Shannon ’91 & Scott Jones ’91
Christine Jones
Charlotte ’71 & Robert Jones
Keisha Josephs
Janet Jourdain ’83
Loma ’57 & John Journey ’60
Beatrice ’73 & Lane Justus ’70
K Kaibab Paiute Tribe
Harvey ’72 & Jane Kaplan
Robert Karwasky ’80
Yolanda ’63 & Robert Katz
Susan Kawmy ’73
Kenneth Kay & Karen Christensen
Dianne Kee
Susan ’78 & James Kelch
Lisa ’80 & Peter Kelleher
James Kelley ’77
Michael Kelly
Ellen Kennedy ’53
Joseph ’60 & Marilyn Kent ’60
Maria Keohane ’64
Kid’s Center
Samuel ’74 & Betty Kier
Mark Kimble ’74 & Jennifer Boice ’85
Susan ’78 & Joe V. King
Lucille Kirkeby ’63
Shirley Klaus ’63
Diane Kloke ’68
Kathleen Kludjian
Linda Knochel
Richard Knutson ’76
Florence Koenig
Charles & Constance Koester ’67
Betty Koppel ’70
Bosya Kornusova
Suzanne Korsgard ’53
Jeanne Koss ’78
Anne ’93 & Allan Kowlaski
Robert Kraemer
Sandra ’63 & Phil Krugen ’64
Susan ’70 & William Kuehlthau ’70
Julian Kunnie
Vasiliki ’72 & Joseph Kyriakakis
lBeverly & Roland La Vetter ’63
Joan ’72 & Frank Lahm
Sharon Laird ’74
Ann Lanese ’64
Sally Lanyon ’84
L. Jean Larson ’58
Ann Laurimore ’68
Lisa Lauxman ’02
Dorothy & William Lazovich ’55
Dale Lebsack ’72
Patty Smith LeCompte ’81 & Robert LeCompte ’82
Linda Lees ’80
Thad ’95 & Kimberly Leffingwell ’95
LuAnn Leonard
Ernest Leslie ’78
Morton ’82 & Carmel Levine
Linda Levine ’80
Marie Levy
Susan ’72 & Richard Levy
Mary Lewis
William Lewis ’77
Forrest Lewis ’75
Corey Liebowitz ’01
Wayne ’78 & Karen Lindberg ’78
John Link ’72
Susan Lobo ’70
Regina Lobree ’92
K. Tsianina Lomawaima ’76
George & Lorraine Long ’57
Geoffrey Long ’92
Gertrude Lopez
Maria Serrano Lopez ’03
Barbara Loquasto ’58
Barbara ’74 & Gerald Loughlin
Marietta Luce ’51
Peter & Joan Lucier ’69
Marilyn Ludwig ’52
Luz Del Carmen Rodriquez PLLC
Nancy Lynch ’57
Holly ’78 & Daniel Lyne ’78
MJeannette MacDonald ’56
Stephanie MacFarland ’79
Linda ’67 & James MacIntyre ’56
Marilynn Maddox ’62
Steven Magallanes
Patricia Mail ’63
Iris ’64 & Philip Malinsky ’55
James ’59 & Andrea Malmberg ’59
Maxine Manewal ’64
Ashlee Manley ’07
Nancy ’70 & James Marcus
David & Linda Mariano ’69
Carolyn ’57 & Jackson Markle ’57
Jean Markley ’61
Francisco Marmolejo & Olivia Cossio
Michael Marr ’90
Evan Marro ’08
Kay ’83 & Arnold Martin
Crystal ’94 & Everett Martin ’91
Katherine Martinez ’72
Nancy Mather ’84
Janelle ’91 & Paul Mathis
Sarah ’65 & Lawrence Mathis
Robert ’86 & Geraldin Mathis
Mary ’73 & Francisco Matiella ’75
Noel Matkin
Myna Matlin ’77 & A. D. Poyner
Phillip Mayer ’86 & Mary Jones
Valorie Mayer ’78
Stephanie ’85 & Peter McAndrews
Lois McCartney ’55
Teresa McCarty & John Martin
Audrey McCarty ’69
Edmund McCormack ’60
Thomas ’64 & Frances McCraley
Mary Ann ’54 & James McDaniel
Kathleen McDonnell
Patricia McFadden ’62
William ’74 & Diane McGrady
Cynthia ’81 & Thomas McGuckin
Anita ’01 & David McGuire ’95
Ann ’54 & Donald McKenna ’56
Robert McNew
Susan Measures ’65
Maria Mejia ’70
Norma ’81 & Ronald Memo ’81
Carol & Michael Mercer ’71
Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation - Matching Gifts
Sandra ’59 & Lyell Metcalf ’59
Terrill Meyer
Paul & Deborah Meyer ’75
James ’82 & Patricia Meyers ’81
Norma Meza ’95
Mary Mike ’79
Jeffrey Milem & Rose Santellano-Milem
Sarah Miller ’75
Jessica Miller ’07
Barbara Miller ’73
Ingrid Miller ’82
Charles Mitchell ’83 & Agnes Attakai ’97
William ’66 & Constance Moe ’70
Jackie Monkarsh ’77
Kerin Montgomery ’74
Laurie ’84 & John Moody
Mary ’84 & David Moore
Christie ’70 & Edwin Moore
Virginia Moore ’51
Annette ’77 & Ralph Moorehead
Belen Moreno
Carol ’59 & David Morrison
JoAnn Morse ’65
Joan Moss ’87
Lois ’55 & John Mueller ’52
Maura ’77 & Kevin Mulligan ’71
Joaquin Munoz ’04
Janice Murphy ’72
David ’65 & Nancy Murray
Muwekma Ohlone Tribe
Patricia ’64 & Carl Myers
Robert ’79 & A. Gloria Myers ’91
N Janet ’61 & Phil Napolitan
Madeleine & Pat Nash ’71
Steven ’74 & Susan Neighbors
Fern ’65 & Robert Nelson
Omer Nelson ’61
Barbara Neubert ’72
Helen Newcastle ’70
Mary ’69 & Roger Newell
Debbie ’74 & Ray Newhouse
Colleen Niccum ’84
Sheilah Nicholas ’08
Janice ’67 & Philip Nickerman
Raul ’73 & Marisela Nido
Thomas & Joanne Nolan
Elizabeth ’95 & Bruce Noll
Yolanda Noriega
Carol Norris ’60
Ruth ’76 & Bob Norvill
O
John ’67 & Ellen Oakes
Stacey Oberly ’04
Judy ’65 & Darrell Obert
Scott Ogilvie ’03
Old Tucson Studios
Jose Olivas ’87
Donald O’Loghlin ’80
Kathleen Olson
Jeffrey ’92 & Nicole Orgera
Kathleen Orr & Peter Evans
Martha Orso ’93
Kathryn Ortiz ’08 & Gary Nusinow
Gaye Otto ’75
Dorothea ’73 & Robert Owens ’67
Arlene ’72 & Frederick Oyer
PPacific Life Insurance Company - Matching Gifts
Melody Padgett ’85
Elsa ’70 & Pedro Padilla ’78
Barbara Palma ’64
Michael Panico ’85
Ann ’74 & Donald Parfet ’75
Janet ’77 & Jeffrey Park ’77
Marie Parker ’97
Elizabeth Parmenter ’78
Susan Paskvan
Ted ’83 & Patricia Pate
Lou Ann ’69 & James Pate ’71
Norma Patrick ’69
Sheryl Patterson ’65
Jason Patterson ’99
Lynette ’02 & William Patton
PBS, Inc.
Georgia Peceniak ’79
John Pedicone
Maria Pena ’02
Susan Penfield ’68
Kenneth Pepion ’93
Cassandra Peregrina ’83
Hilda Perez ’98
Alice Peters ’80
Melissa Peterson ’94 & John Brown ’98
Suzanne Pfeiffer ’78
Sylvia ’50 & James Pfersdorf
Pfizer Foundation - Matching Gifts and United Way Campaign
Toni Phillips ’65
Marcia ’79 & Thomas Phillips ’76
Martie Phillips ’78
Ruth Phillips ’47
Pi Lambda Theta
Frank ’73 & Leyla Pialorsi
Virginia Pickering ’41
Bradford & Jean Piersma ’71
Juliann Pierson
Nina ’78 & Brandon Pigott ’79
Terry ’79 & William Pinkston
William ’56 & Sadie Pitts ’55
Robin Poland ’78
Thomas Pollard ’72
Annette Polo ’08
Michael ’76 & Patricia Pomerleau
Georgia Pope ’80
Margaret Postels ’59
Sarah ’68 & Ben Powell ’68
Linda Powers ’78
Justin Prichard ’91
Jill ’91 & William Prickett ’92
Mary Prince ’64
Gregory & Ann Principato ’79
Debra ’72 & Michael Purdy
Q Marilynn Quick ’69
Valerina Quintana ’77
Patricia ’72 & Jon Quistgaard ’70
R Melinda Radon ’96
George Rallis ’70
Christine Ramsey ’65
Terry Ratfield & Claire Ryan-Ratfield ’68
Raytheon Company - Matching Gifts
Keith ’77 & Christine Renfrew
Dixie Reppe ’58
Randall ’71 & Lynn Reynolds
Joan Richardson ’68
Joan Ridder ’66
Cynthia Rinehart
C. David Roberts ’75
Alice ’62 & Ross Robeson
John Robinson ’93
Richard ’86 & Mary Rogers
Guadalupe Romero ’07
Juanita ’83 & Enrique Romero
Carol Roos ’70
Michelle Roosma ’04
Carol Rosado ’77
Janice Rosenberg-Noe ’54 & Robert Noe
Bernard Rudich ’69
Mario Ruiz ’03
Marie & Richard Ruiz
Elizabeth Rumps ’89
Kathryn Russell ’66
Sally Ruybal ’78
Jennifer ’04 & Christopher Ryan ’06
SSacre Family Foundation, Inc
Amos ’65 & Catherine Sales ’64
Maxine Sam ’05
Janice Sammons ’97
Sarah Sandefur ’95
Beverly ’02 & Kenneth Sandock
Patrick Sandoval ’72
Joseph Santa Cruz ’73
Catherine Sargent ’77
Glenda & Neil Satterwhite ’73
Corinne Savage-Bopp ’80 & Timothy Bopp
Ernest & Jo Ann Sayre ’89
Linda Scalise ’67
Raphael ’62 & Guylene Scharf
Ellen ’74 & Leigh Schartz
Shirley ’70 & Lawrence Schiever ’68
Mark & Kathryn Schmitz ’79
Shirley Schoof ’54
Scott ’00 & Ruth Schulz ’04
Linda Schulz ’81
Lyndon ’80 & Vicki Schutzler ’79
Margaret ’88 & Robert Scott
Arlene ’66 & Charles Scott
Gail Scott ’80
Sarah ’71 & Karl Sederholm ’62
Richard Seeberger ’61
Judi ’65 & Ralph Seefeldt ’65
Jeffrey Seemann ’78
Pamela ’78 & Robert Selby ’77
Yolanda & Gurinder Sethi ’67
Ann Shaeffer ’54
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Honorary and Memorial GiftsWe deeply appreciate these honorary and memorial gifts made between July 2008 and June 2009.
