College of Education Newsletter

Every semester I sit down and read course evaluations and I have to admit that I love doing this. You see, I believe that honest evaluation of teaching done by students is an act of kindness. (Okay not all of them, but most). This is especially true at UCA in the College of Education. Our students believe in us and believe that we want critical feedback to inform course improvement. One of the themes that emerges every semester is the idea of "inspiration." Our students see faculty as inspirational and motivating. I'm not sure there is a better compliment. So when I saw an article on inspiration, it caught my eye.

Stewart Cotterill's article suggests that there is a "lack of research exploring strategies to inspire and motivate students." His research goes on to say that inspiration is multifaceted and not dependent on the charisma/personality of the faculty member. He identified factors that influence a student's belief that a faculty member is inspirational. These include things such as content, innovation and creativity, rapport, physical space, and different perspectives to name a few. Here is where our work with technology and equity plays into motivation. I see all of you working to engage our students in innovation by using technology. I also see us building rapport as we discuss issues of equity and belonging by presenting different perspectives on issues and ideas. Our collective commitment to these principles have enhanced our relationships with each other and our students (both graduate and undergraduate). Therefore, it makes sense that they see you all as inspirational. I agree! In conclusion, go forth and inspire others.

-Vicki Groves-Scott

The College of Education would like to recognize our college undergraduate advisors, Christina Wolfe (left) and Aniaya Worth.

The UCA Advising Center recently conducted a survey with students. The overall results show the following:

Listening to my concerns: 97.75%

Information about upcoming dates: 94.00%

Knowledge about academics: 97.00%

Helpful suggestions: 94.75%

Connecting me with other resources: 91.00%

Feels comfortable asking questions: 94.75%

Talking about personal concerns: 88.13%

Makes me feel confident: 95.00%

Recommend my advisor to others: 95.62%

We also would like to share with you some comments about our COE Advisors.

"Ms. Worth always comes into our meeting fully prepared to help me line out what my next couple of semesters need to look like. This has helped me a lot in the fact that it relieves stress and pressure on me in knowing that I don't have to have all the answers for planning out my classes."

"Christina Wolfe has been incredible in efficiency and determination with putting students first. She checks on you in a personal manner, as well as academically. She has been a huge blessing within my academic career here at UCA. I began with her as a freshman, then after changing my major, I have her once again. She has always helped me answer any questions I might have, alongside contacting the people who have the answers if she doesn't know them. I have loved getting to be under her as an advisee. I wish every academic advisor at UCA carried her traits of compassion, intentionality, and efficiency."

The College of Education Literacy/Dyslexia program was recently notified of its accreditation by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). According to the IDA website (https://dyslexiaida.org/university-programs-accredited-by-ida/), they have an accreditation program that rigorously reviews educator preparation programs based on an accreditation model that is uniquely aligned with IDA’s Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading (KPS).

When asked how she feels about the Reading/Dyslexia program receiving IDA accreditation, Dr. Amy Thompson (MSE Literacy/Dyslexia Program Coordinator) said, "One thing I'm particularly proud of is that ALL of our literacy faculty in the grad program (Mrs. Lisa Herrington, Dr. Susan Perry, Dr. Shoudong Feng, and myself) were deemed highly qualified to teach in an IDA-accredited program."

Recently in ELSE 4309 Positive Classroom Environment, Dr. Stefanie Sorbet presented social emotional learning (SEL) games for exploration in a center rotation in her class. ELSE students explored a variety of authentic SEL children's books, board games, emotion flip charts, dominoes, SEL scenario puzzles, and expression blocks while making the connection between creating a positive and supportive learning environment and classroom management. These games assist the teacher to build community in the classroom and helps strengthen childrens' SEL competencies in the five CASEL competency areas of: responsible decision making, social awareness, self-management, self- awareness, and relationship skills (www.casel.org). ELSE students will soon write lesson plans and facilitate SEL activities in their field placements this semester in Little Rock schools through their morning meeting lessons this semester.

Teyhaunna Jackson, a student in the Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education, won 1st place in the Educators Rising Moment competition at the Region 2 Educators Rising conference. She presented a speech that articulated why she aimed to pursue a career in education.

Dr. TeKyesha T.K. Anderson is a National Board Certified Teacher and a Service-Learning Faculty Fellow at the University of Central Arkansas where she is a faculty member in the College of Education. She earned a Master of Gifted Education degree from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and an Education Specialist in District Administration degree from Arkansas State University. In March 2021, Dr. Anderson successfully defended her dissertation: “Representation of African American Men in K-12 Public Education: Impact on Recruitment, Retention, and Responsibilities to Education.” She earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Arkansas Tech University where Dr. Sarah Gordon served as her dissertation chair. Dr. Nancy Gallavan and Dr. John Freeman also served on her dissertation committee.

