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College of Education

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A service for faculty: Help with grant writing, article submission

By Laura Girardeau
Faculty Research Development Coordinator

Laura Girardeau

I would like to extend a warm welcome to new College of Education faculty at all campuses of Washington State University. You — and even some not-so-newcomers — may be surprised to learn that our college offers support for all faculty members who are seeking and writing grants or submitting journal articles. I am fortunate to be able to provide this service, which is relatively rare at institutions like ours.

I’m here to help you find appropriate grants for your research interests, network with collaborators, coach you in the writing process, and offer suggestions on drafts and final submissions. Most faculty are excellent writers when it comes to academic writing style, but many don’t realize that grant writing style can differ significantly. Therefore, coaching during the grant writing process can make the difference between a winning proposal and the usual “practice” proposal.

In January, 2013, when Mike Trevisan took the position of interim dean, I offered to take over a service that he previously provided: journal manuscript review. I would like to use my experience co-authoring articles at the University of Hawaii and editing faculty and graduate manuscripts at WSU’s Graduate & Professional Writing Center to give you thoughtful, encouraging support on your drafts.

We can work together online, so you can save time by emailing me your article manuscripts and grant proposal drafts at any stage in the writing process.

The ball is in your court, and any changes are up to you. I look forward to hearing from you at lgirardeau@wsu.edu, or 509- 335-6232. Happy writing!

Application tips from our scholarship guru

Amy Cox, development program coordinator
Amy Cox


Washington State University students who are flush with cash: You can ignore this. But if the jingle of scholarship money would be music to your ears, be sure to read this advice from guest blogger Amy Cox, WSU College of Education development coordinator.

 

The College of Education awarded 91 undergraduate and 53 graduate scholarships for the 2012/2013 academic year across our four campuses.  I encourage all graduate students and certified undergraduates to apply for the upcoming academic year.  The scholarship application deadline is January 31 and the financial aid deadline is February 15.

All undergraduate and graduate Students must apply online for scholarships through WSU Scholarship Services.

You can complete the scholarship application over multiple sessions. So take your time, think about your answers and complete each question. The College of Education will use this information in creating its lists of potential award recipients.

Please note, there are a few College of Education majors that are not on the list of chosen majors, including counseling psychology.  If you cannot find your major, choose the closest one for Major No. 1 and education for Major No. 2.

Please pay close attention to the following question: Leadership, responsibility, contribution to community and family, and co-curricular involvement are important at Washington State University.  Please prioritize your top four experiences in these areas over the last three years. This is the section on the application for you to input any employment, volunteer work and club memberships.  In this section, please be sure to list any/all college and/or club involvement within WSU.

We’re proud of our student researchers. So be sure to complete the following request as your answer will be considered by College of Education scholarship application reviewers: Participation in research and creative projects is important for undergraduate and graduate students at Washington State University. Please list your participation in research or creative projects, laboratories, hospitals and clinics. Include work done at other institutions.

Also, pay close attention and answer all essay questions when completing your application.  The essays answers are read and scored by members of the College of Education faculty.  These weighted scores are used by the Scholarship Committee when making yearly scholarship awards.

All College of Education scholarships have criteria, such as the student’s field of study, that must be considered at the request of our generous donors. A common requirement is financial need. The Scholarship Committee determines that need on an EFC (expected family contribution) score, which you receive after completing the FAFSA application. I highly recommend completing that online form so that you will be considered for those scholarships.

For more information on applying for scholarships, click here; or check out the frequently asked questions.

If you have any additional questions, contact me at 509-335-7843 or amycox@wsu.edu. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

My visit to Shanghai Normal University

Last week my wife Fran and I visited Shanghai Normal University. I provided a keynote address for the Family, Society, and Education Summit on the role of evaluation in preschool programs. Mike Trevisan, Associate Dean for Research and External FundingThe summit was sponsored by the university’s Early Childhood Education Department. My contact there is Washington State University alumna Dr. Huihua He (Ph.D. ’07). Some of you will remember Huihua from her time as an educational psychology doctoral student. She was a graduate research assistant and postdoctoral research associate for me.

In addition to the presentation, I had several meetings with students, faculty, and administrators to discuss the possibility of partnerships and research collaborations. Shanghai Normal is eager to collaborate with universities from the West as its leaders further develop its university system. International collaboration is a WSU priority, so a connection to Shanghai could play well for the College of Education.

