Norm Thompson lectures about skulls and the origin of mankind at the UGA Chapel as part of UGA’s Origins Series.

Hobbit skulls and the evolution of man wrap up UGA’s Origins Series reports an April 24 story  Red & Black. Norm Thompson, a UGA associate professor of science education, lectured on the origins of mankind during the presentation at the UGA Chapel.

Smagorinsky

Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor of language and literacy education at the University of Georgia, who is among the world’s most authoritative and prolific voices for educational reform, called for authentic teacher evaluation in delivering the John S. Oehler Lecture for Educational Leadership at  Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Education  on April 10.

See video of the lecture.

Sandmann

Lorilee Sandmann, a professor in the COE’s Department of Lifelong Education, Administration and Policy, will speak at the second annual University of Louisiana System Academic Summit at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, reports an April 6 story in the Monroe (LA) News Star.

Atwater

University of Georgia College of Education professor Mary M. Atwater delivered  a keynote address during the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education’s 21st International Conference at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, Africa January 15.

This major event for researchers and scholars across Southern Africa attracts up to 500 of the leading international presenters and speakers to address delegates on current issues, trends and progressive research currently being undertaken in the field of science, mathematics and technology education. The theme for the conference was: “Making Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Socially and Culturally Relevant in Africa. ”

Atwater, a professor of science education, conducted a workshop titled, “Research Paradigms, Theoretical Frameworks, and Methodological Framework for Socially and Culturally Relevant Science Teaching.” Her keynote address was titled, “Socially and Culturally Relevant and Socially and Culturally Sustaining Science Education.”

Atwater served on the  Science Standards Committee of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in 2011. She was named an inaugural class Fellow of the American Educational Research Association in 2009 and served as an original member of the NBPTS’s Early Adolescence/Science Standards Committee from 1991-98.

She received the Legendary Award from the Association of Multicultural Science Education for her work in adding to the depth of literature in the field by presenting research nationally and internationally, and spearheading organizations that promote multicultural science education.

An 8th grade science textbook written by Atwater titled, Using Energy, was heralded around the world as the inspiration and guide for a 14-year-old African boy’s quest to build a windmill that provided electricity for his family and village for the first time, after a book was published in 2009 about his experience.

Atwater was named one of 1999’s African-American Phenomenal Women by the African-American Professional Women of the Athens Area and was named to the National Technical Association’s Academy of Top Minority Women in Science and Engineering in 1998 and 1997. She was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1995.

Atwater, who joined the UGA faculty in 1987, was the first African-American female to earn a doctorate in science education at North Carolina State University in 1980 and first African-American female department head at the University of Georgia.

Phelps

Rosemary Phelps, professor and in the department of counseling and human development services, will be giving her Fellow address as a fellow of Division 17, Society of Counseling Psychology at the American Psychological Association’s annual conference in Orlando.

Her talk, which is titled “Pieces of the Puzzle: Difference, Significance and Passion,” will be given on Friday August 3,  from 4 – 5:50 p.m. in  Room W110A, Convention Center.

Phelps’ research focuses on multicultural training issues and concerns, racial and ethnic identity development, recruitment and retention of African-American students in higher education, mentoring and professional development of graduate students.  She also served as head of the department from 2006-12.

Phelps  is one of 12 presenters, including UGA alumna Sharon Horne  (PhD’98, MEd ‘94), an associate professor in counseling psychology and an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis.

Jack Parish

The panelists will discuss how the new emphasis on teacher effectiveness is changing the K-12 education landscape. What does the latest research suggest about the impact of teacher effectiveness on student achievement? What are the best strategies for enhancing teacher effectiveness? And how do district leaders assess the impact of this new emphasis on teacher effectiveness on professional development and higher education?

Johnson-Bailey

Juanita Johnson-Bailey, director of Women’s Studies and a professor in the College of Education, will give the Boyer Lecture, a keynote address at SUNY Empire State College’s Adult Education Research Conference on Friday, June 1. The conference is available by webcast.

She will also be featured with her co-authors in a panel discussion on her book, The Handbook of Race and Adult Education: A Resources for Dialogue on Racism (Jossey-Bass, 2010),  at Teachers College, Columbia University on Monday, June 4.