Karp family Scholarship in Early Childhood Education
In Honor of: Rhian & Paul Allvin, Nadine & Eddie Basha, Bobbie Berger Hanft, Robert & Joan Kaye Cauthorn, Sara Cohen, Tim Collins, David & Nancy DeConcini, Dennis & Patty DeConcini, Len & Cheryl Karp, Pat DeLeon, Margaret & Henry Lampe, Melany & Levi Linton, Sarah & Mark Linton, Anita Mendoza & Family, George & Denise Ramonas, Carol Rasco, Sandy Rinck, Sharon P. Robinson, Robert & Olga Strauss, Danielle & Steven Thu, Rud & Ann Turnbull & Family, Scott & Margy Vaughan, Dolores & John Vaughn, Donna & Jimmy WardNaomi & Gene Karp
In Memory of: Merrill Holpert, Mandell White, Cynthia WoolNaomi & Gene Karp
Paul J. Danielson Memorial Endowed Scholarship
In Honor of: Gudron Godare, Randall Smith, Kristen Danielson MusgroveMark D. Danielson
Linda Shaw
Delphine Shaw
Tamra Sheffman ’70
Marcia Sheldon ’66
Linda ’62 & Robert Shelton
Ellen ’75 & Duane Shields ’76
Heidi ’77 & David Shirk ’77
Toni & Bernard Shoots
Jerry & Kathy Short
Gary & Marcia Shub ’71
Leona Siadek ’60
Sally & Mark Siegel ’68
Michael Simpson
Barbara ’78 & Bruce Sims ’72
Barbara ’85 & Norval Sinclair
Margaret ’72 & Timothy Sisson
Lynne ’68 & Arthur Slocum
Thadeous ’94 & Valerie Smith ’93
Winifred Smith ’66
Richard ’65 & Jo Ann Smith
Linda ’68 & Courtland Smith ’68
Wendee ’60 & Edward Smith ’60
Gerald ’76 & Tammy Smith
Mary Jo Smith ’66
Jane ’71 & Donald Smith
William Smitheran ’54
Linda Sottnek ’59
Thomas Sousa ’73 & Andrea Reed
Merle ’71 & Manuel Souza ’65
Sara Spencer ’73
Margaret & Bradford Sperry ’75
Raymond Staley ’79
State Farm Companies Foundation
State Standards & Accountability Instruments
Robert & Wanda Stauffacher ’66
Marcia ’88 & Jeffrey Stauffer
Patricia Steele ’82
Pamela Stein ’89 & Jeffrey McKelvey
Patricia Stevens ’71
Howard Stewart
Frances Stewart ’71
Bonita Stewart ’73
Richard Stilley ’97
Alfred ’81 & Henrietta Stover
Patricia ’86 & Russell Stowers
Thomas ’63 & Susan Strasburg ’64
Barbara Straub ’66
Barbara Stropko ’71
Nancy ’81 & Daniel Stuebe
Margaret ’95 & Roger Stuenkel
James ’81 & Catherine Sturgis
Karen Swaine ’60
Carol Swanson ’87
James & Molly Swanson ’64
tTanque Verde Ranch
Danielle Tarry ’85
Chandika Tazouz
Phyllis Teager
Elaine Tegovich ’91
Marcy Tepper ’83
Howard & Marlies Terpning
Ana Luisa Terrazas ’82 ’02
Brian ’91 & Janice Terrell
Gloria Tessier ’63
Sandy & Gregory Tevis ’85
Michele ’83 & Daniel Thelen
Rebecca Theobald ’78
Roy Thomas ’87
Elizabeth ’71 & James Thompson
Jan Tiede ’69
Michelle ’81 & Guenter Tiersch
Judith ’76 & Delbert Timper ’76
John ’75 & Helga Tirrell
Allison Titcomb ’85
Martha ’52 & James Tod
Jennifer Todd ’97
Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise
Tohono O’Odham Nation
Tohono O’odham Utility Authority
Kim ’71 & Nea Tompkins
Norman Toso ’87 & Margaret Schrag ’84
Janet ’68 & Thomas Totin
Janet Tower ’63
Wayne Townsend
Margaret ’73 & Michael Treadwell ’73
Michael ’70 & Margaret Turner
Martha Turnquist ’79
Earl Tuttle ’69
Tyco Matching Gifts Program
UCarol Ullrich ’80
University of Arizona Press
Dodie ’59 & Gonzalo Urias ’58
VLouis Valenzuela
Janice Van Deusen ’68
Bernys Vance ’56
Anita Vavages
Santos ’58 & Josephine Vega
Donna Kay Veigel ’71
Jennifer ’73 & Chris Vemich
Anne ’57 & Jan Verfurth ’56
Barbara Verthein ’92
Mary Ann Visker
Cindy ’89 & Shawn Volk ’84
Christopher Voorhees ’91
W Frances ’89 & Carl Wachsman
Gary Wackerly ’69
Lorna ’61 & Duane Wadsworth
Herbert ’52 & Marion Waesch
Marsha Waggoner ’64
Sarah ’91 & Craige Wamsley
Donna Ward
Dealva Ward
Larisa Warhol
Natasha Warner
Merlin ’74 & Paula Warnke
Evangeline Warwick ’95
Norma ’63 & Theodore Watson ’71
Linda Waugh & Ronald Breiger
Richard & Carole Wayne ’53
Pamela ’79 & Kenneth Wayton
Patricia Weber ’62
Kent ’87 & Janet Wellish
Robert ’71 & Maryellen Werner
Linda ’89 & Dean Westby
Linda & Craig Westfall ’72
Elizabeth ’63 & Gerald Whitaker
Lynn Whitcher
B. Lucille White ’83
Michael Whitehurst ’75
Elizabeth Whittle ’71
Judith ’64 & John Wickman
James Wilhide ’68
Robert ’84 & Kathy Willey ’84
Lyrae Williams ’90
James Williams ’73
Mary Willie ’88
Josephine Wilson ’58
Norma Wilson ’63
Donna ’75 & Bradford Wilson
Marion Winters ’36
Cheryl Wojdyla ’08
Jane & Fred Wong
Marcy Wood
Nancy ’82 & Reesor Woodling
Carol Wooton ’65
Charles Workman ’62 & Toi-San Workman
A. Jackie Wortman ’72 & Robert Wortman ’72
Barbara Wright ’59
Dianna Wright ’73
Thalia ’90 & David Wright
YLena Yazzie ’94
Karen Yntema-Wilson ’76
Joseph ’59 & Shirley Young
Glenn Young ’73 & Mary Bechtold
David Yugo ’77
ZAnton Zeger ’69
Ofelia Zepeda ’80 & Anthony Celentano ’99
Barry ’65 & Diana Zimmerman ’65
Eugene ’67 & Janice Zimmerman ’69
Carolyn Zolg ’80 & Robert Zolg
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Associate Dean for Professional Preparation Renée tipton Clift comes to us from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was the director of the Illinois New Teacher Collaborative, a statewide, voluntary consortium concerned with recruiting
and retaining talented educators. This professor of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies received her undergraduate degree and teacher certification from the University of Florida, her master’s degree in education administration from Stetson University, and her Ph.D. in curriculum and teacher education from Stanford University. Her research investigates factors that affect the process of learning to teach, which includes preservice teachers’ learning, continuing professional development, and educational leadership. She is working on a seven-year study of the career paths of 13 graduates from the University of Illinois English teacher-preparation program. Another project is investigating the appropriate uses of technology to support beginning teachers and their mentors.
Assistant Professor Nicole B. Kersting was trained as a quantitative methodologist and worked at the LessonLab Research Institute in Santa Monica, California. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on
measurement and assessment in mathematics education. Under an Institute of Education Sciences-funded project, she develops innovative, video-based measures of teacher knowledge in mathematics and evaluates their relationship with teaching and student learning (see www.teknoclips.org). Under a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), she examines the validity of value-added effect estimates by comparing teachers’ value-added scores to their own teaching captured in videotaped mathematics classroom lessons. To describe observable differences in teaching, she develops an objective rubric to assess instructional quality. At UCLA, she was the recipient of the Leigh Burstein Award for dissertation work in the area of measurement. She also serves on the NSF Discovery Research K-12 Review Panels.
Welcome, New Faculty!
For decades, Professor Luis C. Moll has investigated the ways Hispanic students learn. His pivotal research has challenged long-existing theoretical models indicating that people of color are inherently disadvantaged because of their social and cultural backgrounds.
“We learn and develop through our relationships,” counters Moll, who is a professor of language, reading, and culture in our Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies.
In recognition of his body of work, Moll was selected to present the American Educational Research Association’s 2009 Brown Lecture in Education Research, a highly significant invitation within the education discipline. AERA makes its selection for this honor based on significant scholarship that advances equality and equity in education. The association noted that Moll’s work has “improved education experiences of underserved students, particularly Latino/a children.”
His talk, Mobilizing Culture, Language, and Educational Practices: Fulfilling the Promises of Méndez and Brown, was presented in October in Washington, D.C. He explored two critical cases related to equity and education: the Méndez v. Westminster School District of 1946 and the connections of the case to the landmark decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, which came about seven years later.
An AERA Fellow and a National Academy of Education member, Moll also has received the Journal of Latinos and Education Henry T. Trueba Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sharing KnowledgeR E S E A R C H & F A C U L T y
Fulfilling a Promise
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hat are her sleeping habits? How’s her diet? Who are her friends? Does she have healthcare?
The experiences of early childhood — both positive and negative — have a lasting impact and lay the foundation for a child’s future success. Recognizing the significance early childhood plays in the development of lifelong learners — and how investment in the earliest years paves the way for success — Arizona’s three state universities have joined together to create a premier, early childhood research program, headquartered at the University of Arizona.
Using the state’s first large-scale longitudinal study of the impact of a birth-through-age-5 initiative, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University will examine how improvements in access to and quality of educational and health services impact young children’s
development. The longitudinal study will track these children for up to 20 years.
“This is the most important investment in young children our state has ever made,” says UA College of Education Dean Ronald W. Marx, the principal investigator of the new grant from the state agency, First Things First (FTF). “Children are influenced by social, economic, cultural, and familial factors. Research has confirmed that early relationships have great impact on emotional and cognitive development. And the science of human growth and development tells us that high-quality healthcare and adequate nutrition before and after birth are fundamental to promoting healthy development.
“One of the goals of FTF is to prepare every child entering kindergarten in Arizona for success,” Marx continues. “The funding for this external evaluation will allow us to bring
by Ana Luisa Terrazas
New shoes. New clothes. Even a haircut.That bright-eyed 5-year-old is ready to start her first day of kindergarten. Or is she?
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together faculty experts from all three state universities to ensure that the goals of the FTF initiative are achieved.
“No other state has ever done a longitudinal study like this. This is a unique piece of research. We have exceptional faculty participating from the three universities — 11 from the UA College of Education and the College of Public Health, five from ASU’s College of Education, and seven from NAU’s College of Education.”
Under Marx’s leadership, the three universities secured the $27 million grant, one of the UA’s largest, from FTF. (FTF is a result of the 2006 voter initiative, when Arizona voters passed Proposition 203 — known as the tobacco tax — a citizen’s initiative that funds quality early childhood development and health.)
The program at the UA — called the First Things First External Evaluation — will serve as a resource and information hub for Arizona families and children, early childhood service providers, educators, and researchers, as well as the early childhood community both nationally and internationally.
Associate Professor Iliana Reyes of the UA College of Education Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies is one of the faculty researchers who will collect, analyze, and communicate data. “For the first time in Arizona, families with young children and early childhood service providers are being recognized at the state level to be of significance for the socioeconomic well-being of society. Through our research, we hope to contribute toward the improvement of children, families, and communities by identifying specific areas of ‘readiness’ in a child’s life.
