GSEAP Newsletter - Fairfield University
GSEAP Newsletter - Fairfield University
GSEAP Newsletter - Fairfield University
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FairField <strong>University</strong><br />
Table of ConTenTs<br />
Partnership with bridgeport schools .......1<br />
b.e.s.T. education Project provides<br />
tuition-assisted training for teachers.......2<br />
faculty news ...........................................3<br />
Recent Grants ..........................................4<br />
Honors and awards ..................................4<br />
scholarship awards .................................4<br />
Commencement 2012 ..............................5<br />
sMaRT Classroom ....................................5<br />
Recent faculty Publications ....................6<br />
Partnering locally ....................................7<br />
Partnering Globally ..................................7<br />
Message from the Dean ...........................8<br />
Reflections<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
autumn 2012<br />
a PubliCaTion of THe GRaDuaTe sCHool of eDuCaTion anD allieD PRofessions<br />
Partnership with Bridgeport Schools<br />
A<br />
significant school-university<br />
partnership launched by<br />
Bridgeport Interim<br />
Superintendent Paul Vallas and the<br />
Graduate School of Education and Allied<br />
Professions at <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong> will<br />
have a major impact on Bridgeport high<br />
school students as well<br />
as <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
students.<br />
The partnership<br />
includes an<br />
Early College Dual<br />
Enrollment Plan that<br />
will allow Bridgeport<br />
high school seniors<br />
to take introductory<br />
courses at <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong>, as well as<br />
the <strong>University</strong> of Bridgeport, Sacred Heart<br />
<strong>University</strong>, and Housatonic Community<br />
College. Students are required to have a B<br />
average and demonstrate college readiness<br />
on the Accuplacer test, a college placement<br />
examination. The Bridgeport school<br />
district will pay the students’ tuition. The<br />
goal is to connect students with local colleges<br />
and to prepare more college-ready<br />
students.<br />
“The other exciting part of this initiative<br />
is the internship component,” says<br />
Dean Susan Franzosa. “Bridgeport will<br />
have openings for approximately 30 of our<br />
students to work in district schools. It’s a<br />
wonderful opportunity for our students to<br />
work directly with experienced teachers<br />
and for <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong> to contribute<br />
to educational change.” Teacher interns<br />
and interns in counselor education will<br />
receive tuition grants from the school<br />
district, so the cost of their education at<br />
<strong>Fairfield</strong> will be significantly reduced.<br />
“For preservice teachers, an urban<br />
teaching experience should be almost<br />
mandatory,” says Peter<br />
Ziegler, Bridgeport’s<br />
college and university<br />
partner liaison, who<br />
has been working<br />
on the city’s school<br />
redesign team. “The<br />
exposure they’ll have<br />
to ethnic diversity,<br />
languages, learning<br />
disabilities, and other<br />
issues will help them hone their skills as<br />
teachers.”<br />
Internships, though not required, have<br />
long been available to aspiring teachers,<br />
“but this partnership comes with a different<br />
job description,” says Dr. Joseph<br />
Ricciotti, <strong>Fairfield</strong>’s internship program<br />
director. “Instead of substituting for teachers<br />
in the classrooms, these interns will be<br />
working alongside an experienced teacher.<br />
Our students will receive feedback that<br />
will help them grow professionally. We<br />
think these interns will have an excellent<br />
learning experience in conjunction<br />
with their studies.” An added bonus, notes<br />
Ricciotti: “School districts look at these<br />
candidates as potential teachers, so the<br />
internship can be a stepping stone to a job.<br />
It’s really a win-win.”
