Awards

• Dr. Sarah Irvine Belson, Executive Director of the Institute for Innovation in Education, was awarded $127,000 from the Benedict Silverman Foundation for the initial implementation of a tutoring program utilizing Reading Rescue and Reading Ready. Dr. Belson and her team have secured funding from the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), which covers a large portion of the research budget. [November 17, 2022]
• Assistant Professor Dr. Emily Grossnickle Peterson was identified by Educational Psychology Review as one of the most productive early career scholars in an analysis of publishing trends in educational psychology journals. The study, "Individual and Institutional Productivity in Educational Psychology Journals from 2015-2021,” ranked the articles scholars published in the top five educational psychology journals. [November 17, 2022]
• More than $1.3M was awarded from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to AU’s Dr. Shari Earnest Watkins and Dr. Brian L. McGowan, Associate Professor, as part of the Collaborative Research-Racial Equity project (CRRE) to examine undergraduate Black students’ postsecondary STEM experiences. [October 14, 2022]
• Professor Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss presented at the United We Stand summit at the White House. Read a Q&A with her, and watch the recording. [September 21, 2022]
• Dr. Ocheze Joseph, Director of Undergraduate Teacher Education and Senior Professorial Lecturer, was named a 2022-23 Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice (ITOC) Fellow. [June 27, 2022]

Publications & Presentations

• Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Eugene Pringle published two book chapters: "Leveraging the Mentorship Experiences of Black Males with Doctoral Degrees" in Best Practices and Programmatic Approaches for Mentoring Educational Leaders and "Foundations of a Resilience Model Pipeline for Black Male Well-Being and Leadership Principles" in The Future of Black Leadership in Higher Education: Firsthand Experiences and Global Impact. [January 18, 2023]
• Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Phelton Moss wrote for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) about how Black boys express their personality and character through their sneakers. Read his article here. [January 18, 2023]
• Check out the Noodle podcast "The Most Interesting People in Higher Ed" (Episode 19) featuring SOE Dean Dr. Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy here. [January 18, 2023]
• Virginia Public Media, the Richmond National Public Radio affiliate, interviewed and quoted Assistant Professor Dr. Robert D. Shand about the proposed Education Savings Account policy in Virginia. Read the story here. [January 18, 2023]
• SOE is the first AU school to have a land acknowledgment statement, which made news in this District article about the university's Indigenous inclusion, where Dean Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy was quoted. [January 18, 2023]

• SOE is the first AU school to have a land acknowledgement statement, which made news in this District article about AU’s Indigenous inclusion, where Dean Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy was quoted. [December 15, 2022] 

• Associate Dean Dr. Corbin Campbell was an invited panelist at the Boyer 2030 Commission National Conference, sponsored by the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities. The convening brings together higher education scholars and leaders from across the US to discuss issues related to the support of college teaching, learning, and equity. In this presentation, she talked about her forthcoming book (Harvard Education Press, 2023), Great College Teaching: Where it Happens and How to Foster it Everywhere. [December 15, 2022] 

• Dr. Phelton Cortez Moss, Education Policy Advisor in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senior Professorial Lecturer of Education Policy and Leadership, convened an education brain trust to make recommendations for Congress’s Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys. The commission recommends policies to improve upon, or augment, current government programs, and is chaired by Congress member Frederica Wilson. [December 15, 2022]

• Director of the Education Policy and Leadership Program and Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Reuben Jacobson was a panelist for the talk, "Community Schools: A Model Locally, a Model Nationally," at the Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit in Erie, PA. He also served as moderator for the panel discussion, “How District Leaders Start and Sustain Community Schools,” hosted by Brookings. [December 15, 2022]

• Faculty member Lynne Brenner Ganek was highlighted in this story about actor LeVar Burton’s lifetime achievement Emmy award. She was a creator of Reading Rainbow, which first aired on PBS in 1983 with Burton as host. [December 15, 2022]