According to our hosts, Shanghai has a population of 27 million people. Half of the people, referred to as immigrants, are from rural China and other provinces who have come to Shanghai to find work. Given the expense of living in the city, many have come without their children. These children are referred to as “left behinds.” they are raised by anyone in their previous community who is willing to provide care, a situation that poses a significant social challenge for China. China sees education as a key factor in addressing that challenge.

Mike Trevisan and Huihua He

Our hosts were gracious, the food delicious, and the city of Shanghai interesting. Should anyone be interested in establishing collaborative work with Shanghai Normal University or any other international university, particularly from a developing country, please contact me. I will try to find ways to support your work.

New research, outreach center responds to growing Native population


The following article about the Pacific Northwest Center for Mestizo and Indigenous Research and Outreach was published Dec. 4, 2012, and is posted with permission.

By Estelle Gwinn
Staff writer, Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Susan Banks-Joseph and Brian McNeill
Susan Banks-Joseph and Brian McNeill, founding co-directors; Lali McCubbin is interim co-director

Growing diversity at Washington State University spurred the creation of a new Mestizo and Indigenous Center at the College of Education.

“We’re located in an area where there are a number of local tribes and at the same time there’s an increasing Latino population in Washington state,” said Brian McNeill, co-director of the new center.

McNeill said he saw a regional need to address the common issues many indigenous populations face and started working to establish the center about two years ago.

“In places like Tri-Cities, Walla Walla and Franklin County the Mexican American population in schools is getting close to 70 percent,” McNeill said. “In communities like Pasco at least 50 percent are Latino. We need to start paying attention to what those demographics are.”

WSU has a responsibility to serve these populations, McNeill said, because it is a land grant university.

The center focuses on not only Native American populations but any indigenous groups, which refers to populations whose ancestors were the original inhabitants of a designated land or nation, McNeill said. The center also focuses on Latino populations, which are often part of the Mestizo experience, meaning they are forged from several different ethnic backgrounds. The center is one-of-a-kind in the Northwest region and possibly unique to the entire nation.

One of a kind

“There’s no question this is a unique center. There’s no other center we can identify in the U.S. that’s focused on Mestizo and indigenous populations,” said Mike Trevisan, associate dean for research and external funding at WSU’s College of Education. “There’s a variety of Mestizo populations in Washington who go unnoticed and unsupported. Hopefully this center will shed light on that and find ways to encourage support for these people.”

McNeill said the center is different from any others because it brings several groups together and addresses their common needs. He said many native populations do not consider Mexican American populations to be indigenous even though they have many of the same social concerns.

“From an educational standpoint it’s important to know what those commonalities are and break down some barriers, even amongst our own people,” he said.

An example of those common concerns is academic success and access to higher education, which center researchers are looking into now.

A 2008 study by WSU’s Clearinghouse on Native Teaching and Learning looked at the educational achievement gap among Native Americans. The study was commissioned by the Washington state Legislature and researchers are now following up on the Legislature’s progress.

Another study at the center reaches out to leaders in local Native American tribes and Latino communities, something that was not receiving enough attention prior to the creation of this center, McNeill said.

Finding solutions, together

“We want to ask them what they think our research agenda should be and what they see as the priorities,” he said. “That way we have the communities we serve setting the agenda for what they think is important.”

From the interviews conducted so far, McNeill has noticed that many groups want to be partners in research and help come to solutions as opposed to being the subject of research just for the sake of finding out something new about them.

Trevisan said the new center is a good fit, since diversity is a priority area for the college’s research profile.

“We are about educating people and doing community work,” he said. “As a consequence we are in a position of responsibility to promote these ideas and make known the needs within the region in particular.”

Published Dec. 4, 2012 and posted with permission

Scientist David Urdal honors parents with scholarship for teachers

A.G. Rud and Grace Urdal hold Cougar flag
Dean A.G. Rud and Grace Urdal show Cougar pride as David and Shirley Urdal look on

In a 1984 interview, near the end of his long career at Washington State University, Professor Lloyd Urdal discussed changes in special education, minority education, adult education, education funding, and the need for better preparation of math and science teachers—all of which are major issues in 2012.