“I see my role as a broker of knowledge, and this position is informed by the various roles I have had in my professional career and personal life as a preschool and kindergarten teacher, developmental and clinical psychologist, professor, researcher, and now as a mother of a 3-year-old and a 9-month-old baby.”
M. J. Demetras, the executive director of the FTFEE, notes, “The project offers tremendous opportunities that will place Arizona in the limelight for research, policy, and service for years to come. More importantly, the infusion of FTF investments
in Arizona’s children and families may be the catalyst that will encourage various stakeholders to work collaboratively, reduce duplication of efforts, and make the best use of dwindling early childhood resources.”
The dwindling resources come at a time when societal and cultural changes have profoundly impacted familial structures and patterns in the United States, says Marx, especially during the past 50 years. Children spend longer hours in out-of-home care as more parents, especially mothers, are in the workforce. Additionally, parents often do not have close relationships with or support from extended family, and community interdependence has disintegrated with increased mobility rates due to employment and economic conditions. Single parents, foster families, and grandparents who are raising young children are examples of familial structures that offer unique opportunities and challenges.
Demetras says she is working with the team to “ensure we are successful in conducting this complex and challenging project that involves more than 250 faculty, staff, and students across the three universities, 14,000 children, and hundreds of families and community stakeholders. My perspective is shaped by understanding that we need to know how educational and social policy impacts young children and their day-to-day lives. With that understanding, we can develop research-based educational opportunities for children that will enable them to flourish, not merely survive.”
The next time you look at those bright-eyed children running to their kindergarten classes, you might view them as heading toward a successful future with a little help from the experts at three Arizona universities.
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DEAN’S OffICEfirst things first External Evaluation Sponsor: Early Childhood Health and Development$27,000,000See story on page 12.
toward Holistic Admissions: What Do Gold Humanitarian Honor Society Members Have that Admissions Committees Should WantSponsor: The Arnold P. Gold Foundation$15,000AnA MAriA Lopez And Jeffrey f. MiLeM
Assesses the development of humanistic attributes, such as integrity, excellence, compassion, service, and empathy, in Gold Humanitarian Honor Society members. Acknowledging that
students enter medical school with some of these attributes, we have identified supporting pivotal experiences and behaviors prior to medical-school admission and developed a framework for informing admissions and curriculum at medical schools.
DISABIlItY AND PSYCHOEDUCAtIONAl StUDIESAutism Spectrum Specialist tuition-Scholarship Support GrantSponsor: Arizona Department of Education$46,515StephAnie MAcfArLAnd
Offers tuition assistance to students pursuing coursework and
certification in autism-spectrum disorders. Three university-level undergraduate and graduate Web-based courses on autism-spectrum disorders are offered every semester, with all courses delivered online.
Continuing Education Program for AzRSA and Community PartnersSponsor: San Diego State University Foundation$75,000AMoS SALeS
Fosters competitive employment outcomes through quality rehabilitation services for those with disabilities.
Southwest Preparation of teachers of Visually Impaired learners, with Enrichment in Early
Childhood Education and Assistive technology Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education$798,225JAne erin
Addresses thorough preservice preparation of teachers of visually impaired students in Arizona and Nevada and supplements the state-funded orientation and mobility program by supporting four out-of-state specialists during the four-year program.
Preparing faculty in the Area of Emotional and Behavioral DisordersSponsor: U.S. Department of Education$645,460cArL LiAupSin And John uMbreit
Graduates four students with a doctoral degree in
special education who demonstrate knowledge of evidence-based practice of emotional and behavioral disorders and other areas of special education.
Interpreter Professional DevelopmentSponsor: Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing$39,081cindy VoLk
An interagency service agreement with the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to ensure quality interpreter training in partnership with universities and colleges to develop training programs.
long-term training Project: Rehabilitation
Counseling — Master’s DegreeSponsor: U.S. Department of Education$749,978AMoS SALeS
Offers quality preservice rehabilitation education to AzRSA counselors and provides an accredited rehabilitation counseling master’s degree. The off-campus program allows employed rehabilitation counselors to pursue the master’s degree on a full-time basis.
long-term training Project: Rehabilitation Counseling – Doctoral DegreeSponsor: U.S. Department of Education$749,937AMoS SALeS
Increases the supply of specialized doctoral-level
Grant BustErsThere’s nothing quite like the dreaded task of writing a grant proposal that turns even the most organized person into a procrastinator. Thanks to the new Research Support Team — a grant-support group at the College of Education — the sting has been removed from the process.
Lisa Gentry, our new assistant dean of finance and administration who directs the college’s finance, human resources, information technology, and facilities functions, oversees the team. “Our goal is to make the submission process as painless as possible for the principal investigator so he or she has more time to devote to writing the narrative sections rather than worrying about each sponsor’s regulations for preparation,” Gentry says.
The team handles all administrative details of proposal development, and each team member has an area of expertise (see sidebar). Thanks to the new process, grant funding is on the rise, and the sighs of relief can be heard throughout the college.
Here’s a breakdown of some of our recently funded projects:
KAtHY BAYHAMDocument preparation and submission
lISA GENtRYBudget and policy review; support for budget justifications
JEffREY f. MIlEMContent review and support for narratives
PAt ROBINSONBudget building and revision
SAllY SHOWAltERfunding opportunity research
rEsEarCH support tEaM
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rehabilitation counselor educators available for employment in academic settings and other public agencies.
Continuing Education Program for Arizona State Rehabilitation Services Administration and Community PartnersSponsor: San Diego State University Foundation$75,000AMoS SALeS
Improves quality assurance, uses program data for program improvement, and ensures effective personnel development directly linked to respective state vocational rehabilitation agencies, tribal rehabilitation programs, and their partners.
AZ RSA-IGA Rehabilitation training Sponsor: Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration$326,259 AMoS SALeS
Provides faculty and administrative financial support necessary to deliver master’s-level coursework in rehabilitation counseling to Rehabilitation Services Administration counselors.
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports of ArizonaSponsor: Arizona Department of Education$81,000John uMbreit
Helps schools use positive discipline methods to improve behavioral and educational outcomes.
Glucose Regulation and Sleep Architecture in Pediatric type I DiabetesSponsor: UA Faculty Grant$9,931MicheLLe perfect
Provides pilot data on a subgroup of participants
being recruited for a larger study using polysomnography, the gold-standard in sleep research, to examine sleep disturbances in diabetic youth ages 10 through 16.
Juvenile Detention Psychoeducational Services ProjectSponsor: Office of the Pima County School Superintendent$23,500richArd MorriS
Supports two school-psychology graduate students providing psychoeducational assessment and consultation services to juvenile delinquents at the Pima County Juvenile Court Center in Tucson.
EDUCAtIONAl POlICY StUDIES AND PRACtICEExpanding Educational leadership for Southern ArizonaSponsor: Helios Education Foundation$47,000kriS boSworth
Adds hybrid-online learning modules to enable students who already have completed a master’s degree to enroll in the required courses for principal certification. A large proportion of these new students are expected to come from rural areas without access to the usual face-to-face principal preparation.
Whatever Happened to the faculty — Knowledge transfer and the Academic Workforce in the U.S.Sponsor: National Science Foundation$244,929GAry rhoAdeS, Jenny Lee, ceciLiA rioS-AGuiLAr, reGinA deiL-AMen
Addresses higher-education’s role in knowledge transfer. The U.S. project explores
the extent and ways faculty members are featured in public policy as intellectual capital, as key players in educating students (human capital), and in knowledge-transfer generally.
CPSA YES+ InitiativesSponsor: Community Partnership of Southern Arizona$25,000kriS boSworth
A partnership between the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona-La Frontera Center and UA LINKS to enhance the impact of YES in high schools by implementing positive behavioral interventions and supports.
Mexico-U.S. Student MobilitySponsor: Comexus$10,000ALMA MALdonAdo-MALdonAdo
Provides analytical resources to understand student mobility between Mexico and the U.S. and policy recommendations and guidelines to help both countries take advantage of their proximity and common interests.
EDUCAtIONAl PSYCHOlOGYAssessing Instructional Quality in Mathematics: A Comparative Study of High- and low-Value-Added teachers’ Videotaped lessonsSponsor: National Science Foundation$1,092,794nicoLe kerStinG
Develops assessments of teaching quality, integrated in curricula of teacher-preparation programs, and serves as blueprints for designing professional-development activities. In addition, this study will collect videos of mathematics classroom
instruction that will be used for secondary analyses by other researchers.
Capturing teacher Knowledge (teKno)Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education$926,909nicoLe kerStinG
Uses authentic video clips of classroom instruction as item-prompts to elicit teachers’ usable knowledge of teaching. Teachers are asked to interpret the classroom events shown in the online video clips.
tEACHING, lEARNING, AND SOCIOCUltURAl StUDIESCooperative Association of States for Scholarships: Mexican Indigenous teachers ProgramSponsor: Georgetown University CIED$291,600norMA GonzáLez And richArd ruíz
Provides professional development and training for a cohort of 19 teachers from Mexico. Participants will master new methodologies for teaching literacy, numeracy, environmental sciences (natural resources and conservation), and critical thinking.
tlS Reading Endorsement Courses OnlineSponsor: Arizona Board of Regents$227,214J. dAVid bettS
Meets the academic-preparation needs of Arizona teachers who want to earn the Arizona Department of Education K-12 endorsement in reading. The endorsement qualifies teachers for positions such as reading-literacy specialist,
reading-literacy coach, and reading-literacy interventionist. TLS developed the online delivery system for rural teachers.
AIlDI Sub-Native American Student Affairs Service Center SupportSponsor: Ak-Chin Indian Community$10,000cAndAce GALLA
Assists in the partial funding related to the American Indian Language Development Insitute’s first annual benefit dinner and helps raise funds for AILDI participants and the celebration of AILDI’s 30-year anniversary.
Scholarships for Education and Economic Development: Mexican Indigenous teachers Program Sponsor: Georgetown University CIED$365,400norMA GonzáLez And richArd ruíz
Provides professional development and training for a cohort of 19 teachers from Mexico. Participants will master new methodologies for teaching literacy, numeracy, environmental sciences (natural resources and conservation), and critical thinking.
An Evaluation of the KIDCO ProgramSponsor: City of Tucson Parks and Recreation Department$10,000LuiS c. MoLL And AnA chriStinA iddinGS
Evaluates the KIDCO afterschool recreation activity program in Tucson. The program creates an environment in which children can grow to the best of their abilities and tap their creativity and strengths.
Western Hemisphere Institute Sponsor: Institute for Training and Development$396,768See story on page 3.
teacher Preparation and Retention Data Collaboration (t-Prep)Sponsor: Arizona State University$36,000wALter doyLe
Assesses the effectiveness of teachers produced by ASU, NAU, and UA — in conjunction with school, state, and business partners — and includes a reliable, valid measure of teachers’ effects on student academic growth.
Southern Arizona Center for the Development and Retention of Science and Mathematics teachersSponsor: Science Foundation Arizona$250,000bruce JohnSon, ronALd w. MArx, erin turner, MArcy wood, kriStin GunckeL, biLL MccALLuM
Retains secondary science and mathematics teachers in Southern Arizona and includes education courses held each summer to help the teachers translate their internship experiences into their classrooms.
Community of Practice — Development of an Early Childhood Education Master’s ProgramSponsor: United Way$49,643donnA Jurich
Assists in the development and dissemination of an early childhood education survey of the greater-Tucson area, reviews the survey responses, and proposes a program of study and possible delivery methods for an ECE master’s degree program at the UA.
rEsEarCH support tEaM
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Hot rods. That’s the road Walter Doyle planned to take for his future.
