College of Education Newsletter
January 2025
Dr. Valerie Couture:
Dr. Valerie Couture (Department of Leadership Studies) recently published an article with Dr. Bonni Behrend and Dr. Marjorie C. Shavers (both from Missouri State University). The article "Exploring Elementary School Counselor Self-Efficacy to Improve Graduate Training and Retention" was published in the Midwest Journal of Education in December of 2024.
The article can be accessed here:
https://www.williamwoods.edu/academics/mje/articles/vol1/iss2/mje-1-2-4.html
Dr. Joe Fisher:
Dr. Joe Fisher (Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Leadership Studies) recently made three presentations at the Arkansas School Board Association's (ASBA) Fall Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Dr. Fisher has taught several graduate classes at UCA: Visionary Leadership; School Board Relations; and School-Community Relations. This semester (Spring 2025), he is mentoring 36 Building and District Administrator Internship candidates. Dr. Fisher is currently the Superintendent for the Guy-Perkins School District.
Dr. Allison Freed:
Dr. Allison Freed (Department of Teaching and Learning) recently earned the distinction of ISTE Certified Educator. According to https://iste.org/educator-certification, ISTE Certification positions you as an expert among your colleagues and prepares you to lead in educational technology. Benefits include:
- Expertise in the ISTE Standards for Educators
- 4 graduate-level credits available
- One year of free basic ISTE Membership
- Access to the exclusive ISTE Educator Community
- Ability to support your teacher network in integrating technology effectively
- Recognition as a technology leader
- Recognition at the ISTE+ASCD Annual Conference
Dr. Leticia de la Garza:
Dr. Leticia de la Garza continues to make significant contributions to educational research and practice. Her recent work, published in the ArATE Electronic Journal with colleagues Drs. Allison Freed and Odunola Oyeniyi, examine the utility of the Teacher Moments platform as a data collection tool for research. The team will share their article, “Digital Simulations in Education: Insights From Two Studies Using the Teacher Moments Platform,” at the 2025 American Teacher Education (ATE) Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana this March.
As a faculty member in the Department of Leadership Studies, Dr. de la Garza teaches courses that prepare the next generation of K-12 educational leaders. Her current teaching portfolio includes Operations & Management, Instructional Leadership II, and Visionary Leadership, where she guides graduate students in developing essential leadership skills for today’s educational environments. Additionally, she served as the field supervisor for aspiring school administrators during the Fall 2024 semester and traveled across the State of Arkansas to visit with students completing their internships.
Dr. de la Garza’s research agenda spans several dynamic areas in education. She is currently collaborating on projects that foster global citizenship, providing guidance to practitioners and scholars on how to effectively integrate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and collaborative online international learning (COIL) into student learning experiences in primary, secondary, and/or tertiary education. Additional collaborative work is focused on artificial intelligence in international higher education, addressing one of today’s most pressing educational developments. Drawing from her cultural background and expertise, Dr. de la Garza is presently developing research that incorporates Chicana/Latina feminist approaches, using testimonios (first-person accounts) and pláticas (informal conversations or discussions) (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016) to understand the experiences of Latina K-12 educational leaders, adding vital perspectives to leadership studies.
Dr. de la Garza aims to enrich academic literature by deepening our understanding of educational leadership through the lens of lived experiences, particularly those shaped by cultural identity and socioeconomic circumstances.
Reference:
Fierros, C. O., & Delgado Bernal, D. (2016). Vamos a platica: The contours of pláticas in Chicano/Latina feminist methodology. Chicana/Latina Studies, 15(2), 98–121. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43941617
Dr. de la Garza is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership Studies.
Dawn Main Moore:
Dawn Main Moore (UCA College of Education graduate) was recently named Teacher of the Year at Jones Academy of Fine Arts and Dual Language in Arlington, Texas.
Dawn graduated from UCA in 2009 with her B.S.E in Middle Level Education. She earned her Master of Library Science (MLS) from Texas Woman’s University in 2015. She is currently the librarian at Jones Academy of Fine Arts and Dual Language.
Kurtis Robbins:
Kurtis Robbins, a History Secondary Education major, has achieved a significant milestone by publishing his first article. Titled "From Angst to Ashes: The Complexities of Addiction in the Lives of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley, 1987-2002," the piece was accepted for publication in the Apollon Undergraduate eJournal.
Currently completing his Internship II, Kurtis explores the profound struggles of two iconic musicians and their battles with addiction in his article.
Read his work here: From Angst to Ashes.