SPECIAL WINTER ISSUE 2018
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in this
ISSUE
LAUNCH is a semiannual publication by the College of Education at Purdue University 100 N. University St., West Lafayette, Ind. 47907 • education@purdue.edu • (765) 494-2341 Editor/graphic designer: Tonya Agnew ©2018 Purdue University. All rights reserved. An equal access/equal opportunity university.
4-5 It’s Elementary 6-7 Ethically Speaking 8-10 Back Home Again 11 Bragging Rights 12-13 Shortage of Skilled Trades 14-15 STEM Support 16 High Five 17 Culture Shift 18-19 19,710 Miles So Far 20 New Faculty
Doubling their attendance projections, the Purdue Autism Cluster hosted 142 attendees at the inaugural Purdue Autism Research Conference on October 18. The conference included three interuniversity symposia spanning basic, translational and applied research, student poster session, and two keynotes provided by world-renown experts in autism research — David Amaral, professor at the University of California, Davis and the director of the Mind Institute, and Connie Kasari, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. College of Education faculty are part of the Purdue Autism Cluster. Rose Mason, assistant professor of special education is a researcher and Mandy Rispoli, associate professor of special education is co-director.
On the cover: Dean Marchand-Martella (third from left) met with American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) President Lynn Gangone (far left) and Purdue AACTE Holmes Scholars, Temitope Adeoye (Ph.D. student in educational psychology and second from left) and Marquetta Strait (Ph.D. student in learning design and technology, on far right) at the Indiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education of Summit at Butler University in early November.
Learn more about the Cluster: purdue.edu/autism.
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From the
DEAN Alumni, colleagues and friends,
It’s good to be back home again in Indiana! I grew up 40 miles from Purdue University in Thorntown, Ind., and later, as a first-generation college graduate, received my bachelor’s degree from Purdue. After 33 years away, I’m delighted to return to Indiana as the Suzi and Dale Gallagher Dean of the College of Education. It’s a privilege to lead such an accomplished, determined and hard-working team of researchers, educators, staff and students. Although I’ve been on campus just a few months, we’ve already accomplished a great deal on our to-do list. • We gathered feedback and ideas about our teacher preparation programs from faculty, students, K-12 teachers, principals and superintendents at our Appreciative Summit. Look for updates about that in the spring magazine. • We hosted a Legislative Roundtable where Indiana legislators had the chance to learn from faculty and students about what we do. They visited Tim Newby’s class, Introduction to Educational Technology and Computing, and listened to presentations by his students. • We established new partnerships with Purdue Polytechnic and Indiana University that will provide innovative opportunities for our graduate and undergraduate students.
Also, as dean I: • Traveled to the Indiana Statehouse to build relationships with legislators and met with our state superintendent of public instruction, Jennifer McCormick (who happens to be a College of Education alumna). • Spoke at countless gatherings including the Retired Teachers Association, where I heard from those who spent decades in the education profession. • Visited several Indiana K-12 schools including my own elementary school, Thorntown Elementary. • Even did a fountain run with our incoming freshmen class! In the coming months, we’ll take a deep dive into our programs to determine what’s working and what could use some revision. We’ll investigate ways to support our ever-expanding online programs and the faculty who teach those courses. We’ll develop strategic fundraising approaches that will support the important work we do. We’ll work to increase the visibility and reputation of the College. And much, much more. What can we do to ensure our faculty are supported and our students are prepared? I’ll search high and low for the answers and, with the assistance of the wonderful faculty and staff we have in the College, we’ll find it. I look forward to the challenges and successes ahead and am proud to be back home at Purdue University. Boiler up!
Nancy Marchand-Martella Suzi and Dale Gallagher Dean of Education Share your GIANT LEAP on social media! Use #TakeGiantLeaps #Purdue150 #PurdueEdu.
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IT’S ELEMENTARY Providing future teachers new approaches in STEM instruction
(Far left to clockwise around t David Eichinger, Richard Aelo Selcen Guzey, Minjung Ryu m
What do you want to be when you grow up? Children are often asked this question and usually answer with occupations they are familiar with — police officer, teacher, doctor, president. Those are all fine professions — especially becoming a teacher — but what if children in elementary school had the opportunity to learn about engineering design-based science? Would that open up their eyes to new and exciting prospects for their futures? A $2 million grant funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), “Using Principles of Design to Advance Teacher Education” (UPDATE), aims to ensure elementary teachers can skillfully provide these new approaches to learning for their students. In the second year of the five-year project, faculty from the colleges of Education, Engineering and Science are working with 240 undergraduate students majoring in elementary education. “Little is known about how elementary science teacher preparation programs are addressing new national science standards,” says Brenda 4
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Capobianco, professor of science education and primary investigator on the grant. “By leveraging a proven collaboration among science and education faculty, UPDATE faculty have the advantage of creating powerful design-based learning experiences for Purdue’s preservice teachers and consequently, equipping teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to meet these new standards.”
