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Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education
When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something, to do something. Our children and their children will ask us: ‘What did you do? What did you say?’
— JOHN LEWIS
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Me ssage from the D e a n : O u r M i s s i o n
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GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program Advances Excellence and Equity in Education
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GSE’s Community School Partnership Network: Empowers North Brunswick Township School District
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Leadership in Advancing Excellence & Equity in Education through the GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program
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The Role of GSE’s Teacher Education and Executive Committees in the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program
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GSE Faculty Chairs Work Together Across All Three Departments to Support the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program
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Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education During the Pandemic
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GSE Alumna and New Jersey State Teacher of the Year Empowers Student Change Agents for Social Justice
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GSE Donor ’s Endowed Fellowship Inspires Future Teachers to Make a Difference
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The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on our GSE Students
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M E S S A G E
F R O M
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he past year, was very difficult for all of us, and especially, hard and difficult for many of our students, faculty, staff and alumni, and friends. Despite all of the challenges we have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and as we have begun to reckon with racism and racial justice coupled with growing educational inequities and economic disparities, we could not be prouder of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as they have stepped up to the plate and helped to serve our local, national, and global communities. In this year’s GSE Impact Report, we celebrate the success of our Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program, which we launched four years ago. The program emulates the GSE’s commitment to Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education. The program has enjoyed many successes with the most significant one being that GSE alums are being hired by high needs urban districts where their skills are most needed and they are well prepared to serve with excellence. We also examine how the pandemic has impacted our profession of teaching and our teacher education program specifically, and how we have responded to this unprecedented health and educational access crisis. This success would not be possible without the unwavering commitment of our excellent, innovative, and dedicated GSE faculty and staff coupled with the visionary leadership of GSE Associate Dean and Faculty Director of Teacher Education, Dr. Nora Hyland. She has been instrumental in developing the program since its successful launch and also as it continues to evolve to meet the needs of our most historically underserved and marginalized communities. Dr. Hyland engages in this crucial work in partnership with the GSE’s Executive and Teacher Education Committees, which includes faculty from across the entire school as well as Mason Gross School of the Arts. The input of these stakeholders and the data driven work of this committee and its subcommittees has been integral to the success of the GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program. One of the signature components of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program is the GSE’s Community School Partnership Network (GSE-CSPN). This is a network of eight urban school districts who partner with the GSE to Advance Excellence and Equity in Education. Our partners include Bound Brook, Franklin Township, Highland Park, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Neptune Township, Rahway and Woodbridge, school districts. Our partners host GSE’s pre-service teachers as we prepare them to teach and empower students from historically marginalized communities. In this year’s report, we specifically spotlight our partnership with North Brunswick Township Schools where even during this
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global pandemic, GSE students have continued their clinical placements and we have supported the district by offering professional development opportunities around remote instruction. We are grateful to all our partner districts for their commitment to helping GSE prepare and empower the next generation of social justice educators. We also highlight in this year’s report how the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program requires coordination by all three faculty chairs across the Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Administration (ETPA), Department of Learning and Teaching (L&T), and Department of Educational Psychology (EDPSY), at the GSE. The success that the program has enjoyed is due to the commitment of the Teacher Education Committee and all three of GSE’s department chairs, Dr. Benjamin Justice (former ETPA chair), Dr. Beth Rubin, Dr. Carrie Lobman, and Dr. Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke. Without question, the COVID-19 Pandemic has presented new and unique challenges for our Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program, so we share how the GSE responded to some of these challenges that we have experienced during this unprecedented health crisis. We are also delighted to feature in this year’s report, GSE alumna, Ms. Kimberly Dickstein Hughes, who was recognized as the 2019-2020 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year. Ms. Dickstein Hughes, like so many of GSE’s alums, is committed to Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education and we share how she does this every day in service of her students at Haddonfield Memorial High School. We are proud of Ms. Dickstein Hughes and know that she will make an ever greater impact in her future endeavors down the road. We also spotlight the generosity of GSE donor, Mr. Tom Arlotto, who has a strong commitment to teacher education and established the Arlotto Family Math Teachers Endowed Fellowship in 2009. This fellowship has been vital in supporting full-time students in the GSE’s teacher education program who wish to become K-12 math teachers. We are grateful to Mr. Arlotto, for his long-time commitment to the GSE and to empowering future generations of social justice focused math educators. Finally, this pandemic has dramatically impacted schools and students across the country and GSE students have also unfortunately been adversely impacted. In our final story of this year’s Impact Report, we share the impact of this public health crisis on our GSE students and how we have worked hard to try to meet student needs amidst these difficult times. This would not be possible without all of our generous donors who continue to offer their support – Thank you!
Wanda J. Blanchett, Ph.D. D E A N
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PHOTOGRAPH BY ROY GROETHING TAKEN AT THE HONORS COLLEGE
OUR MISSION TO ADVANCE EXCELLENCE & EQUITY IN EDUCATION
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Redesigned our teacher preparation programs for effective culturally-responsive teaching and learning at all levels.
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GSE’S URBAN SOCIAL JUSTICE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM ADVANCES EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY IN EDUCATION OVERVIEW
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n 2017, GSE launched the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program. Over the last four years this program has enjoyed some great successes and has continued to evolve under the leadership of Associate Dean and Faculty Director of Teacher Education, Dr. Nora Hyland. The GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program is designed to develop teachers engaged in and committed to excellence, equity, and social justice in their teaching practice. New Jersey is a uniquely diverse and urban state, as defined by the following: large numbers of students from historically marginalized linguistic, economic, and cultural backgrounds; high-poverty districts or schools; and population density combined with educational inequality. Our Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program aims to develop a diverse generation of teachers prepared according to the New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers with the skills and dispositions to both teach and advocate for all students, as well as to learn about students and their communities. Teachers prepared at the GSE learn to critically analyze the social politics of urban, rural, and suburban schools and use that analysis to advocate for each other, their students, and the families that they serve as they engage in the most effective instructional practices built upon deep knowledge of their students. Rutgers GSE Teacher Candidates benefit from working with some of the best educational faculty in the world and gain real-world experience by partnering with
“The GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program is designed to develop teachers engaged in and committed to excellence, equity, and social justice in their teaching practice.” carefully selected mentor teachers in districts/ schools serving economically, racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities in New Jersey. GSE Teacher Candidates do their clinical work in school and community-based placements in urban partner districts, which are part of the GSE Community School Partnership Network (GSE-CSPN), in order to cultivate the unique set of skills for success in our nation’s increasingly diverse schools. Principles An Urban and Social Justice Teacher Education Program prepares candidates to: 1. develop meaningful understandings of diverse students and their experiences and communities, and the social, economic, historical, and political dimensions of urban settings, and schools, 2. effectively teach diverse students, including those from historically marginalized linguistic, cultural and economic backgrounds,
