College of Education

UCA To Host Annual Arkansas Student Success Symposium

UCA, in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and Pulaski Technical College, will again host the Annual Arkansas Student Success Symposium. For the past 8 years, more than 200 educators have gathered for this annual event to learn from nationally-recognized speakers and share ideas with colleagues on improving student success.

This year’s symposium will be held on Tuesday, March 17th on the University of Central Arkansas campus. The theme for this year is “College-Ready Students and Student-Ready Colleges.”

There will be an exciting slate of speakers lined up this year, as well as a poster session on best practices and a closing session on developing common learning outcomes for student success courses.

The Symposium is also offering an afternoon pre-symposium pedagogy workshop this year on March 16th. Dr. Brad Gardner from Indiana Wesleyan University will focus on engaging millennial students.

Additional information on the Workshop and the Symposium, as well as a link to the registration screen for both events can be found on the Symposium website at: www.arkansasstudentsuccess.org.

National Board Support Site at UCA

Amy Thompson, MAT Program Coordinator and Clinical Instructor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, was recently awarded an $18,000 grant to host a National Board support site.

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Held on the UCA campus, the National Board support site is for initial candidates, advanced candidates, and renewal candidates. Meeting on Saturdays, teachers from all over the state come together to work towards this prestigious certification.

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This year, UCA has the pleasure of hosting 25 initial candidates, 13 advanced candidates, and 12 renewal candidates. Mrs. Marilyn Friga and Mrs. Mara Cawein, Clinical Instructor II’s in the Department of Teaching and Learning, assist with the site.

National Board Certification is the most respected professional certification available in education. It provides numerous benefits to teachers, students, and schools (boardcertifiedteachers.org). More than 100,000 teachers have chosen to pursue National Board Certification.

Chicks For Children Foundation Received Chick-fil-A True Inspiration Award

Doctor Mark Cooper, professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Special Education at the University of Central Arkansas, Licensed Professional Counselor, Director of the Mashburn Center for Learning and co-founder of Chicks for Children Foundation, Inc. the founder of the Chicks for Children Foundation, was happy to announce that Chicks for Children Foundation is a recipient of the Chick-fil-A True Inspiration Award. The foundation expectation is to support an effort for an education team to develop educational activities designed to help kids make a difference in the lives of kids at the local and global levels.

The True Inspiration Awards, which range in amounts from $10,000 to $100,000, were granted to 25 organizations across the country based on local community impact in three categories:

· Emerging Leader Development: Organizations focused on character development, positive community and cultural involvement and effective civic engagement

· Youth Entrepreneurship: Organizations committed to developing business knowledge, entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy

· Innovative Education: Organizations dedicated to improving teaching and learning through ground-breaking practices and visionary leadership

Organizations either applied or were nominated by Chick-fil-A restaurant franchisees based on the organization’s local work in the three categories. The Chick-fil-A Foundation evaluated the caliber of each organization’s work in these categories as well as their operational health, financial stability and transparency. The 25 inaugural award winners will be honored at a celebratory event in Atlanta this fall.

“Every 26 seconds a student drops out of high school in the United States,” said Rodney Bullard, executive director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation. “We want to invest in youth at an early age as well as the organizations that are empowering students to dream big and ensure lifelong success,” he said. “This is just one way that we are honoring the legacy of our founder, S. Truett Cathy, who dedicated his life to serving his community and helping young people.”

In addition to these categories, one winning organization was recognized as a True Inspiration Honoree, a special honor reserved for an organization or individual that embodies the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Truett Cathy. The recipient of this inaugural award is the Keith Boyd Foundation. Boyd, a 10-year-old small business owner with nonverbal cerebral palsy and no use of his arms, legs, or mouth, is using his Tulsa-based lemonade stands to raise awareness and resources for his tuition-free special needs alma mater.

To learn more about the True Inspiration Awards and view a complete list of recipients, visit their website.

“I simply wanted those who I work closest with and who I work for to know about this exciting opportunity to build our circle of influence,” founder Mark Cooper said, “I champion the effort to champion struggling learners first and foremost as a faculty member in the Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education and more importantly as the Director of the Mashburn Center for Learning. It just so happens I founded Chicks for Children Foundation. They all work in harmony and enhance one another. ” Cooper asks for everyone to visit his website to review their mission goals.

The Chick-fil-A® Foundation is the corporate foundation of Chick-fil-A, Inc. A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation’s purpose is to lead the company’s commitment to support youth and education in Chick-fil-A’s local communities. The Foundation’s work is focused on developing and educating young people so they can build a positive legacy and become all they were created to be. For more information, visit www.chick-fil-afoundation.org

Chicks for Children is also as strong as the team of project partners. A foundational principle of Chicks for Children involves the identification of partnerships that value giving funds to support our efforts to reduce hunger and poverty and build lasting relationships.

The partners in the states include public schools, parochial schools, churches, businesses, corporations, organizations, and individuals. At the present time, our global partner includes the Seeds mission ministry operated by Pastor Richard and Hellen Makani. Local partners are determined by the local efforts initiative and instituted across the country. At the present time, there have been efforts in a variety of states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Colorado.

Cotabish & Dailey’s New Science Book Made National Science Teacher Association’s Recommended Readings List

Drs. Alicia Cotabish and Debbie Dailey’s newly released book, A Teacher’s Guide to Using the Next Generation Science Standards With Gifted and Advanced Learners, has been published on the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Recommends website.

The organization provides unsolicited endorsements and candid reviews of newly released science books.

The NSTA review enthusiastically describes the book as “…a terrific resource to help science teachers create vigorous and worthwhile learning experiences for their gifted and advanced students.”

The full review can be viewed here.

Co-authored with Dr. Cheryll Adams (Professor Emerita at Ball State University) and written as a service publication for the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the book was released at the national NAGC conference in Baltimore last November. The book is a sequel to the 2014 book, Using the Next Generation Science Standards with Gifted and Advanced Learners, another NAGC service publication penned by Cotabish and colleagues.

Dr. Cotabish is the program coordinator of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program in the College of Education – Department of Teaching and Learning where she teaches gifted and talented education courses, research methods and science methods to graduate students.

Dr. Dailey is program faculty in the GATE program, teaches research methods to graduate students, and directs STEMulate Engineering Academy, a new engineering-focused summer program for elementary students.

President Courtway Shared Accomplishments of 2014 And Highlighted Visions For 2015

Dear Friend,

As we begin a new year, we thought it would be a good idea to reflect on some of the university’s accomplishments in 2014, and also let you know what is happening at UCA in 2015.

Over the past year, there are many achievements of which we should be proud. Enrollment continues to increase. Several construction projects are underway or about to commence. And, our financial condition continues to remain in a very healthy and positive state. All of this is to provide for and enhance the UCA experience for students, faculty and staff.

This video captures what has been accomplished and highlights our vision for 2015 and beyond.

Thank you most of all for your support of, and commitment to, the University of Central Arkansas and its students.

Sincerely,

Tom Courtway, President

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