Cross-Campus Collaboration
Partnering with Capobianco on this project are faculty from across campus — David Eichinger, 150th Anniversary Professor and associate professor of science education; Selcen Guzey, assistant professor of science education; Sanjay Rebello, professor of science education and physics; Minjung Ryu, assistant professor of chemical education; Robin Adams, professor of engineering education; and Kendra Erk, associate professor of materials engineering. Request the dean to speak or appear: bit.ly/EduDean
table) Brenda Capobianco, ong , Robin Adams, Kendra Erk, meet to discuss UPDATE.
“Ever since I came to Purdue in 1991, I have looked for meaningful ways to link the biology courses for elementary education majors with the science courses that they take in the other science disciplines such as chemistry and physics,” says Eichinger. “The UPDATE project provides a common foundation of integrated science and engineering design-based activities in a coordinated sequence of learning experiences as students progress through the various science courses. Having experienced these interdisciplinary activities first-hand as learners, our students will be better prepared to incorporate these same kinds of experiences into their own teaching in their methods classes, their student teaching and beyond.”
Building on SLED Foundation
UPDATE is based on the foundation laid by Capobianco’s $6.7 million NSF-funded project
— Science Learning through Engineering Design (SLED). The goal of SLED is to improve science learning in grades three to six through the integration of an engineering design-based teaching, similar to UPDATE. Both projects aim to provide teachers with instructional strategies and methods and ultimately, improve students’ learning of science and engineering. “Our graduates will be better equipped to interpret and adopt these new standards and potentially invent new ways of teaching science using engineering design,” Capobianco says. “In short, our teacher education graduates represent pioneers of a new generation of highquality teachers.” And those teachers will leave Purdue ready to help the students in their classrooms answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And just maybe many of them will want to become engineers, scientists or even teachers — after they earn a degree at Purdue University, of course.
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ETHICALLY SPEAKING
Lecture series brings speakers to Purdue Ken Burns speaks to a record crowd at Elliot Hall of Music in 2016.
A Nobel Prize winner. CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. U.S. senators and representatives. Best-selling authors and social entrepreneurs. Thirty speakers with considerable credentials have come to Purdue to share their stories and their thoughts on ethics thanks to an ongoing collaboration between the College of Education’s Ackerman Center and Krannert School of Management. The Purdue Series on Corporate Citizenship and Ethics, launched fifteen years ago, continues to offer speakers from a variety of disciplines who investigate the role citizens play in corporate ethics.
The idea spark
“Jim Ackerman endowed the Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship with the goals of fostering economic and civic education and to promote ethics in K-12 classrooms,” says Phillip VanFossen, director of the Ackerman Center and Ackerman Distinguished Professor of social studies education.
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“Until 2003, the Center focused primarily on these first two goals, but events at the time — Enron, MCI/WorldCom — sparked the idea of my approaching Rick Cosier — then dean of the Krannert School of Management—about a joint program that addressed the question of corporate ethics and what citizens might do about these events. Dean Cosier liked the idea and the Purdue Series was launched.” Since then the events, which are free and open to the public thanks to generous continued support from Purdue Federal Credit Union, have provided a well-rounded overview of the effects of corporate ethics upon business, the economy and society as a whole. “Ethics is a vital component in all disciplines, and the College of Education has been an ideal partner for this series,” says Tim Newton, director of external relations and communications for Krannert. “We have been able to bring speakers to campus to describe the importance of doing business and treating people the right way and the resulting impact that has on our society.” Request the dean to speak or appear: bit.ly/EduDean
PAST SPEAKERS
2018 Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, The Blind Side and The Big Short 2017 Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code 2016 Ken Burns, America’s Storyteller David Gregory, former moderator, NBC’s Meet the Press 2015 Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia 2014 Perry Chen, creator and chairman of Kickstarter 2013 Charles Best, founder of Donorschoose.org
Photo by John Underwood
2012 Nina Godiwalla, CEO of MindWorks and best-selling author Ron Shaich, founder, chairman, and co-CEO, Panera Bread Co. 2011 Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Mitch Jackson, VP environmental affairs and sustainability, FedEx
Big impact
Over the years, nearly 13,000 people have attended the lectures. “I think our most memorable speaker was Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize winner,” VanFossen says. “Ironically, his talk was more about citizenship in a democracy — he oversaw the transition from communism in Poland — than ethics, but it resonated with a crowd of more than 1,000 in Loeb Playhouse, including then governor Mitch Daniels, who presented Walesa with an Honorary Hoosier award. This was also special to me because I did teacher training in Poland in the early 1990s and I worked with Walesa’s Minister of Education — a fact Walesa claimed to recall.” “A close second was the award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns. In front of an audience of nearly 2,500 in Elliot Hall of Music, Burns described how his films captured a vision of America that future generations needed to be aware of. His talk was a very moving one and was well-received.” Planning for the next speaker will begin after the start of the new year, with the goal of having the speaker secured by late spring.