Reflections<br />
B.E.S.T. Education Project Provides Tuition-Assisted<br />
Training for Teachers<br />
Thanks to a $1.4 million National Professional<br />
Development (NPD) grant from the U.S. Department<br />
of Education, one of the largest grants in <strong>Fairfield</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>’s history, faculty members in the Graduate School<br />
of Education and Allied Professions (<strong>GSEAP</strong>) will train educators<br />
in four cities to better teach English language learners<br />
(ELLs) and students with special education needs.<br />
“Since this grant project is<br />
designed solely for in-service<br />
teachers, accepted candidates<br />
will be able to readily implement<br />
their newfound knowledge<br />
in the classrooms in<br />
which they teach,” said Anne<br />
Campbell, Ph.D., associate<br />
professor of TESOL (Teachers<br />
of English to Speakers of<br />
Other Languages) & Bilingual/<br />
Multicultural Education, who<br />
Dr. anne Campbell<br />
applied for the grant along with<br />
her colleague Dr. David Zera, associate professor of Special<br />
Education.<br />
Over the next five years, the B.E.S.T. Education Project<br />
(Bilingual Education, Special Education and TESOL) will<br />
train about 55 practicing teachers in partner districts of<br />
Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford. These districts<br />
enroll more than 25 percent of all ELL students in the state.<br />
The project, which will begin in September, supports the<br />
State Department of Education’s Priority School District<br />
Initiative for school improvement, as all four cities are considered<br />
high priority districts in need of academic support.<br />
“Children with special needs require well educated<br />
teachers, as do children who are learning English in a school<br />
setting but speak another language at home,” said the Rev.<br />
Paul Fitzgerald, S.J., senior vice president for academic affairs.<br />
“<strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong> prides itself on educating educators to<br />
the highest level of professional competence, and the greatest<br />
commitment of heart, to serve those most in need of their<br />
talent and training. The B.E.S.T. program will afford us an<br />
excellent opportunity to deepen our partnerships with local<br />
communities to bring best practices to these special populations.”<br />
The grant will provide tuition support for the required<br />
coursework and professional development activities to earn<br />
cross-endorsements in bilingual and/or special education,<br />
2<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
and/or as a teacher of English<br />
to speakers of other languages<br />
depending on the teacher’s previous<br />
credentials. The project<br />
emphasizes scientific, researchbased<br />
interventions and strategies<br />
and new technologies to<br />
help them best serve their students.<br />
Drs. Campbell and Zera<br />
recently finished work associated<br />
with another five-year<br />
Dr. David Zera<br />
U.S. Department of Education<br />
grant to fund a similar project,<br />
Project SETTELL (Special Education Training for Teachers of<br />
English Language Learners). That project has graduated more<br />
than 30 teachers who are now certified to teach special education,<br />
bilingual education and/or TESOL.<br />
The high monetary awards are given with good reason.<br />
A 2011 needs assessment showed a critical need for teachers<br />
with the knowledge and expertise to teach special and<br />
bilingual education in these school districts. Like Project<br />
SETTELL, the B.E.S.T. Education Project will train candidates<br />
in consultation and collaboration, which will make<br />
them valuable resources not just in their own classrooms, but<br />
across their school districts.<br />
“We want to provide candidates with a background in,<br />
and knowledge of, special education and bilingual education,<br />
which are identified as high needs areas in the state. Doing<br />
so will give them the roadmaps to identify and differentiate<br />
whether a student’s problems are based in learning disabilities<br />
or learning English as a second language,” Dr. Zera explained.<br />
