2013

2013

Alumna Jacobsen honored as IU Foundation "Partner in Philanthropy"

On Nov. 1, Indiana University and the Indiana University Foundation honored five individuals as the 2013 Partners in Philanthropy, including IU School of Education alumna Jamia Jacobsen. Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie and IU Foundation President and CEO Daniel C. Smith presented the awards, recognizing exceptional volunteer leaders whose vital service and contributions help shape the future of the university at the highest levels.

Tilaars' gift to IU supports work on education and women's empowerment in Southeast Asia

Groundbreaking Indonesian business leader Martha Tilaar and prominent Indiana University alumnus H.A.R. “Alex” Tilaar have made a gift to the university to support faculty work focused on education and women’s empowerment in Southeast Asia. The Tilaars have created a $100,000 endowment to fund teaching, learning and research activities of faculty from the IU School of Education and the new School of Global and International Studies.

IU School of Education honors four educational leaders with Distinguished Alumni Awards

The Indiana University School of Education honored four of its alumni who have touched education across the world, the nation, and the state of Indiana during the annual Distinguished Alumni Award banquet Saturday (Oct. 12).  The 37th annual IU School of Education Distinguished Alumni Awards honored individuals who hold a degree from the school and have made a lasting impact through their work since leaving the school.

Indiana Teacher of the Year latest IU graduate to win honor

The Indiana Department of Education announced this morning that Steven Perkins, Latin Teacher at North Central High School in Indianapolis, is the 2014 Indiana Teacher of the Year. Perkins is a 1991 Classical Studies graduate of Indiana University. While earning his bachelor’s degree in the College of Arts and Sciences, he completed secondary education coursework in the IU School of Education to earn teaching certification. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz made the announcement during a special ceremony at North Central.

SOE alumnus Little selected as Ind. Supt. of Year

A graduate of the Indiana University School of Education has earned the top award from the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents. The IAPSS has named Thomas J. Little, Jr. as the Indiana Superintendent of the year. Little, who earned a specialist degree in school administration from the IU School of Education in Bloomington in 1991, then completed his Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction and school administration in 1992, is superintendent of Perry Township schools in Indianapolis.

Class of ’63 celebrates 50 years by supporting next generation of teachers

A group of Indiana University School of Education alumni from the class of 1963 is heading into the homestretch of its drive to support the best and brightest education students. The IU School of Education’s 50 year anniversary scholarship campaign will provide funding for the Direct Admit Scholars program to commemorate the five decades since the alumni earned their School of Education degrees.

National arts standards project involving IU School of Education and Ivy Tech faculty member beginning public review

The public is invited to review the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) draft high school national core arts standards for dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts starts on Monday, Sept. 30 through Monday. Oct. 21. As part of that, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, the NCCAS will host an online town hall-style meeting to provide updates on the projects and a summary of the data collected to this point. A link to the town hall will be available through the NCCAS web site.

Accountability, school grading, Common Core highlight CEEP Policy Chat with Ind. Schools Supt.

Attendees packed the Georgian Room at the Indiana Memorial Union on Monday, Sept. 9, 2013, to hear the vision for Indiana education laid out by the state’s superintendent of public instruction and insight on the national picture from the president of the Education Commission of the States. Glenda Ritz shared her experiences during her first eight months in office as Indiana schools superintendent during an Education Policy Chat presented by the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks on Aug. 28, 1963 (from the U.S. National Archive)

King march in 1963 "A legacy of soul force"

The March on Washington represented a loud crescendo in the fight against injustice as more than 200,000 people demanded change in the nation's capital, says Stephanie Power-Carter, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center and associate professor in the School of Education at IU Bloomington.

Indiana University, NYU receive grant to study, support out-of-school learning network

"Hive Research Lab: Investigating and Supporting Hive NYC as a Regional Learning Ecosystem" is a two-year research collaboration between IU project lead and graduate researcher Rafi Santo with IU School of Education faculty member Kylie Peppler, and New York University project lead and graduate researcher Dixie Ching with NYU faculty member Christopher Hoadley. The lab will serve as an applied research partner for a community of out-of-school learning providers called Mozilla Hive NYC Learning Network, to help the network effectively share innovative practices with each other and design rewarding extended experiences for youth.

First Balfour Scholars hit campus

Around 90 incoming high school seniors are on the Indiana University campus this week for a new program designed to help them discover their academic and career interests and help them succeed at pursuing them. Students arrived Sunday for the first “Pre-College Academy” of the Balfour Scholars Program. The program is designed to provide students from underrepresented groups with support beginning the summer after their junior year of high school continuing through their senior year. For those who attend IU Bloomington, the support extends throughout their college education.

