Mary Mosley, Charlotte Cone Reflect on Their Years at UCA and Future Plans
Retirement: Pleased, Excited, Proud
Mary H. Mosley
Department of Early Childhood, Special Education
College of Education
When I came to UCA 20 years ago, I was pleased, excited, and proud. I was pleased to be hired as director of the UCA Reading Success Center and to be teaching graduate students pursuing their Master’s degrees in reading/literacy. I was excited at the potential for expanding the services of the UCA Reading Center as a one summer semester annual experience to a year-round program serving students and their families in central Arkansas. I was proud to become associated with the University of Central Arkansas and to teach with a faculty whom I had long admired.
Before coming to UCA, I was employed as director of reading for the Little Rock School District (LRSD). I left LRSD to serve as associate superintendent and curriculum director for Vilonia School District, but two years later the Little Rock Schools asked me to return as director of reading and director of the district’s Instructional Resource Center. I have been fortunate throughout my career to teach and work in positions I have truly enjoyed; each job I have had was, at the time, my “favorite” job. I taught English at the high school and university levels as well as reading and literacy at the middle and elementary school levels. I also directed the reading center at the University of North Texas University before coming to Arkansas.
My scholarship and research at UCA have focused on the Reading Center. I have studied and improved the center’s research-based lesson plan that reflects current best practices. Through ongoing examination of the effects of reading methods used at the center, I have been able to share with the profession, through publications and presentations, my findings and results to improve reading instruction for struggling readers. During the past 20 years, I have obtained grants on my own and with colleagues to improve studies and services at the center.
Currently, I have devised a bi-lingual lesson plan format that we are using to better serve English Language Learners (ELLs), their parents, and the other students at the center. My graduate students and I are researching the results of this bilingual lesson for our ELLs, their parents, and the other students who receive instruction with the ELL students. We have English speaking children learning vocabulary and phrases in the language of the ELL students, who get to act as the “teachers” of their original language for the other children. One parent told me that her child has been so excited about learning Spanish that she has involved the whole family in learning Spanish words and phrases and facts about the Hispanic culture and people.
My teaching also has been influenced by the UCA Reading Center, but in addition to preparing future reading specialists, I also am heavily involved with studying and increasing successful Literacy Coaching to the curriculum of the UCA reading program. Annually, I present research and practices at the International Reading Association (IRA) conference, and I gain many keen insights each year from the sessions I attend, as well as the sessions I present.
Additionally I have involved two or three of my UCA graduate students each year for the past 10 years in presenting some of their research findings at the annual state reading conference of the Arkansas Reading Association. I helped establish the Arkansas Literacy Teacher Educators as a special interest group of the ARA, and we include student presenters each year at our conference session. I have been fortunate to receive primarily positive responses to student evaluations of my teaching, both formal and informal, but I am continually looking for ways to become a better and more effective teacher. I believe teaching is the most rewarding endeavor, at least for me, and I am still learning how to be a successful teacher with students whose knowledge, teaching, and dispositions reveal successful learning.
Through my teaching at UCA and involvement in professional associations and activities, I am also fortunate to engage in service activities. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Literacy Action for Central Arkansas Council and on the Faulkner County Literacy Council (FCLC) Board of Directors. I have led the tutor training for FCLC for the past two years. Plus, I present at schools and agencies throughout the area, serving as professional development provider and consultant on curriculum development, instructional practices, and storytelling. I serve as an officer of the local, state and national reading associations, having served as president, membership director and journal editor of the state association and as Editorial Board for the IRA journal, The Reading Teacher, and also on the editorial board of the national journal of the Professors of Reading Teacher Educators. At UCA, I have enjoyed 12 years on the Faculty Senate and now 6 years on the UCA Faculty Handbook Committee, as well as service on other university, college and department committees and projects.
As I complete my final semester of teaching at UCA, I am reminded of what one of my colleagues in the national reading organization told me at the IRA meeting last May. He said, “Mary, you are retiring from your university, but you are not retiring from the profession. We expect to see you here next year at IRA.”
He was right; I am not retiring from the profession. I will remain active in helping children and adults with their literacy learning. I will continue activities of scholarship, teaching, and service.