In February 2022, Dr. Anderson was awarded the Robert F. Schuck Distinguished Dissertation in Teacher Education Award at the Association of Teacher Educators Annual Meeting 2022 in Chicago, IL. Her research also recently earned an international award, GLoCER Best Paper, at the Global Conference on Educational Research after submitting and presenting a paper based on her dissertation research.

Dr. Anderson is a proud native of Lake Village, AR. Her faith is rooted in the Most High; she has two amazing daughters, Taylor and Kensye, and SheShe, the best dog in the world.

Ashley Cooksey, Director of the Technology Learning Center and current UCA Ph.D. candidate, recently published an academic book review in the Journal of Media Literacy Education (JMLE). The article Developing digital detectives: Essential lessons for discerning fact from fiction in the 'fake news' era | Book Review will appear in the final print issue of the year; however, JMLE has published the pre-print as a digital copy. The book review was a required assignment in Dr. Jason Trumble's class, Impact of Digital Literacy and Citizenship on Teaching and Learning.

https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jmle-preprints/33/

Drs. Alicia Cotabish and Debbie Dailey (Department of Teaching and Learning), along with Dr. Susan Johnsen, recently had a new edited book released. Their book, NAGC Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards: A Guide to Planning and Implementing Quality Services for Gifted Students, coincides with the newest national gifted programming standards. This Routledge / Taylor and Francis Group publication is available globally on all platforms including Amazon.

Jessica Herring-Watson is a faculty member in the Dept. of Teaching and Learning. She recently completed and successfully defended her dissertation titled Preservice and First-Year Teachers' Intention to Use and Actual Use of Technology-enabled Learning: A Case Study. This qualitative case study sought to describe the technology-enabled learning beliefs and behaviors of four participants as they navigated their transition into the field of education as student teachers and first-year teachers. In May, she will graduate with her Ed.D. in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership with a concentration in Instructional Design and Technology from the University of Memphis.

Drs. Nykela Jackson and Donna Wake (Department of Teaching and Learning) recently had a peer-reviewed article published in the Research Issues in Contemporary Education journal which is a publication of the Louisiana Education Research Association.

Their article, "Exploring The Impact of a Grow Your Own Teachers Program," investigates the impact of a Grow-Your-Own (GYO) program on high school students’ interests in teaching.

On Thursday, February 10, 2022, Drs. Susan Perry and Amy Thompson (Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education) presented virtually at UCA's

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership (CETAL) first Lunch and Learn of the semester. Their presentation, Cultivating Executive Functioning Skills in Students, provided an overview of executive functions, discussed developmental milestones, and explained how executive functions impact our behavior and academics. It was a successful Lunch and Learn session.

Mrs. Brandy Walthall (Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education) graduated with a PhD in Reading from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in December of 2021. She had received her Education Specialist degree from UALR in Reading previously. Dr. Walthall received a BBA in Computer Information Systems, BSE in Early Childhood, and an MSE in Early Childhood from the University of Central Arkansas. Her goal when she graduated from UCA was to one day return and be a professor in the College of Education. Dr. Walthall will be ending her fifth year teaching at UCA this spring in the Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education Department.

Her philosophy of education is to reach every student by pulling whatever it takes out of your magic bag. She believes that every teacher holds the superpowers to reach every student. It is the teacher that holds the gift to find what works for each child. Dr. Walthall refers to her students as “super heroes” because she believes they hold the power to change the future.

Dr. Walthall said, "I have a huge passion for teaching whether it is preschool, kindergarten or preschool service teachers. I want to have a part of changing people’s lives."

UCA's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership (CETAL) offers instructional consultations. According to their webpage, https://uca.edu/cetal/instructional-consultations/, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership provides consulting services to faculty teaching in-person, hybrid, and fully online courses. An instructional consultation focuses on one or more areas of instruction:

• Course design ( crafting learning objectives, creating the syllabus, structuring the schedule, etc.)
• Course delivery (presenting content, leading discussions, managing group work, etc.)
• Assessment of learning (creating assignments, designing tests, providing feedback, etc.)

CETAL also has a webpage, https://uca.edu/cetal/udl/, which provides information about the Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

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Organize your Google Classroom with Topics. Read about how teacher Emma Pass uses this method as a hybrid school educator.

Missed an issue? You can view past issues of the COE Newsletter by going to https://uca.edu/education/coenewsletter/.