2010 Randy Cohen, ethics columnist, New York Times Magazine Jessica Jackley, co-founder, kiva.org Harry Markopolos, Bernie Madoff whistleblower 2009 Blake Mycoskie, founder, TOMS Shoes Harvey Pitt, former chairman, CEO, Kalorama Partners Jerome Ringo, president of the Apollo Alliance 2008 James W. Owens, chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill. Paul Sarbanes, former senator and co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2007 Barry Salzberg, CEO, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP John Kasich, host of Heartland with John Kasich, Fox News 2006 Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former lieutenant governor, Maryland Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and Nobel Laureate 2005 Jerry Greenfield, co-founder, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. Ron Shapiro, founder, Shapiro Negotiations Institute Arthur Martinez, former chairman and CEO, Sears 2004 Rushworth Kidder, founder, Institute for Global Ethics Marci Rossell, former chief economist CNBC 2003 Howard Putnam, former CEO Southwest Airlines Dick Thornburgh, former U.S. Attorney General Note: a speaker’s title is what he/she held at the time of the lecture.
MORE INFORMATION: education.purdue.edu/ackerman-center/programs/lecture-series
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BACK HOME AGAIN
at Purdue University by Brian Zink
After graduating from Purdue in 1985 with a degree in psychology, Marchand-Martella headed to Southern Illinois University to pursue a master’s degree in behavior analysis and therapy. She earned her Ph.D. in special education from Utah State University in 1991. Then it was on to faculty stints at Gonzaga University, Drake University, the University of Montana, Eastern Washington University and the University of Oklahoma as chair of the The ultimate responsibility for Department of Educational providing opportunity starts with Psychology. In addition to teaching, Marchand-Martella has the colleges of education. We have a pursued her research in the broad area of effective instructional tremendous responsibility to be able strategies and programs for pre-K through grade 12 students, to prepare educators who are going specifically those who struggle to go out and make a difference in the in school. Her most recent work centers on an approach gaining lives of other people’s children. national recognition called multi—Nancy Marchand-Martella tier system of supports, or MTSS.
Researching Interventions
MTSS focuses on meeting students at the level they are and finding more strategic and 8
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intensive types of intervention to help them both academically and behaviorally. “We try to be much more proactive, and when students are struggling we offer help sooner to prevent them from perhaps entering the special education pipeline,” she says. “The way the old wait-to-fail model worked, students often received services only after receiving a special education label. The new approach now is much more geared to what we can do in general education to make a difference in the lives of students.” “You don’t have to label a child to do what’s best for that child,” she says. “If you go down the road of special education, you want to truly ensure that they have a disability where they need specially designed instruction. If teachers utilize effective instructional practices and programs in general education, they are more confident about pursuing special education services.”
Providing Professional Development
Along with professional presentations on the topic, she also provides teacher training for states and school districts on effective instructional strategies and programs, which utilize a twopronged approach of examining both instruction and behavior management. “When students struggle, it might not be a student issue. It just might be a curricular or instructional issue. It’s important not to immediately blame the student. We have to examine what we actually do with our students.” In short, Marchand-Martella knows the power not just of instructional strategies, but also of the teachers who provide that instruction. A Purdue professor changed her planned career trajectory when she was an undergraduate student on the road to medical school. “I was in biology and then I took a course from (the late) David Santogrossi, and I fell in love with psychology,” Marchand-Martella notes. “I took a course from a dynamic, creative professor who loved his work, and it changed my life. I
recognized my own interest in the field, switched majors and haven’t looked back.” “As I drove to campus, I was thinking about all the opportunities I had here, and they came from pretty fabulous faculty,” she says. “I just feel lucky and pretty humble about it all. I was a first-generation college graduate, so I feel very fortunate.”
Indiana Grown
Marchand-Martella is the oldest of five children and grew up helping her parents raise and tend to horses and other animals on their mini-farm near Thorntown. After graduating from Western Boone High School, she began her freshman year at Purdue while still living at home so she could continue to help her parents on the farm. As a youth, she showed horses in 4-H and spent many of her days riding down the rural roads near Thorntown where her parents still live. Growing up, her family would take their ponies to the annual Festival of the Turning Leaves to sell rides to children attending the festival. “We would charge a quarter or 50 cents for the pony rides, and that’s how we paid for the hay,” she says. “We needed to help support all of the ponies, horses and various animals that we had. We also sold firewood or vegetables from our garden so we could help pay for the hay.” The love of horses that Marchand-Martella developed on the family farm has remained a constant in her life, and her horses accompanied her to Indiana. She plans to go riding “as soon as I can find where my saddle is among the myriad of moving boxes.” She met her husband, Ron, while they were both graduate students at Southern Illinois University. What started as two earnest students hitting the books led to something more. “We were studying together, and one thing led to another and we started to date,” she says. “And he gave me a card. In the card, he wrote that he found me very ‘reinforcing’ and I knew I was going to marry him. I thought that was the most romantic thing I’d ever heard from one behavior analyst to another.”