“Dr. Campbell and I are excited about continuing our collaboration<br />
to train educators to meet the needs of many students<br />
in the state and that is a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone.”<br />
Susan Franzosa, dean of <strong>GSEAP</strong>, called the prestigious<br />
grant a tribute to her excellent faculty. “Dr. Campbell and Dr.<br />
Zera will now be able to continue and extend the teacher<br />
training project,” she said. “ Connecticut, like most states, has<br />
a critical need for teachers who can meet the needs of bilingual<br />
children with special needs. Our schools, our teachers,<br />
our children, and our communities will be well served by the<br />
B.E.S.T. Project.”<br />
Faculty News<br />
Graduate students across campus chose Dr. Diana<br />
Hulse as the 2011/12 Graduate Teacher of the Year.<br />
The award is sponsored by Alpha Sigma Nu, the<br />
Jesuit Honor Society.<br />
“It’s the best honor in the world, because it comes from<br />
students,” said Dr. Hulse, who arrived at <strong>Fairfield</strong> in 2007 to<br />
chair the Department of Counselor Education. Two years<br />
after she arrived, the Graduate School of Education and<br />
Allied Profession’s master’s degree counseling programs were<br />
accredited again by CACREP (Council for Accreditation<br />
for Counseling and Related Educational Programs) for an<br />
eight-year period. The department has recently begun two<br />
advanced training certificate programs in Spirituality and<br />
Religion in Counseling and in Substance Abuse Counseling.<br />
“People learn best in an atmosphere which fosters mutual<br />
respect and allows for the expression of a wide range of<br />
ideas,” Dr. Hulse once wrote in a statement outlining her<br />
teaching philosophy. “Good instruction means accepting<br />
people wherever they are in their intellectual and/or clinical<br />
development and at the same time challenging them to<br />
expand their horizons.”<br />
According to students who wrote in to cast their votes,<br />
Dr. Hulse does all that, and more.<br />
“I’ve not had a professor, or teacher<br />
for that matter, in my schooling who<br />
better communicates the subject material<br />
through a unique, experiential approach,”<br />
writes one. “To see her in a classroom<br />
setting is to see the material itself coming<br />
to life.”<br />
This is the second year in a row that<br />
Dr. Diana Hulse a <strong>GSEAP</strong> faculty member has been so<br />
honored; Dr. Wendy Kohli, Professor<br />
of Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation, was named<br />
Graduate Teacher of the Year in 2010-11.<br />
The New England Reading Association has chosen three<br />
branches of the Connecticut Writing Project (CWP), including<br />
one at <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong>, to receive their 2012 award for<br />
outstanding contributions to literacy in the northeast corridor<br />
of the United States.<br />
Dr. Bryan Ripley Crandall, the new director of<br />
CWP-<strong>Fairfield</strong>, will receive the award in Nashua, N.H., in<br />
September. Dr. Crandall was hired to replace Faye Gage,<br />
director of CWP-<strong>Fairfield</strong> for 25 years, and he recently<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
received a doctoral prize for his research<br />
on the writing of African-born male<br />
youth enrolled in mainstream classrooms.<br />
“This is phenomenal news for all of<br />
us who support better writing instruction<br />
in Connecticut,” he said. “The award<br />
is a testimony to Faye Gage’s outstanding<br />
commitment to literacy and the work<br />
of her leadership team and the hundreds<br />
of teachers in Connecticut who have<br />
dedicated their lives to improved writ-<br />
Autumn 2012<br />
Dr. bryan Ripley<br />
Crandall<br />
ing practices. Teachers who participate in National Writing<br />
Project programs are trained to be educational leaders in their<br />
districts.”<br />
The Connecticut Writing Project-<strong>Fairfield</strong>, an affiliate<br />
of the National Writing Project, is dedicated to improving<br />
students’ writing by strengthening the teaching of writing,<br />
providing professional development programs for classroom<br />
