CEHD Newsletter: Aug 31, 2006

(See also the PDF version)

Please submit items to Gail Haller (ghaller@gmu.edu) by Thursday of each week.

Faculty News

Kevin Clark (kclark6@gmu.edu) had a featured article titled "What a George Mason Expert Is Saying about … Building Bridges across the Digital Divide"  in the July 25 issue of the Mason Gazette.  The full article can be found at http://gazette.gmu.edu/articles/8723.

The Online Academy directed by Priscilla Norton (pnorton@gmu.edu) has an article in the Washington Examiner that can be accessed at http://www.examiner.com/a-232637~GMU_expands_online_program.html.  [Anne Little
(alittle@gmu.edu), a mentor for a George Mason University program that links teachers and high school students online for credit-worthy courses, works on a lesson plan Sunday in her home in Franconia.]

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Layne Kalbfleish (lkalbfle@gmu.edu) is featured in this year’s George Mason University’s recruitment ad for the The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Estela Landeros-Dugourd (elandero@gmu.edu), Assistive Technology Coordinator at the VDOE’s Training and Technical Assistance Center at the Kellar Institute at GMU, conducted a 3-day workshop on Universal Design for Learning under the auspices of the Ministry of Education in Peru.  The event was sponsored by the University of Sacred Heart, Telephonic Foundation and the National Center of Rehabilitation.  She and her co- presenter Fran Smith, from the TTAC at VCU, integrated the national curriculum of Peru to introduce the concept of Universal Design for learning approach and its applications for K-12 and for higher education.  Over 1100 teachers participated on site, or via video conferencing.  As a result of this workshop, a community of learning on universal design for learning will be designed for Spanish speakers, and it will be launched at the webpage sponsored by the Ministry of Education.

Joe Gagnon (jgagnon@gmu.edu) was appointed Consulting Editor for The Journal on Alternative Schooling.

Joe Gagnon (jgagnon@gmu.edu) and colleagues P.E. Leone and C. Mulcahy presented
"Curriculum Policy and Education Reform:  What Do We Do for Youth in Corrections?" at the 2006 OSEP Research Project Directors Conference in Washington, D.C. on August 1.

Dominique Banville (dbanvill@gmu.edu) had an article titled "Analysis of Exchanges Between Novice and Cooperating Teachers During Internships Using the NCATE/NASPE Standards for Teacher Preparation in Physical Education as Guidelines" in the latest issue of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Vol. 77, pp. 208-221.

Paul Bohman (pbohman@gmu.edu) served as Program Co-Chair for the 18th Annual EDMEDIA World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications, June 26-30 in Orlando.  Elaine Pearson of the University of Teesside, UK, was the other Program Co-Chair.

Rita Chi-Ying Chung (rchung@gmu.edu) was a speaker at the UNICEF and UNESCO sponsored Asia Pacific Childhoods Conference in Singapore on July 20; her presentation was titled " Violence and Children in the Asia Pacific Region."

Rita Chi-Ying Chung (rchung@gmu.edu) was invited to be on the Scientific Committee on Cross-Border Issues, Migration, and Trafficking and to co-organize the first conference in Asia focusing on children’s issues in the Asia Pacific region.  The Scientific Committee was co-sponsored by the National University of Singapore and University of Cambridge, UK.

Anastasia Samaras (asamaras@gmu.edu) and colleague Anne Freese have published their new book titled Self-study of Teaching Practices Primer (2006) with Peter Lang Publishing.

Anastasia Samaras (asamaras@gmu.edu) was awarded a GMU Provost Grant for Faculty Research titled "Scaffolding Emerging Scholars’ Publication," an initiative to research, develop, and teach a new course offered to Mason’s doctoral students in support of their development as scholars exiting the university with a repertoire of presentation and publishing skills.

Anastasia Samaras (asamaras@gmu.edu), along with colleagues Clare Kosnik and Anne Freese, had their paper "Beginning with Trusted Friends:  Venturing Out to WorkCollaboratively in our Institutions," published in the Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, in L. Fitzgerald, M. Heston & D. Tidwell, (Eds.) Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex, England on July 31.

Anastasia Samaras (asamaras@gmu.edu), with colleagues Mary Adams-Legge (madamsle@gmu.edu), Deanna Breslin (dkelley2@gmu.edu, Jennifer Magaha O’Looney (jmagaha@gmu.edu), Kavita Mittapalli (kmittapa@gmu.com), and
Dawn Renee Wilcox (dwilcox1@gmu.edu), will present their paper titled "Emerging Zones Through Alternative Pedagogies:  Collectively Studying the Intersections of Self, Research and Practice"at the 7th International L. S. Vygotsky Memorial Conference titled "Cultural-Historical Theory:  Prospects of Development" at Russia State University for the Humanities, Moscow.