“I wanted to be an auto mechanic for race cars,” says Doyle, who was brought up in a working-class family and liked to fix the neighbors’ bicycles. “My father was a postal clerk and my mother was a stay-at-home mother.”
Reading was not a priority. In fact, Doyle doesn’t remember any books in their house at all.
But a great aunt who had gone to college in the 1920s and was often viewed as “eccentric” had a library, something that fascinated the young Doyle. Still, he didn’t take up reading other than to complete his assignments for school, unaware that he would one day reach national prominence on matters of K-12 education.
Doyle’s parents worked hard to save enough money so Doyle and his older brother could receive their education at Catholic schools. He lost the “car bug” on his way to the University of Notre Dame. “I loved college right off the bat,” he says. “I was really taken by the scholarly community.”
And he began to read — a lot — and study English literature. He went to readings by authors, including novelist and short-story writer Richard T. Sullivan (The World of Idella May, The Three Kings, Summer After Summer), who was a member of the faculty at Notre Dame.
A New ViewIt was a heady time for Doyle, whose view of life had changed. He would be a high-school English teacher and write short stories in his spare time. And he did teach high-school English for a few years. At the same time, he received a master’s degree in education and English at Notre Dame. By then, a department head had taken notice of Doyle’s intellectual talents and asked him to join the doctoral program.
Soon after graduation, he joined the faculty at Notre Dame as an assistant professor of graduate studies in education, then moved to North Texas State University as an associate professor. There, he wrote a paper on paradigms (Paradigms in Teacher Effectiveness Research), which was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in 1975 to positive reviews. This soon was followed by more
PowerHoldiNgProfessor walter doyle Transforms the way we look at learningby Ana luisa terrazas
Photos by Jen Ryder
papers, including Mastering Classroom Demands and The Classroom as an Ecological System.
Before long, a steady stream of papers and book chapters — in the major journals and handbooks of curriculum and teacher education — had been published in several languages. Along the way, Doyle changed the way we think about classroom management, the work of teachers, and curriculum. Deborah Loewenberg Ball, dean of the University of Michigan School of Education adds, “Professor Doyle is someone who changes how we think and what we pay attention to. One major example was how he broke new ground in the field of research on teaching by focusing on the importance of the tasks that are used in classrooms. This work ... has become a major part of the framework others use to understand teaching and learning.”
By now well-known as one of the most illustrious names in the field, he joined the UA College of Education as a professor in 1985. Dean Ronald W. Marx notes, “One of the reasons I came to the University of Arizona to serve as dean was because of the stature Doyle holds in the field and to be able to work more directly with him on important educational problems and challenges. He is one of the nation’s premier thinkers on matters of K-12 school curriculum.
“His scholarship in this area has had enormous impact, having led to seminal research on the nature of learning in classrooms. Early in my career, when I was working on similar ideas, I remember how envious I was of Doyle’s persuasively argued theoretical articles and empirical research,” he said.
Ian Westbury, professor emeritus of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and general editor of the Journal of Curriculum Studies, adds, “He is a powerful yet modest and quietly thoughtful scholar and teacher. For 40 years — since his landmark chapter, ‘Paradigms for research on teacher effectiveness’ in the Review of Research in Education — Walter Doyle has transformed our understanding of teaching and classroom management, with all the implications that has for teacher education.”
order, order in the ClassroomIn the 1980s, Doyle found that two-thirds of a student’s time was spent doing seatwork with printed worksheets. “The argument in those days was that it fit what classrooms had to face. Being organized and orderly was a nice match, and it got students through a lot of work.”
In his research, he noted, “Training students to do critical thinking is not an easy task. Teaching which involves higher-level cognitive processes … often proves problematic for students.”
Doyle explains the tendency students have to pinpoint what will be on tests while setting everything else aside. “If a teacher says, ‘You’ll need to know these items for the test,’ that’s when the pencils come out.”
Unfortunately, he says, the situation today is about the same. “The processes that are likely to have the greatest long-term consequences are the most difficult to teach in classrooms. A much more adventuresome curriculum is hard to implement. It takes a huge amount of energy, skill, and commitment, as well as tremendous development and expertise.”
When asked if standardized testing — with test scores being quoted by newspapers and used as the primary criteria for judging the success or failure of students, teachers, and schools — has compromised teaching critical-thinking skills and a more adventuresome curriculum, he responds, “It’s possible to teach to the standards using that kind of instruction. The problem is that sometimes a set of standards gets treated as if it’s curriculum itself. Curriculum happens moment by moment.”
And then there’s the matter of order. How is order established and maintained in learning environments?
Doyle, who says students really haven’t changed much in the last 25 years (“They dress differently and they use different technology, but, really, they are about the same”), often refers to what he calls “holding power.”
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“if a teacher says, ‘You’ll need to know these items for the test,’ that’s when the pencils come out.”
“The processes that are likely to have the greatest long-term consequences are the most difficult to teach in classrooms.”
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Without order, the expert explains, a teacher finds it nearly impossible to promote learning. No matter how subtle or general the solutions may be, establishing and maintaining order is pivotal. The progressions of strategies teachers use to promote order plus student engagement and learning is what Doyle terms “classroom management.”
“A good manager is so effective that what he or she does is invisible,” says Doyle, who has supervised student teachers for 25 years. “A novice will observe this, and think, ‘Oh, that looks easy.’ It’s like watching an Olympic skater — what they do looks seamless. You don’t know how difficult it is until you watch a novice attempt to do the same thing!”
Equating engagement with learning and cooperation with passivity, he says, “The real work is getting a system up and running so the kids are engaged with activities that have some holding power. If you don’t have that, you’re not going to solve any problems by getting tough. You may solve the problems temporarily, but not long term.”
Breaking New groundDoyle’s courses are among the most popular in his Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies, admirers say, partly because of his reputation, but also because he is known as an innovative teacher who takes great care with his students.
Stefinee Pinnegar, a former student who is now an associate professor of teacher education at Brigham Young University, says, “He was generous with his time, his talent, and his support. He provided for me a model of how I should interact with my own students. He always listened more than he talked, and his response was usually a question that productively pushed my scholarship and teaching forward in significant ways.
“Whenever I have been discouraged in my work, I remember Walter Doyle and his legacy to me. I remember his sacred trust, and it inspires me and energizes me to meet and overcome the challenges I face.”
It comes as no surprise, then, that Doyle was presented with the Extraordinary Faculty Award from the UA Alumni Association in 2006.
Doyle continues to break new ground. He is one of the leaders behind the establishment of the UA-affiliated Wildcat School (see more on this charter school on page 2), where he is “working with a curriculum team, creating adventuresome education, and trying to make it more than an ordinary school.”
And he’s been in the news for coauthoring an article on how to improve school discipline in the just-released, special issue of the Educational Researcher. As a result, a Capitol Hill briefing will report on the research presented in the journal, which is devoted to school safety, including violence, bullying, and the harmful consequences of school environments that are unsafe or disruptive, especially for minority students.
Treasures in Picture rocksAs for those dreams of hot rods? They’ve given way to horses. Doyle spends his free time volunteering at an animal sanctuary for horses and dogs, many of which have special needs and come from abusive or neglectful homes. Just about every Saturday from about 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., you’ll find Doyle at Castaway Treasures in the Picture Rocks area, west of Tucson.
“Being around horses is a deeply engaging experience,” Doyle says. “I like the physical labor involved in caring for the horses, and I’ve developed friendships with the people who work there — and with the horses.”
Sounds like an adventuresome environment with holding power.
“it’s like watching an olympic skater — what they do looks seamless.”
by Margaret Regan
Making Waves: Lacey Nymeyer Creating ConnectionsA L U M N I
Swimmer Lacey Nymeyer has met every possible challenge in the pool.
Facing competitors from around the globe, she won gold at the World Championship in Melbourne in 2007, just for instance. On the day the UA Wildcats team clinched the 2008 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship, Nymeyer hit a personal triple crown, winning individual, relay, and a team national championship on the same day. And at the Beijng Olympics in 2008, she and her relay teammates nabbed a silver medal.
But student teaching was something else again. In her final year at the UA, Nymeyer faced a poolful of children at the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind. Her task: teach kids with multiple disabilities to stay afloat in the water.
“Student teaching is hard and stressful in any case,” says Nymeyer, who graduated in spring 2009 with a major in phys ed at the College of Education and a K-12 teaching certification. “But this was a big learning curve.”
She had previously volunteered with the school’s swim team, but now she was working with students who couldn’t swim. And the blind kids and the deaf kids presented different challenges.
“I didn’t know sign language,” she says. “I tried to pick it up. My mentor teacher, Mike Reyna, the PE teacher, did a lot of interpreting for me.”
The blind children “can hear what you’re saying,” but they can’t see the ropes that they need to hold onto to stay safe. Adapting to the kids’ disabilities, Nymeyer adjusted her lesson plans and focused on “teaching body awareness in the water, counting strokes, helping the kids learn adaptive strokes.”
Her mentor, she emphasizes, “was great.”
Woman of the YearThe nod to Reyna is typical of Nymeyer. Instead of boasting of her own significant successes, she praises the others around her. Last October, she was named the 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year, the lone woman to win the national honor out of a field of 132 student-athletes in a variety of sports from all over the country. The prestigious award is given to an outstanding sportswoman and student who also devotes herself to the betterment of her community.
In her impromptu acceptance speech, though, Nymeyer deflected attention away from herself. She was humbled by the quality of the other nominees, she said, and she gave all thanks to her parents and Frank Busch, head UA coach for swimming and diving.
< Nymeyer with Coach Frank Busch
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“I loved having the opportunity to represent the UA one more time,” she says now. “It was an honor. To be selected as the award winner, after getting to know the other nominees — those women were phenomenal. I was honored to be there with them.”
Nymeyer is equally gracious in praising the UA professors who taught her in the classroom, including Ingrid Johnson, who has since moved, Mark Jenks, and Lydia Crane. Scott Watson was “one of my favorite professors.”
“They really cared about me as a person,” Nymeyer says. “It was not just ‘get them in and get them out.’ They really helped me achieve my goals: a college degree and my goals in the pool. I had a great college experience.”
Eyes on londonRight now, Nymeyer is doing a little substitute teaching at Tucson’s Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson and teaching some swimming clinics, but she’s intensely focused on her training, with the goal of competing at the London Olympics in 2012. But whenever her swimming career glides to an end — and, the way it’s going, it won’t be anytime soon — she aspires to be a phys ed teacher or coach.
“I like working with kids, helping them at a time when they’re developing their goals and ambitions,” she says. “I want to be involved with that. I had great people who helped me.”
learning to SwimLacey Nymeyer can barely recall her life before swimming. “I don’t remember learning how to swim,” she says. “I remember being in the water. Some kids like to go to the park and swing. I liked going in the pool. I always loved the water.”
Now 24, Nymeyer grew up in Marana, north of Tucson, in an athletic family. Her proud grandpa, Ed Nymeyer, a UA basketball player in the late 1950s and Hall of Fame member, later taught phys ed, driver’s ed, and coached at Tucson’s Flowing Wells High School. Dad Aaron is a custom homebuilder who does some coaching at Mountain View High
School; her two younger brothers, now in high school, are both athletes. Sterling plays football and Brentyn, basketball.
Her mother, Stacey, signed her up for swimming lessons when she was 6 years old. At first, the young
Nymeyer also did other sports, including soccer, cross-country and track, but by age 9 she was in a serious, year-round swimming program. From the beginning she excelled at freestyle, the stroke that propelled her all the way to Beijing.