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After graduation, they married and FAMILY lived as house parents in a group home Husband Ron Martella (B.A. from Fort Lewis College; MS where they worked with six children in behavior analysis and therapy from Southern Illinois with autism and behavior problems. University; M.B.A. and Ph.D. in special education from “It was an amazing experience,” she Utah State University) is a professor of special education at says. “And after that we went on to get Purdue University. our Ph.D.s because we wanted to work with students who struggled and help Daughter Amedee is pursuing a Ph.D. in cognitive those who may not have been given a psychology with Jeff Karpicke, the James V. Bradley chance in life.” Professor, at Purdue this fall. Amedee has a B.A. from That’s what it’s all about for University of Colorado Boulder and an M.S. from Carnegie Marchand-Martella. Opportunity. Mellon University and was admitted to Purdue prior to her The opportunity to learn, the opportunity to teach and the mother’s selection as dean. opportunity to have an impact. All of that, ultimately, leads back to Son Dominic broke the mold and is at the University of Utah colleges of education. pursuing his M.F.A. in film production. He has a B.F.A. from “We need to pay it forward. That’s the University of Colorado Boulder. the way I view all of this,” she says. “To me the ultimate responsibility for providing opportunity starts with colleges of education. We have a tremendous Much like a good trail ride on a favorite horse, responsibility to be able to prepare educators who Marchand-Martella’s career is a combination of the planned and the unplanned – but that mix is are going to go out and make a difference in the what makes the ride worthwhile. lives of children. We need to change lives, one “I’m pretty humbled by it all, I’ll be honest,” she student at a time.” says. “I was just standing here and looking out “I am proud to be chosen as dean of Purdue’s the window at campus, going, ‘Wow!’ I went all College of Education. I am ready to ensure that the way to Washington State and then Oklahoma, people know about how wonderful the college is. and then back here. But things happen in life, and There are tremendous faculty here who secure you go down roads you didn’t necessarily have state and federal research grant funding, publish planned. It makes you who you are, so I wouldn’t meaningful articles in high-level journals, write trade those experiences.” groundbreaking books and provide invaluable outreach to schools. I also need to ensure that we are holding up our end of the bargain to prepare professionals who have the skills to go out and face the challenge of educating generations of learners.” CONTACT Marchand-Martella continues with a smile, “If you think about it, our college is the foundation DEAN MARCHAND-MARTELLA for the many colleges on campus: We prepare nmarchand-martella@purdue.edu teachers, they go out and teach students, and (765) 494-2336 those students ultimately will end up here. None education.purdue.edu/dean of them would have students if it weren’t for us.”
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BRAGGING RIGHTS
Faculty, staff and student awards and achievements Awardees at 2018 NAGC Conference (left to right) Sally Krisel, National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC), president; Juliana Tay – Carolyn Callahan Doctoral Student Award; Marcia Gentry, GERI Director; F. Richard Olenchak, Department of Educational Studies, head – Distinguished Service Award; Nielsen Pereira, assistant professor of educational psychology and research methodology – Hollingworth Award; Mehdi Ghahremani – Carolyn Callahan Doctoral Student Award; Ophélie Desmet – Hollingworth Award Jenn Barce, managing director of academic services, was elected to the Benton Community School Board. Lynn Bryan, professor of science education and director of CATALYST, has a new book, 13 Questions: Reframing Education’s Conversation: Science. Wilie Burgess, director of the Evaluation and Learning Research Center (ELRC), and the ELRC, are part of a $70 million award from the U.S. Agency for International Development for a consortium called PULSE LASER which will be led by the College of Engineering and includes partnerships with Indiana University, the University of Notre Dame, Catholic Relief Services and Makerere University in Uganda. CATALYST faculty Lynn Bryan, Selcen Guzey, Jill Newton, Paul Asunda and Muhsin Menekse, have been awarded a $1.4 million National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant for “Project EINSTEIN: Excellence in STEM Teaching in Indiana Through Integrating Engineering Practice and Design Principles.” It offers up to 32 scholarships for prospective secondary STEM teachers and is in partnership with Ivy Tech Community College, Carroll Consolidated School Corporation, Community Schools of Frankfort, Frontier Jr./Sr. High School, Tippecanoe School Corporation Middle Schools and North Montgomery Community School Corporation. Holly Fiock, instructional designer, and William Watson, associate professor of learning design and technology, won the University Professional and Continuing Education Association Central Regional Award for Excellence in Instructional Design. Carla Johnson, professor of science education and executive director of Indiana GEAR UP, and Janet Walton, research faculty, have two new books, Improving Bridge Design: STEM Road Map for Middle School and Packaging Design: STEM Road Map for Middle School.
