2016 newfaculty

From the Dean

T

he College of Education is pleased to announce the addition of six new faculty members this academic year. With the addition of this talent to our ranks, we will continue to be leaders in the ever-changing field of education.

2016-17 New Faculty Appointments

These new faculty members bring with them extensive training and expertise in a variety of fields, including second language learning, language and literacy for English learners, accountability in higher education, special education, early childhood education, and international and comparative higher education policy.

We feel fortunate that we have been able to attract such highly qualified individuals representing such a diverse collection of specialties and areas of focus.

Our new colleagues will help keep the College at the forefront of research and will strengthen the professional preparation programs we offer at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

These faculty members also are interested in continuing professional development and will become valuable resources to practicing educators throughout Pennsylvania and beyond.

The faculty, staff and students in the College of Education all strive to make transformative improvements in the field of education. Our continued growth as a College ensures our ability to remain true to this goal.

David H. Monk Dean

College of Education 274 Chambers Building University Park, PA 16802

Sincerely,

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. U.Ed. EDU 16-??

Please join me in welcoming the newest members of our most talented faculty into the College of Education at Penn State.

Uju Anya

Alicia Dowd

Curriculum & Instruction

Education Policy Studies

Uju Anya is assistant professor of second language learning. She received her bachelor’s degree in romance languages from Dartmouth College; her master’s in Portuguese language and Brazilian Studies from Brown University; and her doctorate in applied linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Before coming to Penn State, Anya was assistant professor of clinical education and online course content developer at the USC Rossier School of Education; a lecturer in the UCLA Department of Applied Linguistics; and Thurgood Marshall Fellow in the Dartmouth College Department of African & African-American Studies; and held positions at Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures, Phillips Academy Andover; and La Fundación del Niño (Caracas, Venezuela).

Elizabeth Hughes

Before coming to Penn State, she was a faculty member at the University of Southern California, where she co-directed the Center for Urban Education, home to the nationally renowned Equity Scorecard action research process. With co-author Estela Mara Bensimon, she recently published Engaging the “Race Question”: Accountability and Equity in U.S. Higher Education (2015, TCPress).

Her research expertise is in sociolinguistics; applied linguistics; second language learning; teaching English to speakers of other languages; and sociocultural investigations of race, gender, sexual, and social class identities in second language learning.

Her research focuses on political-economic issues of racial and ethnic equity in college student experiences and outcomes, organizational change, accountability, and the factors affecting student attainment in higher education. Dowd is currently utilizing cultural historical activity theory and critical race theory to investigate data use and organizational change under conditions of accountability in postsecondary settings.

Amy Crosson

Allison Henward

Curriculum & Instruction

Curriculum & Instruction

Amy Crosson is assistant professor of language and literacy education. She received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan; and her master’s and doctorate in language and literacy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Before coming to Penn State, she was a research associate at the Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh. She has led professional development for teachers and literacy coaches in both the U.S. and in Santiago, Chile. She began her career as a bilingual (Spanish/English) kindergarten teacher in urban districts including the Boston Public Schools.

Crosson’s research focuses on classroom-based interventions to support the academic language and literacy development of elementary and middle school students in under-resourced schools, with particular attention to academic vocabulary, discussion quality and argument writing. In particular, she investigates language and literacy development of English Language Learners.

Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education

Alicia C. Dowd joined the College as professor of higher education affiliated with the Center for the Study of Higher Education, in January 2016. She received her bachelor’s degree with distinction in English Literature; her master’s in education; and her doctorate in education all from Cornell.

Elizabeth Hughes is assistant professor of special education. She received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and human development from Boston College; her master’s in special education from Clemson University, and her doctorate in curriculum and instruction/special education also from Clemson University.

Before coming to Penn State, Hughes was assistant professor of special education in the Department of Counseling, Psychology and Special Education at Duquesne University School of Education. She also was co-chair of the Doctoral Student Innovative Community Group, Literacy Research Association/ National Reading Conference; a graduate research assistant on a National Science Foundation grant at Clemson University; a fourth-grade teacher in Cobb County, Ga., schools; and a third-grade teacher in Cobb County, Ga., schools, among other positions.

Her research interests include assessment measures for preservice teachers, general and special education teachers, and students in the areas of special education and English language-learners.

Kevin Kinser Education Policy Studies

Allison Henward is assistant professor of early childhood education. She received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Northern Arizona University; her master’s and doctorate in early childhood education with an emphasis in anthropology and education from Arizona State University.

Kevin Kinser is professor and head of the Department of Education Policy Studies. He received his bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Dayton; and his master of arts in student personnel administration, master of education in student personnel administration, and doctorate in higher education all from Columbia University Teachers College.

Before coming to Penn State, Henward was assistant professor of early childhood education at the University of Hawaii, Manoa; assistant professor of early childhood education at the University of Memphis; and an instructor and student teacher supervisor at Arizona State University. She also taught preschool and elementary school in Arizona.

Henward’s research focuses on globally circulating preschool curriculum and its meaning in local classrooms. This includes both official preschool curriculum and popular culture and media as curriculum. By examining how these various curricula are interpreted in light of social class, gender and power dynamics, her research aims to make curriculum and instruction relevant in local contexts.

Before coming to Penn State, Kinser served since 2013 as chair of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He currently serves as Senior Fellow for Internationalization with NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

His research interests include international and comparative higher education policy including private sector initiatives, cross-border education, and quality assurance and accreditation; and policy and organizational behavior in nontraditional higher education including for-profit higher education, and distance education and online initiatives.