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3. identify and disrupt instances and patterns of discrimination and marginalization, and develop their students’ critical and active citizenship capacities, 4. balance constructivist, student-centered approaches with explicit instruction and scaffolding, 5. deeply understand their disciplines, research-based current/best practices in their disciplines, and student learning in their disciplines, 6. be caring, competent, rigorous, and reflective, practitioners. “Our goal for the program is to prepare excellent educators for all students, particularly for students who are so often underserved by schools. Black, Latinx, and low-income P-12 students are more likely to have inexperienced, unlicensed teachers who are not from their communities, home cultures, or language groups. This is one significant factor in the educational access opportunities and outcome disparities for students from these groups, and so we wanted to prepare our students with the dispositions, knowledge, and pedagogical skills to choose to work with, and in communities of color and/or low-income communities as partners in the advancement of excellence and equity,” said Dr. Hyland. To accomplish this, the GSE developed the Community School Partnership Network (GSE-CSPN), which is a network of eight partner school districts who partner with the GSE to support the education of P-12 students and advance the practice of high-quality teaching and learning for pre-service teachers. Most of the school districts in the GSE-CSPN are more diverse and have more special education and students on free/reduced lunch than the state average. GSE Community School Partnership Network The GSE-CSPN is where the GSE coordinates all GSE community and school partnerships. This includes the professional development work that various faculty and GSE-affiliated Centers perform in schools, the research work that connects faculty to schools and NJ community organizations, as well as the program-and course-level connections made with school districts and communities. By centralizing all of these connections, the GSE can better coordinate services and offerings to the GSN-CSPN Partners that are Teacher Education Clinical Partners. Each of the districts and schools that have signed on as Teacher Education Clinical Partners have access to a variety of offerings via the GSE-CSPN including offerings from the GSE Literacy Center and GSE RIISA (Rutgers Institute for Improving Student Achievement) as well as opportunities to participate in research initiatives aimed at improving practice. In addition to being part of the GSE-CSPN, Teacher Education Clinical Partner Districts are members of a formal partnership through which GSE Faculty Partnership Leaders are assigned to the district to facilitate teacher candidates’ work and to support cooperating teachers. In our partner districts, our Partnership Leaders work with the district lead-
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ership and school principals to develop after-school tutoring opportunities for P-12 students hosted by GSE clinical interns as well as a jointly held Professional Development workshop on team teaching. They also developed work plans with each school to tailor the partnership to the specific needs of individual schools. In addition to the development of the GSECSPN, Rutgers GSE offers each cooperating teacher a nominal stipend, training on co-teaching, and opportunities to participate in GSE lectures, panels, and workshops. One of the many successes of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program is that, when surveyed, 67% of Rutgers GSE teacher candidates indicated that they intended to teach in districts with majority low-income and/or highneeds students and consider themselves well-prepared to meet the needs of their diverse learners, scoring themselves at 3.39 on a 4 point scale. Our partner districts also demonstrate a high level of satisfaction with Rutgers GSE teacher candidates and score them at an average of 4.04 on a 5 point scale, when evaluating their clinical practice, preparedness and consider them to be between good to excellent educators on our Administrators Survey. New Brunswick Public Schools (NBPS) participates in the GSE Community School Partnership Network and NBPS Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Marnie McKoy, shares why this collaboration with the GSE has been so invaluable. “We were interested in a relationship that was going to be a mutually beneficial relationship. This partnership has increased our exposure with Rutgers and the GSE and allowed GSE students to experience first hand the gem that is New Brunswick Public Schools. We were able to provide a quality experience to GSE students and we have benefitted from having GSE pre-service teachers work with our teachers and students. Our teachers have been inspired by the passion, knowledge, and skill set from the GSE students.” Dr. McKoy further stated, “This partnership aligns very nicely to the human capital portion of our strategic plan. As part of the plan, we wanted to attract candidates who know what it means to serve in the New Brunswick environment. Some candidates are strong in content and pedagogy but lack an understanding of the community they serve. They have misconceptions that they have to lower expectations for students. In our experience with GSE students, we have found that not only are they strong in content and pedagogy but they also have an understanding of our community and that is evident in the way that they engage with our students, our parents, and staff.” Similarly, Highland Park School District Superintendent and GSE alum Scott Taylor (Ed.D., 1991) stated, “I wanted to be sure that the day pre-service teachers walked in the door, they would be ready to be social justice warriors who are encouraging all of Highland Park to follow their example. In my interactions with them, I have found that the most important skill set that GSE pre-service teachers have is the to capacity to recognize hidden implicit biases. One of the main goals for our pre-service teachers is for them to teach with the
needs of our demographic in mind. The GSE has provided us with good future teachers who can contribute to the district’s focus on equity and also enabled me to tap into other resources that the GSE has to offer – experts in the field of equity like Dr. Melinda Mangin and Dr. Dan Battey.” GSE’s Associate Dean Nora Hyland also reflects on these partnerships, “We have wonderful partnerships with urban school districts in our GSE-CSPN network. They are incredible and dependable partners in this work. We created a new faculty role at the GSE to strengthen our partnerships with schools and really bridge the theory and practice divide. The GSE Partnership Leaders, as we call the faculty with this role, are critical to achieving our goals and serve as among the experts in urban education at the GSE.” Dr. Hyland further stated, “We have also developed (and require) several key courses across all programs that really challenge the existing status quo and help our candidates think about teaching, learning, learners, and the role of teachers in new ways — those are Urban Education, Teaching Emergent Bilingual Learners, and Students, Communities, and Social Justice. Achieving these successes has been no small feat. A lot of hard work was involved in moving from a very individualistic operational model to a collaborative and shared expertise model. And the program has had tremendous impact — over 300 teacher candidates that have completed the program and over the last 4 years we have worked with approximately over 400 cooperating teachers and impacted more than 30,000 P-12 students. Also, we host the
Urban Teaching Matters Conference annually, which was adopted from our prior Urban Teaching Fellows Program. At the conference each year, we highlight urban teaching practices and have had more than 800 attendees over the past 4 years.” Dr. McKoy also reflected on some of the successes of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program from her vantage point as Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at New Brunswick Public Schools. “It has been really great that our teachers here at NBPS have been able to participate in professional development opportunities at the GSE. Our teachers have also presented at GSE sponsored events around culturally-responsive teaching,” said Dr. McKoy. “We have also been really fortunate to have pre-service teachers from the GSE participate in our Courageous Voices program, which started with a small group of teachers and administrators to address challenges around race in schools and classrooms. They discuss not only issues of race but also strategies and plans to address the challenges. Over time we have had increased GSE presence at these meetings. This summer, GSE students participated here in a book study on how to become an anti-racist. That was really fantastic.” Dr. Lisa Knox-Brown, GSE Partnership Leader for Franklin Township Public Schools (FTPS) also believes that the program has had some great success. “As part of my doctoral studies, which I just completed at the GSE, I surveyed our Black students and alumni and I concluded that one of the biggest accomplishments of the program has been the intentional hiring of Black faculty members at the GSE. Our students felt that the
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URBAN SOCIAL JUSTICE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM OVERVIEW OF THE GSE CLINICAL EXPERIENCE PLAN
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30-50 hours of clinical experience in an urban partner district Activity-centered and directly connected to GSE core courses GSE liaison (e.g., tutoring help with school activities) GSE liaison on site for support
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Candidates observed 7 times by GSE liaison and/or university supervisor
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GSE liaison on site for support Candidates required to videorecord lesson(s) Candidates paired with certified cooperating teachers
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Subject/grade level specific Candidates paired with certified cooperating teachers Linked to GSE coursework Candidates required to video-record 1-2 lessons GSE liaison on site for support
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Full time clinical practice in the same school/district as Phase 2 (when feasible)
Candidates attend weekly seminar (held on site or at Rutgers)
Part-time clinical practice (2 days per week/175 hours total)
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Clinical experience in conjunction with GSE course Students, Communities, and Social Justice Role of a teacher as a part the broader community GSE liaison on site for support
presence of Black faculty provided them with support, mentorship, and allies. It was invaluable for them to see people who look like them in the places that they work and study. That has had a tremendous positive impact in showing equality and excellence across the academy,” stated Dr. Knox-Brown. “GSE Dean Blanchett is truly visionary and has been the catalyst for why I and my colleagues of color were hired here. It was her vision for excellence and equity in education that can be directly attributed to this success.” During the first fall after students are accepted into a GSE five-year teacher education program area (Phase 1 of the program), students begin taking methods classes as well as the first part of two modularized core courses: Urban Education 1 and Teaching Emerging Bilinguals in K-12 Classrooms I. Also during Phase 1 Fall, five-year students enroll in a onecredit Clinical Experience. This experience is linked to the two modularized core courses and begins to introduce the students to the endorsement area in which they are training. In program-specific cohort groups, students are guided through classroom visits across all grade and content areas including self-contained special education classes, resource room classes, and inclusion classes. GSE students are also guided through meetings with school personnel, with families, with after school program providers, and other community organizations in GSE-CSPN Urban Teacher Education Clinical Partner Districts. The GSE Partnership Leaders for the districts facilitate these visits and introduce students to the Partnership District and Community.