Johnson-Bailey’s book, Sistahs in College: Making a Way Out of No Way (Krieger Press, 2001), received the Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature in Continuing Higher Education and the Sadie T. Mossell Alexander Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Black Women’s Studies. Johnson- Bailey is also the co-editor of Flat-Footed Truths: Telling Black Women’s Lives (Henry Holt, 1998).

Atlanta Journal Constitution editor Maureen Downey (C) talks with COE professors JoBeth Allen (L) and Gayle Andrews during a March 2 Op-Ed Writing Workshop. Photo by Julie Sartor.

The Office of Outreach and Engagement and the Office of College Advancement hosted the Op-Ed Writing Workshop with Maureen Downey, a longtime reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,  on March 2.

Topics and strategies discussed included how to write, in a lay reader-friendly style, a 500–600 word op-ed essay; how to understand and write within the op-ed genre; how to write so that your ideas and arguments are compelling, contribute to the conversation, and are helpful to your audience;  how to know which venues are available and how to work with editors to place your work; and how to understand the op-ed readership and how to craft pieces in relation to broad lay audiences.

 Faculty members JoBeth Allen, Stephanie Jones, Peter Smagorinsky led break-out sessions to initiate and facilitate the process of creating an op-ed piece. About 20 faculty members attended.         

Johnson-Bailey

Juanita Johnson-Bailey, professor of adult education and director of Women’s Studies at UGA and co-authors of the book, The Handbook of Race and Adult Education, spoke and participated in a panel discussion titled, “Race and Adult Education: Engaging A Dialogue on Racism,” during February 22-23 inauguration of the college’s new president, Judith Huntington.  See the video of the lecture, discussion.

UGA's Dean Andy Horne was among the education leaders joining Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey at a Boston Symposium on Youth Meanness and Cruelty last month which was the official launch of the Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization aiming to raise awareness of bullying.

University of Georgia College of Education Dean and Distinguished Research Professor Arthur “Andy” Horne joined Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey in Boston for the Symposium on Youth Meanness and Cruelty held last month on the Harvard University campus.

Hosted by the pop icon and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, the event was part of the official launch of the Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization, which was held before a crowd of policy makers, non-profit organizations, foundation leaders, students and youth at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Askwith Forum.

Horne was among the invited leaders in school violence prevention to participate in the symposium sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, in partnership with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the MacArthur Foundation. Horne is internationally known for his scholarship on troubled families and ways to prevent and deal with bullying and aggressive behavior in students and families. His newest book, Empowering Teens to Prevent Bullying, was published in January.

Horne

Notable figures in attendance included Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Deepak Chopra, a global leader and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine; Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard; and Kathleen McCartney, dean of Harvard’s College of Education.

Under the leadership of Danah Boyd, senior researcher at Microsoft Research and a faculty fellow at the Berkman Center, and John Palfrey, professor of law and vice dean, Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School and faculty co-director, this symposium brought together a small group of scholars, experts, civil society members and policymakers to interrogate key issues related to youth meanness and cruelty, including the topics of bullying, drama and harassment.  These conversations and associated research and recommendations will support BTWF’s agenda to address issues such as self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development for youth.

The meeting focused on the current state of play of relevant literature and research, curricula, school-based and grassroots interventions, and the current legal and policy landscape. Sessions were geared towards opportunities to highlight and develop positive and urgently needed interventions that can address primary concerns regarding harm to youth.

“We focused on charting a path for future research and work by strengthening existing collaborations and fostering new ones; creating mechanisms for ongoing communication and exchange; building community among youth, parents, educators and policy makers; and identifying individuals who will contribute to a process that will, over several years, dig deep into the root causes and issues that give rise to aggression and bullying in order to make more substantial progress in addressing meanness and cruelty toward young people,” said Horne.

BTWF announced Lady Gaga’s $1.2 million personal contribution, dedicating $200,000 to cover the foundation’s overhead costs. Barneys New York has raised more than $750,000 for the foundation through product sales from Gaga’s 2011 Holiday Workshop and has donated an additional $100,000. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation also is committing $1 million in support, with $500,000 going to the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard to lead research efforts, and the remaining $500,000 directly allocated to BTWF to support online and on-the-road efforts to engage young people in civic life and deter bullying.

For more information on BTWF, see http://bornthiswayfoundation.org/.