Gast

Donna Gast  (EdS ’09, MEd ’94, BSA ’92), selected last week as the Oconee County School System’s Teacher of the Year, was featured in a front page story in the September 24 edition of the Athens Banner-Herald.

Alvermann

Spangler

Two College of Education professors, Donna E. Alvermann and Denise A. Spangler, have been appointed to endowed faculty positions in the College. The endowed positions are named for the late UGA President O.C. Aderhold and his late daughter, Elizabeth (BeBe) Aderhold, who served as a faculty member in childhood education.

Alvermann, a Distinguished Research Professor of Language and Literacy Education, was named the Omer Clyde and Elizabeth Parr Aderhold Professor in Education.

Alvermann is also a Fellow in the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research and an Affiliate Faculty member of the Institute for African American Studies. She is currently the principal investigator on a grant funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop and test a Web tool for improving young adolescents’ literacy skills.

Previously, she was principal investigator and co-director of the National Reading Research Center, a $7.8 million dollar grant collaboration with the University of Maryland and funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Her research has also been supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. Alvermann was elected a Fellow in the American Educational Research Association.

Spangler, professor and head of the department of mathematics and science education, was named the Bebe Aderhold Professor in Early Childhood Education.

Spangler’s research focuses on the development of pre-service elementary school teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. She has published her work in the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education and the Teachers College Record. She has garnered grants from both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Spencer Foundation. She is currently the principal investigator of a $1 million NSF grant designed to increase the number of high-quality mathematics and science teachers in high-needs school districts.

Spangler, a member of the UGA Teaching Academy, has been recognized for her work with UGA’s Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and a Lilly Teaching Fellowship.

Spangler has been involved with several national policy efforts focusing on mathematics assessment and teacher preparation standards in association with the American Statistical Association, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators and the Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences.

In addition to her work at UGA, Spangler is in her third term as a member of the Clarke County School District Board of Education, where she has served as vice president.

The special appointments, approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia earlier this year, are among three positions established with funds in a gift bequest from the estate of O.C. Aderhold, former UGA President (1950-67) and dean of the College of Education (1947-50).   The third appointment is held by Allan S. Cohen, professor of educational psychology and director of two major assessment and research centers in the College of Education, who was named the Omer Clyde and Elizabeth Parr Aderhold Professor in Research Methodology in 2011.

Spangler

Denise Spangler, the Bebe Aderhold Professor in Early Childhood Education and head of the department of mathematics and science education is featured on the UGA Home Page’s “Focus on Faculty” this  week (Sept. 16-20.)

Namdar

Bahadir Namdar  and Shannon Dubois, doctoral students in science education, were among two dozen young scholars who discussed their research projects with experienced mentors at the week-long  Sandra K. Abell Institute. The institute was co-hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Namdar was highlighted in a  video and article reporting the Institute on the AAAS website.

Namdar and Dubois and two visiting scholars at UGA — Betule Ekiz  and Selcan Kutucu were selected from over 50 applicants to attend this prestigious Institute. Namdar was highlighted in a  video and article reporting the Institute on the AAAS website.

Shannon Dubois, a third-year doctoral student in science education from Somerset, Mass., discusses research with a colleague during the SAARMSTE Research School in Capetown, South Africa.

Three College of Education doctoral students recently participated in the 11th annual Southern Africa Association for Research in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (SAARMSTE) Research School in Cape Town, South Africa.

The UGA participants, students of Julie A. Luft, the UGA Athletic Association Professor in Science Education, presented the following research:

Shannon Dubois, third-year doctoral student from Somerset, Mass., presented on “An International Comparative Study of Early Career Secondary Biology Teachers.”

Melissa A. Jurkiewicz, fourth-year doctoral student from Columbia, S.C., presented on “The Views of Beginning Secondary Science Teachers in South Africa and the United States.”

Ryan Nixon, a second-year doctoral student from Salt Lake City, Utah, presented on “Science Knowledge for Teaching: A Beginning Characterization of Science Teacher Content Knowledge.”

UGA doctoral student Ryan Nixon discusses project with Marissa Rollnick, a mentor at the SAARMSTE Research School in South Africa.