“I’m not as successful at other strokes. Some people start out with freestyle and go on to butterfly.” Not Nymeyer. “Freestyle is my best and always has been.”
In high school, Nymeyer divided her time between the Mountain View High team and Ford Aquatics, the high-powered club team that practices at the UA. She swam for both (“I had great high-school
and club coaches”), most often training with the club team but competing for her high school at meets. The high-level club “gave me opportunities to be recruited — being able to train with other athletes at that level, to get pushed.”
Morning practice started at 5 a.m.; afternoon practice was right after school.
“My mom’s a trouper. She’d drive me down, then stay in the car, go get me breakfast, and drive me to high school. Sometimes, she’d drive me twice a day.”
Colleges lined UpThe training quickly paid off. Nymeyer started competing in national meets by age 16, and colleges lined up to recruit the young sensation. “When push came to shove,” she says, “the UA’s swimming program and academics were what I wanted.”
“When push came to shove, the UA’s
swimming program and academics were
what I wanted.”
Nymeyer was featured on the cover of the UA’s Alumnus magazine
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Phot
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acob
Chi
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The UA boasts of sending 31 swimmers to the Olympics over the years, including breast-stroke specialist Amanda Beard, and the school turned out to be a good choice for Nymeyer. “Once I went to college and started training with Coach Busch and the other athletes, my career skyrocketed.”
She racked up multiple successes at the UA. At the 2008 NCAA Championships, she swam 200-, 400-, and 800-meter relays, helping the Wildcats nab first place in each event and in the championship overall. Swimming alone, she aced the 100-meter freestyle. In the 2007 NCAA meet — where the Wildcats came in second — she won the 200-yard freestyle and picked up the title of 2007 Pac-10 Women’s Swimmer of the Year.
And during her college years, she amassed six medals at the World Championships and two golds medals at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.
Dazzling as all these successes were, the Olympics were a different order of magnitude. “You’re reaching the highest degree of the sport. What an honor to go and compete for your country. I could never have dreamed of it. It’s not just swimming.”
It was a thrill, “being on the world stage,” she says, in the company of “not only the greatest swimmers, but the greatest volleyball players, the greatest athletes in the world, all there competing for the same thing.”
Nymeyer’s parents watched as she slashed through the water in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. “I knew we were doing very well,” she says, and in the end, the four U.S. women edged into second place and won the silver.
Serving the Community Her current intensive training regimen has her “twice a day in the pool, in the weight room, and doing dry-land exercises.” But she doesn’t neglect community service. After volunteering in college at The Haven, a women’s shelter, and Casa de los Niños, a children’s crisis nursery, Nymeyer continues to do service work in the community.
“I do a lot of public speaking with kids, religious groups, and schools around the city.”
Inspired by her Mormon faith, she tries to keep a balance in her life, the kind of balance that was honored by the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
“It’s about what you did in the classroom and the community,” Nymeyer says of that prize. “I love that. We’re not just athletes. We put effort into our whole lives. The championship is our life.”
“the championship is our life.”
Nymeyer (bottom right) hams it up for the camera with her friends
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Posing with some of her favorite professors and fellow students on graduation day
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lois Broome Burke ’47 first asked to be a part of the Tucson High School Band more than 71 years ago. Despite her talent as a saxophone player and her repeated requests, she was never allowed to join the all-male band. After graduating from THS, Lois became one of the first women allowed to march in the UA band. In 1942, many of the male band members were serving in the military, so Lois played sax in the band, alongside men and a few other women, shown in this 1947 UA Desert yearbook photo. Lois played professionally at the Blue Moon nightclub and with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and continued to play professionally with the Green Valley Dance Band until last year, when she retired to spend more time at her cabin near Pinetop in the White Mountains. In 2007, Tucson High School honored Lois and she proudly marched with the THS band, playing the school song and the Star Spangled Banner as she’d dreamed of doing so many years ago.
Henry “Hank” Oyama ’51 ’53 ’95 was honored, along with his late wife, Mary Ann Jordan Oyama, at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona’s 50th anniversary celebration held in Tucson in May 2009. The Oyamas made history as the ACLU of Arizona’s first clients in a lawsuit challenging the state’s antimiscegenation law prohibiting interracial marriage. Part of the award citation celebrates the fact that the Oyamas had “the courage to stand up for equality five decades ago.”
Hugh t. Kramer ’52 remembers his years as a Wildcat on the GI Bill fondly. After living in 17 countries, Hugh retired after 45 years as an executive with IBM World Trade, and he and his wife of 26 years, Marsha Endahl Kramer, ended up in Austin, Texas. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese (having been born in Guatemala to missionary parents), and spending most of his work life with IBM Latin America, Hugh uses his skills in chairing a variety of community outreach projects, keeping up with friends around the globe, and enjoying extensive travel.
Mary Jane Dice Atonna ’62 ’64 indulges her lifelong passion for horses by participating in competitive carriage driving. Mary Jane’s husband, Peter Atonna, has a national reputation as a model railroader. His impressive model railroad layout was featured on the PBS television series, Tracks Ahead, in fall 2009. Learn more at www.theatonnas.com.
Ray Scharf ’62 is a professor emeritus and former swimming coach at East Carolina
University. At the North Carolina Senior Games State Championships in September 2007, Ray won five gold medals and qualified for the National Senior Games held at Stanford University in August 2009. He placed first in his age group, 70-74, in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and in the 50-, 100-, and 200-yard breaststroke. Over the past two years Ray has won 10 gold medals in the county games, and in 2008, he won three gold and two silver medals in the state meet. Ray also has won awards in the county and state visual arts competitions for his photography. Ray and his wife, Guylene “Gigi” Guthrie Scharf, have five children and nine grandchildren. Ray and Gigi live on Harkers Island, N.C., with their two Labrador retrievers, April and Molly.
Kathleen A. Monahan Jones ’64 retired following 33 years of teaching, including exchange teaching in Melbourne and in the Tucson Unified School District. She now is a substitute teacher, attends all UA football games, and visits Australia often. Kathleen has six grandsons and one great-grandson, loves to travel, craft, walk, and indulge her addiction to Sudoku.
Naomi Karp ’64 ’66 was given the Arizona Department of Education’s Early Learning Award of Distinction in June 2009. Naomi worked as a special-education teacher for many years before joining the U.S.
Department of Education, where she worked for 20 years. She was a program specialist at the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and laid the foundation for the Early Childhood Research Institute in the U.S. Department of Education, becoming the institute’s first director in 1995. She now lives in Tucson, where she is an early education policy consultant. Naomi is shown with Dean Ronald W. Marx.
Marsha Benner Houser Waggoner ’64 retired in June 2008 after teaching kindergarten for 22 years in the Salida (California) Union School District. She now is the volunteer operations manager for the Modesto Community Concert Association, where she books artists, does publicity, and works with the Gallo Center for the Arts. She writes, “I love to follow the U in all its wonderful ways it affects life here in the world and look forward to all the ways we can beat ASU!”
Kevin leman ’67 ’69 ’74 is the author of Have a New Kid by Friday — How to Change Your Child’s Attitude in Five Days. The book was added to the New York Times Bestseller List in August 2009.
James R. “Steve” Stephens ’67 ’69 is a retired Army officer
living in Spanaway, Wash. Steve celebrated his 88th birthday in March 2009. His novel, Camera Soldiers: The Philippine Odyssey (BookSurge Publishing, 2007), tells the fact-based story of combat photographers during MacArthur’s “Return to the Philippines.” Steve’s new book, The Winds of October (BookSurge Publishing, 2009), is receiving excellent reviews. The photo shows Steve as a private-first-class combat photographer on a Philippine beachhead in 1944. For more, see www.camerasoldiers.com.
Harold “tink” Gamble ’68 ’73 and his wife, Suzanne Rae “Susie” Jones Gamble, live in Walkersville, Md. Tink, Larry McKenna, and Darrell Petrie were roommates at the UA. Darrell passed away a few years ago, but the rest of the group enjoyed their first get-together in more than 20 years with much reminiscing.
Donald R. “Don” Wilson ’68 ’82 has retired after 27 years of working in the Education Department at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Mike Ostapuk ’69 and Kathy Walsh ’69 have been married since 1970. Mike taught junior-high social studies in Phoenix for 30 years until he retired in 2002. Mike helped the National Geographic Society create the Arizona Geographic Alliance for K-12 teachers, traveled to Russia and Ukraine with geography education outreach programs, and assisted with the creation of Arizona state geography standards and National Board for Professional Teaching Standards for social studies. Mike has received lifetime achievement awards
from the Arizona Council for the Social Studies and the UA College of Education Alumni Council, and he has been an organizational consultant with the Arizona Education Association since 2002.
Jack Jones ’70 is a former commander-in-chief of the Military Order of the World Wars (MOWW) and a retired colonel with 40 years of service in the U.S. Army. Jack had the honor of bestowing the title of MOWW Honorary Commander-in-Chief to former President George H. W. Bush in a ceremony held at the George Bush Presidential Library. Jack is shown second from left.
Good friends Mary Lou Knauff Long, Patty Coffey Sirls ’70, Kasper (the pooch) Long, Marilyn Bauer Nielsen ’71, and David Nielsen often get together to cheer the Wildcats on to victories.
Susan G. Boswell ’72 ’76 is a managing partner specializing in bankruptcy and creditor
alumni news
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and debtor rights in the Tucson office of the national law firm, Quarles & Brady. Susan was named one of the top-50 attorneys in Arizona and New Mexico in the 2009 issue of Southwest Super Lawyers magazine.
frank S. Dialessi ’72 has been employed as school psychologist since he graduated from the UA. He writes, “My wife, Janice, and I visited the UA campus last year and the College of Education, where it all started. My time there included great friends, so much fun, a beautiful state to explore, and a graduate program that prepared me very well for my career. I am very thankful for all.” Frank says this photo, taken during a recent visit to the 17th Annual Pumpkin Festival in Keene, N.H., is for all the New England-area UA grads!
Jeff Hino ’75 lives in Albany, Ore., and is an assistant professor and learning technology leader at Oregon State University Extension and Experiment Station Communications. Jeff writes, “I still find time to play acoustic blues music and keep in touch with several close UA alums.”
Elizabeth Mueller ’75 ’85 is the Cooperating Collection supervisor of the Foundation Center in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System, where she has worked for 22 years. The collection contains information on grants and fundraising useful to nonprofit organizations. Elizabeth also is chair of the Public Awareness Committee, part of the Alliance for Citizens with Disabilities-Hillsborough County. The committee puts on Disability Awareness Day each
July to educate and inform the community about disabilities.
Paula Pluta ’75 ’80 lived in Sonora Dorm as a freshman in fall 1971. Fast-forward to the fall 2008 semester, when Paula helped her daughter, Marlo Abramowitz, a new freshman at the UA, move into Sonora Dorm. When they exited the elevator, Paula was shocked to find that Marlo was assigned to the very same room Paula had 37 years ago! Paula writes, “Now what are the chances of that happening or does Residence Life do that intentionally? A friend of mine heard on a Tucson radio station the other day that a son has the same room his dad had in Graham-Greenlee 38 years ago. It’s beginning to sound like a conspiracy!”