Victoria Lowell, clinical associate professor of learning design and technology, won the 1st Place Book Award from the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Judith Lysaker, associate professor of literacy and language, has a new book, Before Words: Wordless Picture Books and the Development of Reading in Young Children. Rose Mason and her co-PIs – Mandy Rispoli, Jennifer Richardson and Yukiko Maeda, were awarded a $1.39 million federal research grant from the Institute of Education Sciences. The 3-year project will train supervising teachers to utilize practice-based coaching to improve paraprofessionals’ implementation of systematic instruction for elementary students with moderate to severe developmental disabilities. Muhsin Meneske, assistant professor of science education, and Ala Samarapungavan, professor of educational psychology and research methodology, received an Institute of Education Sciences grant of $1.4 million for their four-year project, Enhancing Undergraduate STEM Education by Integrating Mobile Learning Technologies with Natural Language Processing. JoAnn Phillion, professor of curriculum studies, and Allen Talbert, professor of youth development and agricultural education, were named to Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers. Robert Sabol, professor of art education, received the 2018 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award. Anatoli Rapoport, associate professor of social studies education, has been awarded the Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Institute grant from the U.S. Department of State ($750,000 possible for three years). Minjung Ryu, assistant professor of science education, who has been awarded a four-year grant totaling $847,245 from the National Science Foundation for Professional development for K-12 science teachers in linguistically diverse classrooms. William Watson is part of a multidisciplinary Purdue team on a National Institutes of Health funded, three-year grant for $367,347 to create virtual reality training solutions in the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Carol Werhan, clinical assistant professor of family and consumer sciences education, won the Indiana Association of Family and Consumer Sciences 2018 Leader Award.
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SHORTAGE OF SKILLED TRADES
by Lori Bowes
Training career and technical teachers Thirty-four years ago, James Greenan arrived at Purdue University and subsequently wrote a grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Education to begin a program as the founder and director of the Leadership Development Program. This program aims to prepare high school teachers to help implement, improve and expand career and technical education programs in schools across the state of Indiana and the nation. There is a particular focus on special needs populations, career pathways, generalized skills instruction, work-based learning and advanced manufacturing education — all vital for solving the current labor shortage of skilled tradespeople.
Developing Professionals
The career and technical education program at Purdue prepares teachers to provide children, young adults and adults with academic and technical skills as well as training to find and succeed in their future careers. What’s unique about Greenan, named the 2018 Region III Postsecondary Teacher of The Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education, is his Leadership Development Program. It’s a professional development program that focuses on redefining the relationships between teacher education and local schools’ needs. The program also arms students with the skills and knowledge to implement career and technical education programs in schools around their communities, districts and nationwide. 12
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“The LDP’s goal is to assist comprehensive high schools, career centers, community colleges and other agencies to improve and expand their career and technical education instruction and services for students of all ages,” Greenan says. Today, Greenan’s mission is to provide students with practical, real-world knowledge to assist them through their career pathways. He likens career pathways to the growth of a tree, where students may work their way up as a tree might, starting with a strong-rooted foundation and then branching out, continually moving towards their future career. He believes career and technical education is for everyone, and the Leadership Development Program is a great way for technical workers to give back to a community of hard-working individuals in various aspects of work.
Responding to Needs
The College of Education plays a large role in the continued improvement of career and technical education programs in the area. “The College has consistently been a strong supporter and advocate of the Leadership Development Program as well as the career and technical education program at Purdue,” says Greenan. Purdue’s College of Education works closely with both programs to respond to the needs of the local schools in areas of program improvement and professional development, among others. Along with working with Purdue’s College of Education, the Lafayette School Corporation Request the dean to speak or appear: bit.ly/EduDean
James Greenan sits in his office in Beering Hall on Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus.
in Lafayette, Ind., is involved with career and technical education partnerships around the area. Katie Reckard, the director of secondary education with the corporation says, “[We are] always looking to engage our students in career and technical opportunities. This is evident in our investment in the Greater Lafayette Career Academy opening fall of 2019. Our schools use programs such as ‘Promote Your Program’ to engage and expose students to CTE course offerings. As educators, we are always supportive of our students who are interested in teaching.” On top of the work that the LDP is currently doing to recruit more teachers in the greater Lafayette area for improvement and expansion of CTE programs, the LSC is also a champion of improving CTE programs in the area. “We are consistently reviewing our curriculum to ensure that we are meeting the needs of students as well as our community. We have made strides in retention through our partnerships with local industry and community organizations,” says Reckard.