Presaging today’s demands for science, technology, engineering and math experts, he said: “We do have a tremendous pressure now in terms of the computer science age, and the development of computer specialists and the exploration of outer space and you name it.”

Urdal, who died in 1996, often thought in terms of shaping the future. Now, his family has continued his legacy. The couple’s son and daughter-in-law, David and Shirley Urdal, have created the Grace and Lloyd Urdal Endowed Scholarship in Education with an initial gift of $25,000.

“Dad was always working hard, always believing strongly in what he did,” said David. “He valued teaching educators. He had a wonderful sense of humor.”

Encouragement and education

The scholarship will be available starting next year to WSU College of Education students who plan to teach mathematics or science. Math was a favorite subject of Lloyd’s. He was an expert in academic assessment and evaluation. And science is his son’s calling. David Urdal is the recently retired executive vice president and chief scientist at Dendreon Corp., a Seattle biotech firm known for innovative cancer research.

Lloyd Urdal
Lloyd Urdal (WSU Archives photo)

“And my son is a science teacher,” David said of John, who teaches at Madison Middle School in Seattle.

Lloyd and Grace encouraged their children—including daughters Joan Kingrey, Christy Urdal and Valerie Kalhovde—to pursue whatever interested them. Joan was the only one to follow in her father’s footsteps. A longtime public school administrator, she taught educational leadership at WSU Spokane before her recent retirement.
“I resisted the idea of going into education for a long while, but eventually figured out it was in my DNA,” said Joan. “I’m pretty sure my father hoped I would be a college professor.”

A WSU alumna, Joan remembers how students appreciated his humor “and his ability to bring even the most fearful through advanced statistics.” She remembers him smoking his pipe in Cleveland Hall—home of the College of Education and a building of which he was very proud. It was a state-of-the-art facility when it opened in 1963.

Lloyd served nine years as the first chair of the college’s Department of Education. The predecessor to today’s Department of Teaching and Learning was created within the college in 1964.

Transplanted Canadians

Lloyd was the first in his large Canadian family to go to college, but not until he’d studied engineering and served as a mechanic and pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He and Grace met as students at Camrose Lutheran College near Edmonton, and he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Alberta. From there, it was off to the University of Chicago for a Ph.D. in social sciences. He returned to the Alberta plains each summer, earning tuition money by working the family farm.

For three years, Lloyd was director of research and then principal at UC’s Laboratory School—an experimental school founded by famed education philosopher John Dewey. In 1955, he accepted a job teaching at the WSU College of Education.

After living in Edmonton and Chicago, the isolated four-hill college town of Pullman “was a shock,” Grace Urdal recalled. The shock wore off, affection followed and the rolling hills of the Palouse have been her home ever since.

The Urdals became U.S. citizens soon after their arrival. At first, Lloyd focused on teaching—mostly undergraduates, as there were few WSU education graduate students at the time.

Lloyd was a popular man on College Hill, his widow remembers.

“They all loved him. He was just an excellent teacher,” said Grace, who worked for a while as a secretary in the veterinary college and later in the university human resources office.

After his retirement in 1986, Lloyd chose not to maintain a campus office as some emeritus professors do.  With family and travels, the couple had plenty to keep them busy in the decade before he died.

David said the scholarship is a good way to honor the memory of his much-missed father and his still-active mom. Joan agrees.

“My parents were a wonderful team, and I know they are both proud of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” she said. “They’re a tough act to follow.”

 

Murals capture Chicano/Latino heritage

Children with Freedom School mural
Pauline Sameshima’s mural, now at Lighty Hall, and the kids who colored it.

Labor leader Cesar Chavez and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta played historic roles in the protection of farm workers’ rights. To folks at Washington State University who planned this month’s Freedom School, that made them the perfect heroes to highlight Chicano/Latino heritage.

WSU College of Education folks in Pullman played major roles in the Freedom School event. Clinical Assistant Professor Paul Mencke was among the planners.

Associate Professor Pauline Sameshima contributed her original art, as did WSU undergraduate David Padilla. Both designed murals featuring Chavez and Huerta, and a group of young Picassos associated with our college pitched in to help color them.

