With a recent grant from the National Science Foundation, faculty member Kathryn Leech, Ph.D., is working with families in Person County to improve early literacy. Here, Leech volunteers at Carolina Community Academy’s fall festival at the school in Roxboro, N.C.
Read more at ed.unc.edu/conversations
At the UNC School of Education, we are committed to advancing knowledge and developing innovative, research-based solutions to address educational challenges on local, national, and global scales. Our faculty members, graduate students, and undergrads work with children, families, educators, and communities to develop and implement those solutions — solutions that leverage data and technology to help students learn, that help children learn to read, that keep students safe, and much more.
On the cover of this edition of Carolina Education, you will see faculty member Kathryn Leech engaging with children and their families in Roxboro, N.C. With funding from the National Science Foundation, she’s bringing her research-based practices that improve child literacy to families in rural communities.
Inside, you’ll read about our Master of Arts in Educational Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (MEITE) program, which recently hosted its annual Innovation Showcase. This event continues to provide MEITE students with a platform to present their educational ventures to an audience that includes area edupreneurs and education leaders. I’m excited for you to hear directly from some of those MEITE students, who are bridging theory, practice, and emerging technology to benefit learners and educators.
This fall has been a busy one at Peabody Hall. We welcomed five new faculty members whose expertise enriches our programs and the student experience. Their expertise brings new depth that has the potential to advance high-impact research happening at the School and Carolina.
We have received new grants, including one that will bring innovative learning analytics to a study that aims to help curb procrastination. We’ve also received awards, most notably the Frank Murray Leadership Recognition from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. It’s the second time we’ve received that honor, again affirming our programs’ excellence and our commitment to continuous improvement.
At our annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony, we celebrated three exceptional individuals who have driven and continue to drive both PK-12 and higher education forward. I know we have many more alumni out there who share those three’s commitment to children, educators, and communities. See a new Alumni News section in this edition and let us know what you’re doing.
As always, there is much to celebrate and more work to be done. Together, we Propel the World through education. We are grateful you are a part of it.
Happy reading and Go Heels.
Interim Dean
William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education
Faculty member Matt Bernacki, Ph.D., Kinnard White Faculty Scholar in Education, will co-lead a $1 million Institute of Education Sciences grant aimed at reducing procrastination among undergraduates at U.S. universities. The project will utilize CLICKSTREAM, a learning analytics platform developed by Bernacki’s team. CLICKSTREAM aggregates data from learning management systems with additional student-consented data to provide detailed insights into learning behaviors, helping researchers better understand procrastination and learning strategies in digital spaces.
In summer 2024, faculty member Constance Lindsay, Ph.D., attended an event at the White House celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. The commemoration also included families from the original lawsuit. Her team’s research, “The Long Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers,” was the only empirical evidence on teacher diversity featured in the event’s fact sheet.
Ferreiro
The School was one of nine educator preparation programs to receive the 2024 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. The School was among the first programs to receive the honor in 2019 and is the only school to receive it twice. The School’s educator preparation programs were reaccredited in spring 2024, marking its third consecutive accreditation with no stipulations. Pictured: April Plumley, clinical partnerships and licensure manager, left, and Diana Lys, assistant dean for educator preparation and accreditation, accept the Frank Murray Leadership Recognition, on Sept. 9, in Arlington, Va.
Avery Ferreiro (’23 B.A.Ed., ’24 M.A.T.), the School’s 2024 Student Teacher of the Year, works to help her students gain confidence in all subjects and feel empowered in their education. Ferreiro credits the School’s Human Development and Family Science program for providing a holistic view of careers serving children and families, which helped her find her niche in education. She was also named a 2024 Student Teacher of the Year finalist in the North Carolina Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s statewide competition. Ferreiro is teaching third grade this school year.
During the 2024-25 academic year, five new faculty members joined the UNC School of Education’s academic community. Collectively, they contribute an array of experience, expertise, and high-impact research activities across multiple areas of education, including teacher preparation, literacy, learning sciences, youth well-being, and more.
Nicole Damico, Ph.D., MAT Program Director
Damico joins the School as director of the Master of Arts in Teaching program. Before, she served as an associate professor at the University of Central Florida. Damico’s research focuses on identifying gaps in educator preparation and exploring digital technologies that support all learners in becoming critical and globally engaged citizens.
Annemarie Hindman, Ph.D., Professor
Before coming to Carolina School, Hindman was a professor of early childhood education and educational psychology at Temple University. Working closely with educators, Hindman’s research aims to support young children at risk for reading difficulties by improving their access to high-quality, culturally relevant instruction at school, home, and within the community.
Todd Jensen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Previously a faculty member at the UNC School of Social Work, Jensen specializes in promoting youth
development and well-being during family structural transitions and strengthening youth-serving systems through the development and implementation of health-promoting and evidence-informed programs, policies, and practices.
Ha Nguyen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Previously, Nguyen held a faculty position in instructional technology and learning sciences at Utah State. She collaborates with students and educators to ensure the design of technologies, including conversational agents and learning dashboards, is grounded in learners’ experiences. She also applies learning analytics methods to investigate how people construct knowledge in informal and formal learning environments, whether collaborating with others or interacting with AI technologies.
Stephanie Anne Shelton, Ph.D., Associate Professor Shelton comes to Carolina after serving on the faculty at the University of Alabama. She is a qualitative methodologist who specializes in interview- and focus group-based research and examines methodological concepts such as reflexivity, informed consent, bias, and subjectivity. She also explores LGBTQ+ issues in educational settings, particularly sociopolitically restrictive contexts.
Throughout the Master of Arts in Educational Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (MEITE) program, students engage in project-based learning that merges practical and technical skills and theory — equipping them with experiences and mindsets needed to advance education with cutting-edge tools and research.