A Passion for the Work
Greenan, the director and founder of this program at Purdue, currently focuses his efforts on expanding teacher engagement in the Leadership Development Program while also dividing his time leading some of the teacher training programs, with a specific focus on curriculum and
instruction for special needs students. He loves what he does, and he’s proud of the work he does. He hopes those who take part in the Leadership Development Program have that same passion for teaching others how best to use their skills and interests in their careers. Sitting in his office, Greenan is surrounded by a multitude of stacked boxes filled with the last five years’ worth of program improvement projects that have been implemented in local schools around Indiana and the greater Lafayette community. One of the most rewarding aspects of the work he does is getting to speak with alumni about how they’ve been able to impact their communities and schools. That, in essence, is why Greenan continues in this line of work. “I love what I do, and I wouldn’t want to do anything else,” he says. “I have a passion for what I do, and I think it’s my obligation to pass it on to my students and compel them to have a love and passion for what they do.” What’s in the future for Greenan? He plans to continue the improvement and expansion of the career and technical education program in every way he possibly can. This means expanding the Leadership Development Program as well as targeting other venues through the local, state and national level to inspire and encourage the next generation of career and technical education leaders.
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STEM SUPPORT Scholarship for STEM teachers in Danville, Indiana
Brandon Gleason and Heather Jackson are the first honorees of the C. Russell Kirts Teaching Excellence Award, which memorializes a beloved educator and aims to attract and retain outstanding science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers to Danville Community High School and Middle School. The award, thanks to a gift from Ron (Pharm ‘70, ‘01) and Susie Dollens (Edu ‘70), provides scholarships for Danville teachers to earn a Master’s of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.) or 18 college credit hours to become eligible to teach dual-credit in a STEM field.
BRANDON GLEASON
Pursuing M.S.Ed. I am a seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Danville Community Middle School and science department head. In addition to being a teacher, I am also a student council sponsor, chess club leader, science academic team coach, assistant cross country coach, science club leader and a member of the Danville Community Education Foundation.
How does the scholarship help make this
What degree do you hold?
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hamline University, located in Saint Paul, MN. I graduated in 2009. While attending Hamline, I was a multi-time Division III All-American in track and cross country. What inspired you to participate in this program?
In middle school, students are very curious about how things work and are also very impressionable, so by instilling an interest at a young age to the disciplines of science and math it could lead to a career in these fields or to a life changing innovation for many. I want to be a part of STEM and make STEM possible in my school because having a certain level of scientific literacy allows students to explain the world around them. I 14
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want to be apart of their educational foundation and their success in the future. By being in the STEM program, I will be giving students the knowledge and skills that they will need to “survive” in the real world after school. Therefore, by building a strong curriculum around STEM, I can ensure that students are exposed to science, technology, engineering, and math throughout their schooling.
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opportunity possible?
By being awarded this scholarship, I have been given the chance to create critical thinkers, spark innovators, increase literacy towards science, develop collaborative skills in students and to prepare students for economic success in a world that involves technology is basically everything we do. What are your plans for the future?
To help build the science curriculum at Danville Community Middle School around STEM and provide students with a hands on learning approach that nourishes their curiosity and expands on their creative side, while at the same time allowing students to investigate and build foundations to learning across all disciplines and to do this while being outside in nature. Request the dean to speak or appear: bit.ly/EduDean
How does the scholarship help make this opportunity possible?
I knew I wanted to go back to school and get my masters but there wasn’t a clear path on how I was going to achieve that goal. With the scholarship the path was not only laid out for me, but I was encouraged and enabled to take it. I am so thankful to be able to get my masters without the financial pressure in addition to the pressures of going back to school while teaching full time. What are your plans for the future?
HEATHER JACKSON
Pursuing M.S.Ed. and dual-credit licensure I currently teach chemistry and an integrated chemistry and physics class at Danville Community High School. I am also a member of the technology committee and a Schoology instructor. What degree do you hold?
I graduated from Purdue University with a major in biology, a minor in chemistry and an endorsement in education. I participated in a lot of amazing activities when I was there including Old Masters and Alpha Chi Omega sorority. I graduated in 1998. I taught for two years and then decided to stay home and raise my family. I stayed home for 17 years with our 4 girls and just re-entered the workforce last year.
I want to continue teaching at Danville Community High School. The other chemistry teacher that we have on staff will be retiring soon and I want to be able to replace him teaching the Advanced College Project (ACP) chemistry classes and possibly the ACP biology classes also. It will depend on the other staff, hiring decisions and a variety of other variables. I don’t plan on leaving the classroom. I absolutely love my job. The best part about teaching is the students and making a difference in their lives. I am not at school to teach chemistry, although I do currently teach chemistry. I am at school to teach students how to learn and apply that knowledge, how to be successful in the future and how to develop understanding, tenacity, and grit through hard work.
How does the scholarship help make this opportunity possible?
I personally believe that the acquisition of knowledge is not to learn things but to be able to understand and ask better questions. I want to teach my students not facts and figures, but how to use the knowledge they have and build on that to help them in their lives.