Ann Miklofsky Stahmer ’75 ’79 is the executive director of the City Choir of Washington. She produces and directs concerts and plays for the Choral Arts Society of Washington and other groups that perform regularly at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and other venues in the Washington, D.C., area. As a singer in the Choral Arts Society of Washington for 20 years, Ann has appeared in many nationally televised shows such as The Kennedy Center Honors, A Capitol Fourth, National Memorial Day Concert, America’s Millennium, and A Celebration at Ford’s Theater. She also is a member of the Recording Academy, has sung on 15 nationally released recordings, and conducted the music on Birth and Rebirth, a CD of Romanian Christmas and Easter music.
David leigh ’76 has been named the Wisconsin Athletic Trainers Association Outstanding Educator.
Stephen Powers ’78 taught junior high and
high school in Marana, Nogales, and Yuma, Ariz., and in Bakersfield, Calif. Stephen then returned to Tucson and was a TUSD program evaluator for 18 years before opening and serving as president of his own company, Creative Research Associates, which has flourished for 14 years.
linda J. Mauro Graziano ’79 was honored at Homecoming 2008 as a UA alumna twirler. Her daughter, Adrianne Graziano (at left), is a current UA twirler, shown with Shirlee Bertolini (center), now in her 54th consecutive year as the UA twirling coach! Adrianne began marching in the UA Homecoming Parade as a toddler with her mother, Linda, who also was also coached by Shirlee. This is the first twirling legacy in UA history where Shirlee has coached both mother and daughter.
Barbara linsley ’79 returns to Tucson from the northern cold whenever possible to walk the desert and visit the campus. She spent five years researching and traveling various sections of the Oregon Trail route before writing and publishing her first novel, Dreams on the Oregon Trail, a book of middle-grade-suitable historical fiction. The novel follows two girls, one in 1848 and one in the present day, as they travel the Oregon Trail, facing hardships and tragedies. For more info regarding the book, see barbaralinsley.com.
C. Ralph Stewart III ’82 ’87 voluntarily returned
to Iraq as an education services specialist to run the Army Education Center at Camp Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq. Ralph says he’s enjoying his two-year assignment and “The soldiers really appreciate our efforts and the weather is like Arizona — a ‘dry heat!’”
Penny ’83 and Don Johnson’73 ’75 celebrated their 40th anniversary in June 2009 with their family.Penny and Don met at a party while attending the UA and were married at Penny’s parents’ home in 1968. Penny is a retired TUSD elementary schoolteacher. Don joined the U.S. Air Force and earned a master’s degree from the UA. He now is retired from working as an adult probation supervisor and service in the Air National Guard. Penny and Don have two children and three grandchildren.
Rich Delgado ’87 ’92 retired in June 2008 after 20 years with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools as a middle- and secondary-level language-arts and social-studies teacher. Rich and his wife, Bahar, live in Oro Valley, Ariz., and, according to Rich, “have not quit traveling in the past year, and have no intentions of ending our global itineraries!”
Wendy M. Anderson Knox ’91 ’94 earned a Ph.D. in behavioral disorders in March 2005. Since then, she has worked for foster-parent rights in Texas and trained new foster and adoptive parents. She recently authored House Bill 3137, the “Foster Parents’ Bill of Rights,” that became law in 2009. Wendy and her husband, Kenneth A. “Ken” Knox, have two daughters and
recently adopted a 2-year old boy. The family lives in Brackettville, Texas.
Karen Salvador ’93 is an educational consultant specializing in curriculum and technology. She also is one of the owners of Mind to Motion Pilates Plus in Green Valley, Ariz. Karen worked while earning certifications in personal training, advanced exercise and fitness, and Pilates. She has added a nutritional coaching component and is excited with the results. Karen writes, “You just never know where your degrees will lead you!”
Stephanie Pang ’97 sends greetings from Scotland! Stephanie teaches children with autism. When she’s not busy climbing Scottish sea cliffs and riding her mountain bike, she is an activity organizer for the American Expats in Edinburgh group. Stephanie wants all ’Cats to know that she stayed up way past her bedtime to cheer for the team from across the pond during March Madness. The photo shows Stephanie mountain biking in Calais Muir Woods in Dunfermline, Scotland.
Amy Hale-Janeke ’99 is the head of reference at the law library for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which comprises Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. She was hired for the job in New Orleans two weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit, and she wrote a story about her adventures that appeared in a national law librarian publication. Amy, her husband, Erik, and their dachshunds have now lived in the New Orleans area for nearly four years and enjoy it very much.
Amy met retired United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, worked on a research project for Chief Justice John Roberts, and enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress.
Pamela “Pam” Parker-Martin ’99 has been a school psychologist with Douglas County School District just south of Denver for the past 19 years. She works primarily with young children and their families in the district’s preschool and Child Find programs. Pam is married with two daughters, ages 18 and 14.
Kevin Mott ’01 has returned to his home, family, and work with NETCOM at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., following a nearly yearlong voluntary deployment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division (GRD). Kevin wrote a postcard for the GRD program, Postcards from Iraq, where he shares his experiences in Iraq. See Kevin’s card at www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/postcards/index.asp.
Mackenzie J. Vandergeest ’05 has been a Los Angeles City firefighter since April 2008. She writes, “It has been my dream to become a firefighter since I was 12 years old, and now I am doing it! The UA helped me achieve that, and the sense of family — coming from the Wildcat family into another family, the LAFD.” Mackenzie, a UA softball team member from 2001 to 2004, lives in Woodland Hills, Calif.
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It was a bold move in 1885 to start a university in the middle of the desert before Arizona was even a state. Back then, only
40,000 people lived in the entire territory. There were just a few elementary schools scattered about and not one high school.
The UA’s launch in 1885 could be considered either good luck or bad timing. Tucson had sent a delegation to the Arizona Legislature with instructions to get the state capitol moved to Tucson. But the weather was bad, the trip to Prescott by stagecoach was long, and the Tucson delegation arrived late to the session.
At the time, it seemed like a costly delay, and Tucsonans were none too happy. Phoenix got the insane asylum with an unheard-of budget of $100,000; Prescott kept the capitol; Tempe was given a normal school with a budget of $5,000; and Tucson’s prize was the University of Arizona, with a budget of $25,000, which was later used to build Old Main.Support for having a university in Tucson grew, and classes started in 1891. Taking Frank Adams’ course in pedagogy in 1898, along with a UA degree, would have earned you a certificate to teach in the Territory of Arizona. It taught you
all you needed to know about historical and philosophical foundations of education, school systems, modern teaching methods, and school management and law. Impressive, yes, but pedagogy was nonetheless the stepchild of other departments — usually philosophy — until the time of UA President Rufus Bernhard von Kleinsmid. An educator and psychologist, he fought for a college dedicated to the growing numbers of education students. In the spring of 1923, a new College of Education graduated 14 students.
Today, the College of Education awards hundreds of degrees each year, including teachers, of course, but also researchers, counselors, school psychologists, special-education teachers, principals, and superintendents — just to name a few.
By the way, the anniversary celebration, which will continue through Homecoming in October, is called Silver & Sage to honor the UA’s original colors. You thought they were red and blue? Think again. The first school colors were sage green and silver. The sage was in reference to the indigenous sage bush, and silver symbolized the state’s mining industries.
Red & Blue? Try the Silver & Sage Anniversary Celebration!Celebrating 125 years at the UA
Old Main under construction.
Two friends of the college, Nadine Mathis Basha and Steve W. Lynn, received honorary doctorates for their contributions and achievements in early childhood education and advocacy. Basha, a former teacher, has
spent her adult life advocating for Arizona’s children. She founded the Children’s Action Alliance, an advocacy group that has influenced policies to enhance educational and medical needs for impoverished families. Basha and her colleagues developed a ballot initiative, Proposition 203, to generate tax funds to establish a comprehensive system of early childhood development and health. The proposition passed in a landslide and became First Things First. Basha was appointed founding chair and remains a member of its board. The College of Education presented the degree during winter commencement, along with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Despite his hectic work schedule as a vice president of Tucson Electric Power Company, Lynn has just begun a six-year term as chair of First Things First. His many other civic activities include board memberships on the Arizona
Hospital and Health Care Service Corporation, Arizona Mexico Commission, CODAC Behavioral Health Services, and Science Foundation Arizona. He chairs Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission and the newly formed Downtown Tucson Partnership. We presented Lynn’s honorary doctorate during last spring’s commencement, alongside the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Honoring Our Advocates
TAKING EDUCATION IN NEW DIRECTIONS
WINTER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
WINTER 2010
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EditorAna Luisa Terrazas
Assistant EditorJennifer P. Rich
The Alphabetic and Contracted Braille Study: A National Study of Young Braille Readers
Studying Teacher Knowledge and Its Impact on Teaching and Student Learning
Diversity in Higher Education
Adolescent Literacy: Secondary Students’ Language, Literacy, and Learning
On the cover: A magnified view of Braille.
We are green! Imagine is printed on recycled paper.
www.coe.arizona.edu
Ronald W. Marx
Dean and Professor of Educational Psychology
Great research universities impact their communities, the nation, and the world. The impact begins with our mission to create new knowledge. In the College of Education, we fuse our research mission to our instructional and outreach activities as we strive to understand and improve education wherever it takes place. This issue of Imagine Research provides four examples of research programs in education that serve the educational needs of many students.
Professor Jane Erin reports on her work with blind children who learn to read using Braille. This amazing work helps those in her field understand the educational challenges that visually impaired students face and produces results educators will use to be more successful with these children.
For decades, we in the education professions have known the power of good teachers. Everyone now understands the tremendous importance of highly effective teachers for student success. Professor Nicole Kersting’s innovative work on assessing the knowledge of mathematics teachers helps us understand how such knowledge links to more effective instruction.
Our two newly named distinguished professors, Jeffrey F. Milem, the Ernest W. McFarland Distinguished Professor, and Patricia Anders, the Jewell M. Lewis Distinguished Professor, report on their career-long efforts to improve education. Professor Milem’s work on diversity in higher education has had tremendous policy impact nationally, and his more recent work in medical-school admissions will provide better approaches to selecting our next generation of doctors. Professor Anders, a nationally renowned scholar of adolescent literacy, has worked for many years to ensure that all students leave high school with the literacy skills they need for a lifetime of learning.
Please read this issue of Imagine Research to learn more about the scholarship of our terrific faculty. Write us to let us know what you think about our work.
Ronald W. Marx
In the United States, 6,000 blind students read and write using Braille, a tactile reading system developed by Louis Braille in the early 1800s. Most of these students are educated in public schools and are the only Braille readers in their schools. They use a code comprised of more than 200 symbols, most of which are combinations of a six-dot cell that stand for letters, letter groups, or words. Young blind students are traditionally taught these symbols, called contractions, as they learn to read. The examples below show similar symbols that represent different letter combinations and words.
d day dd
the ABC StudyTeachers and other professionals disagree on when it is best to introduce Braille contractions. I collaborated with 14 other school and university professionals to investigate this question through the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille (ABC) Study. This study followed 45 Braille readers in the United States and Canada as they progressed through preschool or kindergarten through fourth grade. Researchers gathered data on reading and writing progress as well as social interactions during literacy instruction. As a member of the research team, I followed two out-of-state students, led the writing-analysis team, and analyzed data regarding social interactions and reading achievement.
The study, initiated in 2002 by Anne Corn of Vanderbilt University, was primarily funded by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). The study mainly explored whether children are better readers when they are taught to read using Braille contractions from the beginning, but other questions regarding reading and writing achievement also were investigated. Reading characteristics of the highest and lowest achievers were analyzed, and data comparing Braille readers to their sighted peers were evaluated.