The specific content of these visits links to the content taught in the modularized core courses of Urban Education 1 and Teaching Emerging Bilinguals in K-12 Classrooms I, so that five-year students can examine and understand how the constructs discussed in class operate in the real worlds of children’s, teachers’, and family members’ lives. These corecourse-linked visits include examinations of services for ELL students and students with special needs. Visits designed around specific assignments from these core courses account for approximately 10 - 15 hours of the clinical experience. The remaining 15 - 20 hours of clinical experience take place as weekly observations in classrooms in the five-year student’s area of certification. Students are assigned to observe/participate in classrooms in pairs and complete observation and curriculum assignments linked to the methods classes taken concurrently during this Phase 1 fall semester. Phase 1 essentially creates a strong foundation for the rest of the program. Through collaboration with our partners, the GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program continues to evolve. GSE’s Dr. Hyland shares her vision for the program. “My vision for this program would be to empower an incredibly active alumni group who are changing the world and turning the GSE into the place where every scholar of urban and social justice education wants to be. I hope that we become the hub for anti-racist, equity-informed, community-engaged pedagogy for P-12 schools and for teacher preparation.” n
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GSE’S COMMUNITY SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP NETWORK: EMPOWERS NORTH BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT
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he GSE’s commitment to Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education goes beyond the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program—it also encompasses the dedicated work of faculty and staff involved in the GSE Community School Partnership Network (GSE-CSPN). The GSE-CSPN is an important part of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program, which includes a robust network of clinical partnerships in P-12 schools, after-school programs, and in community settings. The network includes eight urban school districts that partner with the GSE to support the education of P-12 students and to advance the practice of high-quality teaching and learning for pre-service teachers.
GSE’s School District Partnerships are defined by: n a mutually beneficial relationship rooted in mutual influence/learning and ongoing dialogue, n co-construction of mutually beneficial P-12 clinical experiences for pre-service teachers, n establishment of a mutually agreeable criteria for pre-service candidate entry, preparation, and exit from the clinical experience, n shared responsibility for candidate growth and continuous improvement of candidate preparation, n special access to GSE services and opportunities for partner districts, n the identification of field-based clinical educators who participate in the academic preparation of pre-service teachers to help ensure that theory and practice are linked in meaningful and coherent ways, and n building connections with local community-based organizations to support the education of P-12 students as well as the preparation of high-quality teacher candidates. The GSE is invested in establishing meaningful, mutually beneficial, and sustained partnerships with Urban Schools and districts in a joint effort of training excellent and equity-focused educators. As such, the GSE needs faculty and staff whose primary work is devoted to developing and fostering these partnerships. To this end, the GSE is represented in our partner districts by full-time clinical faculty instructors, who serve as Partnership Leaders and whose work focuses on five broad areas with emphasis on the first two: 10
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partnership building with schools and student support in the field, n clinical supervision of GSE teacher candidates, n teaching, n program support through specific project management (e.g., coordinating the Urban Teaching Matters Conference; coordinating a GSE-CSPN Newsletter), and n data collection and assessment of partnerships (including some research on partnership work). Dr. Maqueda Randall-Weeks is the GSE’s Partnership Leader for our partner district North Brunswick Township Schools. “GSECSPN has been helpful for the Teacher Education program because of the true relationships that have developed over time. Partnership Leaders serve as liaisons supporting the work of the pre-service teachers in the field. We move them from theory to practice and support them,” stated Dr. Randall-Weeks. Ms. Janet Ciarrocca is the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology for the North Brunswick Township School District and a GSE-CSPN Advisory Council member. “Our partnership with Rutgers students in the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program helps provide us with a direct line to future teachers. We actively hire many of GSE’s pre-service teachers who work with our district after they graduate,” said Ms. Ciarrocca. “With a diverse community, it is important for our district to know that Rutgers GSE is preparing our future teachers to be committed to working for the equitable education of all students, and how to affect change for our students facing the most challenges,” stated Ms. Ciarrocca. James Abdalla, a cooperating teacher of the GSE-CSPN, teaches history at North Brunswick Township High School. Mr. Abdalla, a GSE alum, has had great experiences working with four pre-service teachers from the GSE so far. “The GSE students have helped me to analyze my own practices and bring in new insights,” explained Mr. Abdalla. “The students have also learned to not be afraid to try new things and to analyze their successes and failures and to use that to continue to develop their craft. I have learned to take a close look at my own teaching and thinking and to have a fresh and optimistic outlook when I approach the school year.” GSE alumna, Ms. Monica Kim reflects on her experience with the GSE-CSPN as a pre-service teacher. “Working in the North Brunswick school district as a pre-service teacher has expanded my
outlook to see students for who they are and who they can become. I have had the privilege of being able to empower learners to share their unique stories, use their voices to make an impact within their own community, and to bring excitement back into the classroom,” reflected Ms. Kim. She chose to pursue her master’s degree at the GSE because she wanted to learn how to cultivate a learning environment that offers students equitable opportunities to receive a quality education. Ms. Kim has also enjoyed her experience working in North Brunswick. “What I can take with me from my experience as a preservice teacher is to be an advocate for myself and most importantly, for my students,” stated Ms. Kim.