teachers and expanding the professional roles of teachers. In<br />
addition, CWP-<strong>Fairfield</strong> offers a rich assortment of programs,<br />
including nationally recognized speakers on reading, writing,<br />
and learning issues, summer writing programs for youth and<br />
Writers’ Retreats for teachers.<br />
Dr. Susan Franzosa, dean of the Graduate School<br />
of Education and Allied Professions, has been invited by<br />
Gov. Dannel Malloy to serve as a member of the Educator<br />
Preparation Advisory Council, which will convene regularly<br />
in Hartford over the next year. The Council will develop a<br />
system for the approval, quality, regulation and accreditation<br />
of Connecticut educator preparation programs.<br />
The Connecticut State Department of Education has<br />
identified an urgent need for effective school leaders in the<br />
wake of a study showing that pass rates for graduates of<br />
Connecticut’s 15 teacher preparation programs varied considerably,<br />
indicating that a number are not preparing students<br />
to teach reading, and that there is substantial variation in program<br />
quality.<br />
“In our efforts to improve the quality of our state’s<br />
schools and close the achievement gap, the importance<br />
of well-trained and adequately prepared educators cannot<br />
be overstated,” noted Commissioner of Education Stefan<br />
Pryor in a letter. “A large body of research shows that the<br />
single most important school-level factor impacting student<br />
achievement is the quality of a student’s teacher. A similar<br />
consensus supports the notion that schools cannot be great<br />
without great leadership.”<br />
35
Reflections<br />
Recent Grants<br />
The BEST Education Project: Bilingual Education,<br />
Special Education, and TESOL Education Teacher<br />
Education Project, US Department of Education, Anne<br />
Campbell and David Zera, co-directors, $1,500,000.<br />
Connecticut Writing Project at <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong>:<br />
The Young Writer’s Institute Connecticut State<br />
Department, Bryan Crandall, director, $50,000.<br />
Connecticut Writing Project: Teacher Leadership<br />
Development, National Writing Project, SEED Grant,<br />
Bryan Crandall, director, $20,000.<br />
Investing in the Core of 21st Century Literacies:<br />
Providing Support for Writing Instruction at Bassick<br />
High School, National Writing Project, SEED Grant for<br />
High Needs Schools, Bryan Crandall, director, $20,000.<br />
Math In, Around, and For our Community, Bank of<br />
America, Jennifer Goldberg, director, $25,000.<br />
Parenting Stress, Coping, and Adolescents with<br />
ADHD, Earl W. and Hildagund A. Brinkman Foundation.<br />
Christine Siegel, director. $5,000.<br />
Scholarship Awards<br />
<strong>GSEAP</strong>’s first ever scholarship awards dinner was initiated<br />
by Advisory Board Chair Theresa Tillinger (second<br />
from left) with additional support from Board members,<br />
alumni and friends of the School. Congratulations to this<br />
year’s honorees:<br />
Leah Rambush<br />
Marriage & Family Therapy<br />
Juliana Serraillier<br />
Psychological and Educational Consultation/Applied<br />
Psychology<br />
Judith Noisette<br />
Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation/Elementary<br />
Education<br />
Alisha Smith<br />
Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation/Teaching &<br />
Foundations<br />
Celena Mangelli<br />
Psychological and Educational Consultation/School Library<br />
Media<br />
Dimitri Thornton<br />
Psychological and Educational Consultation/School Psychology<br />
42<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
Honors and Awards<br />
Professor Diana Hulse, Counselor Education - 2011-12<br />
Graduate Teacher of the Year Award<br />
Elaine Mattern, Couselor Education - Annual Graduate<br />
Student Service Award<br />
Alyssa Beit, School Psychology - Graduate Loyola Medal<br />
Connecticut Writing Project at <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong> - New<br />
England Reading Association Award for Outstanding<br />
Contributions to Literacy<br />
Bryan Ripley Crandall - Syracuse <strong>University</strong>’s All-<br />
