CEHD Newsletter, May 15, 2009
Please submit newsletter items to Laurie Juliana at (ljulian1@gmu.edu).
Faculty News
Faculty members Julie K. Kidd (jkidd@gmu.edu), M. Susan Burns (mburns2@gmu.edu), and Ilham Nasser (inasser@gmu.edu), and doctoral students Mona Assaf (massif@gmu.edu) and Leah Muccio (lmuccio@gmu.edu), presented a paper titled “Sustaining preschool teachers’ effective pedagogy” at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting on April 13 in San Diego.
Joan Isenberg (jisenber@gmu.edu) presented a session, “The role of play for elementary school children: What, why, and how” at the Fifth Annual School Readiness Symposium at the Fairfax County Government Center. The symposium, hosted by Fairfax Futures, Fairfax County’s Office for Children, and Fairfax County Public Schools, took place on April 25. Joan Isenberg serves on the Community Advisory Board for Fairfax Futures, a community organization focusing on school readiness for all children. Jatin P. Ambegaonkar (jambegao@gmu.edu) and Shane V. Caswell (scaswell@gmu.edu) had an article published in the May issue of the journal, Athletic Therapy Today. The article is titled “Dance program administrators’ perceptions of athletic training services.”
David Anderson (danderso@gmu.edu) gave a keynote address titled “Legacy of life: Creating healthy futures” at the Fairfax County’s 11th Annual Career and Professional Development Conference. The conference was held on April 24 for 300 county employees, and the conference theme was “Changing and Challenging Times.”
Erin Peters (epeters1@gmu.edu) has published a book, Thinking like scientists: Using metacognitive prompts to develop nature of science knowledge. The publisher is Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG Publishers of Saarbrücken, Germany.
Dominique Banville (dbanvill@gmu.edu) and Linda Rikard (lrikard@gmu.edu) presented a paper at the National Conference of the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance on May 1 in Banff, Alberta. The title of the paper was “Supporting first year physical education teachers - analysis of a physical education teacher induction program.” Jim Upperman (jupperma@gmu.edu) chaired the Region IV Superintendent of the Year Selection Committee and presented the award for 2009 at the regional meeting in Warrenton on April 22. This year’s recipient is Edgar B. Hatrick of Loudoun County, who will be recognized at the Virginia Association of School Superintendents’ Annual Meeting in Roanoke in May. Pamela Hudson Baker (pbaker5@gmu.edu) and co-authors Mary Murray, Carolyn Murray-Slutsky, and Betty Paris published an article titled “Strategies for supporting the sensory-based learner” in Preventing School Failure, 53(4), 245–252. Seth Parsons (sparson5@gmu.edu) presented a research poster on May 5 with colleagues Roya Scales of Western Carolina University, Kathryn Kear of the State University of New York at Binghamton, and Baxter Williams and Stephanie Davis of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The poster, titled “Thoughtfully adaptive literacy instruction: Twenty-six case studies exploring a construct,” was presented at the International Reading Association’s annual meeting in Minneapolis. Becky Fox (rfox@gmu.edu), Steve White (cwhite1@gmu.edu), and Gail Ritchie (gritchie@gmu.edu) presented a paper on April 15 titled “Teachers’ reflective engagement and development: Investigating dimensions of teacher development during an advanced master’s degree program” at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting in San Diego. Steve White (cwhite1@gmu.edu), Becky Fox (rfox@gmu.edu), and doctoral students Leah Muccio (lmuccio@gmu.edu) and Debbie Bergeron (dberger3@gmu.edu) presented a paper on April 14 titled “Assessing teacher development using program outcomes: Using multiple measures to study program effectiveness” at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting in San Diego. Becky Fox (rfox@gmu.edu) and Angela Wiseman of North Carolina State University presented a paper titled “Teachers’ cultural autobiography and pedagogy: Creating knowledge for working with diverse learners” at the American Education Research Association in San Diego on April 14.