In a GSE survey of administrators in our partner districts, our partners indicated a high level of satisfaction with GSE teacher candidates and districts requested a job fair with GSE teacher candidates. In 2019, eight GSE partner districts participated in the job fair with over 120 teacher candidates. Reflecting on future outcomes, Dr. Randall-Weeks stated, “We have a lot of students who have been hired in the district and who have been mentored by the teachers in the district. I hope that we can continue to have a reciprocal relationship, where we can work side by side; and that we can grow our partnership and provide a good resource for our communities.” n
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DR. EQUITY
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DR. NORA HYLAND’S LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCING EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY IN EDUCATION THROUGH THE GSE’S URBAN SOCIAL JUSTICE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM r. Nora Hyland, Associate Dean & Faculty Director of Teacher Education, is passionate about her work with the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. With the collaborative efforts of her Teacher Committee and Teacher Education faculty colleagues, and the unwavering support of Dean Wanda J. Blanchett—Dr. Hyland was able to lead GSE faculty in the development of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program and develop a strong collaboration with eight urban school districts in the Community School Partnership Network (GSE-CSPN). Dr. Hyland began her teaching career in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 1988. During her time teaching at various schools in Brooklyn, she met and was welcomed by the people in the community. Colleagues, parents, and community members educated her on Black culture and taught her about structural and systemic racism. She decided from then on that she would dedicate her educational journey to fighting against white supremacy and racism, and helping teacher candidates to commit their teaching practices to excellence and equity. The Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program aligns with Dr. Hyland’s goals for making positive change in schools. “I believe that the progam can have a positive impact on the world and the lives of GSE students, P-12 students, and schools and communities. This is my local sphere of influence. I hope that it will— along with all of the other people working toward similar goals in their spheres—help move the world in a more positive direction,” stated Hyland. “The GSE is the educational unit of a premier state university, and we must continue to be a leader on issues that are pressing and relevant in education. There are few things more pressing and relevant than developing a more equitable, just, and anti-racist society,” explained Hyland. Thinking back to the last four-plus years from the inception of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program through today, Dr. Hyland stated, “There was a tremendous amount of work and effort that went into establishing and launching the program. Although it is a journey and we are far from finished with the work, it was a heavy lift to get people on board and to initiate the cultural
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“The GSE is the educational unit of a premier state university, and we must continue to be a leader on issues that are pressing and relevant in education.”
shifts necessary—really thinking about schools as partners; emphasizing the clinical parts of the program; and finally—and this is an area that we are still working on—fully defining and integrating pedagogies for urban social justice across the program.” Reflecting on the successes of the program, Dr. Hyland said, “I am most proud of our network of partnership schools and the work that so many of my colleagues have done to make those partnerships strong. We have kept the focus on providing excellent teachers focused on equity and excellence for P-12 students. Even with this COVID crisis, while so many schools were refusing to accept student teachers, our amazing partners accepted as many of our teacher candidates as we asked them to. That level of commitment is huge and reminds us all of how important and crucial this work is.” Looking back four years later, Dr. Hyland is amazed at what she and her team have been able to achieve. “With limited resources, a system that is notoriously sloth-like to change, and a historically balkanized field, we have successfully created a program that intentionally and deliberately changed not only how we educate teachers, but who we do it with, where we do it, and shifted the attention and discourse to prioritize equity and social justice. We are not there yet, but we have come a long way in a short time. That is a huge success.” Dr. Hyland further stated, “I am still learning. I think I have always been pretty good at listening to other people, but I have gotten better at setting the right priorities. I have also learned the importance of building the right team. You need the right people to get the work done. I feel incredibly lucky to have the colleagues and partners that I do—they have done so much of the heavy lifting to ensure the success of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program.” n
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(1) Dr. Judith R. Harrison, Special Education Five Year Program Coordinator (2) Dr. Nora E. Hyland, Associate Dean & Faculty Director of Teacher Education (3) Dr. Cheryl A. McLean, Program Coordinator, English (4) Dr. Beth C. Rubin, Program Coordinator, Social Studies (5) Leslie Calabrese, Partner Leader Neptune and Highland Park (6) Dr. Mary Elizabeth Curran, Program Coordinator, Language Education (7) Frederick Curry, Program Coordinator, Dance (8) Dr. Ravit Golan Duncan, Program Coordinator, Biology (9) Dr. Eugenia Etkina, Program Coordinator, Physics (10) Melissa Freedman, Assessment Coordinator (11) Dr. Sarah Gallo, Program Coordinator, Language Education (12) Dr. Drew H. Gitomer, Expert in Teaching Effectiveness (13) Trevor Johnson, OSAS-Office of Student Academic Services (14) Dr. Benjamin Justice, Program Coordinator, Social Studies (15) Dr. Lisa M. Knox-Brown, Former Partner Leader, New Brunswick & Franklin Park (16) Dr. Amy D. Lewis, Program Coordinator, Elementary Education (17) Dr. Michelle Macchia, Partner Leader, Rahway & Woodbridge (18) Dr. Carolyn A. Maher, Program Coordinator, Math (19) Dr. Maqueda Randall-Weeks, Partner Leader, North Brunswick & Faculty Director of Clinical Experiences (20) Dr. Gail S. Verona, Program Coordinator, Educational Administration (21) Dr. Matthew Winkler, OSAS-Office of Student Academic Services (22) Tasha Austin, Lecturer, Language Education Dr. Amy Wollock, Associate Dean, OSAS (not pictured above)
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EXECUTIVE
E D U C AT I O N
COMMITTEES
IN
PROGRAM
THE ROLE OF GSE’S TEACHER EDUCATION AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES IN THE URBAN SOCIAL JUSTICE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM he Teacher Education Committee and Executive Committee have been integral to the re-envisioning of the Teacher Education Program and its transformation to the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program. Members of the Executive Committee and Teacher Education Committee reflected on the journey and successes of the program thus far. The original Executive Committee members who led the work of reimagining the GSE’s teacher education program include Dr. Nora Hyland, Dr. Beth Rubin, Dr. Cheryl McLean, Dr. Judith Harrison and Dr. Ariana Mangual Figueroa. Dr. McLean has served on the Teacher Education Committee and the Executive Committee. In describing the goals of these two Committees, Dr. McLean notes, “The Teacher Education Committee has representation from across the school as all Teacher Education program coordinators at the GSE are part of the committee. Our collective mission was to ensure that the social justice focus was a meaningful part of Teacher Education.” Dr. McLean went on to say, “The Executive Committee articulated the goals and vision for the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program and then collectively worked with the Teacher Education Committee to ensure that this re-envisioning of the program met all the state and accreditation standards required for teacher preparation.” The Teacher Education Committee typically meets once a month and ensures that the core principles and values of social justice are reflected in each of the content areas in both core and methods courses. These decisions are also guided in part by the New Jersey Department of Education’s guidelines and policies, Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accreditation requirements and assessments like the Teachers
T
“When the Teacher Education Executive Committee was formed, Dean Blanchett charged the group with creating an Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program in alignment with the GSE’s aspirations of Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education.”