• Urban Teachers, a national teacher residency program and partner with the SOE, was highlighted in media across the county this month. In the Philadelphia Citizen, and on Baltimore-based WBAL television, Urban Teachers was featured as a robust, qualified teacher pipeline in cities with an urgent need for more teachers. [December 15, 2022]

• Dr. Samantha Cohen, Executive Director of EdD Program and Senior Professorial Lecturer, was quoted on how successful teachers engage their students regardless of the modality - online or in person, in this eLearningindustry.com article. [December 15, 2022]

• Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Amaarah DeCuir published the article "Public Memory Generates Disinformation on 9/11 in Public Schools," in the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) Journal of Academic Freedom. [December 15, 2022]

• Associate Professor Dr. Jennifer Steele began serving as an Associate Editor of the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ). With a 5-year Impact Factor of 6.246, AERJ is a flagship journal of the American Educational Research Association, publishing articles that advance the empirical, theoretical, and methodological understanding of education and learning. [November 20, 2022]
• Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Altheria Caldera published an editorial in Education Week about how LA City Council Member Nury Martinez's words on the leaked recording reflects the ways Black boys are pathologized by institutions. [November 17, 2022]
• Dr. Amaarah DeCuir - Senior Professorial Lecturer, CTRL Senior Inclusive Pedagogy Fellow, and AUx Faculty Fellow - was invited by the Australian Curriculum Studies Association to be on a panel of international scholars to discuss the policies and practices common in American public schools to advance equity for religious-marginalized students. Watch a video recording of the talk, "Religious Responsivity." [November 17, 2022]
• Professorial Lecturer Dr. Rebecca Lubin presented research at the International Conference on Urban Education's 2022 Conference, "Speaking Truth to Power: Sustaining Excellence in Urban Realities," a solutions-based biennial global event. [November 17, 2022]
• Professor Dr. Vivian Vasquez co-authored her latest book, "Critical Comprehension: Guiding Students to Deeper Meaning," which is in pre-release (available Feb. 2023). It focuses on working with K-6 students to help them think through multiple perspectives, explore diverse texts, and use the power of story to develop life skills to discuss vast topics with critical curiosity. [November 17, 2022]
• Faculty members Dr. Samantha Cohen and Dr. William N. Thomas IV presented "Supporting Educational Leaders in Creating an Equity-centered Culture of Continuous Improvement" at the University Council for Educational Administration's (UCEA) UCEA22 conference. [Nov. 17-20, 2022]. 
• Drs. Tomiko Ball and Samantha Cohen presented at the CPED Conference on the topic: Creating Learning Environments within EdD Programs that Foster Antiracist Scholar Practitioner Communities. [October 13, 2022]

Other Impactful News

• Center for Postsecondary Readiness and Success Advisory Board member Eric Waldo was named new President/CEO of the DC College Access Program (DC-CAP). Read more here. [February 15, 2023]

• Instructor Annie Murphy Karabell, Director Danielle Gervais Sodani, and Professor Dr. Sarah Irvine Belson, members of the Institute for Innovation in Education, are doing a year-long course for the District of Columbia Public School principals called the Science of Reading for School Leaders. It is part of a larger project where SOE has worked with 27 DCPS schools over the last three years. [December 15, 2022]

• Scholar-in-Residence and Director of the Summer Institute for Education Equity and Justice (SIEEJ), Dr. Antonio Ellis was elected chair-designate of the Exemplary Contributions to Practice-Engaged Research Award Committee within the American Educational Research Association (AERA). [November 17, 2022]

Career Transitions

• Dr. William Thomas was appointed to a new role as AUx Faculty Fellow. [August 24, 2022]
• President Biden appointed Elizabeth Ryan, Adjunct Instructor in SOE, to be the new Administrator of OJP’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Ryan is president of Youth First, leading the shift from incarceration to community-based services and resulting in the closing of youth prisons in 6 states. [May 4, 2022]