<strong>University</strong> Doctoral Prize<br />
Tara Shay, Educational Studies – <strong>University</strong> Library<br />
Graduate Student Research Award<br />
Kathryn P. Koslow, Marriage and Family Therapy, <strong>GSEAP</strong><br />
Advisory Board – Dean’s Service Award<br />
Kameron Isaacs<br />
Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation/Secondary<br />
Education<br />
Cynthia Vail<br />
Counselor Education/Clinical Mental Health Counseling<br />
Anthony Mastriano<br />
Counselor Education/School Counseling<br />
John Evans<br />
Psychological and Educational Consultation/Special Education<br />
Maria de Fatima Magalhaes<br />
Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation/TESOL<br />
Commencement 2012<br />
Amid sunny skies and high spirits, <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
awarded 883 undergraduate degrees, 419 master’s<br />
degrees, 21 advanced study certificates and five doctor<br />
of nursing practice degrees - the first doctoral-level degrees<br />
in <strong>University</strong> history<br />
- at its 62nd<br />
Commencement<br />
ceremony on<br />
Sunday, May 20.<br />
Longtime<br />
<strong>Fairfield</strong> residents<br />
Bob and Suzanne<br />
Wright, co-founders<br />
of Autism<br />
Speaks, both spoke<br />
at the graduate<br />
Commencement<br />
ceremony. After<br />
their grandson was<br />
diagnosed on the<br />
autism spectrum,<br />
Bob Wright, the<br />
former vice chairman<br />
of General<br />
Electric and chief<br />
executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal, and Suzanne<br />
Wright, committed their lives to making the public aware of<br />
the devastating impact the disorder has on children.<br />
One hundred forty seven <strong>GSEAP</strong> students earned master’s<br />
degrees, and 21 earned certificates of advanced study.<br />
Alyssa Beit (pictured above), MA in School Psychology, was<br />
awarded the <strong>University</strong>’s prestigious 2012 Saint Ignatius<br />
Loyola Medal. The Loyola Medal recognizes academic excellence<br />
and exemplary community service. Elaine Mattern,<br />
MA in Counselor Education, was one of five <strong>Fairfield</strong><br />
graduate students to<br />
receive a <strong>University</strong><br />
award for outstanding<br />
community and<br />
professional service.<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
Get SMART!<br />
Autumn 2012<br />
Ready to launch this fall: a new program that incorporates<br />
SMART interactive whiteboard training<br />
into all teacher preparation programs. An initiative<br />
of <strong>GSEAP</strong>’s new Educational Technology Training Center<br />
(ETTC), the goal is to prepare new teachers to implement<br />
standards-based best practices in technology integration once<br />
they reach the classroom.<br />
Assistant Professor Gayle<br />
Bogel, director of the ETTC and of<br />
the Educational Technology masters<br />
program, has developed a partnership<br />
between <strong>GSEAP</strong> and SMART<br />
Technologies of Calgary, Alberta, to<br />
implement an innovative pilot project<br />
in which pre-service teachers receive<br />
training in SMART Technologies<br />
applications. Students in all <strong>GSEAP</strong><br />
departments at <strong>Fairfield</strong> will complete<br />
SMART training embedded<br />
in basic technology courses, in a<br />
assistant Professor<br />
Gayle bogel<br />
fully equipped classroom that now features a SMART Board,<br />
a Document Camera, an interactive Response Assessment<br />
System, and interactive SMART software that takes advantage<br />
of the hardware at hand. As a feature of the partnership,<br />
SMART is contributing state-of-the art equipment and making<br />
available over $15,000 of training at no cost to <strong>GSEAP</strong><br />
faculty and <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s Computing and Network<br />
Services (CNS) staff.<br />
“Interactive whiteboards offer educators seamless integration<br />
of print and digital resources for engaging learners in<br />
21st century classrooms,” Dr. Bogel explains. “The software<br />
pioneered by SMART Technologies offers multiple paths to<br />
differentiate, enhance and encourage student participation.”<br />