The Research School is a weeklong residential workshop that provides about 40-50 doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and supervisors in mathematics, science and technology with the opportunity to explore the research process in a supportive environment. A team of experienced researchers from universities around the world are invited to run plenary sessions and workshops focusing on issues of research design and theory, data collection and analysis, and writing for publication. Student participants bring their own research data and writing with them; and in the workshop sessions they are able to share their work with others and get feedback from peers and experienced researchers.

Funding for the students’ participation was provided by National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“We have promoted an international vision at NARST that includes bringing together doctoral researchers from around the world to learn from each other at early stages of their academic careers,” said Sibel Erduran, a professor of science education at the University of Bristol (England) and NARST International Coordinator.

For more information on the Research School, visit:
http://www.saarmste.org/research

Lance

Jennifer Lance (BS ’01, BSA ’04, MEd ’06), a high school science teacher and doctoral candidate in science education, is featured in the July 9 issue of the Atlanta Journal Constitution in an article titled, “A passion for teaching science in rural areas.”

AnnaMarie Conner and Kevin C. Moore, both assistant professors of mathematics education at UGA, will instruct the workshop.

The Teaching Analytic Geometry and Coordinate Algebra: Mathematical Practices and the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards is A four-day workshop series for area educators focusing on the teaching of common core standards in mathematics will be hosted by the UGA College of Education.

The series will focus on implementing the standards from the first two years of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) with emphasis on the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP), particularly argumentation and quantitative reasoning.

Hotel Indigo
Athens, GA

Website (Scroll down to see specific workshop)
Press release

A followup article in the AJC’s “Get Schooled” blog June 18 reports additional information from the study specific to Georgia that was released by the NCTQ later that morning.

AnnaMarie Conner and Kevin C. Moore, both assistant professors of mathematics education at UGA, will instruct the workshop.

A four-day workshop for area educators focusing on the teaching of common core standards in mathematics will be hosted by the University of Georgia College of Education June 24-27 at the Hotel Indigo in Athens.

The Teaching Analytic Geometry and Coordinate Algebra: Mathematical Practices and the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards workshop series will focus on implementing the standards from the first two years of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) with emphasis on the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP), particularly argumentation and quantitative reasoning.

Participants will learn about the role of the SMP in teaching and learning mathematics and engage in classroom activities designed to use the SMP. They will assess and analyze their own participation in terms of mathematical content and the SMP and receive a set of resources and activities that are ready to implement in high school classrooms.

Successful completion of this workshop will provide three professional learning unit credits for eligible participants. The registration fee is $500 and includes workshop materials, 3 PLU’s, refreshment breaks and lunch each day. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hotel Indigo at a special rate of $109 per night.  Contact the hotel at 706-546-0430 to make reservations by May 27, 2013 in order to receive the special rate.

Anna Marie Conner and Kevin C. Moore, both assistant professors of mathematics education at UGA, will instruct the workshop.

Conner received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University where she was involved in researching and teaching a mathematical modeling course for prospective teachers. She also worked on a project investigating how teachers use mathematical processes such as reasoning, communicating, and representing in their teaching. She recently received a grant to investigate how teachers learn to support their students in making and critiquing mathematical arguments.

Moore received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University where he worked on a research-based algebra and pre-calculus curriculum and professional development project. He is one of the leading researchers in the area of secondary students’ quantitative reasoning and is also involved in designing quantitative reasoning courses for pre-service secondary teachers.

For more information or to register for these and other COE workshops, visit: www.coe.uga.edu/events/.

Lance

Jennifer Lance, a doctoral candidate in science education and a high school science teacher in Wilkes County, has received a Berneta Minkwitz Scholarship of $10,000 for the 2013-14 academic year from the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, a proffesional honor society for women educators.

Lance, who has taught for the past nine years at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School in Wilkes County, was one of just 24 students across the nation to receive the scholarship.

Lance has already earned a M.Ed. (2006) in science education, B.S.A. (2002) in horticulture, and B.S. (2001) in plant biology from UGA. She is a student of Mary Atwater, professor of science education. Lance will begin teaching at Oconee County High School in fall 2013.

Scholarship recipients must have earned a bachelor’s degree, be enrolled in a recognized graduate program and have been a society member for at least three years to qualify for consideration.

The Society promotes excellence in education and personal and professional growth of women educators, leading in the field of graduate scholarships given to members and emphasizing leadership development for its more than 90,000 members in 18 countries.

Since its scholarship program began in 1940, the Society has given 1,043 women educators $4 million in scholarships.