Performance Assessment (edTPA). When the Teacher Education Executive Committee was formed, Dean Blanchett charged the group with creating an Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program in alignment with the GSE’s aspirations of “Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education.” Dr. Hyland reflected, “We had to think about both courses and the clinical experiences that we wanted our teacher candidates to have. We also had to bear in mind all the state requirements that needed to be built into the program. We knew that we wanted the clinical experience outside of the school setting to include our teacher candidates getting to know and be connected to the P-12 students’ community. We believed that it was essential for our students to develop an understanding of the perspectives of low-income and historically-marginalized communities and to develop an asset-based perspective.” Additionally, Dr. Hyland shared, “We wanted to redesign our program to develop teachers who are well suited to meet
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our aims of social justice and to teach all students especially — students from historically marginalized communities. We developed course experiences that were linked to clinical practice and had to be taken by every student in the program. We also looked at individual methods classes in each program and had to work on ensuring that our program specific classes really address the social justice aspects that we needed them to focus on.” The Executive Committee met twice a month and reported back to the Teacher Education Committee once a month. As part of the design of the program, the Executive Committee also brought in external experts on urban social justice teacher education from across the nation, including Dr. Etta Hollins from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, who spoke about teacher education, carefully and intentionally conceptualized clinical experiences and urban education programs and her research. Dr. Hollins also worked behind the scenes with the Executive Committee in curriculum mapping. Dr. William F. Tate also worked with GSE’s science and math faculty as they determined how to address issues of social justice, urban education and educational equity in their content areas. Dr. Gloria Ladson Billings was also invited to share her expertise in culturally-relevant pedagogy with the GSE faculty and staff community. Dr. Michelle Macchia, who is a Partnership Leader for Rahway Public Schools and the Woodbridge Township School District, represents all of GSE’s Partnership Leaders for the Community School Partnership Network (GSE-CSPN) along with Ms. Leslie Calabrese on the Teacher Education Committee. The Partnership Leaders are the critical link between the GSE and our partner districts who support our pre-service teachers and teacher candidates placed in those districts. “It is important that the clinical experiences of our students in the field are reflected in these meetings and so I represent those voices and experiences as part of the committee,” said Dr. Macchia. “Our goal as a committee is to ensure that our teacher preparation program is the best it can be and we work toward that end by gathering and reviewing data on the teacher education program. Thus, the evolution of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program is grounded in data and research which is critically important.” Early Indicators of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program’s Impact The Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program is empowering the next generation of social justice educators who are significantly more diverse than the state average and are prepared to be among the best teachers in the state. The NJ Department of Education (NJDOE) Educator Preparation Provider Performance Report (EPPP Report) from 2019, which measures teacher effectiveness of GSE alumni demonstrates that 95% of all Rutgers GSE teachers are scored as effective or highly effective by their supervisors compared to the state average of 92% when looking at Student Growth Objectives. Similarly, Rutgers GSE teachers are scored as effective or highly effective at higher levels
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R U T G E R S G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F E D U C AT I O N
than the state average on other measures including Student Growth Percentile (16%), Teacher Practice Score (96%) and their Summative Score (94%). The EPPP Report further shows that over 80% of Rutgers GSE graduates have continued to stay employed in NJ public schools compared to the statewide average of 74%. Additionally, Rutgers GSE had a higher percentage of teachers rated as effective or highly effective when compared to all EPPP averages.
On the Praxis II, a national exam that assesses teacher content knowledge in the areas they are teaching, GSE teacher candidates overwhelmingly have a 100% or close to 100% pass rate in all content areas and score well over the national median in each content area. Similarly, GSE teacher candidates perform well on the edTPA, a performance-based assessment which tests the knowledge of learners, learning, instructional knowledge, the capacity to use assessment to inform instruction, and the ability to teach specific content areas. GSE teacher candidates have a 99.1% pass rate over a period of three years on the edTPA and an average score of 3.04 on a 5 point scale across all rubrics compared to the statewide average of 2.77.
“We want our students to be change makers in the districts they work in. We want them to have an impact not only on their students in classrooms but also in the community. The ultimate goal is to empower GSE pre-service teachers to engage in parent training and assist parents with what they need — e.g., assistance required due to language barriers.” Executive Committee member Dr. Judith Harrison reflects on some of the program’s impact. “I believe that one of the impacts of the program has been that our students have become strong advocates of social justice in their school district’s communities — they are passionate, committed and prepared to address inequities they see in school systems,” stated Dr. Harrison. “Our social justice philosophy is embedded throughout the coursework and runs through all our classes. Thus, it becomes part of our shared vocabulary, knowledge and understanding of how to recognize and address issues that we see play out in classrooms.” Dr. McLean believes that one of the most significant outcomes of the program has been that all of GSE’s students and alumni are now prepared to teach ALL students in our highestneeds school districts. “The Executive Committee recognized that historically most of our alumni were landing in affluent districts and we realized the critical need to make the shift in our teacher preparation program to focus on preparing our teachers to meet the needs of urban and higher-needs districts,” said Dr. McLean. “This is why the partnership with urban school districts in the GSE Community School Partnership Network (CSPN) has been so critical as this is where we place our preservice teachers. What we have found is that when our students graduate, many of them are hired by our partner districts and so this has been one major success of our teacher preparation program.” Dr. Amy Lewis, who serves on the Teacher Education Committee, believes that the addition of the GSE’s Partnership Leaders and their work with our partner districts in GSE-CSPN has created opportunities for teacher candidates to have strong connections and experiences between coursework and clinical work. “Through this network we find ways to be more intentional in
our teacher preparation work by examining our data, considering how we affect the P-12 world, and the ways in which we can improve within our systems,” said Dr. Lewis. “The Teacher Education Committee creates opportunities for shared decision making within the program as a whole and ultimately makes me, as a program coordinator, more competent.” Dr. Lewis continued, “I also take great pride in knowing that our graduates are walking the halls of our partnership districts as full-time teachers. The fact that our partnership school districts entrust our alumni with their future is a tremendous success of the program and that, in itself, is creating an impact on the schools with whom we have developed relationships. That I would say, is the biggest success of the program.” From Dr. Macchia’s perspective, one of the successes of the program has been the evolution of the program evaluation over the last four years, which has been data-driven. “We analyze survey data from all of our stakeholders. When we haven’t been satisfied with the survey tools or answers offered, we have worked to improve our survey tools. Over the years, the instruments have gotten better, yielding better data that more accurately tells us how well our students are doing in our partner districts, how their cooperating teachers feel about their time in those districts and our students’ experience with our program. This has really empowered us to build a strong foundation for the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program.” GSE faculty are excited about the promise of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program. Reflecting on the success of the program and GSE’s students, Teacher Education Committee member and GSE’s Partnership Leader for Highland Park and Neptune Township School Districts, Ms. Leslie Calabrese, shared her vision for the program, “We want our students to be change makers in the districts they work in. We want them to have an impact not only on their students in classrooms but also in the community. The ultimate goal is to empower GSE pre-service teachers to engage in parent training and assist parents with what they need—e.g., assistance required due to language barriers. It is critical that our students see themselves as part of the community and their jobs as the ability to empower their students and their families in the communities they serve.” Dr. Harrison also shared her vision. “I would like to see most of our teachers going into urban settings where they are needed the most and finding joy and success by empowering students in our most vulnerable communities,” stated Dr. Harrison. “Another aspiration that I have for this program is to see the referral of students of color into special education decrease dramatically as we equip our students to better manage K-12 classrooms and to be culturally responsive.” “My hope is that we will use the data from our surveys and observations to make decisions about where to fortify our efforts around preparing candidates to teach for social justice. This means ensuring that as faculty, we ourselves are consistently teaching and leading for social justice across all our programs,” said Dr. Macchia. “As a result, we will be cultivating educators who can have a positive impact in school districts.” n
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GSE
FA C U LT Y SUPPORT
CHAIRS THE
WORK
URBAN
TOGETHER
SOCIAL
ACROSS
JUSTICE
ALL
TEACHER
THREE
D E PA R T M E N T S
E D U C AT I O N
TO
PROGRAM
GSE FACULTY CHAIRS WORK TOGETHER ACROSS ALL