Each summer, at the conclusion of the year-long program, MEITE hosts an annual Innovation Showcase. At that event, students — future edupreneurs, adaptive learning analysts, innovation specialists, and learning engineers — deliver pitches and presentations to a range of audiences that include campus faculty members, area edtech leaders, educators, and more. Following the presentations, students host tabletop demonstrations of their projects, enabling attendees to interact directly with the innovations.
“Our faculty members have prepared these students to drive education through cutting-edge technologies,” said Jill Hamm, interim dean, “and have helped them develop mindsets needed to know how to deploy those technologies — and to be critical in assessing if they are adding value to students, teachers, companies, or organizations.”
MEITE alumna Sarah Reid Lasseter (’11 B.S., ’20, M.A.), a science curriculum designer at EdPuzzle and former high
“ “MEITE is a unique program that prepares students to lead in educational innovation — a broad field with crossdisciplinary foundations and endless possibilities.”
Jill Hamm, Interim Dean
school biology teacher, delivered the keynote address, sharing insights from her edtech journey and how the MEITE program influences her work. Lasseter also hosts the STEMfocused YouTube channel “Lasseter’s Lab,” which has grown to 15,000+ subscribers after applying lessons from MEITE.
“Don’t let your passions fade when you leave this program,” Lasseter said. “Carry them into your future work or any cause close to your heart. Share it with your colleagues and integrate it into the work you do.”
On the page to the right, read more about some of our MEITE students and the projects they presented at the 2024 Innovation Showcase.
For her final presentation — “AI-Powered Professional Development: Unveiling LinkedIn Learning’s Innovations” — Elle Gallagher explored how generative AI can potentially revolutionize marketing strategies within professional development courses. She analyzed LinkedIn Learning offerings and how algorithms, such as recommendation engines, play a pivotal role in tailoring course suggestions to users based on their online behaviors.
““The MEITE program is a wonderful program to be a part of if you hold a passion for innovations happening within the education sector. MEITE has enabled me to explore the innovative aspects within education and business to find my passion for marketing.”
Inspired by an interest in digital accessibility, Jamie Storyward forged a collaboration with the UNC Digital Accessibility Office to create an interactive, self-paced training for her internship site, the UNC School of Government. The training’s goal is to prepare instructional faculty and staff to evaluate and improve the accessibility of their digital course materials.
““Accessibility is an evergreen issue in education. It felt great to share a project I am passionate about with a broader audience. I hope I turn more people on to small changes they can make to improve digital accessibility.”
Katie Cooper said one of her biggest takeaways from the MEITE program is the importance of design thinking in transforming education. She explained that the approach enhances the effectiveness of the design process and ensures outcomes are impactful and relevant.
Cooper’s final project, “Adaptive Learning Platforms: Revolutionizing Education through Data-driven Personalization,” is an e-publication that delves into the landscape of K-12 adaptive learning platforms, focusing on their utilization of data analytics, algorithms, and artificial intelligence to tailor content to individual student needs.
““By prioritizing empathy and human-centered design, I learned how to create educational tools and experiences that are both innovative and deeply connected to the real-world needs of those they serve.”
At the UNC School of Education, we produce cutting-edge knowledge and pursue innovative, research-based solutions to the most pressing problems of educational theory, practice, programs, and policy in North Carolina, the nation, and beyond.
On Nov. 2, the School and its Alumni Council recognized three exceptional individuals at the 22nd annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony. Danielle Parker Moore (’15 Ph.D.), a faculty member at Wake Forest University and founding executive director of WFU’s Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School, was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award.
Michael D. Priddy (’70 B.A., ’75 M.Ed., ’81 Ed.D.), a dedicated North Carolina education leader with five decades of service, received the Distinguished Leadership Award. Fouad Abd-El-Khalick , provost at UMass Amherst and former dean of the School, received the Peabody Award.
Since the last issue of Carolina Education , the UNC School of Education has received the following good news from members of our alumni community and has proudly shared congratulatory notes on social media.
Kristal Moore Clemons (‘09 Ph.D.), a member of the School’s Alumni Council, was named recipient of the Rising Star Stellar Award for Teaching, Research, Scholarship, and Service — one of Virginia State University’s 2023-24 Outstanding Faculty Awards.
Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching (BEST) program graduate Andromeda Crowell (‘12 B.S.) was named a finalist for Orange County Schools’ 2024-25 Teacher of the Year Award.
Karen Erickson (‘95 Ph.D.), a past recipient of the School’s Alumni Achievement Award, was honored with the 2024 Faculty Mentoring Award for Graduate Student Mentorship, which is sponsored by the Carolina Women’s Leadership Council.
Jennifer Hall (‘24 Ed.D.) was named principal of Club Boulevard Elementary School in Durham.
Jennifer Hauser (‘08 M.Ed.) and Anthony White (‘14 M.S.A.) were among five semi-finalists nominated for Durham Public Schools’ 2024 Principal of the Year Award.
Eben Lancerio (‘21 M.A., ‘22 M.S.A.) finished his first full year as principal of Central Wilkes Middle School in Moravian Falls, N.C.
Leslie Locklear (‘13 B.A.Ed., ‘14 M.Ed.) was named American Indian Education Director for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Grace Luy (‘24 M.Ed.) was named 2024-25 Teacher of the Year at the Early Learning Center at Memory Road within the Wake County Public School System.
Lauren Oliver (‘23 M.A.T.), an eighth grade English Language Arts teacher at Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill, was named Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ 2024-25 Promising New Teacher of the Year.
Do you have alumni news to share? Changed jobs? Won an award? Moved? Scan the QR code and let us know.
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