Researchers tracked 45 participants for three to five years as they learned to read and write. The students were observed twice each year, in their mainstream classrooms and during their work with a teacher of visually impaired students. In addition, the researchers interviewed the teachers of the visually impaired students, paraprofessionals, the mainstream classroom teachers, participating students, and their families. Formal literacy assessments were conducted annually using the Texas Primary Reading Inventory, the Johns Basic Reading Inventory, and the Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills (reading and spelling assessments). Each year, the participants were videotaped as they provided a writing and reading sample of material familiar to them.
the Most Proficient Readers The results provide information on how young Braille readers learn contractions and point to the need for increased attention to high-quality reading instruction for young Braille readers. Students who learned the contractions earliest were usually the most proficient readers, possibly because teachers introduced contractions in rapid succession as the students mastered them. Several children learned and used
The Alphabetic and Contracted Braille Study: A nATionAl STudy of young BrAille reAderS
by Jane N. Erin• Professor
Disabil i ty & Psychoeducational Studies
RESEARCH EXPERTISE
Visual impairment
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all 189 contractions and the letters of the alphabet by the end of the first grade, which is remarkable compared to print readers’ mastery of an average of 50 symbols, including capital and lower-case versions of letters and punctuation marks.
Surprising ResultsThe study also shattered some long-held beliefs about the use of Braille contractions, including the theory that early introduction of Braille contractions causes students to be poor spellers. Most of the students in the study spelled at their grade-level standard, and the timing of the introduction of contractions did not affect their skills. Another surprising result showed that students who learned contractions earlier were not faster readers than students who learned them later. Since contractions shorten the number of symbols in a reading passage, it often is assumed that the use of contractions increases reading speed.
The standardized tests administered during the study indicate that the Braille readers as a whole lag behind their classmates in reading speed, gaining less ground each year than their classmates. The Braille readers also show lags in vocabulary and comprehension at every level, regardless of when they learned the contractions.
Social Interaction in the ClassroomStudents in the study were observed during reading instruction in their mainstream classrooms twice each year. Better readers tended to interact with classmates more often and in a more balanced manner, often reading with a partner or participating in group activities. For example, first-grader Keri laughed and talked with a classmate as they read a book aloud, sometimes pausing as the classmate described the book’s pictures to Keri. Less-proficient students were more passive and dependent when interacting with classmates, as when Bill’s classmate read a book aloud to him, led him to the computer, and then asked him questions, without any initiations on Bill’s part.
Physical AptitudeHand movements while reading were analyzed with regard to reading proficiency and speed. Most students used both hands, with increased use of the “scissors” movement with proficiency and age. (This movement involves use of the right hand to read to the end of a line, with the left hand simultaneously locating the following line and reading the beginning of that line.) Four students remained one-handed readers throughout the study, and they were slower, less proficient readers.
Similarities, Not DifferencesI am completing the analysis of the students’ writing samples, and UA doctoral student Christina Schoch developed a protocol for analyzing the content of the writing samples, based on the Six Trait Writing model. Preliminary analysis indicates no differences in essay or sentence length among early and later-taught users
of contractions. Holistic content scores favored those who learned the contractions earlier, but complete analysis of all groups is still in progress.
The results suggest the early introduction of contractions is moderately related to student reading proficiency. Student achievement is more strongly related to phonemic awareness, spelling ability, vocabulary, and comprehension. For Braille readers, the reading process is more similar to that of their sighted peers than it is different. The findings regarding slow reading speed and comprehension highlight the importance of high-quality literacy assessment and instruction to enable all blind students to achieve their potential as fully literate adults.
REFERENCES
To learn more about this project, read these articles in the October 2009 issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness:
Wall Emerson, R., Sitar, D., Erin, J., Wormsley,
D., & Herlich, S. (2009). The Effect of Consistent
Structured Reading Instruction on High and Low
Literacy Achievement in Young Children Who Are
Blind. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness,
103, 595-609.
Sacks, S., Kamei-Hannan, C., Erin, J., Barclay,
L., & Sitar, D. (2009). Social Experiences of
Beginning Braille Readers in Literacy Activities:
Qualitative and Quantitative Findings of the ABC
Braille Study. Journal of Visual Impairment and
Blindness,103, 595-609.
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I clearly remember Mrs. Olbert, my Latin teacher injunior high and high school. She stood out amongthe many teachers I had because she was fair, hadhigh expectations for each one of us, and was verymotivating. Each summer, she’d vacation in either Italy orGreece to experience and learn more about the historyand mythology of those two countries’ texts we readduring the year. Her summer adventures enhanced ourclassroom learning as we translated the accounts ofCaesar, Octavian, Ovid, and the Greek philosophers.Mrs. Olbert not only knew Latin, she knew how to teachLatin! And she was so good at it — Latin never feltlike a “dead” language to me. I am sure most of youremember one or two “Mrs. Olberts” from your ownschool years.
focusing on Usable KnowledgeIn our research (I include all the graduate students, postdocs, other faculty, and senior researchers who have contributed to this work), we study the kinds of knowledge teachers need to teach their students effectively. We try to understand what teachers like Mrs. Olbert know and how they apply their knowledge in the classroom to help students learn. Without a doubt, Mrs. Olbert had a high level of content knowledge. She knew all the grammatical intricacies of the Latin language, e.g., its case system, the different verb conjugations, and syntactical structures. But perhaps more importantly, she was able to use her knowledge in a highly effective waywhere it mattered most, in the classroom.
It appears that if we wish to make progress in understanding the knowledge needed for effective instruction, we need to recognize that some knowledge might be inert while some will be usable. Therefore, we concentrate on understanding and measuring usable knowledge because it is most likely to directly affect instruction and, ultimately, student learning.
Analyzing teaching EpisodesThere are many ways to study teacher knowledge and its relationship to teaching and student learning. Our approach is focused on developing measures because systematic study depends on our ability to assess and quantify such knowledge. An abundance of teacher-knowledge assessments are available and in use, but the extent to which those assessments measure usable knowledge is not clear. Thus, in our work we explore innovative ways to capture usable knowledge in mathematics. We focus on the classroom as the place where teachers must apply their knowledge. To approximate an actual teaching situation as much as possible, we show teachers short video clips (www.teknoclips.org) of authentic classroom instruction and ask them to analyze the instructional segments, much as they would in the course of their own teaching. We treat their responses as “knowledge samples,” which we then score according to four objective rubrics. These scores represent the teachers’ mathematics knowledge, knowledge of student thinking, ability to provide suggestions for instructional improvement, and overall ability to make sense of instructional situations.
A Significant ImprovementUsing teachers’ scored responses as indicators of their usable knowledge of teaching mathematics, we explore how this knowledge relates to other knowledge measures, teaching, and student learning. Although still in the early stages, this line of research shows promising results. For example, we conducted a study where we developed a video-analysis assessment on teaching
by Nicole Kersting • Assistant Professor
Educational Psychology
RESEARCH EXPERTISE
Applied measurement and assessment-related issues
520-626-9509
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Studying Teacher Knowledge and Its Impact on Teaching and Student Learning
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fractions and compared teachers’ scored responses to their scores on a widely used measure of teacher knowledge, the Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) instrument, developed by Deborah Ball, Heather Hill, and their colleagues at the University of Michigan.
Our data showed a strong correlation betweenteachers’ mathematical knowledge (as measured by our rubric) and their scores on the MKT, suggesting that analyzing the mathematics within a teaching episode draws on teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. Most interestingly, however, we found that teachers’ ability to provide mathematically based suggestions for instructional improvement was a direct and significant predictor of student-learning gains. That is, students of teachers who included mathematically basedsuggestions for improvement in their responses to thevideo clips showed, on average, higher learning gainsthan students of teachers who included either generalpedagogical suggestions or no suggestions at all. Noneof the other rubric scores, including the teachers’ MKTscores, directly predicted student-learning gains. Atthis point, we believe that teachers’ ability to makemathematically based suggestions might be predictiveof student-learning gains because it serves as anindicator of teachers’ usable knowledge.
Exciting ResultsAs part of this work, we also have developed measuresof instructional quality. In an extension of the studydescribed above, we applied those measures to asubset of teachers videotaped teaching their students. We found that teachers’ scored responses overall and all rubric scores separately directly predicted teaching quality (as measured by our instrument), which in turn directly predicted student-learning gains. Although the results are preliminary, they are exciting for three reasons: 1) they provide evidence that some teacher knowledge directly affects instruction; 2) they show that some instructional features directly predict student learning; and 3) they highlight the need for more studies such as this one to help us map the complex relationships between teacher knowledge, teaching, and student learning. Much remains to be done to evaluate the generality of these findings. We are working to establish the relevancy of our findings on fractions to additional topic areas — ratio and proportion, and variables, expressions, and equations.
As for Mrs. Olbert, I wonder how she would respondto video clips of authentic Latin instruction. For that, wewould first have to locate her and, second, possess suchclips. For now, I will try to find her and send her a copyof this magazine, along with a thank-you note, becauseI want to publicly thank her for the outstanding teachingshe delivered to countless students over the years.
REFERENCES
Ball, D. L. (2000). Bridging Practices: Intertwining Content and
Pedagogy in Teaching and Learning to Teach. Journal of Teacher
Education, 51, 241-247.
Carter, K., Cushing, K., Sabers, D., Stein, P., & Berliner, D. (1988).
Expert-Novice Differences in Perceiving and Processing Visual
Classroom Stimuli. Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 25-31.
Fennema, E., & Franke, M. (1992). Teachers’ Knowledge
and Its Impact. In Grouws, D. (Ed.), Handbook of Research
on Mathematics Teaching and Learning. National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics: Reston, VA.
Hiebert, J., & Grouws, D. A. (2007). The Effects of Classroom
Mathematics Teaching on Students’ Learning. In F. K. Lester
(Ed.), Second Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching
and Learning (pp. 371-404). Charlotte, NC: Information Age
Publishing.
Hill, H. C., Sleep, L., Lewis, J., & Ball, D. L. (2007). Assessing
Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge: What Knowledge Matters
and What Evidence Counts. In F. K. Lester (Ed.), Second
Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning
(pp. 111-156). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Kersting, N. (2008). Using Video Clips As Item Prompts to
Measure Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching Mathematics.
Educational and Psychological Measurement, 68, 845-861.
National Research Council (Eds.) (2000). How People Learn:
Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
Nye, B., Konstantopoulos, S., & Hedges, L. V. (2004). How Large
Are Teacher Effects? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis,
26, 237-257.
Shulman, Lee (1987). Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of
the New Reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.
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“At its best, talk of diversity … reminds us of the extent to which the promise of freedom and equality for all remains a work in progress: only partially realized, only partially understood” (Macedo, 2000).
In July 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that diversity is a compelling governmental interest that justifies certain narrow considerations of race in admissions (Grutter v. Bollinger). The court noted that diversity in the student body furthers the broad educational mission of institutions of higher education by building students’ new knowledge, advancing their existing knowledge, and preparing them to better serve society as workers, citizens, and leaders.
Evidence provided by researchers, including me, documenting the educational outcomes associated with diversity was a key factor in persuading a majority of the court that it is in the best interest of the government to allow for certain race-conscious admissions practices that enable institutions of higher education to better fulfill their overarching mission. A review that I performed of scholarship from a variety of fields indicates that given the right conditions, diversity in higher education yields at least four broad categories of benefits. These include individual benefits, institutional benefits, economic and private-sector benefits, and societal benefits (Milem, 2003).
Campus Diversity As an Educational BenefitThe importance and usefulness of the research focusing on the benefits of diverse learning environments is not limited to legal cases such as Grutter v. Bollinger. Rather, findings from this research also have a number of significant implications that can inform and improve institutional practice, particularly among educators who
are committed to realizing the educational benefits associated with enrolling a diverse student body.
