College of Education Newsletter
December, 2023
The Arkansas Research Center (ARC) began in the UCA College of Education in 2009 funded by multiple federal grants to the Arkansas Department of Education. The purpose of ARC was to create a longitudinal data system that brought together information from several state agencies, including education and the workforce.
The ARC continues to provide data research for state agencies more than 14 years later, currently focusing on pre-kindergarten outcomes in the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) K-12 schools. Currently, the Early Development Instrument (EDI) project measuring early childhood wellbeing for the ADE Office of Early Childhood is administered through the ARC and UCLA in California. Additionally, the most recent ARC evaluation of the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) pre-k program now includes a measurement of the 2009 pre-k cohort through high school graduation.
The report compares thousands of 2010 DESE kindergarten students with free meal status, including 2009 ABC participants and students who had no known pre-k participation. 2022 DESE high school graduation records were found 11% more often for 2009 ABC participants. The differences between ABC and No Known Pre-K increased each year from 2010 to 2022 in terms of both DESE enrollment and on-time graduation rates. Percentages are calculated based upon the 2010 kindergarten students who remained enrolled in DESE schools through 2022.
ARC has been directed by Dr. Greg Holland since 2016, with Dr. Sarah Argue as Deputy Director and Ellie Hill as Project Director. ARC is located in the Winthrop Rockefeller building in Little Rock near the Capitol. Dean Groves-Scott leads ARC from the UCA campus and identifies projects for ARC to consider.
Photo Info:
From left to right - Dr. Holland, Dr. Argue, and Ms. Hill
Teacher candidates in Ms. Catherine Miller’s (Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education) Math and Science Instructional Strategies courses engaged in hands-on multi-disciplinary learning activities through Project Learning Tree. At the end of the two-day training, candidates received six hours of Professional Development and a National Certification in Project Learning Tree.
Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12. For more information contact our state representative, Mr. Rob Beadel, at rbeadel@arkforests.org or visit the website at https://www.plt.org/network/arkansas/
Teacher candidates in Ms. Catherine Miller’s (Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education) Math and Science Instructional strategies courses engage in hands-on multi-disciplinary learning activities through Project WILD. At the end of the two-day training, candidates received six hours of Professional Development and a National Certification in Project WILD.
Project WILD's mission is to provide wildlife-based conservation and environmental education that fosters responsible actions toward wildlife and related natural resources. For more information contact our state representative, Mrs. Shelia Connerlyl, at sheila.connerly@agfc.ar.gov or visit the website at https://www.fishwildlife.org/projectwild
ALL ABOARD! Students in Mrs. Amber Brantley's (Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education) Foundations of Reading class traveled through "Syllabication Station" as they practiced syllable division types and patterns through activities such as Cart Derby (R- Controlled) and Silent E Race (Vowel-Consonant-e). Choo! Choo!
These three fabulous interns have been student teaching in a North Little Rock school this semester. Lesley Carino, Marissa Benefield, and Lindsey Davis are currently the teachers of record in kindergarten and first grade classrooms. Ms. Dee Dee Cain, Ms. Patti Hunter, and Dr. Stefanie Sorbet have served as their mentors and supervisors and have been with them weekly in their classrooms. These interns have been working so hard to provide authentic and engaging lessons for their students while managing behavior and implementing classroom management strategies. We are very proud of all of their hard work and love they have given to their students!!!
Photo Info:
From left to right - Ms. Hunter, Dr. Sorbet, Ms. Cain, Marissa Benefield, Lesley Carino, and Lindsey Davis
Whit Ables (PhD in Change Leadership for Equity and Inclusion student) was named 2021-2022 UCA Non-Classified Employee of the Year. The Employee of the Year is presented to a full-time staff member who has shown extraordinary performance to the university community over the past year.
On July 2023, Whit was elected to serve as Vice President for the UCA Staff Senate. Whit said, "As Vice President, I seek to create a collaborative and innovative space for staff members to collectively engage with the UCA community in meaningful ways. Per Staff Senate guidelines, I will become the President of Staff Senate for the 2024-2025 term."
Whit is currently Associate Registrar of Curriculum & Graduation at UCA.
Photo Info:
From left to right - UCA President Dr. Houston Davis and Whit Ables
Students, faculty, and alumni from the College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA) program participated in the annual conference for the Southern Association for College Student Affairs (SACSA) on November 3-7 in Atlanta, GA. Seven CSPA students attended.
Shandreka McCullough will graduate from the CSPA program in December 2023. She received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award and presented a poster session on her thesis project entitled, "Save a Space for Me!", which explored Black student involvement in student organizations at Predominantly White institutions (PWIs).
Jacoby Broadnax and Trey-Cean Allen are second-year students in the CSPA program, and they took home first place in the SACSA Case Study Competition competing against students from programs across the region.
Benjamin Norton is a second-year student in the CSPA program. Benji presented at the SACSA conference with Dr. Jennifer Daniels from Lyon College. Their presentation, Expanding the Universe: New Frontiers in UDL for LGBTQ+ and First-Generation Students in the Discussion of Concealable Stigmas in the College Classroom, is aligned with Benjamin's on-going thesis project.
Dr. Evan Faidley, Assistant Professor in Leadership Studies, presented a poster session at the conference, "Preparing for Student Affairs Work: Graduate Students' Perceptions of Necessary Professional Skills".
Dr. Thomas Bruick presented three sessions at the conference. The first session, The Strategic Path Forward: Reimagining the Beauty of Our Work, was informed by an on-going research project with collaborators from SACSA and Skyfactor Benchworks. Dr. Bruick also presented a session titled Friends Don't Let Friends Use Templates (for Data Visualization) with Dr. Sherry Woosley and Matt Venaas from Skyfactor Benchworks.