Yoosun Chung (ychung3@gmu.edu) received "The WORDS+/ISAAC Outstanding Consumer Lecture Award" at the ISAAC (International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication) conference in Germany on August 1.

Yoosun Chung (ychung3@gmu.edu) presented an essay titled "All About Love Among My Parents, Me, and My Own Children" at the ISAAC conference in Germany on August 1.

Yoosun Chung (ychung3@gmu.edu) presented "Perspectives of High-Tech AAC Users" at the ISSAC conference in Germany on August 1.

Elavie Ndura (endura@gmu.edu) published an article titled "The Role of Cultural Competence in the Creation of a Culture of Nonviolence" in the Culture of Peace Online Journal, 2(1), 39-48.

David Bever (dbever@gmu.edu) is a member of Team Fairfax 2013, the Washington area's bid committee for the 2013 World Police and Fire Games.  Team Fairfax 2013 will be hosting the International Site Selection Committee on the GMU campus September 8-12.  This is the second round in the bid process.  The other competing sites include:  Belfast, Northern Ireland; Calgary, Canada; Denver, Colorado; and Innsbruck, Austria.

David Anderson (danderso@gmu.edu) conducted two training workshops for Mason's Resident Advisors on August 14 and 15.  The workshops were titled "Strategies for Healthy Living:  The COMPASS Approach."  These workshops addressed efforts to reduce alcohol abuse on college campuses and highlighted Mason's Healthy Expectations initiative for life health planning.  Participants received the COMPASS CD-ROM, to be distributed in September 2006 to all Mason first-year students.

David Anderson (danderso@gmu.edu) conducted a workshop for law enforcement personnel on August 15 titled "Alcohol and Youth on Campus:  Strategies to Make a Difference" at the College and University Police and Investigators Conference held on the Prince William campus.  It highlighted results from the National 2006 College Alcohol Survey, resources from the Promising Practices:  Campus Alcohol Strategies project, and innovative approaches used with the Healthy Expectations and COMPASS initiatives at Mason.  This workshop also incorporated the use of Patriot
Pulse, the interactive audience polling devices managed by the Center for the Advancement of Public Health.

Laurie Harmon (lharmon@gmu.edu) and Mark Gleason ran a successful Tall Ship field course from July 20-28.  Ten students (K-12 educators, adults and a GMU graduate) learned to sail a 3-masted schooner (the S/V Denis Sullivan) through Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan while exploring shipwrecks, collecting aquatic samples, and learning about a variety of maritime related topics.  Next year's program is now being planned.

Fred Bemak (fbemak@gmu.edu) was an invited speaker at the UNICEF and UNESCO sponsored Asia Pacific Childhoods Conference in Singapore on July 18.  His presentation was titled " The Psychosocial Impact of Violence on Children:  Youth At-Risk in Asia."

Bill Brozo (wbrozo@gmu.edu) was in Kecskemet, Hungary August 4-11 participating in activities of the PISA/PIRLS Task Force, of which he is a member.  He also traveled to Budapest where he presented a paper titled "An Historical and Policy Context for the Secondary Educational Activity (SEA) Project in Macedonia" at the meeting of the International Reading Association World Congress.

Bill Brozo (wbrozo@gmu.edu) has been named an author/consultant for Jamestown Reading Navigator, an interactive program for striving adolescent readers, published by McGraw-Hill.

Bill Brozo (wbrozo@gmu.edu) had his 5th edition textbook, Content Literacy for Today's Adolescents:  Honoring Diversity and Building Competence," published by Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Bill Brozo (wbrozo@gmu.edu) was interviewed for and quoted extensively on July 29 in an article titled "Boys and Books: Boys' Education Stirs Much Debate, Brings Little Consensus" that appeared in the August/September issue of Reading Today, the tabloid of the International Reading Association.

Donna Sterling (dsterlin@gmu.edu) published an article in the September 2006 issue of Science Scope titled "A Change in Seasons:  Increasing Student Observation Skills."  The article describes strategies for helping students learn how to accurately observe and notice small details, a skill important to scientists.

Bob Baker (rbaker2@gmu.edu) co-authored an article titled "Motivating Athletes toObtain Maximum Effort"in Strategies:  A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators, Vol. 19, July/August 2006 with colleague Robert Schneider.

Maggie Daniels (mdaniels@gmu.edu) received a $5,000 award from the National Air and Space Museum to study their 2006 Space Day.

Maggie Daniels (mdaniels@gmu.edu) received a $10,000 award from the Dominion Foundation to study resident visitation patterns at the National Air and Space Museum.