SE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program launched in 2017 and has enjoyed some great successes and encountered some opportunities for growth as well. As the program continues to evolve, the chairs of the GSE’s three departments reflect on their journey with the program thus far. All three department chairs agree that the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program has been successful in educating pre-service teachers with a focus on equity and academic excellence consistent with the GSE vision and mission. It has taken all three of them working closely with Dean Wanda J. Blanchett and Associate Dean Nora Hyland in coordination with each other to ensure that success. “One of our major responsibilities has been recruiting and supporting part-time lecturers (PTLs) to teach in this program. When we made the shift to focus on urban social justice, we wanted to ensure that all our faculty were well-versed in the issues of urban social justice and could enact our mission with our students,” said Dr. Carrie Lobman, Chair of the Department of Learning and Teaching. “Additionally, as courses are developed, they are vetted through the departments, so we are creating and revising our courses to be harmonized with our urban social justice mission,” stated Dr. Lobman. “Two important lessons learned along the way were the need to have clear communications and cooperation between department chairs to ensure that everybody across the school understands the various components of the program and the need to build a robust collaboration between all our faculty. This requires a particular focus on our Professors of Practice in Partnership Leader roles, who develop, nurture and maintain our relationships with the partner districts
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R U T G E R S G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F E D U C AT I O N
”One of our major responsibilities has been recruiting and supporting part-time lecturers (PTLs) to teach in this program. When we made the shift to focus on urban social justice, we wanted to ensure that all our faculty were well-versed in the issues of urban social justice and could enact our mission with our students.” in the GSE’s Community School Partnership Network (GSECSPN) and work with GSE’s pre-service teachers when they are placed in our partner districts. The larger goal here being that our students get a consistent message throughout their journey with us and that these messages of urban social justice advance as they progress through the program – that requires tremendous coordination and communication.” Dr. Beth Rubin, Chair of the Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Administration, described some of the successes of the program thus far. “We are strengthening our relationship with our partner school districts in the GSE-CSPN where we place our pre-service teachers,” said Dr. Rubin. “We are forging deep connections between the GSE and our partner districts, working together to prepare our educators to be creative, caring practitioners for the students they serve. Ultimately, many of them end up being hired by the school districts in which they were placed, which I see as one of the most significant contributions of our Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program.”
Beth C. Rubin, PhD, Department of Educational
Saundra M. Tomlinson-Clarke, PhD, chair of
Carrie Lobman, PhD, interim chair of
Theory, Policy and Admisistration
Department of Educational Psychology
Department of Learning & Teaching
Dr. Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke, Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology, believes that another success of the program has been increased interest in leadership and advocacy as evidenced by the reopening of the doctoral program in Special Education. “Another major hallmark of the program is our Partnership Leaders, who have a diverse range of expertise which they collectively leverage to meet student needs in our partner school districts,” said Dr. Tomlinson-Clarke. Dr. Carrie Lobman believes that the biggest success of the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program has been the GSE’s students and hires. “We are on our way to doing what we said we would do. Our students now have an understanding of themselves as change agents. We have shifted from preparing good teachers who are neither inclined nor prepared to go into the highest needs schools in New Jersey to preparing educators who have an understanding of inequities, why change is necessary in their classrooms and schools, and what their role is in making that change happen,” said Dr. Lobman. “Another success of the program has been incorporating a
social justice focus into our hiring practices,” stated Dr. Lobman. “Many of our faculty are content area researchers who are responsible for method classes on science, math, and literacy. Over the last several years, the GSE has made a concerted effort to recruit faculty who have expertise in content areas and also in urban social justice.” All three Chairs agree that the outcomes that they are hoping for in the foreseeable future for the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program are closely tied to ensuring a successful relationship with GSE’s partner school districts. “We have built these relationships with our partner school districts and as those partnerships mature we are going to have a major impact on teaching and learning in districts,” said Dr. Lobman. “We have learned so much from them about how to prepare our students and the ultimate goal is for them to hire our students to change outcomes for children in the New Jersey public school system. We are all working enthusiastically together to ensure the success of that vision for the GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program.” n
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R U T G E R S G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F E D U C AT I O N
A D VA N C I N G
EXCELLENCE
AND
EQUITY
IN
E D U C AT I O N
DURING
THE
PA N D E M I C
ADVANCING EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY IN EDUCATION DURING THE PANDEMIC n March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended in-person schooling for students across the PK- university spectrum. Candidates in the GSE’s Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program quickly transitioned to online coursework and remote clinical placements. The GSE students, faculty and staff transitioned fairly seamlessly, but the challenges for our partner districts serving diverse communities were dramatic. “People of color and economically disadvantaged families have been among the most impacted by the pandemic. The inequities in our society have never been more glaring as we contend with the digital divide, since we have moved to mostly remote instruction in our schools,” said Dr. Judith Harrison, GSE Executive Committee member for the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education Program. Dr. Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke, Chair of the Educational Psychology Department also reflected on the pandemic. “Given this unprecedented situation that required a move to remote teaching and learning, students are experiencing greater challenges. This is particularly true for students with special needs. Many parents do not have the expertise to effectively teach their children who may have varied levels of independence when it comes to learning. We have always emphasized the importance of relationships with students’ parents/guardians and their communities and these relationships have now become more important than ever. Our present challenge has been to continuously provide students with the supports they need as new strategies and technologies become available to assist them in their learning. These unprecedented times have definitely presented unique challenges for educators, as research is limited on how to best support students in a remote context, but ultimately we look to emerge stronger and better equipped to address a variety of issues associated with inequities in our schools.” The GSE’s Dr. Beth Rubin worked collaboratively with partners to meet the needs of educators providing direct support to those most affected by the pandemic. “The GSE Chairs worked as a team this summer to communicate with our part-time lecturers, helping PTLs to understand our expectations for online teaching and the importance of engaging with issues of race and inequality in their classrooms. We were able to provide guidance and support for both of these important needs,” stated Dr. Beth Rubin. “I reached out to colleagues and practitioners to gather
I
resources for anti-racist teaching, developing a repository of materials about race and inequality for faculty and K-12 educators, aimed at dismantling anti-Black oppression. I also worked with a fantastic group of faculty, teachers, community members, school administrators, graduate students and parents to create Equity and Excellence in Remote Learning, an online series at the GSE designed to respond to the challenges of this time.” The pandemic necessitated a rethinking of how GSE candidates engaged in clinical learning and service. GSE alum Scott Taylor (Ed.D., 1991), Superintendent of Highland Park School District and GSE-CSPN member, shared, “We have had to modify the relationship with the GSE since we moved to being completely virtual. We have had to engage with experts virtually, tweak the practicum and student teacher programs so we could allow graduate students to be as involved as they were in their traditional settings. We put in the extra time required to ensure that from a technological standpoint and privacy issues, everything worked. We resolved to take a risk and open up virtual learning environments without being too conservative. Knowing that we still had to give back to the GSE despite the crisis, we had to encourage HP leadership to rally teachers to accommodate their schedules to work with GSE’s pre-service teachers. HP’s leadership team encouraged our faculty to forge on as the future of our profession was at stake.” “The GSE also acted quickly to turn all of the workshops and conferences planned into virtual events very quickly so that our teachers could continue their professional development growth,” said Dr. Taylor. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Urban Social Justice Teacher Education program has worked to maintain its high standards and its commitment to meeting the pressing needs of both the GSE candidates and our P-12 partners. According to Associate Dean, Dr. Nora Hyland, the pandemic has created opportunities to get creative about learning and teaching and about working for equity and excellence during an incredibly difficult time. She remains confident that the program will continue to grow and improve from this experience. “The pandemic has made us rethink how to address issues of equity in this new learning world. The pandemic has also amplified some existing inequities that we were perhaps less attentive to than we should have been. Now, we are figuring out how to address those. We are learning important lessons about flexibility and compassion as critical components in our work toward excellence and equity for ALL students,” said Dr. Hyland. n
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Kimberly Dickstein Hughes, Haddonfield teacher and GSE alumna, named New Jersey Teacher of the Year
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R U T G E R S G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F E D U C AT I O N
GSE
ALUMNA
&
NEW
STUDENT
JERSEY
S TAT E
CHANGE
TEACHER
AGENTS
FOR
OF
THE
SOCIAL
YEAR
EMPOWERS
JUSTICE
GSE ALUMNA & NEW JERSEY STATE TEACHER OF THE YEAR EMPOWERS STUDENT CHANGE AGENTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
K
imberly Dickstein Hughes, a
practice around fairness. Dickstein Hughes had several impactful
GSE
the
mentors at the GSE who helped her get to where she is today.