Becky Fox (rfox@gmu.edu) presented two sessions at the 56th Annual Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in New York City. The first was titled “The world languages teaching portfolio: Aligning with professional standards,” and she is pictured here with some of the Mason attendees from the Chinese licensure program. The second, titled “The ACTFL NCATE program report,” was presented with colleague Judith Shrum of Virginia Tech. Becky Fox (rfox@gmu.edu) has been elected chair of the American Education Research Association Special Interest Group, Portfolios and Reflection in Teaching and Teacher Education (PRTTE). She began her two-year term during the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting in San Diego, April 12–17. Bill Brozo (wbrozo@gmu.edu) was the keynote speaker and breakout presenter at the Exemplars in Secondary Instruction Conference at William Patterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, on May 1 and 2. His keynote was titled “To read or not to read: Engaging practices to motivate reluctant readers,” and his breakout was titled “Content literacy in every classroom: Evidence-based practices.” Bill Brozo (wbrozo@gmu.edu) gave a presentation at the International Reading Association Convention in Minneapolis on May 3. The presentation was titled “Success for secondary readers: Guidelines for reform for literacy leaders.” Rachel Grant (rgrant4@gmu.edu) presented a paper on May 5th titled “Promoting children’s cross-cultural relationships through literature in times of conflict” at the annual conference of the International Reading Association in Minneapolis. Layne Kalbfleisch (mkalbfle@gmu.edu) presented “Getting to the heart of the brain: Using cognitive neuroscience to explore the nature of human ability and performance” on April 11 during the Neuroscience and Education Special Interest Group symposium at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting in San Diego. Layne Kalbfleisch (mkalbfle@gmu.edu) presented “Getting to the heart of the brain: Alternative types of neural plasticity - considering developmental and environmental perspectives” to the Neuralsystems Engineering group at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque on May 4. Layne Kalbfleisch (mkalbfle@gmu.edu) presented “The neural plasticity of giftedness” at a conference on May 8 in Washington, DC. The conference, cosponsored by Johns Hopkins University and the Dana Foundation, was titled, “Learning
and the Brain - The Creative Brain: Using Brain Research on Creativity and the Arts to Improve Learning.” Layne Kalbfleisch (mkalbfle@gmu.edu) presented, “Fitting the game to the brain: Why it looks like we know so much, when we know so little” on May 8 in Washington, DC. The presentation occurred at a symposium series titled “Technology, Neuroscience, and the Nature of Being: Considerations of Meaning, Morality, and Transcendence” that was sponsored by the Nour Foundation, Oxford University, and Georgetown University. Craig Esherick (cesheric@gmu.edu) gave a presentation on February 19 at the Cal Ramsey Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports Management at New York University. The presentation was titled “Performance-enhancing drugs and sports: Illegal, immoral, unfair?” Craig Esherick (cesheric@gmu.edu) gave a presentation on April 17 titled “Is the intercollegiate athletics ship sinking? If so, is there anything we can or should do to right the ship?” at the Scholarly Conference on College Sport at the College Sport Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Craig Esherick (cesheric@gmu.edu) and Bob Baker (rbaker2@gmu.edu) organized a lunch for the Pakistan Sports Visitors Program that included three coaches and ten soccer players from the National Champion youth soccer team in Pakistan. The visitors were part of a group sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Craig Esherick (cesheric@gmu.edu) was appointed to a three-year term on the Arlington County Sports Commission. Monimalika Day (mday3@gmu.edu) was selected as the recipient of the 2009 Outstanding Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) Faculty Mentor Award and will be honored at the BIS Convocation Reception on May 15. She was nominated by her students who credited her “passion, respect and understanding” in helping them successfully complete their degree. Shelley Wong (swong1@gmu.edu) gave a Presidential Plenary address on “Sustainability in TESOL: Voices from ESOL classrooms” at the TESOL Convention in Denver. She presented the President’s Award to California State Senator Gilbert Cedillo and to Improving Dreams, Equality, Access, and Success (IDEAS), the UCLA student organization that advocates for the DREAM ACT that would enable undocumented students who graduated from U.S. high schools to have a pathway to citizenship. Ignacia Rodriguez and Marilyn Morales, co-chairs of IDEAS, accepted the award on the group’s behalf.
Shelley Wong (swong1@gmu.edu), Fu Li (lfu@gmu.edu), and doctoral student Ya-Ling Wang (ywangn@gmu.edu) represented CEHD at the opening of the Confucius Institute. The purpose of the Confucius Institute is to promote the teaching of the Chinese language and culture. Ya-ling Wang led Chinese language students, dressed in costumes from diverse Chinese ethnic minorities, who welcomed the visitors to George Mason in Chinese. Fred Bemak (fbemak@gmu.edu) and Rita Chi-Ying Chung (rchung@gmu.edu) were the keynote speakers on May 8 at the Northern Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors Luncheon. They presented on “Counselors working in human trafficking and post-disaster settings emergencies: Crosscultural issues and interventions in Myanmar (Burma).” Fred Bemak (fbemak@gmu.edu) was interviewed on May 14 by the Chicago radio station WRTE on the program First voice regarding the adjustment and adaptation of immigrants and refugees.
