On behalf of the College of Education, I want to wish you a wonderful holiday season. We've celebrated many accomplishments this year, and they are still coming in, even as we begin to close the door on 2016.

CENTENNIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Two of our students were honored with the Centennial Achievement Award, which recognizes scholarship, resilience, and integrity. Education students definitely made a showing at the ceremony, considering a total of just five UA students received the honor. Congratulations to Christopher J. Rosales, a first-generation college student working on a master's degree in higher education, and to Nigerian-born Isoken Prisca Adodo, who is working on a doctorate in our school psychology program and has a passion for helping minority students access resources and support.

COUNCIL ON ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION HONORS PERRY GILMORE

Professor Perry Gilmore has long been a leader within the field of educational anthropology, so impressive, in fact, that we featured her in last year's Imagine magazine (read her story here ). In November, she was honored with the prestigious George and Louise Spindler Award from the Council on Anthropology and Education. Her contributions to educational anthropology are widely recognized for having significantly advanced the knowledge of the study of educational processes.

LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR NAOMI KARP

	Ron Marx and Naomi Karp

Longtime friend, supporter, and alumna Naomi Karp, who received an honorary degree from the college in 2010, was honored with the Leadership Award from the Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children. For 20 years, she served in the U.S. Department of Education, 10 as director of the Early Childhood Research Office. Today, she leads a First Things First early childhood professional development grant at United Way of Tucson.

NEW BOOK FEATURES THE LATE RICHARD RUIZ

 

Honoring Richard Ruiz and his Work on Language Planning and Bilingual Education was just published. The book was edited by Nancy Hornberger, the late Professor Ruiz's very first doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Contracted before Ruiz's death, the book was to be a compilation of his key published works that influenced public policy in education, as well as bilingual and bicultural education and social justice. Hornberger and many of Ruiz's colleagues and students wrote pieces as introductions to the previously published chapters. Here's m ore information on the book and a 50 percent discount on the purchase price.

$2 MILLION GRANT TO RESEARCH DAILY ROUTINES FOR YOUTHS WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES

We received a $2 million grant for a study to determine if adjustments to daily routines for youths with Type 1 diabetes can improve regulation of their glucose levels and enhance daily management of the disease. "The ultimate goal is to know what aspects of sleep or other parts of their daily routines - and how families work together in those routines - should be incorporated into standard diabetes care," says principal investigator Michelle Perfect, an associate professor and associate program director in our School Psychology Program. Read more here.

ON THE RISE

 

UA access and retention of Native American students is on the rise, thanks in part to our Native SOAR program. In 2015, the UA enrolled a total of 390 Native American undergraduates, a 16 percent increase from 2013. The retention rate for Native American first-year students increased 7 percentage points, from 64 percent in 2014 to 71 percent in 2015.

Native SOAR (Student Outreach, Access, and Resiliency) has Native American freshmen serve as peer mentors to Native American high school students. This culturally relevant peer-mentoring relationship has been shown to contribute toward the retention of Native American freshman participants, resulting in a 100 percent freshman-to-sophomore retention rate among participants.

Chris Honahnie, a Native SOAR peer mentor, adds, "As a student, I know that I still have much yet to learn, but sharing what I do know with my younger indigenous brothers and sisters has been very rewarding. While I continue to pursue my journey of a higher education, I feel responsible for aiding younger students in any way possible. I believe the Native SOAR program has allowed UA students to do just that."

SPEAKING OF INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

We wanted to gain a better understanding of the educational needs from tribal communities. Earlier this year, the Department of Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies held a one-day meeting that contributed to our commitment to indigenous education. 

Community input from e ducational administrators, local stakeholders, practitioners, educators, elders, parents, and students informed us on ways to strengthen partnerships and address community needs. 

For more information about the results of this meeting, please contact Assistant Professor Jeremy Garcia at [email protected] or 520-626-5690. 

YOU'RE INVITED TO AN EARTH EDUCATION WORKSHOP

Interested in education that helps people live more harmoniously and joyously with the natural world?  Please join us at the Cooper Center on Saturday, January 7, for a full-day Earth Education Workshop, which includes both indoor sessions and several outdoor activities. More information.

ONE COMMUNITY: PROCESSION AND VIGIL OF AFFIRMATION

	In attendance were (from left) Marcy Wood, Julia Olsen, and Kristin Gunckel

The UA and Tucson communities joined together on the evening of December 8 for a vigil to affirm the right of all community members to pursue and engage in their work without threat of violence, intimidation, or exclusion because of identity.

MESSAGE FROM ALUMNI COUNCIL

Friends:  It is hard to believe the end of the semester is here! We finished out 2016 with our annual Cocoa with the Council for all College of Education students, staff, and faculty. This tradition allows us to provide some stress-free time before finals. We have had a terrific semester and are looking forward to 2017!

Cocoa with the Council eased a lot of final-exam nerves

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and will consider becoming involved in the college's Alumni Council in 2017. Our next meeting is January 23, 2017, at 5:30 p.m. in the Education Building, Room 312.

Please contact Assistant Director of Development Lee O'Rourke at 520-621-3413 or [email protected] if you have questions or would like to get involved.

Bear Down! President David Overstreet '80 '86

MESSAGE FROM DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

HUGE MATH EDUCATION CONFERENCE A SUCCESS

	Co-chairs of the conference were (left to right): TLS Associate Professor Marcy Wood, Math and TLS Professor Marta Civil, TLS Associate Professor Erin Turner

The College of Education and the Department of Mathematics hosted the 38th Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education in November. The conference was attended by 574 researchers, faculty, and graduate students from around the world including the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Chile, Puerto Rico, Israel, Trinidad and Tobago, and Germany.  Associate Professor Marcy Wood adds:  "It is one of the main mathematics education research conferences in the U.S. This year, we had one of the highest attendance rates in the history of the conference. It was a terrific success with 436 presentations. For the first time in the history of the conference, we had several sessions that were presented in Spanish and simultaneously translated into English, helping to make the conference a true cross-cultural experience." 

 

Professor Jane Erin and Associate Professor of Practice L. Penny Rosenblum, along with Professor Carole Beal, now with the University of Florida College of Education, were asked by the Institute of Education Sciences to develop a four-minute video about their AnimalWatch Vi Suite project. The video can be found at the blog posting, See How IES Is Supporting Technology-Delivered Assessment, by clicking on the math and science link. 

DEAF EDUCATION IN MEXICO

Associate Professor of Practice Cindy Volk, the director of the American Sign Language Educational Interpreting Program, was interviewed for this story in the Nogales International about deaf education in Mexico.

Until next time,

Ron Marx