2019/2020 NJ State Teacher
“Dr. Jennifer Rowsell was the Director of the English language arts
of the Year and the Camden
program at the time, and she was very supportive of my ideas.
County Teacher of the Year.
Dr. Nora Hyland taught a course on individual and cultural di-
While at the GSE, she stu-
versity and helped the students get out of their comfort zone, and
dent taught at Haddonfield
see the world from a different lens. Professor Kim Lanza was the
Memorial High School, and
director of the National Writing Project at the time, and she was
was then hired to teach
great. Dr. Beth Rubin taught urban education and her course re-
there full-time shortly after
inforced why social justice and equity was paramount in a career,”
completing her degree. She
stated Dickstein Hughes.
Alumna,
was
has been teaching for 12 years as an English language arts teacher.
Her platform as the NJ State Teacher of the Year is to lift
Some of the classes that she has taught over the years are public
every voice, celebrate, and recognize the great work that is hap-
speaking, Greek drama, Shakespeare, and world literature. Dick-
pening in classrooms. “My focus is to empower educators to
stein Hughes is very honored to become the NJ State Teacher of
believe in themselves and others to really make a difference,”
the Year. “It feels good to represent my county, state, and my col-
stated Dickstein Hughes. She likes to uplift others and that brings
leagues. This is a call to action. I have to be a leader and I believe
her great joy.
that my involvement in multiple community-based projects and
In her role as NJ State Teacher of the Year, she has conducted
my teaching curriculum is what led to my recognition,” said
stakeholder outreach and is doing a lot of professional learning for
Dickstein Hughes.
her partners. She has visited classrooms in urban, suburban, and
Dickstein Hughes works diligently by incorporating social
rural environments, raising awareness. One example of how she
justice into her teaching curriculum. “Social justice education
uses her platform to bring stakeholders together for the benefit of
should be important to everyone. It is important to me because
the children of New Jersey is through her leadership on a project
when I see things that are unfair, it upsets me and I want to make
called NJ TV Learning Live. NJ TV Learning Live televises supple-
the world a better place. Every assignment and teaching unit that
mental instruction on public TV. Dickstein Hughes has aired 200
I have structured has an element of community activism and ad-
teachers on public TV through this platform. It is a partnership be-
vocacy as the focus. I deeply believe that if we teach our students
tween the NJ Department of Education, NJEA, and NJ Television
to think for themselves and see a world through a social justice
Network. It empowers educators to put access and equity first,
lens, we will produce more active and engaged citizens who value
because these educators are filming lessons at their homes for our
fairness,” said Dickstein Hughes. She has always been inspired by
most vulnerable populations—such as children who don’t have
the educators in her life, which includes her family and classroom
access or support.
teachers. “If you want to help others become a teacher and if you
Dickstein Hughes also likes to give back to those who are
want to give back to your community, you should become a
underrepresented, and she and her students raised $50,000 for a
teacher in your community,” stated Dickstein Hughes.
student from South Sudan to continue his education at Emory
Her time at the GSE greatly affected her teaching career; she
University. She’s also a leader in the New Jersey Honored Educa-
remembers it as a powerful and life-changing experience. Through
tors Network. Although Dickstein Hughes has a lot on her plate,
her practicum work and visiting more urban environments—she
she is very grateful to the GSE, and she tries to exemplify Jersey
realized how much equity had to be in the forefront of her teach-
Roots Global Reach everywhere that she goes. She has dedicated
ing practice, and with these experiences, she started to focus her
her life to Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education.
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n
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GSE
DONOR’S
ENDOWED TO
FELLOWSHIP MAKE
A
INSPIRES
FUTURE
TEACHERS
DIFFERENCE
GSE DONOR’S ENDOWED FELLOWSHIP INSPIRES FUTURE TEACHERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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om Arlotto, a retired math teacher, has been an avid supporter of the Graduate School of Education for several years, and it is with this support that he established the Arlotto Family Math Teachers Endowed Fellowship. This fellowship, which was created in 2009, has been vital in supporting
Having been in the classroom for 38 years, I saw a dire need for competent math teachers. I know that my gift to the GSE empowers many worthy students to pursue a rewarding career in education.
full-time students in the
GSE’s teacher education program who wish to become K-12 math teachers. Mr. Arlotto, a Jersey City, NJ native, is one of nine children. He graduated from Rutgers University with his bachelor’s degree in economics, and later received his Master of Busi-
lives. I still hear from my students through Facebook. One of
ness Administration degree from Seton Hall University and his
my former students who is an administrator reached out to me
Master of Education degree from The College of New Jersey.
and thanked me for all the things that she has learned from me
While working for the Honeywell Corporation in personnel and human resources, Mr. Arlotto realized that the industry
Mr. Arlotto.
he was in wasn’t his passion. He left his job at Honeywell Cor-
After seeing a real need for math teachers in middle school,
poration and decided to start substitute teaching. “During that
Mr. Arlotto wanted to come up with a way to help students with
time, teachers were highly needed and I was able to do an emer-
math anxiety. He knew of students that had problems with
gency teaching certificate. Then later on when I was offered a
math and wanted a way for teachers to be able to help their
job with Franklin Township Public Schools I was able to receive
students become better at problem solving. The Arlotto Family
my official certification,” said Mr. Arlotto. He taught math in
Math Teachers Endowed Fellowship does just that. By establish-
Franklin Township Public School District for 30 years before re-
ing this fellowship at the GSE, teachers can receive the education
tiring. He recalled that one of his proudest moments was in
that they need to effect change in their students. “I feel that
1990, when he was elected teacher of the year. “I was really
students will see my scholarship and know that there is some-
proud of this because my fellow teachers elected me, and I was
one out there who cares about them, and who would want
able to participate in the Governor Florio’s teacher recognition
them to be successful.” He wants his scholarship to make a
program, which consisted of a school board reception, certifi-
difference in the lives of math educators and students.
cate, and lunch with the Governor,” stated Mr. Arlotto.
