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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

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