PhD Students
Karen Diane Dunn (kdunn4@verizon.net) defended her doctoral dissertation on May 6 titled “The effectiveness of Hatha yoga on symptoms of anxiety and related vulnerabilities, mindfulness and psychological well being in female health care employees.” Committee members are Anastasia Kitsantas (akitsant@gmu.edu), chairperson, Kimberly Sheridan (ksherida@gmu.edu), and Todd Kashdan (tkashdan@gmu.edu). Ilknur Eginli (ilknureginli@yahoo.com) defended her doctoral dissertation on May 7 titled “Principal leadership and teacher commitment to the profession: The mediating role of collective efficacy and teacher efficacy.” Committee members are Rebecca Fox (rfox@gmu.edu), chairperson, Anastasia Kitsantas (akitsant@gmu.edu), and Gary Galluzzo (ggalluzz@gmu.edu). Courtney Gaskins (cgaskins@yftva.com) defended her doctoral dissertation on May 14 titled “Case study: A multivariate study of the academic and behavioral characteristics of emotionally disturbed, learning-disabled and general education students at a secondary residential school.” Committee members are Margo Mastropieri (mmastrop@gmu.edu), chairperson, Thomas Scruggs (tscruggs@gmu.edu), and William Brozo (wbrozo@gmu.edu).
Laurie Sullivan (laurie.sullivan@cox.net) defended her doctoral dissertation proposal on May 1, titled “M.A. advanced studies in teaching and learning with an emphasis in technology.” Committee members are Gary Galluzzo (ggalluzz@gmu.edu), chairperson, Joan Isenberg (jisenber@gmu.edu), and Herb Ware (hware@gmu.edu). Svetlana Filiatreau (sfiliatr@gmu.edu) presented a paper titled “Gandhian principles of nonviolent resistance and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution: A case study of one Kyiv congregation” at the International Global Nonviolence Conference. The conference took place April 9-10 at James Madison University. Mona Assaf (massif@gmu.edu was elected Finance Officer for the Critical Early Childhood Special Interest Group at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in San Diego in April. Doctoral students Anita Bright (abright@gmu.edu) and Ilknur Eginli (ilknureginli@yahoo.com), with Ya-Ling Wang (ywangn@gmu.edu) as moderator, held a workshop on “How to get your TESOL proposal accepted.” Ilknur and Anita spoke about the advantages of presenting at professional associations and providing more professional opportunities to interact with other researchers in an international arena. They shared ways of going from a problem to reaching audiences in other disciplines.
Grants/Proposals
Jennifer Suh (jsuh4@gmu.edu) received a new award titled “IMPACT in MATH: Improving mathematical practices through algebraic connections and technology” in the amount of $168,000. The award is sponsored by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The project will target teachers who teach mathematics in the middle grades, special educators in grades 3-8, and administrators.
Other News
Former doctoral student Kavita Mittapalli has published the book, What makes public school teachers stay, leave, or become non-teachers? An indepth analysis of their personal characteristics, beliefs and perceptions. The publisher is Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG Publishers of Saarbrücken, Germany.
Please send requests to update the CEHD Web sites as follows:
GSE ACADEMIC PROGRAM CONTENT Joan Isenberg (jisenber@gmu.edu), cc: Mary Miller (mmillerw@gmu.edu) GSE FACULTY/STAFF INFORMATION Martin Ford (mford@gmu.edu), cc: Pat Nash (pnash@gmu.edu) GSE STUDENT INFORMATION Ellen Rodgers (erodger1@gmu.edu) , cc: Amie Fulcher (afulcher@gmu.edu) SCHOOL OF RHT INFORMATION (academic programs, faculty/staff, students) Dave Wiggins (dwiggin1@gmu.edu), cc: Lisa Reeves (lreeves1@gmu.edu) CEHD WEB INTEGRITY AND PROFESSIONALISM (design, impact, impression) Martin Ford (mford@gmu.edu), cc: Laurie Juliana (ljulian1@gmu.edu) EXCEPTION: Center and Office Directors may continue to manage their own Web sites.