Making sure online is on target

The Center Grove Global Campus is a project that endeavors to bring students, teachers, and others into a true online learning experience. And IU School of Education faculty and doctoral students are working alongside to ensure the experience is valuable and beneficial.

SNAAP report focuses on impact of gender, race and socioeconomic status on arts graduates

Findings from a national study released this week by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project show that a postsecondary arts education affords some unique advantages for women, minorities and disadvantaged students. However, significant gaps remain and inequalities persist related to school debt, racial diversity within artistic occupations and disparities in earnings by gender

Dean Gonzalez reponds to NCTQ study on teacher preparation programs

The Indiana University School of Education welcomes continued interest in and scrutiny of how well teacher education institutions prepare teachers. The school undergoes a rigorous process of accreditation by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education as well as state approval of all its teacher licensure programs.

College readiness the focus of annual education leadership conference

How well Indiana prepares students for college and ways to make preparation better are the primary focus of the 46th annual Education Leadership Summer Conference presented by the Indiana University School Administrators Association (IUSAA) on Thursday, June 20 and Friday, June 21 in Bloomington.

School of Education student teacher leaves lasting impression through student art project

The project stared the art teacher in the face practically from the time he started his job. Rob Freese, BS’08 in visual arts from the Indiana University School of Education, said the subject of putting a new mural in a south hallway at Batchelor Middle School came up even before he was gainfully employed. “I'm pretty sure in my job interview they asked me if I could replace it, about three years ago,” Freese said. After some time, a student teacher from the IU School of Education came up with a thought. “She approached me with the mural idea and I said 'Hey, why don't we have the students come up with this mural?’”

Torres named education dean at the University of South Florida

The University of South Florida named Indiana University School of Education faculty member Vasti Torres as its new dean of the College of Education today (May 15). Torres, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies and director of the Center for Postsecondary Research since 2010, will take her new position on July 15.

Words from an excellent teacher: School of Education alumna and Milken Award winner Candace Ewing

In December, 2012, Candace Ewing walked into an assembly at her school that she thought was focused on preventing bullying in schools.  She became more curious in seeing several honored teachers also present for the event in the Snacks Crossing Elementary gymnasium, along with the superintendent of public instruction for the state of Indiana.  And when a representative of the Milken Family Foundation began to speak about the attributes of a particular outstanding educator at her school, she began to wonder who it might be.

Alumna promotes college with her third-graders

Cold Environmental Spring Magnet School teacher Kathryn Sullivan, who graduated from IU in 2012, never dreamed her students would fall so deeply in love with “This is Indiana,” the song written by former students Brice Fox and Daniel Weber that went viral last year. She’d played it for them as part of a class segment about the importance of college, intending to use it to merely introduce her students to the concept of higher education using her alma mater as an example. “I thought I’d just show them the video, and that would be it,” she said. “But it turned into part of our daily routine; I’d play it before tests. I realize it’s about basketball, but it really became an anthem for education, about going to college, about achieving their dreams.”

School of Education honors graduates

The Indiana University School of Education held the May 2013 convocation ceremonies on Saturday, May 4, in the Wright Education Building in Bloomington. Family and friends packed the Wright Building atrium for the two ceremonies. The first ceremony at 12:45 p.m. included undergraduate degree-earners from special education, elementary education, and early childhood education.

Convocation ceremonies Saturday available online

The Indiana University School of Education holds the May 2013 convocation ceremonies on Saturday, May 4, at the Wright Education Building in Bloomington. There are two ceremonies to accommodate the large numbers of graduates and their friends and family.

Graduating students earn statewide awards

Five IU seniors earned a selection as an “Outstanding Future Educator” by the Indiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (IACTE). Each received the recognition during the IACTE Recognition Day ceremony on April 12 in Indianapolis.

IU School of Education honors eight Indiana teachers as Armstrong Teacher Educators

The Indiana University School of Education has named eight Indiana public school teachers as the Martha Lea and Bill Armstrong Teacher Educators for the 2013-14 school year.

In earning the prestigious honor, these teachers have an opportunity over the next year to participate in professional development opportunities and work with IU faculty and students studying to be teachers. The School of Education honored the new Armstrong teachers during the annual Celebration of Teaching ceremony this afternoon (April 23).