Finally, Dr. Bruick served as the chair of the Strategic Planning Committee for SACSA and facilitated a feedback session with constituents as the committee worked to finalize the organization's strategic plan for 2024-2029.
The CSPA Program hosted the CSPA Past & Present Lunch on Monday, November 6, at the SACSA conference. The lunch included seven students, two faculty, four campus partners, and 17 alumni!
Harvell Howard, an upcoming graduate of UCA's Ph.D. in Change Leadership for Equity and Inclusion program, was a featured speaker at UCA's Minority Graduation Celebration. He was asked to give the graduates a few words of encouragement in a 10-minute talk.
Harvell shared the following: His reason for entering the doctoral program, importance of having mentors, importance of knowing their purpose, have a plan of what you will get out of a Ph.D program but remain flexible, have patience with process, be resilient (like a basketball), and believe in your abilities (Faith).
Harvell is a 1999 graduate of Conway High School. Moreover, he is a graduate of Hendrix College with a degree in Economics and Business and holds a Master of Public Service degree from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. Harvell has had several job experiences in which he has lived and worked in New York, Arizona, Africa and now, back home in Arkansas.
Through both a nonprofit and a consulting business, Harvell works with various organizations to build the necessary capacity to reach goals and overall success.
Harvell believes that helping people is the key to success and self-fulfillment. He and his wife, Rosa, have three sons and reside in central Arkansas.
Jessica Kitchens, a Ph.D. student in the Change Leadership for Equity and Inclusion program (emphasizing Community Leadership and Change), recently had her book, If I Can Just Get Through This: A Therapist's Journey and Guidance Through Autistic Shutdown and Its Triggers, published.
Jessica, an autistic therapist, has found that this particular battle is one that she and many of her clients face on a regular basis. Utilizing lived experience and her proclivity for research, Jessica shares her own struggles, along with the numerous factors, roots, and triggers that increase the prevalence of shutdown in all ages. She invites autistic individuals, family members, and the professionals working with them to read and possibly find ways to withstand and overcome this common struggle.
Tuesdae Meade (UCA Master of Arts in Teaching Intern) recently taught a high school art lesson on creating cyanotypes. The cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces blue prints using coated paper and light. The process was discovered by the scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842 (https://brightpoint.edu/library-blog/cyanotypes-photographs-without-cameras/).The students did a scavenger hunt to find objects outside to include and then created their cyanotypes.
Tuesdae is completing her internship at Greenland High School.
Dr. Allison Freed (Department of Leadership Studies) was recognized as a UCA Distinguished Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Fellow. According to https://uca.edu/global-learning/coil/, The term COIL was coined in 2006 by Jon Rubin, who worked for the State University of New York (SUNY COIL Center). According to Rubin (2021), “COIL utilizes the Internet to empower students and instructors around the world to develop curiosity, flexibility, and generosity in concert with their academic partners. This benefits two or more classrooms of collaborating students, usually located in different countries, who have had different life experiences. COIL is also a way for students and instructors to learn about their discipline from a new perspective and can be a method for engaging those with other experiences and perspectives about how this knowledge might be applied.”
Dr. Freed is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator for the Instructional Technology graduate program. She has collaborated and partnered with faculty and students in Northern Ireland.
Drs. Odunola Oyeniyi and Valerie Couture (Department of Leadership Studies) participated in the two-day Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, which took place from November 16-17. MHFA is a training that teaches you how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adults. Drs. Oyeniyi and Couture will also participate in the 3-day training to be Adult Mental Health First Aid instructors on December 13-15.
Photo Info:
From left to right - Dr. Oyeniyi and Dr. Couture
Dr. Stefanie Sorbet (Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education) was elected to the position of Vice President/President-Elect of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA). She will serve in this capacity in 2024 and fulfill her role as President in 2025.
Dr. Sorbet has over 23 years of experience in both elementary and higher education combined. She currently serves as the K-6 Elementary Program Coordinator at UCA, instructs Positive Classroom Management courses, and supervises interns in their field placement. Dr. Sorbet’s research agenda consists of mentoring novice teachers in areas of classroom management, social and emotional learning, and building community in classroom settings. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in elementary education and her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Southeastern Louisiana University. She has been a member of MSERA since 2018 serving as Arkansas State Director, hospitality committee, presider, and reviewer of award papers and proposals.
Dr. Stefanie R. Sorbet, Dr. Patty Kohler-Evans, Dr. Donna Wake, and Dr. Renee Calhoon began this project in the summer of 2020 with an idea to write a principal's guide to support novice teachers. In 2021, with a faculty research grant and lots of collaboration together with Arch Ford, a pilot was designed and implemented to collect data on how to best support novice teachers in Arkansas. Because of this work, they are now able to share the story with school and district administrators as well as all educators searching for ways to support and mentor novice teachers in their first years of the profession.
About the Book:
Supporting New Teachers: Insight for Principals and Others to Help New Teachers in Their Initial Years provides a framework for critical components every new teacher needs to be successful and feel supported in their first year of teaching. It also serves as a guide for administrators to ensure their new teachers are equipped with the tools needed to be successful. Based on interviews with new teachers, the authors offer recommendations for which resources and activities novices felt were needed to successfully navigate their first year of employment. Their suggestions emphasized the need to create new teacher induction activities and mentoring programs that are based on the specific needs of novice teachers versus veteran teachers.
Photo Info:
From left to right - Dr. Calhoon, Dr. Sorbet, Dr. Kohler-Evans, and Dr. Wake