Maggie Daniels (mdaniels@gmu.edu) had a paper accepted for presentation at the Leisure Research Symposium of the 2006 National Congress for Recreation and Parks. The paper is titled "Hostel Travel and Cross-Cultural Understanding" and is co-authored with Heather Bowen of the University of New Hampshire.

PhD Students

Mary Zamon (mzamon@gmu.edu) presented her doctoral dissertation proposal titled "Implementation and Consequences of the Assessment of Undergraduate Critical Thinking in a Public University."  Committee members include Martin Ford (mford@gmu.edu), chairperson, David Brazer (sbrazer@gmu.edu), and Gary Galluzzo (ggalluzz@gmu.edu).

Sheri Berkeley (sberkele@gmu.edu) presented her doctoral dissertation proposal titled "Examining the Effects of Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction with Attribution Retraining on Reading Comprehension, Meta-comprehension Strategy Use, and Attributional Beliefs of Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities" on July 31.  Committee members included Margo Mastropieri (mmastrop@gmu.edu), chairperson, Tom Scruggs (tscruggs@gmu.edu), and Anastasia Kitsantis (akitsant@gmu.edu).

Arieh (Ari) Sherris (asherris@gmu.edu) facilitated professional development workshops for teachers and administrators from high schools in Central Valley California July 31-August 4.  The workshops initiated a 2-year project to improve the education of language minority students and support their transition into post-secondary education with funding from the Irvine Foundation.  Program documentation and evaluation are additional components of the project and will be conducted in collaboration with the University of California at Merced and stakeholders from participating schools.

John Staley (jstaley@bcps.org) defended his doctoral dissertation titled "Examining Electronic Learning Communities as a Means for Sustaining and Supporting Mathematics Professional Development" on August 18.  Committee members included Patricia Moyer-Packenham (pmoyer@gmu.edu), chairperson, Mark Spikell (mspikell@gmu.edu), and Brenda Bannan-Ritlandbbannan@gmu.edu).

Grants/Proposals

Jack Levy (jlevy@gmu.edu has received a new award titled "EDUC 600:  Workshop in Education:  Reading and Writing Strategies for English Language Learners" for $176,054 from the Virginia Department of Education.

Jack Levy (jlevy@gmu.edu) has received additional funds for the award titled "FAST TRAIN:  An Alternative Preservice Program for the Preparation of ESOL Teachers" in the amount of $222,786 to bring the total award to $1,113,930 from the U.S. Department of Education.

David Anderson (danderso@gmu.edu) received a new award titled "USDoED/Healthy Expectations:  Preventing High Risk Drinking by Transforming Campus Cultures" in the amount of $170,353 from the U.S. Department of Education.

Mike Behrmann (mbehrman@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Special Education Training and Technical Assistance Center for Region 4" to the Virginia Department of Education.

Farnoosh Shahroki (fshahrok@gmu.edu) and faculty associate Bev Shaklee (bshaklee@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "International Educators Program" to the U.S. Department of State.

Mark Goor (mgoor@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Fairfax County Public Schools-Internship Program Leading to VA Licensure with Endorsements for Ed K-12 and LD K-12" to the Fairfax County Public Schools.

David Anderson (danderso@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Evaluation Services for NCAA Choices Projects" to the NCAA.

Nada Dabbagh (ndabbagh@gmu.edu) with computer science faculty member Mark Pullen (mpullen@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Expanded Access to Higher Education via Synchronous Online Course Delivery" to the U.S. Department of Education.

Barbara Given (bgiven@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "KRASNOW:  Virginia Computerized Adolescent and Adult Reading Assessment" to the U.S. Department of Education.

Mike Behrmann (mbehrman@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Access For All Conference" to the U.S. Department of Education.

Joe Gagnon (jgagnon@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Serious Behavior Disorders-Special Education Research" to the U.S. Department of Education.

Joe Gagnon (jgagnon@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Writing Instruction for
Adolescents with Behavior Disorders:  Scaffolding Procedural Learning to Extended
Discourse (Project SPLED)" to the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education
Sciences.

Jeannine Tate (jtate1@gmu.edu) submitted proposals titled "Fairfax County Public Schools –PDS Program" and "Arlington County Public Schools-PDS Program" to Fairfax County Public Schools and Arlington County Public Schools, respectively.

Nada Dabbagh (ndabbagh@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Effective Data Driven Training Strategies for Mine Supervisors" to the Mining Health and Safety Administration.

Jeffrey Gorrell (jgorrell@gmu.edu), with faculty associates David Anderson (danderso@gmu.edu), Laurie Dopkins (dopkins@gmu.edu), and Emily Zimmerman (ezimmerm@gmu.edu), submitted a proposal titled "Strategic Planning and Assessment" to Loudoun County.

