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Washington State University
College of Education

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Award winners brighten end of semester

Did you notice? When the Office of Undergraduate Education announced its honorees this week, the list included two elementary education majors who received Harold and Jeanne Rounds Olsen Awards for Undergraduate Excellence in Writing:  Holly Barker at WSU Vancouver and Ingrid Kraig, who is in the Honors College at WSU Pullman.

From left: Dean Judy Mitchell, Kromann Medal winner Andrea O'Brine, Assistant Professor Jane Kelley
From left: Dean Judy Mitchell, Kromann Medal winner Andrea O'Brine, Assistant Professor Jane Kelley

Ingrid also put her writing skills to work as a competitor for this year’s Inga Kromann Medal Award. The two medal winners for the annual children’s book prize were Katie Shanks and Andrea O’Brine, both of whom delved into their own childhoods for inspiration.  The  winners were announced at the annual celebration presented by the arts integration class on the Pullman patio, which explains  Andrea’s colorful dancing outfit in the accompanying  photo.  Read about the Kromann awards.

The full, impressive list of College of Education faculty, staff and student award winners for 2008-09 is online.

Striding toward a conference

Professor David Slavit reports that on May 26-27 the  WSU Vancouver STRIDE research team will host a national conference on “Research on Supported Collaborative Inquiry.” Five teacher-researchers will rub elbows with leading researchers from across the country.  Stanford University researcher Hilda Borko will give a plenary address.  The conference is funded by two National Science Foundation research grants.

Reading matter
A Cautionary Video About America’s ‘Stuff’ A short video about the effects of materialism has become a sleeper hit in classrooms across the nation.
Partnership’s First Product Aimed at Middle School Vocabulary Word Generation, which is free to schools, consists of short, engaging vocabulary-boosting lessons that are taught each day by different teachers across the middle school curriculum.
Reading Programs Found Ineffective A federal study intended to provide insight into the effectiveness of programs for reading comprehension has found that three such programs had no positive impact, while a fourth had a negative effect on student achievement.
Coaches struggle to find balance between work and family

Vacation time
Here’s a timely and not-overly-commercial idea:  an educators’ B&B network founded by two Oregon educators to help frugal travelers meet like-minded people.  

Special talent, special ed

Prize winner
michael-dunn-artWSU Vancouver’s just-released 2009 Salmon Creek Journal features prose, poetry and artwork that has been blind-juried by students, faculty, staff and alumni. The top-prize-winning art, “American Falls-Niagara Falls” (shown here), is the creation of our own Assistant Professor Michael Dunn, whose academic focus is on literacy and special education.  The journal’s release party will be held during the Art Fair today (April 10) from 3 – 5 p.m. in Vancouver’s Administration Building, rooms 129 and 130.
From left: Connie Beecher, Jamie Messinger-Willman, Janine Darragh
L-R: Connie Beecher, Jamie Messinger-Willman, Janine Darragh


Special delegation
Speaking of Michael Dunn… he and Assistant Professor Matt Marino of Pullman were part of a six-member WSU delegation that attended the Council for Exceptional Children national convention, held April 1-4 in Seattle.  With them were  doctoral students Connie Beecher, Danielle Clark, Janine Darragh, and Jamie Messinger-Willman. Connie and Janine gave a joint presentation on “Using Children’s Literature to Teach Preservice Teachers about Autism Spectrum Disorders”; Jamie presented on “Technology-based Teacher Planning and Collaboration Tools.” Reports Matt: “This was the first national presentation for Connie and Jamie, both of whom had very well attended sessions. Our doctoral students are to be commended for their dedication to the field and their professional presentation skills.”

Reading matter
Lessons Sifted From Tragedy at Columbine A decade after the attack at a Colorado high school, scholars are gaining fresh insights into student gunmen and the havoc they wreak.
Report Envisions Shortage of Teachers as Retirements Escalate Over the next four years, more than a third of the nation’s 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report.

Have you noticed?
Our college Web pages now boast a print button, just below the banner on the right. Another new feature is a “share” button so you can send COE information via email, or post it on a dizzying array of social networks such as Facebook.