I was pleased, excited and proud when I came to UCA. Now I am pleased that I had the opportunity to serve and learn here at UCA. I am excited to see what the next phase of my life will bring me. I am proud to have been a part of the faculty and all that is accomplished every day by great professionals at the University of Central Arkansas. I will celebrate the continued successes of this great university as sincerely as I do those of my own family. Thank you, UCA, for the wonderful years I have enjoyed here. I appreciate you as my colleagues and as my friends.
Begin with the End in Mind
Charlotte Cone
Department of Leadership Studies
College of Education
In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey advocates in Habit #2 that people should: “Begin with the End in Mind.” I think the only time that I ever started anything with 2“the end in mind” was the pursuit of my Ed.D. degree from the University of Memphis. As a first generation college student, I made my decision more like the line from the Robert Frost poem that resonates with the words: “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” and I took the path that led me into the world of postsecondary education. Looking back 34 years later, I can say “it has made all the difference.”
I wish I could tell you that, when I finished my bachelor’s degree with a major in English in 1970 and a master’s degree in 1977 from UCA, I knew I was going to work for the next 20 years in two-year colleges in Arkansas and the last 14 years by returning to my hometown and the University of Central Arkansas. I have enjoyed my journey in higher education. I loved working with two-year college students, watching them grow and develop academically.
When I returned in UCA in 1997, I was able to continue working with at-risk students through University College and to teach new professionals pursuing their master’s degrees in the College Student Personnel Services and Administration program. Along the way, I enjoyed serving as Activity Director for the Title III Grant and for a short period of time as Assistant Provost and Director of Sponsored Programs.
When Dr. Terry James, Chair of the Department of Leadership Studies, looked at this article, he reflected, “Maybe we don’t really need to start with the end but should learn to enjoy the travel because when we finish the trip, it’s the experiences, relationships and successes we’ve helped others achieve that we carry with us.” I think he is correct. I know I leave with many great memories and feeling blessed to have worked with some wonderful professionals, faculty and students.
External Funding Received by College of Education Faculty for 2010-11
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution grant: This grant funds professional development opportunities for teachers of grades 3-12 across Arkansas. The funds supply high quality professional development workshops and institutes for teachers to explore the curriculum and then participate in a performance assessments similar to assessments used in 3 – 12 classrooms. Participants at any of the grant funded workshops or institutes receive a classroom set of 30 We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution textbooks. The textbooks are free to the teacher and are published for the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Additionally, the grant funds an annual high school state competition with the top team in the state advancing to the national finals held in Washington, DC.
Dr. Jeff Whittingham, associate professor, Department of Teaching and Learning; “We The People” State Coordinator
Ms. Marilyn Friga, instructor, Department of Teaching and Learning; Congressional District Coordinator
Dr. Pat Ramsey, assistant professor, Department of History; Congressional District Coordinator
Title IIA Literacy grant: The Mashburn Center for Learning was awarded $325,400 by the Arkansas Department of Education. In its fifth year, ADE has awarded the Mashburn Center approximately $2,000,000. The major goal is to increase capacity by improving academic outcomes for Arkansas students at risk for school failure by ensuring access to high quality, research-based, strategy instruction. Funding high-quality, research-based professional development to general and special education teachers who work with adolescents with learning problems, the grant builds teacher capacity for demonstrating mastery in the application of the Strategic Instruction Model methodologies and increases sustainability and scalability of high quality, research-based, strategy instruction used by the participating district teaching teams in the 15 school districts involved in this intervention. Approximately 30 educators have become certified Professional Developers in the Strategic Instruction Model including 20 content specialists (math, science, and literacy) participating as Potential Professional Developers who aim to increase the growth of Professional Developers in Arkansas for the sustainability of the Arkansas Adolescent Literacy Intervention.
Dr. Mark Cooper, professor, Early Childhood Special Education; director of the Mashburn Center for Learning
Dr. Patty Kohler-Evans, associate professor, Early Childhood Special Education; SIM Certified Professional Developer
Dr. Renee Calhoon, coordinator for Administrator and Teacher Development; SIM Certified Professional Developer
Pathwise: Promoting Professional Practice: UCA, the Professional Education Unit, and the College of Education are proud to partner with the Arkansas Department of Education to provide Pathwise guidance for area educators. Pathwise is an induction program required by the state of Arkansas to provide direct assistance to novice teachers and to prepare them for the performance assessment (Praxis III) required for licensure following the same criteria used in the College of Education with teacher candidates. Veteran classroom teachers and school administrators are educated in the Pathwise model so they are ready to assist new teachers in mastering effective teaching practices and passing the performance assessment.