ETTC Co-Director Jay Rozgonyi, the head of<br />
Academic Technology<br />
Support in the<br />
<strong>University</strong>’s CNS<br />
department and an<br />
adjunct instructor in<br />
<strong>GSEAP</strong>, has collaborated<br />
with Dr. Bogel on<br />
the development and<br />
implementation of the<br />
SMART partnership.<br />
Kinshasa Msola, instructional<br />
Technology Training specialist for<br />
sMaRT Technologies international,<br />
conducted a four day workshop open<br />
to all GseaP faculty.<br />
55
alumni<br />
62<br />
Reflections<br />
Recent Faculty Publications<br />
Bilias-Lolis, E., Chafouleas, S.M., Bray, M.A., & Kehle,<br />
T.J., Exploring the utility of self-modeling in reducing disruptive<br />
classroom behavior in students with intellectual disability,<br />
Psychology in the Schools, January 2012.<br />
Bogel, G., Cura Personalis: The School Library through<br />
an Ignatian Lens, Journal of the American Association of School<br />
Librarians: Knowledge Quest, June 2012.<br />
Burrell, S., Building community at a Jesuit <strong>University</strong><br />
through diversity learning circles. In S. Thompson, Views from<br />
the frontline: Voices of conscience on college campuses, Common<br />
Ground Publishing, 2012.<br />
Goldstein, D. & Alibrandi, M., Integration of Geospatial<br />
Technologies into K-12 Curriculum, Journal of Geography, in<br />
press.<br />
Harkness, S, Zyliczo, Super C, Welles-Nystrom<br />
B, Burmudez, MR, Bonichini, S, Moscardino, Ul<br />
Mavridis, CJ, Children’s Activities and Their Meanings for<br />
Parents: A Mixed-Methods Study in Six Western Cultures,<br />
Journal of Family Psychology, December 2011.<br />
Kelly, V. A., Assessing individual student progress: Meeting<br />
multiple accreditation standards and professional gatekeeping<br />
responsibilities, The Journal of Counselor Preparation and<br />
Supervision, October 2011.<br />
Kim, H. U., Autism across cultures: Rethinking autism,<br />
Disability & Society, March 2012.<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
Kohli, W. with N. Burbules, Feminisms and Educational<br />
Research, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2012.<br />
McDermott, P.J. & Hulse, D., Interpersonal skills training<br />
in police academy curriculum, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,<br />
February 2012.<br />
O’Brien, N., Edwards, L.L, and Preli, R., Creating<br />
an Inclusive and Thriving Profession: Why the American<br />
Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT)<br />
Needs to Advocate for Same-Sex Marriage, Journal of Feminist<br />
Family Therapy, 2012<br />
O’Shea, E.O., Shea, J., Robert, T., & Cavanaugh, C.,<br />
The needs of siblings of children with cancer: A nursing perspective,<br />
Journal of Pediatric Oncology, 2012.<br />
Siegel, C. & Min, K., Integration of SMART board technology<br />
and effective teaching, Journal on School Educational<br />
Technology, September 2011.<br />
Singh, A., Merchant, N., Skudrzyk, B., Multicultural<br />
and Social Justice Competence Principles for Group Workers,<br />
Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 2012.<br />
Smith, E., Faculty Mentors in Teacher Induction:<br />
Developing a Cross-Institutional Identity, Journal of Educational<br />
Research, Fall 2011.<br />
Torres Bernal, A. & Zera, D., Increasing Accessibility in<br />
Couple and Family Therapy Training: Incorporating Universal<br />
Design for Instruction, Contemporary Family Therapy, March<br />
2012.<br />
It is with sadness that we learned in July of the death of Dr. Robert Pitt, Sr., the first Dean<br />
of the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions at <strong>Fairfield</strong> <strong>University</strong>. Prior to his<br />
appointment as Dean, Dr. Pitt taught statistics, and was an assistant dean of the College of Arts<br />
and Sciences. Dr. Pitt retired in 1987 and died peacefully near his home in New Hampshire.<br />
We want to hear from you!<br />
Please send news of your professional appointments,<br />
advancements, and awards to graded@fairfield.edu.<br />
stay connected through the fairfield university online<br />
alumni network. Register today and stay connected!<br />
Visit www.fairfield.edu/alumnicommunity<br />