Laurie Harmon (lharmon3@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Pre-proposal:  Using Underwater ROVs as an Educational Tool for Understanding Marine Environments" to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Kevin Clark (kclark6@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Hoop Magic Sports Education Technology Project:  Learning Through Play, Succeeding Through Preparation" to Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Lynne Schrum (lschrum@gmu.edu) submitted a proposal titled "Editor:  Journal of Research on Technology of Education" to the International Society for Technology in Education.

CEHD News

An Undergraduate Studies in Education information session will be held on Tuesday October 10 from 6:00 PM-7:00 PM in the Johnson Center Gold Room.  The session is for current undergraduates who are thinking of transferring to Mason or who are already enrolled at Mason.

The Center for International Education will hold a seminar on September 19 from 5:00 PM-7:00 PM in SUB II Ballroom.  Elavie Ndura (endura@gmu.edu) will be the guest speaker.  Her presentation will be titled "Culture, Ethnicity, and War:  Examining Educational Promises and Challenges in the Quest for Sustainable Peace in Burundi."  All faculty and students are welcome to attend.

Jennifer Garvey Berger (jberger1@gmu.edu) with Keith Johnston, Visiting Scholar from New Zealand, Mark Addleson (maddleso@gmu.edu), associate professor in Public Policy, and Paul Atkins, associate professor from Australian National University, are organizing a symposium titled "Meaning-making in Organizations Symposium:  Fostering Integration in a Fragmented World" on September 13-14 in Washington, D.C.  All Mason colleagues are invited to attend.  For further information contact Jennifer Garvey Berger at (jberger1@gmu.edu).

"Make the Message Matter: Engaging Your School Community" was the theme of the two-day summer institute hosted by CEHD’s Office of Education Services (OES) in collaboration with Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William County Public Schools.  More than 100 school leaders participated from more than a dozen school divisions.  James Carville, political consultant and commentator, served as the keynote speaker on the first day of the institute.  Other presenters included:

  • James Adams, reporter/anchor for NBC affiliate WRC-TV, Washington, D.C.
  • Marilyn Sanders Mobley, Mason Associate Provost for educational programs and Associate Professor of English and African American Studies
  • Robert Smith, Jack Dale, and Edgar Hadrick, school superintendents from Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun County Public Schools, respectively
  • Lew Armisted, public relations consultant; President, LA Communications

On both days, there were breakout sessions during the afternoon.  Selected topics were:

  • Branding and Marketing Your School
  • Increasing Minority Parent Participation in Schools
  • Community Engagement in Your School Plan
  • Crisis Communications 
  • Building Effective Partnerships
  • Parent Involvement and Student Achievement

Washington Gas provided support for this event.  CEHD involvement included:  Joan Isenberg (jisenber@gmu.edu), Marilyn Deppe (mdeppe@gmu.edu), Libby Hall (lhall4@gmu.edu), and Scott Bauer (sbauer1@gmu.edu) (steering committee members); Scott Bauer and Jeannine Tate (jtate1@gmu.edu) (workshop leaders);and Nancy Miller (nmiller5@gmu.edu), Joycelyn Bourelle (jbourell@gmu.edu), Peggy Stull (pstull@gmu.edu), Beth Rooney (erooney1@gmu.edu), Brenda Mueller (bmueller@gmu.edu), Shernita Rochelle Parker (srochell@gmu.edu), and Amy Biderman (abiderma@gmu.edu) (registration, marketing, and logistics). 

The prestigious National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship Program will support up to 20 early career scholars working in critical areas of education research in 2007-08.  Fellows will receive $55,000 for one year of research or $27,500/year for two years working half-time.  Applicants must have earned their doctorate between January1, 2001 and December 31, 2006.  Deadline to apply is November 10, 2006 and awardees will be notified in May 2007.  Detailed information, forms and guidelines can be found at www.naeducation.org.

Please send requests to update the CEHD web sites as follows:

GSE ACADEMIC PROGRAM CONTENT:
Joan Isenberg (jisenber@gmu.edu), cc: Mary Miller (mmillerw@gmu.edu)

GSE FACULTY/STAFF INFORMATION
Martin Ford (mford@gmu.edu), cc: Pat Nash (pnash@gmu.edu)

GSE STUDENT INFORMATION
Mark Goor (mgoor@gmu.edu), cc: Joe Alvis (jalvis@gmu.edu)

SCHOOL OF RHT INFORMATION (academic programs, faculty/staff, students)
Dave Wiggins (dwiggin1@gmu.edu), cc: Lisa Reeves (lreeves1@gmu.edu)

CEHD WEB INTEGRITY AND PROFESSIONALISM (design, impact, impression)
Jeff Gorrell (jgorrell@gmu.edu), cc: Martin Ford (mford@gmu.edu)

EXCEPTION:
Center and Office Directors may continue to manage their own web sites.