The work that my colleagues and I have done regarding campus diversity defines diversity as engagement across communities of difference that occurs through a broad and varied set of activities and initiatives (Milem, Chang, and antonio, 2005). This definition suggests that colleges must think beyond mission and value statements in developing and implementing a plan in which the diversity of the campus can be used to make appreciable differences for members of the campus community and the larger society we serve. An important finding of our research on the benefits of diverse learning environments is that the vitality, stimulation, and educational potential of an institution are directly related to the composition of its student body, faculty, and staff (Chang, 1999; Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, and Gurin, 2002; Milem, 2003; Milem, Chang, and antonio, 2005). Racially and ethnically diverse campus communities can create more richly varied educational experiences that enhance students’ learning and better prepare them for participation in a democratic society.
Enacting DiversityThere is one very important caveat that must be considered — the research on diversity consistently shows that educational benefits do not automatically accrue to students who attend institutions that are, in terms of student or faculty composition, racially and ethnically diverse (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, and Allen, 1998; Milem, Dey, and White, 2004; Milem, Chang, and antonio, 2005). Rather, if the benefits of diversity in higher education are to be realized, close attention must be paid to the institutional context in which that diversity is enacted. In other words, it is not enough to simply bring together a diverse group of students, although this is an important first step in creating opportunities for students to learn from diversity. Diverse college campuses provide unique challenges and opportunities that must be considered if the learning opportunities they present are to be maximized. In other words, the context in which diversity is enacted matters a great deal. Over the past several years, most of my scholarship has focused on how to create the conditions within colleges and universities that will produce the benefits of diversity that we know can occur.
by Jeffrey f. Milem • Associate Dean of Academic Affairs• Professor of Higher Education• Ernest W. McFarland
Distinguished Professor • Professor of Medicine
Educational Policy Studies and Practice
RESEARCH EXPERTISE
Racial dynamics and educational outcomes of diversity
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Diversity at the University of ArizonaSince coming to the University of Arizona, I have extended my work on campus diversity to two projects on this campus. The first project is an ongoing study of the New Start Summer Program. New Start is a comprehensive, six-week summer bridge program designed to help incoming freshmen succeed in the transition from high school to college. While New Start is open to all incoming UA students, it is particularly targeted at first-generation students and underrepresented students of color. The groundwork for this important project was laid by a small group of former New Start students who graduated from the UA, obtained master’s and doctoral degrees after graduation, and were employed in some capacity at the UA. The current research, a mixed-methods study, explores the impact of New Start on the students who participate in it. The study is being conducted by faculty and students from the Center for the Study of Higher Education in collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs. Specifically, it focuses on how students decided to attend the UA, the impact of the New Start Summer Program on various learning and developmental outcomes, and aspects of students’ experiences at the UA that serve as facilitators and inhibitors of student success.
Diversity at the UA College of MedicineAnother project that I have begun since coming to the UA is a collaboration with the College of Medicine. This project is rooted in my earlier diversity scholarship and in work that I do as a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges Advisory Committee on Holistic Admissions. In this project, my research team and I are working to identify new ways to assess attributes of medical-school applicants — beyond their MCAT scores and grades in undergraduate science classes — that serve as important predictors of physician success (e.g., humanism, professional ethics, and critical-thinking ability). We have begun a series of mixed-methods studies that will aid in this goal and also allow us to explore the relative impact of different medical-school experiences on important learning and developmental outcomes for medical students.
A New Generation of ScholarsIn addition to the important contributions that the findings from these research projects make by informing and improving educational practice at the UA and to the field of higher education through the manuscripts that we publish, this work also makes significant contributions to the field of higher education in another vital way. By assembling a research team of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students to
collaborate with me on these projects, I am developing a new generation of scholars who will carry on with this important scholarship after they leave the UA. As a teacher, it is this aspect of my work that brings me the greatest sense of accomplishment and the most satisfaction.
REFERENCES
Chang, M. J. (1999). Does racial diversity matter? The
Educational Impact of a Racially Diverse Undergraduate
Population. Journal of College Student Development 40 (4),
377-95.
Gurin, P., Dey, E. L., Hurtado, S., and Gurin, G. (2002). Diversity
and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational
Outcomes. Harvard Educational Review 72 (3), 330-366.
Hurtado, S., Milem, J. F., Clayton-Pedersen, A. R., and Allen,
W. R. (1998). Enhancing Campus Climates for Racial/Ethnic
Diversity through Educational Policy and Practice. The Review
of Higher Education, 21 (3), 279-302.
Hurtado, S., Milem, J. F., Clayton-Pedersen, A. R., & Allen, W. R.
(1999). Enacting Diverse Learning Environments: Improving the
Campus Climate for Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Higher Education.
ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports Series, 26 (8). San
Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Macedo, S. (2000). Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a
Multicultural Democracy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Milem, J. F., Chang, M. J., and antonio, a. l. (2006). Making
Diversity Work on Campus: A Research Based Perspective.
Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and
Universities.
Milem, J. F., Dey, E. L., and White, C. B. (2004). Diversity
Considerations in Health Professions Education. In B. D.
Smedley, A. S. Butler, and L. R. Bristow, (Eds.), In the Nation’s
Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the
Healthcare Workforce. Washington, DC: The
National Academies Press, 345-389.
Milem, J. F. (2003). The Educational
Benefits of Diversity: Evidence from
Multiple Sectors. In M. Chang, D. Witt, J.
Jones, and K. Hakuta (Eds.). Compelling
Interest: Examining the Evidence
on Racial Dynamics in Higher
Education. Palo Alto, CA:
Stanford University
Press, 126-169.
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A body of literature begun in the 1930s and continued through the present suggests a) students need literacy support across the curriculum to be socialized in the language and ways of thinking and “doing” in the different disciplines; b) that discipline-based teachers are best qualified to offer that socialization; and c) that some secondary-education students truly struggle to read and need special reading instruction. The studies I am involved with elaborate on each of these points.
Popular wisdom suggests that adolescents engage in a vast array of literacy practices, particularly outside of school (Moje, Overby, Tysver, & Morris, 2008). This widely publicized assumption was questioned by doctoral student Lisa Garbe, who investigated whether local secondary-education students who struggle with reading and writing engage in literacy practices outside of school. Her findings challenge the popular wisdom — the students she interviewed and observed did not have access to technology, nor did they use technology in expected ways, e.g., social-networking sites, text-messaging, and e-mail. These results cause us to ponder the great differences among adolescents and the far-reaching consequences of the digital divide.
Heidi Bacon, another doctoral student, researches high-school students who report not being able to read. Her approach is a radical departure from the norm, which usually involves remediation — teaching students skills they did not learn in elementary school. Instead, she teaches them about the reading process and helps them understand what they can do and why.
Students often claim they are not readers because they do not know words, cannot pronounce them, or are bad spellers. They use this perceived lack of skills
to convince themselves they can’t read. A promising practice teaches them miscue analysis (Goodman, Watson, & Burke, 2005).
Miscue AnalysisA miscue occurs when a reader does not read aloud what the author wrote, and miscue analysis is a procedure used to classify and evaluate reading miscues. In Collaborative Retrospective Miscue Analysis (CRMA), students collaborate, using knowledge we teach them about language and the reading process, to discuss and reflect upon the quality of miscues made during a previously taped oral reading. CRMA creates space for discourse about reading within a community of practice (Wenger, 1998).
As students progress in CRMA, their beliefs concerning reading and language are challenged. They become more confident readers, which results in more reading for meaning. The students attribute their success in classroom reading and passing the AIMS test to CRMA. In a recent study, 16 of 16 students who had failed the AIMS passed after participating in CRMA. Students report, “This class has helped me understand my reading. I think I passed my AIMS test. I passed my driver’s-permit test. I never felt that I actually passed something (before)!” Another student declares, “I seriously see a big difference in my reading. I can see great improvement. I just wish that someone would have taught me sooner. It feels good to be able to find miscues … it helped me make sense of the reading.” And a third student says, “It’s like experiencing freedom!” These preliminary investigations are encouraging, and additional larger-scale studies are on the drawing board.
by Patricia l. Anders• Jewell M. Lewis Distinguished Professor
Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies
RESEARCH EXPERTISE
Content-area literacy and professional development
520-626-9387
plan
ders
@u.
ariz
ona.
edu
Adolescent Literacy: Secondary Students’ Language, Literacy, and Learning
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Paths to teacher literacyHow do subject-area teachers become proficient in literacy instruction? Ellen Spitler (2009) and I explored the transformational paths nine developing teachers traversed as they “authored” their teacher-literacy identity during teacher education and beginning teaching. “Authoring” includes both how teachers “represent” literacy identity in writing and speaking, and how teachers “do” literacy identity when teaching (Moje, 2004). Teacher-literacy identity emerged as a confident view of self as responsible for and in control of improving the literacy learning of self and the competency and commitment to guide the literacy learning of students. Three transactional dimensions of teacher-literacy identity materialized: the construct of literacy, construct of literacy in practice, and quality of the literacy enactment. The construct of literacy is a teacher’s understanding of and belief in the complexities of literacy, including reading, writing, speaking, and representing the discipline-related discourse (Gee, 2008). The construct of literacy in practice is a teacher’s conscious decision to enact the complexities of literacy in her or his professional and personal practice. The quality of the literacy enactment is metacognitive, reflected by self-monitoring and self-regulating literacy in practice. This study helps teacher-educators understand the curriculum and pedagogy required for developing secondary-education teachers who can incorporate literacy instruction in the content areas.
Expectations and teaching StrategiesWhat do we expect teachers to do to promote literacy in their classrooms? Garbe and I are designing a study to investigate this question. Research performed during the past several years indicates that teachers must teach their students study and reading comprehension strategies, which has resulted in teaching strategies for strategies’ sake. The outcomes of this approach are mixed. We theorize that teachers must teach discipline-related discourse. Our proposed study examines students’ participation in science and math classrooms that offer space for developing discipline-specific literacy, and provides insight into the youths’ growing proficiency as literate members of each discipline. By
asking the question, “What are students learning?” as opposed to, “What are teachers teaching?” we offer a new perspective on the commonly recommended best practices.
Challenges to learning the Nature of language Those of us who teach adolescents are confronted with huge challenges. Students of diverse backgrounds and languages are dropping out of school in ever-increasing numbers. We believe they are alienated from school language and they lack access to digital resources. While in school, they must learn the nature of language and literacy processes. And the current infatuation with emphasizing skills and strategies — divorced from language and the disciplines — dooms students and teachers alike. We hope our study will provide additional methods to address these challenges.
REFERENCES
Gee, J. (2008). Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in
Discourses (3rd Edition). New York, NY: Routledge Taylor &
Francis Group.
Goodman, Y. M., Watson, D. J., & Burke, C. L. (2005). Reading
Miscue Inventory: From Evaluation to Instruction (2nd Edition).
Katonah, NY: Richard C. Owen Publishers.
Moje, E. (2004). Doing Identity: On the Complexities of
Researching Social Identities with Urban Youth. Paper
presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research
on Adolescence, Baltimore, MD.
Moje, E., Overby, E., Tysvaer, N, Morris, K. (2008). The Complex
World of Adolescent Literacy: Myths, Motivations, and
Mysteries. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 104-154.
Spitler, E. (2009). Transformation of Preservice and New-Teacher
Literacy Identity: Three Transactional Dimensions. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning,
and Identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