Giving Voice to the Silent

Call him silent, if you will. He’s eight years old, withdrawn, not interested in communicating. IU researchers place an iPad in his hands. It’s loaded with a voicing application designed for kids with severe communication challenges. In a short time, the uncommunicative youngster communicates through symbols that the iPad is “my stuff.” For the first time in his young life, he has a voice.

The experience epitomizes the work of Professor Erna Alant, who holds the Otting Chair in Special Education at the Indiana University School of Education in Bloomington.

Associate Dean honored as Purdue Distinguished Alumnus

The College of Science at Purdue University honored Indiana University School of Education Associate Dean for Research Bob Sherwood with a Distinguished Science Alumni award. The College of Science at Purdue presented Sherwood with the honor during an awards banquet on April 12 in West Lafayette.

Outstanding Chicago-area alumna making early career mark

Administrators in the Libertyville, IL Elementary School district have said it more than once—they just like to stick their heads in Danya Greenberg’s classroom to watch how she teaches. Greenberg, BS ’09 with highest distinction from the IU School of Education, teaches in a 1st through 3rd grade special education classroom at Rockland Elementary School, part of the Libertyville (IL) Elementary School district in suburban Chicago.

New program to bring underrepresented students to IU, support college careers

A new program will bring Indiana high school students from underrepresented minority groups to the Indiana University campus to introduce and prepare them for college and provide support throughout their academic careers at IU. The Balfour Scholars Program (BSP) is a project of the Center for P-16 Research and Collaboration (P-16 Center) at the IU School of Education in collaboration with the IU Office of Enrollment Management and the Office of Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs (DEMA).

Google funds 'BOOC' assessment course by IU School of Education researcher

Google has funded an associate professor in the Indiana University School of Education to develop a "Big Open Online Course," or BOOC. Daniel Hickey will offer a free course in September focused on educators and titled "Assessment Practices, Principles and Policies" for as many as 500 students, funded by a $50,000 Google grant.

SNAAP Conference brings context to survey

As a culmination of its first five years of research into the lives and careers of arts graduates, the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) brought together educators, researchers, and artists to discuss the meaning behind the numbers and more.  SNAAP, a project of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research in collaboration with the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, held its first-ever national conference in March. "3 Million Stories: Understanding the Lives and Careers of America's Arts Graduates," took place March 7 to 9, 2013 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

School of Education faculty member, center heading up free Chicago “Make-to-Learn” symposium

An Indiana University faculty member and her students from the “Creativity Labs” at IU will lead a free symposium on Wednesday, March 13 in Chicago focused on learning through making. The “Make-to-Learn Symposium 2013” is a one-day event dedicated to placing making, creating and designing at the core of educational practice. The symposium is at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. Educators, researchers, or anyone simply interested in hands-on activities and learning through them is welcome to attend.

College completion study tells story of transfers, lower rates for non-traditional students

A new national study on state-by-state college completion rates finds a significant portion of students in many states transfer before completing a degree and a large percentage of non-traditional students fail to earn a degree over a six-year period. The report, "Completing College: A State-Level View of Student Attainment Rates," was issued by Indiana University's Project on Academic Success and the National Student Clearinghouse® Research Center™.

Annual IST Conference brings lots of talk about ed tech

For the thirteenth year, the annual Instructional Systems Technology conference offered students, faculty, staff, and alumni an opportunity to talk about research, tools, and careers in IST. The annual event is a free student-run conference designed to give graduate students a safe venue to gain experience in presenting, organizing, and attending professional conferences. This year’s theme for the event on Thursday, Feb. 28 and Friday, March 1 was “Embracing Diversity and Collaboration.”
Remstad during a previous visit to Peru.

Doctoral candidate receives $20,000 grant for research in Peru

Indiana University Bloomington announced the first round of Mellon Innovating International Research and Teaching (MIIRT) program grants in January, and awarded doctoral candidate Maggie Remstad a $20,000 short-term graduate student fellowship to go toward her project titled "A Human Rights Approach to Intercultural Bilingual Education in Peru."
In two years of ranking online education programs, the IU School of Education has been ranked highly each of the two years by U.S. News & World Report.

U.S. News online education program rankings list School of Education as one of the best

The IU School of Education is 14th overall in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Online Graduate Education Programs” rankings, highest among Big Ten schools of education. Education programs earned their rank based on scores from four categories:   admissions selectivity, student engagement, faculty credentials and training, and student services and technology. U.S. News compiled data from 208 institutions that offered a master's in education degree through Web-based distance education courses.