Jane Kelley | College of Education | Washington State University

^{College of Education} _{Jane Kelley}

Power plays, science ed, and more

May 27, 2009 Washington State University

Maybe you were one of those flashlight-under-the-blanket kids who understood all the dark goings-on in the twisting plot of Rumpelstiltskin. If not, your inner child may be relieved to have that confusion validated by children’s literature expert Jane Kelley. The assistant professor is author of Critical Multicultural Analysis of Folktales: Power Representation in Reconstructed Rumpelstiltskin Stories. As she explained for a WSU Today article, the story is full of power plays, and she examined how a dozen modern authors twisted and turned to plot to make their own points about good and evil. In an interview, Jane mentioned the Fractured Fairy Tales version of the story. And she explained that, in the French version, Rumpelstiltskin wasn’t after the miller’s daughter’s baby. He was after her soul. Now THAT would be a good reason to hide under the covers.

Science education showcased in Vancouver

Results of a graduate-K-12 teacher partnership will be showcased on May 29.
The Partners in Discovery GK-12 Project provides for year-long, one-on-one partnerships between WSU Vancouver Environment Science graduate students and local science teachers to bring scientific research and inquiry into the classroom. The partnership focuses on the implications of growth and change in the Columbia River watershed. Assistant Professor Tamara Nelson is among those involved in the cross-discipline project, which is led by the WSU science faculty and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Seek and ye shall find

Don’t forget that our Web pages have a search box that is specific to education.wsu.edu. It’s located below the right side of the top banner. Using that can be much more efficient than using the WSU search box. And if you’re ever looking for something on our A-Z site index and can’t find it, drop a note to Geoff Jensen and he’ll add the errant topic. Also, FYI: After learning of some security concerns about the software, we’ve removed the “share this” function that was briefly installed on the site. We’ll keep an eye out for alternative ways of sharing our site’s content.

Reading matter
Sotomayor’s record on education scrutinized. President Obama’s choice for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on a variety of issues with implications for education during her 17 years on the federal bench, including cases relating to racial matters, students with disabilities, and the strip-search of adolescents.

Award winners brighten end of semester

May 13, 2009 Washington State University

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

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.