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HIGH FIVE
Couple holds combined five education degrees Interview by Alex Borst
With a combined five degrees from Purdue’s College of Education, Tom Robertson (B.A. ‘74, M.S. ‘78, E.D.S. ‘90) and Pam Robertson (B.A. ‘74, M.S. ‘78) talk about how Purdue helped them make giant leaps in their careers and life. Why did you choose Purdue? Pam Robertson: “Having grown up on a large grain farm, just west of Purdue, my family had plenty of contact with the university. My father, a master farmer, had completed an agriculture short course in the late 1950s at Purdue. It was a given that he expected his children to be educated at Purdue. Tom and I have a son and daughter who also graduated from Purdue as did their spouses.” Tom Robertson: “I’m a first-generation college graduate. I wanted to get a degree in order to increase my chances of getting a better job.” Why did you major in education? PR: “I come from a family of teachers. My grandmother was a teacher as were many in her family. I knew from the time I was in second grade that I would make teaching my mission in life and that never changed.” TR: “I wanted to teach children and help them appreciate and understand the importance of an education.” What did you do after leaving Purdue? PR: “I taught in Tippecanoe School Corporation in Lafayette for 38 years. I was a teacher at Battle Ground Elementary, Klondike Elementary and Burnett Creek Elementary and retired in 2013.” 16
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TR: “In 1975 I was hired as a sixth grade teacher at Fowler Elementary School and taught there for eight years. In 1983, I made the switch to working with educators and events at Purdue’s Conference Division where I worked as assistant director of conferences and a year as interim director. When I retired, after 34 years in 2017, I was a senior conference coordinator. How did Purdue prepare you for your careers? PR: “I had wonderful classroom experiences at Purdue both in undergraduate and graduate classes.” TR: “My coursework taught me multi-tasking, time management, organizational skills and how to work with different personalities. My student teaching experience was actually an internship during the entire fall semester of 1974 and I felt I was ready to teach when I finished my internship.” Why do you choose to give back to the College of Education? PR: “It takes a village to raise a child. Likewise, it takes a village of educators to nurture great teachers. Tom and I are committed to being a part of that village.” TR: “As I worked on my degrees at Purdue, I always had good relationships with my professors. So, I want to pay it forward so the College of Education at Purdue can keep its outstanding faculty here.” Read the complete Q&A from the Robertsons on our website at education.purdue.edu/alumni-spotlights. Request the dean to speak or appear: bit.ly/EduDean
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CULTURE SHIFT
Alumnus works to transform school corp In 2006, Ben Davis High School on the west side of Indianapolis had a graduation rate of 67percent. That was the year Jeff Butts (Ph.D. ’05), became assistant superintendent of the corporation in charge of that high school — M.S.D. of Wayne Township. He knew they had to make some drastic changes. He knew they had to change the culture. And he knew they needed to roll up their sleeves and get to work. As a third-generation educator, Butts, now superintendent of the same corporation, was inspired to become an educator by watching his high school algebra II teacher, Tom Smith, successfully teach content in a way that all students could understand it. Smith’s impact resulted in Butts pursuing education as a major. Similar to how Smith tailored instruction for his students, Butts set out to appropriately and carefully implement much-needed changes for the high school and the entire school system.
Culture Shift
“The thing I’m most proud of is the change in culture across the corporation,” says Butts. “In order for us to serve our students well in our changing community and in the changing landscape of education in the last decade, we had to change the culture. In order for us to make sure our students have every opportunity to be successful, we must ensure our teachers, administors and support staff know they are appreciated. They must have the tools needed to be effective, and we must continue to reinforce how important teachers are in the lives of their students.”
Jeff Butts smiles with a group of 2017 graduates from Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Ind.
Indiana Superintendent of the Year His dedication and diligence have resulted in a long list of honors and awards for Butts. Most recently he was named the 2019 Superintendent of the Year by the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents and is, at press time, one of four finalists for the American Association of School Administrators’ 2019 National Superintendent of the Year, which will be announced on February 14. “I study what higher education institutions, like Purdue University, are doing with regard to change. The same things that bring pride to a Purdue alumnus are the things I’m trying to accomplish in Wayne Township,” says Butts. That culture shift, along with many new initiatives including community outreach, has resulted in improvements in student achievement. 2014 saw their graduation rate peak at 94 percent. The rate fluctuates, but they continue to see overall graduation rates at or near 90 percent with the 2018 rate at 92 percent. These significant gains have been made in spite of a lack of additional funding and alongside an increase in the number of students in poverty. “We want people to be proud of where they live,” Butts says. “We want people to be proud of where they go to school. We want people to be proud of where they work — much in the same way I’m proud to be a Boilermaker.” You can follow Dr. Butts on Twitter @WayneTwpSuper.