24
over the years. She still utilizes everything that I taught her,” said
Mr. Arlotto also believes in the importance of incorporat-
Being very dedicated to his craft, he felt that during his
ing social justice work in teaching. “I believe it is very important
teaching career he was making an impact with his students. “I
because no matter what a person’s background is, education
believe that my teaching helped to make a difference in their
should be offered to all people. Everyone can contribute to
R U T G E R S G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F E D U C AT I O N
Thomas A. Arlotto
making society better and this can only happen if everyone has access to equal opportunities,” stated Mr. Arlotto. Mr. Arlotto has been very instrumental in making sure that educators at the GSE have something to contribute to society. Along with ensuring educators at the GSE are equipped to make a difference among students, Mr Arlotto is also very active in a retired teachers organization. Mr. Arlotto publishes the newsletter for the Somerset County Retired Educators (SCREA), and sits on the executive board. He was also elected as a delegate from NJ to the National Education Association (NEA) Convention.. n
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THE
I M PAC T
OF
THE
COVID-19
PA N D E M I C
ON
OUR
GSE
STUDENTS
THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON OUR GSE STUDENTS his year has been very difficult for all of us. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered all of our lives, created hardships for so many, and the loss of life has been devastating. Many of our students have been negatively affected due to them or their families contracting COVID-19, the loss of their jobs, and the movement of their coursework and Clinical experiences to a remote virtual context. Needless to say, the pandemic has made continuing their academic degree programs more difficult for some of our students. This past year, the GSE started its Student Emergency Fund as a way for the Dean and the GSE to be able to respond to emergent student needs for things like food, clothing, and other basic expenses. The GSE received 118 applications for this funding and was able to provide funding to 40-50 students who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Many of these students have one or more immediate family members who have lost their jobs. Many of the students have lost their part-time work on the campus due to the shutdown. Many of these students have had family members who have contracted the COVID-19 virus and are helping to care for their loved ones. When asked how the loss of income due to COVID 19 has affected them, 78% said they could not pay bills, 38% said they could not pay rent, 70% said they could not pay tuition, and 22% said they could not pay healthcare costs. Thus, the pandemic has had a tremendous impact on our students. To further assist with this need, the GSE also helped to promote the CARES Act funding that was made available by the federal government through the Office of Financial Aid. Additionally, this year, 256 students applied for 55
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R U T G E R S G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F E D U C AT I O N
This past year, the GSE started its Student Emergency Fund as a way for the Dean and the GSE to be able to respond to emergent student needs for things like food, clothing, and other basic expenses. to provide funding to 40-50 students who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Many of these students have one or more immediate family members who have lost their jobs.
GSE scholarships which demonstrates that there is a tremendous need for financial assistance. Students receiving scholarships have shared that many times the scholarship made the difference between being able to attend school or not. Scholarships help to defray the costs of books, food, transportation, tuition and fees. Regardless of the size of the award or scholarship, every recipient has expressed true gratitude for this support of their academic success. This has been a difficult year for many including our students. The GSE is truly grateful for the generosity of our donors, who made it possible to meet many of our students’ needs. n
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F A C U LT Y
H O N O R S
HONORS EDITO R S HIP S : In addition to the many journal articles and texts published by our faculty, Rutgers GSE was home to editors of several leading national journals in the past year: n n
Dr. W. Steven Barnett: Co-Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy
Dr. Alisa Belzer: Co-Editor of Adult Literacy Education: the International Journal of Literacy, Language, and Numeracy n n
n
Dr. Chia-Yi Chiu: Associate Editor of Psychometrika, Journal of Classification
Dr. Marybeth Gasman: Editor of Pathways: A Journal of Humanistic and Social Inquiry
Dr. Ravit Golan Duncan: Section Co-Editor for Science Education Journal; Associate Editor for Journal of the Learning Sciences. n
Dr. Zijia Li: Managing Editor of International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy n
n n
Dr. Carolyn Maher: Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Mathematical Behavior
Dr. Matthew J. Mayer: Associate Editor of School Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 16
Dr. Nicole Mirra: Editor of English Language Arts Education, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education Journal n
Dr. Tanja Sargent: Associate Editor of Chinese Education & Society Journal
AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (AERA) FELLOWS:
DR. W. STEVEN BARNETT
DR. CLARK A. CHINN
DR. MARYBETH GASMAN
DR. ANGELA M. O’DONNEL L
AMERICAN PSYCHO LO G ICAL AS S O CIAT IO N (APA) FELLOWS :
DR. CLARK A. CHINN
28
DR. CAROLINE S. CLAUSS-EHLERS
R U T G E R S G R A D U AT E S C H O O L O F E D U C AT I O N
DR. ANGELA M. O’DONNELL
DR. SAUNDRA TOMLINSON-CLAR K E
N E W
F A C U LT Y
&
S T A F F
STAFF FACU LT Y:
SARAH GALLO Associate Professor of Learning & Teaching
DESIGN BY ERIC MILLER + ASSOCIATES, PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROY GROETHING, PRINTED BY GARRISON PRINTING
S TAFF:
DAVID AMIEL
MICHELE COYNE
PARKER GERALDS
JESSICA HUNSDON
Research Project Coordinator, Center for Effective School Practices
Program Coordinator for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice and the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions
Data Specialist
Program Coordinator
DESTINY JENKINS
KOOR KP OGBA - THOM A S
M E L ISSA THOM A S
Assistant Director for Operations for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice and the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions
Finance Assistant for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice and the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions
Personnel Manager
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage P A I D New Brunswick,
10 Seminary Place
New Jersey 08901
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Permit No. 157
W H Y
I
G I V E
My commitment to Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education is what inspired me to establish an Endowed Scholarship and to give through the Colonel Henry Rutgers Society. Rutgers encouraged me as a faculty member to research issues that dealt with social justice and equity in my field of literacy development. There were many opportunities and resources provided to help me do the research that has made a difference both at home and abroad. The goal for Rutgers faculty is to seek excellence. This has resulted in an extraordinary career I never could have imagined. I hope that my giving offers opportunities to masters and doctoral students studying to become reading specialists, coaches, and supervisors in the field of literacy development. With the skills these educators acquire at the Graduate School of Education, they will be able to provide excellent instruction, and thereby enable the children they teach to have the ability to read. The ability to read is one of the most important ways to advance social justice and equity in education.
L E S L E Y M A N D E L M O R R O W, P h . D . DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR LITERACY DEVELOPMENT