Ms. Debbie Barnes, Assistant Dean
Ms. Sue Farris, coordinator of Internship II
Dr. Mary Mosely, associate professor, Department of Early Childhood/Special Education
Ms. Marilyn Friga, instructor; Department of Teaching and Learning
Ms. LeeAnn Burrow, Pathwise trainer
Arkansas Research Center: The College of Education continues to receive grant funding to operate the Arkansas Research Center (ARC) with the mission to foster effective educational data use and to serve as a clearing house for state agency educational data. Neal Gibson, director of ARC, along with other ARC researchers play an active role in the development of protocols to link student data along the P-16 continuum; preserve the confidentiality and integrity of individuals’ data; and improve data collection, reporting, and analysis systems to enhance the role of data in state evaluation protocols. Additionally, ARC maintains online data resources to communicate student achievement and growth trends of public schools in Arkansas. Through ARC’s QuickLooks (http://quicklooks.arkansas.gov/ade/ ) and Hive ( http://hive.arkansas.gov/ ) websites, viewers can instantly see how schools compare to and compare with one another on a local and statewide level including how a school has improved over the years. To date, more than $2 million has been received by ARC.
Dr. Lisa Daniels, Association Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning; Principal Investigator of Grant/Contract
Professional Development Support for the EAST Initiative in America’s Schools: EAST is an innovative program for elementary and secondary schools that blends advanced technologies with project-based learning and civic learning to help students develop authentic solutions to student identified local community issues. EAST programs enroll more than 10,000 students each year. EAST, Inc. provides initial training for all new facilitators (teachers) hired to direct EAST learning environments as well as offers extensive follow-up professional development for these facilitators. Dr. James works with the EAST staff to develop and deliver training modules, critique delivery of training, and help identify pedagogical trends that inform the training program. EAST classrooms exist in approximately 200 Arkansas P-12 schools as well as in 4 other states. Dr. James has served in these capacities for EAST since EAST expanded from its origins at Greenbrier High School in 1997.
Dr. Terry James, Chair, Department of Leadership Studies
Division of Child Care & Early Childhood Education, Division of Human Services, Quality Grant: By earning an outstanding score on the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale during an onsite visit earlier in the year, the UCA Child Study Center was awarded funds to purchase new equipment to replace old equipment and new materials and supplies for the Center.
Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Child Chare and Early Childhood Education, Professional Development Grant: For maintaining a 3-star Better Beginnings certificate for the UCA Child Study Center, the Center received funds to purchase supplies and provide professional development for the staff at the center.
Mrs. Kathy Moore, Director of the Child Study Center; Instructor, Department of Early Childhood/Special Education
Quality of Teacher Preparation and Certification/Licensure Programs Annual Report
The University of Central Arkansas Title II Report Card for 2009-2010 was recently submitted by the College of Education. Title II of the Higher Education Act requires higher education institutions to report on the quality of their teacher preparation and certification/licensure programs. The Title II data that were submitted included information about both the undergraduate teacher preparation programs and the Master of Arts in Teaching program. The Title II Report requires institutions to include current information regarding
- program admission requirements;
- the number of students who are admitted and enrolled in the program;
- the number of hours required for clinical experiences, the number of students in clinical experiences, and the number of faculty (full-time or adjunct) who supervise during clinical experiences;
- the number of teachers prepared, including major and subject area for which they are prepared to teach;
- the number of program completers;
- the annual goals to increase the number of teachers prepared for teacher shortage areas (math, science, special education, and instruction of limited English proficient students); and
- the assessment pass rates.
The University of Central Arkansas traditional undergraduate program had 482 teacher candidates who were admitted and enrolled in 2009-10. Of this number, 78% were female. Minority candidates totaled 8% of those candidates admitted and enrolled. Candidates enrolled in the program completed an average of 168 hours of field experience prior to the final internship (directed teaching).