David Padilla mural
David Padilla’s mural on display in Cleveland Hall

The kids pictured above are, from left:  Sachiko Price, daughter of faculty members Paula Groves Price and Cedric Price;  Skyla and Evanee, children of graduate student Manee Moua; Daniel Mendez-Liaina, son of  advisor/instructor Veronica Mendez-Liaina; Rory McBeath, son of graduate student Francene Watson; and Paul Jr. and Carter, sons of  Paul Mencke.

You can read about the project in the WSU News article, Murals from WSU Freedom School on display.

Did you know? According to the 2010 census, 50.5 million people or 16 percent of the population are of Hispanic or Latino origin. That’s a significant increase from the 2000 Census, which registered the Hispanic population at 35.3 million or 13 percent of the total U.S. population.

 

COE’s first-ever writing retreat – a success by any measure!

Writing workshop participants

Last weekend, nine newer assistant professors from the college met on the Washington State University Tri-Cities campus to work on their writing and learn about ways to increase scholarly productivity, enhance their writing skill, seek grant opportunities, and make connections with colleagues. While writing retreats as a concept are not new, pulling together assistant professors in a college of education for a writing retreat could be unique.

The workshop was facilitated by college Research Development Coordinator Laura Girardeau, myself, and Dean A.G. Rud. Those in attendance were:

Olusola Adesope, Educational Psychology
Chad Lochmiller, Educational leadership
Kristin Huggins, Educational leadership
Eric Johnson, Bilingual education
Kristin Leissig, Mathematics Education
Sarah Newcomber, Literacy
Kelly Puzio, Literacy
Yong-chae Rhee, Sport Management
Sara Ullrich-French, Kinesiology

Faculty were asked to bring one or more writing projects to work on. Book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, a grant proposal to NSF, and a dissertation were some of the projects people brought. Some reported entire sections of a manuscript were completed during this time. Yong-chae Rhee completed, submitted, and had accepted an expert column on the U.S. Open tennis tournament in the top Korean portal site, “Daum.” The column is titled “The U.S. Open, the festival for tennis-crazed fans.” The daily traffic for this portal is approximately 3,650,000 people. This  column could have quite an impact.

We spent time discussing challenges to writing, ways to overcome them, and each offered to the group, something they would work on or incorporate into their writing routine.

Time was also spent on seeking grant opportunities, strategies for developing ideas, building collaborations, and ways to promote projects.

We also had some fun in the evening. Assistant Vice Chancellor Liza Nagel had us over to her place for a wonderful dinner and social gathering.

As we broke on Sunday afternoon, one faculty member mentioned to me that while it was understood that improvement of writing was the main outcome for the retreat, getting to know colleagues and making connections that might not be easily done without the retreat, was also a key outcome.

We obtained feedback on what worked well and what could be improved. Planning is already under way for another retreat next year with a different group of faculty.

 

How news from D.C. affects the College of Education here at home

By Mike Trevisan

Last weekend I attended the annual meeting of the Organization of Institutional Affiliates (OIA) in Washington DC, sponsored by AERA. This educational research and policy meeting is attended by deans and associate deans in order to connect research-oriented colleges of education to current national and legislative issues.

Presenters included prominent researchers such as Andy Porter, now Dean of the College of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Presenting work on the Common Core Curriculum Standards, he made the case that despite national investment and involvement by many states, these standards are only marginally better than most state standards. Sure to cause a stir, a recent article in Educational Researcher provides the data, analysis, and story behind his claims.

Michael Feuer, Dean of the Graduate School of Education at George Washington University and former Director of the National Research Council’s Center for Education was another lively speaker. To demonstrate how research universities can become engaged in education policy and politics, he described a unique collaboration between his school and the Washington, D.C. public school system to conduct ongoing system evaluation and research. He noted that the Washington, D.C. school system is widely known to be fraught with cronyism, and is seen as an embarrassing example of some U.S. school systems’ history of poorly serving underrepresented groups, particularly the African-American community.

Fortunately, the Education Reform Amendment Act was passed in 2007, which greatly assisted the Washington, D.C. school system and community in addressing these problems. This bold move shifted control from an elected school board to the mayor. The provisions of this act call for transparency and accountability in the school system. The act calls for independent evaluation, which provides a unique opportunity for the Graduate School of Education at George Washington University. Michael Feuer articulately suggested that colleges of education throughout the nation can become involved in this type of powerful work. However, this requires a tolerance for ambiguity, a thick skin, and a sense of humor. There will surely be more for our own College of Education to learn from this work.