News Briefs<br />
Partnering Locally<br />
“Reading is good,” says Priscila, a first grade student<br />
in Bridgeport’s Cesar A. Batalla school. “I can learn more.<br />
Writing lets me think.”<br />
Her classmate, Christian, agrees, adding, “I can learn to<br />
read about airplanes and dirt bikes. Airplanes and dirt bikes<br />
are so cool.”<br />
a service learning class at Cesar<br />
batalla school in bridgeport, Conn.<br />
Once a week during<br />
their semesterlong<br />
course, the students<br />
in Dr. Patricia<br />
Calderwood’s<br />
Explorations in<br />
Education class drove a<br />
few miles and a world<br />
away to Bridgeport’s<br />
Cesar Batalla elementary<br />
school. “We worked with<br />
four students, in groups<br />
of two at a time, to develop their literacy knowledge and to<br />
help raise their DRA [Developmental Reading Assessment]<br />
levels,” said Jessica Giordano’12. Giordano is enrolled in<br />
the five-year integrated B.A./M.A. Teacher’s Certification<br />
program.<br />
The relationship between <strong>Fairfield</strong>’s Graduate School of<br />
Education and Allied Professions and the Cesar Batalla school<br />
was organic, “a true combination of needs and resources,”<br />
said Melissa Quan, director of service learning. “The principal<br />
at Cesar Batalla contacted Bridgeport’s School Volunteer<br />
Association for help in meeting their literacy goals about the<br />
same time I contacted them looking for a partner willing to<br />
accommodate a large number of our students.”<br />
Cesar Batalla employs just one literacy coach for the<br />
1200 students in the K-8 school, “so the time and attention<br />
our students were able to give was very helpful,” noted Dr.<br />
Calderwood.<br />
<strong>Fairfield</strong> students are required to post to a discussion<br />
board regularly and collaborate on the educational context of<br />
their experiences. A reflection paper at the end of the semester<br />
encourages them to explore how their ideas about school<br />
and education have changed. In their assessment this semester,<br />
“our students actually asked to add a lab component next<br />
time, so they would have more time to spend in the classroom,”<br />
said Dr. Calderwood.<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
Partnering Globally<br />
Autumn 2012<br />
Dr. Jennifer<br />
Goldberg is no stranger<br />
to the city of León,<br />
Nicaragua. She’s been<br />
there four times for her<br />
work with the New<br />
Haven/León Sister City<br />
Project; she now chairs<br />
the group’s Advisory<br />
Council on Education<br />
an eager student in nicaragua<br />
and spearheads the collaborative<br />
work of <strong>Fairfield</strong>’s Graduate School of Education<br />
and Allied Professions (<strong>GSEAP</strong>) in Nicaragua.<br />
“The New Haven/León Sister City Project (NHLSCP)<br />
is a progressive, bi-national, grassroots organization that fosters<br />
partnerships between Greater New Haven and León,<br />
Nicaragua,” she explains. “Our mission is to promote social<br />
justice in a region where barely half of all children make it to<br />
the sixth grade.”<br />
Dr. Goldberg, <strong>GSEAP</strong>’s director of childhood education,<br />
returned from León in February and gave an overview of the<br />
educational landscape there to <strong>GSEAP</strong> Board members gathered<br />
for their regular meeting.<br />
“The aim of the exchange is to support schools in a rural<br />
area near León, where teachers are very young, have limited<br />
training, and receive a salary of just $50 a month. What we<br />
take away is an ability to think outside the box. Going to<br />
Nicaragua helps us move away from our assumptions of how<br />
school should be,” says Dr. Goldberg, who works mainly with<br />
the community’s K-2 and after-school programs.<br />
over 80 people<br />
attended<br />
the March<br />
Community<br />
Conversations<br />
event with<br />
speaker Marc<br />
Potenza, M.D.,<br />
Ph.D, a Yale psychiatristspecializing<br />
in addictive<br />
behavior. His talk,<br />
“Texting & Tweeting 24/7?” had broad appeal within the community.<br />
Here, Dr. Potenza (center) speaks with GseaP board members<br />