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19,710 MILES SO FAR Alumna’s global teaching journey
Misti Savage-Shepherd stands with The Beacon, a naturally cooled lighthouse and community gathering space, in the background at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology School in in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
> Fort Wayne to Purdue University: 116 miles
she landed the job on the other side of the globe. She took with her the skills she’d acquired and resources from her coursework at Purdue. While at Purdue she was inspired to focus on literacy while taking a course from Susan Britsch, professor of literacy and language. “Hers is the only course work I still own from my undergraduate days, and I have carried it around the world,” says Savage-Shepherd.
Many times you change the trajectory of your life with a choice, but how many times does that choice lead you around the world? > Purdue to San Antonio, Texas: 1,201 miles
In 1996, Misti Savage-Shepherd (B.A. ’96), stepped off of the Elliot Hall of Music stage with her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and stepped into a teaching job in San Antonio, Texas. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native was immersed in the culture and people of San Antonio. During that first year, she asked loads of questions of the teacher across the hall. “Years later, that teacher told me I was probably the most prepared teacher she’d seen in her entire career,” Savage-Shepherd says. “I think it had a lot to do with every semester, whether I had a science class or a reading class, I had to go into the schools. As I got more and more into the literacy side of things, every lesson I taught was observed, and I got feedback from Purdue professors and mentor teachers on how to improve. There’s only so much you can do from a textbook. You’ve got to get in there and experience it and learn alongside other teachers.” > San Antonio to Beijing, China: 7,144 miles
After four years of teaching, on a whim, she decided to search for international teaching jobs. She sent an email to a school in Beijing, and two weeks later 18
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> Beijing to Hong Kong, China: 1,216 miles
> Hong Kong to Leipzig, Germany: 5,498 miles > Leipzig to Doha, Qatar: 3,566 miles
> Doha to Thuwal, Saudi Arabia: 969 miles
In addition to China, she has also held teaching and administrative positions in Germany, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. With all of the positions she’s held and through her city and country hopping, Savage-Shepherd, now the pedagogical coordinator at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology School in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, finds inspiration from everything around her. “Culture inspires me,” she says. “Learning about different people inspires me. I like being challenged to see the culture and get to know the people and understand their viewpoints and where they are coming from. Travel inspires me. The world is beautiful. I feel like I’m a global citizen now. Yes, I’m American, but I’m a global citizen.” Request the dean to speak or appear: bit.ly/EduDean
Photo by Ashley Rowell
> Thuwal to _____________?
In 2012, Savage-Shepherd earned her Ph.D. in language and literacy from Sheffield University, England. Her specialty is children ages five to seven who speak three or more languages. She is amazed at all that she has learned from the world and her global experiences. “I could have never imagined that little old Indiana me being out there,” she says. “Purdue was a good start just because it’s so international. I met a lot of people from other countries and other states. I had lots of little
moments all along of interesting culture, religion, values and beliefs.” After nearly two decades abroad, SavageShepherd and her family plan to move back to the U.S.A. in the summer of 2019. She would like to teach at the university level. “I hope to inspire future educators, just as Dr. Britsch inspired me.” You can follow Dr. Savage-Shepherd’s adventures on Twitter @Misti_SavShep.
WE HAVE SWAG! Show your Purdue University College of Education pride! Get a t-shirt, polo, denim shirt, fleece or tote with the College of Education logo and a portion of your purchase goes to support our student organizations. See all of the options here: education.purdue.edu/swag
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Non-Profit Organization US Postage PAID Purdue University
Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education 100 N. University Street West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098
MEET OUR NEW FACULTY AMANDA CASE, assistant professor of counseling psychology
RESEARCH: She investigates how families, schools and community-based organizations can work together to prepare lower-income students and students of color for higher education and how colleges and universities can support these same students after they have matriculated.
HUA-HUA CHANG, Charles R. Hicks Chair and professor of
educational psychology and research methodology RESEARCH: Chang’s research focuses primarily on improving educational assessments, specifically on issues emerged from the K-12 accountability testing.
CHRISTINE KIRACOFE, associate professor of
educational leadership and policy studies RESEARCH: Kiracofe’s research focuses on the intersection of education law and finance, with a primary emphasis on school funding litigation.
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ADRIE KOEHLER-BLAIR, assistant professor of
learning design and technology RESEARCH: Her professional interests include the consideration of instructional strategies in teaching and learning processes.
SARAH LAROSE, assistant professor of agricultural
education RESEARCH: LaRose’s research focuses on measurement of the effects of school-based agricultural education programs upon increasing agricultural literacy and preparing a workforce to meet cross-disciplinary needs of the 21st century.
RON MARTELLA, professor of special education
RESEARCH: Martella’s research focuses on interventions and programs at each level of the multi-tier system of support model including effective instructional approaches and differentiation, functional behavior assessment, selfmanagement and positive behavior support.
LISA SNODGRASS, assistant professor of educational
leadership and policy studies RESEARCH: Her research focuses on cultural dimensions of student achievement with specific emphasis on experiential intercultural interventions. Request the dean to speak or appear: bit.ly/EduDean