More attention-grabbing presentations were led by congressional staffers from the House and Senate education subcommittees, including “majority” and “minority” staffers. To say that the atmosphere in the room could be “cut with a knife” is an understatement!

Republicans and Democrats differ significantly in regard to the role of the federal government in education, which was clearly reflected in their presentations. These talks also provoked controversy by suggesting that colleges of education at research universities produce research that is inaccessible to most stakeholders, potentially irrelevant to “people on the ground,” as one staffer put it, and not very useful to staffers who need “bulleted items that can be quickly read and digested.”

Budget gridlock, the possibility of sequestration, and the conjectures of what might happen if one or the other presidential candidate is elected were major conversational themes throughout the meeting, particularly among the staffers in attendance. This part of the meeting was both interesting and sobering.

Whatever the outcome of the November elections, WSU’s College of Education appears to be on a roll. We have approval to hire several new tenure-track faculty. Our new science educator, Andy Cavagnetto, is a co-PI on an Institute of Education Sciences grant and brought some of that money with him when he arrived this summer in Pullman. Within the last few months our faculty have submitted several large grant proposals, produced a variety of scholarly works, and is teaching some innovative new classes this semester. In short, the College of Education is well-positioned to compete and do good work for Washington State and beyond.

A handmade gift, a lifetime experience

Yukako Hayashi and A.G. Rud

When  Yukako Hayashi was a university senior in Japan, she took the test to become a teacher. It was a career she had imagined since childhood. She failed the test.

After spending a year as an office worker, she tried again. And passed.

After a decade as a primary school teacher, Yukako still has a strong zeal for education. And it has brought her to Washington State University.

She is in Pullman as part of the annual exchange between the WSU College of Education and the Nishinomiya School District. A Japanese teacher comes to Pullman to study for two months in the fall; an American teacher with ties to the college (currently Mari Stair) works in Japan.

When she’s not soaking up Cougar culture at WSU, Yukako will spend most of her time perfecting her English-language skills. She began her English studies when she was in middle school. These days, English lessons for Japanese students start in fifth grade.

“Students like the English activities,” says Yukako, who now supervises her district’s Study and Research Division, International Section.

In an get-acquainted meeting at Cleveland Hall, Yukako presented Dean A.G. Rud with flower art she created. In return, she got a crimson and gray scarf with a Cougar emblem. She’ll be in Eastern Washington through Oct. 22. She told the dean she had been to the United States before, including a visit to the San Francisco area for a two-week student exchange while she was in college.

The dean replied that he’d be making his first trip to Japan in November, as part of a delegation celebrating the 25th anniversary of the WSU-Nishinomiya relationship. He said:  “It’s a big deal!”

 

Faculty Funding Awards yield presentations, grant proposals and more

Mike Trevisan, Associate Dean for Research and External Funding

As the new academic year begins, Washington State University College of Education researchers can look back with satisfaction on the last one. An indication of jobs well done is the list of outcomes from our Faculty Funding Awards. Our researchers compete for these mini-grants, which are expected to be the seeds from which significant scholarly work and larger projects sprout. The 2012 grants resulted in:

  • Fifteen national or international conference proposals presented or to be presented with five invited presentations
  • Twelve peer-reviewed journal manuscripts submitted and in various stages toward publication
  • Three major grant proposals submitted and pending totaling $444,549
  • One book proposal accepted by a publisher

The book-in-progress is a handbook for faculty and graduate students. Co-authored by Professor Gail Furman, it is about action research, leadership and social justice. It will be published by Routledge in 2013.

Faculty Funding Awards provide a single principal investigator with up to $5,000 and research collaborators up to $9,000. To make good use of the money, researchers must plan well and be diligent in maintaining timelines and accomplishing tasks.

Last year was the first time that the Faculty Funding Awards were governed by rules revised with an eye toward accountability, transparency, productivity, and stewardship. The money for these awards comes from gracious donors to the college. These results demonstrate that we are grateful for their contributions and that we take seriously the need to be good stewards of their contributions.

I look forward to seeing what this year’s award winners produce.