Dana Cavallo (left) and Denise lewis, Chair of GseaP lectures and<br />
events Committee.<br />
75
Reflections<br />
28<br />
upcoming eVents<br />
Thurs., sept. 13 at 6 p.m.<br />
community matters: supporting<br />
Writers Beyond school<br />
Dr. bryan Crandall, Director of<br />
the Connecticut Writing Project<br />
at fairfield university<br />
brooklawn Country Club,<br />
fairfield<br />
R.s.v.p. to www.fairfield.edu/<br />
gseapreception by september 7<br />
Tues., oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m.<br />
urban educational Reform<br />
stefan pryor, ct commissioner<br />
of education<br />
free and open to the Public<br />
Quick Center for the arts<br />
Tickets for the upcoming art<br />
season at the Quick Center<br />
are available now! Visit www.<br />
fairfield.edu/newseason or call<br />
1-877-ARts-396.<br />
support gseAp:<br />
www.fairfield.edu/give<br />
Reflections, a newsletter published twice<br />
a year by the fairfield university Graduate<br />
school of education and allied Professions,<br />
is written for and distributed to<br />
alumni of the Graduate school. its primary<br />
mission is to keep alumni and friends<br />
informed about what is going on in the<br />
school and to highlight the impact of gifts<br />
and partnerships, focusing on the people<br />
behind them and the people – both students<br />
and faculty – benefiting from them.<br />
fairfield university<br />
1073 north benson Rd.<br />
bellarmine Hall<br />
fairfield, CT 06824-5195<br />
eDiToRial boaRD<br />
susan franzosa<br />
Dean, GseaP<br />
lynn Holforty<br />
GseaP Publications liaison<br />
nina Riccio, M.a. ’09<br />
Reflections editor<br />
Pam Trickey<br />
Graphic Designer<br />
Design & Digital Print services<br />
34485_08/12<br />
Graduate school of education<br />
and allied Professions<br />
1073 north Benson road<br />
<strong>Fairfield</strong>, Ct 06824-5195<br />
Message From the Dean:<br />
We are living through an<br />
era of rapid change in which<br />
children, families, and their<br />
communities are facing incredible<br />
challenges. Our Jesuit mission<br />
compels us to provide the very best education<br />
for professionals who will address these<br />
challenges. To this end, over the last five years,<br />
<strong>GSEAP</strong> faculty members have been engaged<br />
in strategic program growth, the expansion of<br />
professional development opportunities and<br />
community outreach, and the creation of community<br />
partnerships. Our abiding goal has been<br />
to create a supportive, collaborative, and intergenerational<br />
community of <strong>GSEAP</strong> students,<br />
faculty, and alumni that make a positive contribution<br />
to our collective future.<br />
<strong>GSEAP</strong> faculty and students continue to<br />
receive honors and awards for their achievements.<br />
This is the third year that one of our<br />
graduates has received the <strong>University</strong>’s prestigious<br />
Loyola Medal. Faculty grant applications<br />
resulted in support for a community math<br />
tutoring project, research on parent stress, the<br />
www.fairfield.edu/gseap<br />
NoNprofit org.<br />
U.S. poStage<br />
paiD<br />
fairfielD<br />
UNiverSity<br />
construction of a state-of-the-art SMART<br />
Board classroom, renewed support for the<br />
Connecticut Writing Project, and a substantial<br />
U.S. Department of Education award to support<br />
teacher training in bilingual special education.<br />
A new partnership agreement with the<br />
Bridgeport Public Schools that will include<br />
collaborations in service learning, teaching and<br />
counseling internships, and teacher professional<br />
development will also provide full-year tuition<br />
for student interns. The <strong>GSEAP</strong> Advisory<br />
Board, completing its second year, consulted on<br />
program development, sponsored community<br />
events, and initiated a scholarship fund.<br />
I’m delighted to be able to share our<br />
<strong>GSEAP</strong> news in this issue of Reflections. We<br />
would also like to hear from you. Please send<br />
us your newsworthy items for inclusion in the<br />
next issue. Thank you for your continued support.<br />
Susan Douglas Franzosa, Ph.D.<br />
Dean and Professor<br />
autumn 2012