During this reporting period, 182 candidates completed a final internship consisting of 600 contact hours. Candidates who complete the undergraduate teacher preparation program also must successfully complete the Praxis II Subject Area Assessment and Pedagogy exams to become licensed teachers in Arkansas. The UCA pass rate percentage for exams taken from September 1, 2009, to August 31, 2010, was 96%. This pass rate is two percentage points higher than the state wide average pass rate for the same reporting period.
The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) is an initial teacher preparation program at the graduate level. In 2009-10, the MAT program had 249 teacher candidates enrolled, of which 85% were female and 10% were minority candidates. Candidates enrolled in the MAT completed an average of 75 clock hours of field experience prior to final internship. The final internship consists of 600 clock hours.
The MAT is designed for individuals who hold bachelor’s degrees, regardless of the undergraduate major, and are seeking career changes. In 2009-10, 82 candidates completed the MAT program. These candidates represented 46 different undergraduate degree majors. Of the 82 candidates who completed the program, 32% were prepared to teach math and/or science in grades 4-12.
The MAT has shown a 204% increase in the number of teacher candidates prepared since 2007-2008 (from 27 to 82 program completers). Graduates of the MAT program also must complete the Praxis II Subject Area Assessment and Pedagogy exams to become licensed teachers in Arkansas. The pass rate percentage for graduates of the MAT program was 100%, one percentage point above the state wide average pass rate for MAT programs during the same reporting period.
Dr. Greg Murry Shares His Three Rs with Teacher Education Candidates
Teacher candidates in the College of Education were honored with two opportunities during the 2011 spring semester to hear a motivating message from Dr. Greg Murry, superintendent of the Conway Public School District. Dr. Murry delivered the opening address at the Collegiate Middle Level Association annual conference in the UCA Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on March 2. On April 7, about 60 teacher candidates listened as Dr. Murry shared his expertise gleaned from his life administrator.
Dr. Murry reflected on his memories of his school experiences and classmates emphasizing the powerful influences from teachers that shaped his learning and his life. He captivated the candidates by retelling the changes that began when his ninth-grade English teacher shared with him that she liked what he wrote, noting that he had something to say. Dr. Murry recognized that his teacher established an important relationship built on knowing her student and showing that she cared, two essential characteristics that today’s teachers need to replicate in their practices.
Dr. Murry continued by saying that, through genuine relationships, teachers must guide and support students in making meaningful connections across the curriculum and into the community for students to find relevance while maintaining and ever-increasing the rigor of the academic expectations found in the Common Core standards.
Dr. Murry shared many different examples describing his three Rs of education: relationships, relevance, and rigor. Teachers make a difference in the classroom by developing strong relationships with their students. Learning strengthens when teachers showcase the relevance of the content in application to their students’ lives. Increasing rigor by aligning the curriculum, instruction, and assessments ensures learning for all students and prepares them for their futures. To view the entirety of Dr. Murry’s address, please go to http://vimeo.com/22406945
Arkansans for Gifted and Talented Education Hold its 32nd Conference
Arkansans for Gifted and Talented Education (AGATE) recently held its 32nd annual conference at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock. Governor Mike Beebe addressed the group. During the annual awards ceremony, several awards were presented to area teachers, some of whom are graduates of the University of Central Arkansas, College of Education.
Donna Whiting, Conway School District, received the Award of Excellence. Tanya Leggett, Greenbrier School District was honored with the Parent Community Award. Julie Hayes, Conway School District, was presented an Educator Award. Penny Laymon, Atkins School District, was awarded the Curriculum Award in the Elementary Division with an ADM less than 1000 students. In the Act 56 Awards for Outstanding Programs, Atkins School District was recognized for merit in districts of less than 1000 students.
Vickie Bailey, Conway School District, and Julianna Yeatman, East End School District, were AGATE MAP recipients. Julianna Yeatman also received a $700 scholarship from AGATE. Heather Story of South Side Elementary, Bee Branch, also received a scholarship.
Kathy Whittington and Betsy Hays of the Atkins School District won a 2010 Curriculum Award for “Landmark Links: From Research to Restoration.” Kolby Snellenberger, Russellville School District, won a 2010 Curriculum Award for “Team Based Learning.”
Presenters at the conference included Charlotte Norberg, South Conway County School District; Starla Gresham, Anna Parks, Melissa Lovelady, Kelli Gordon, Julie Haynes, Conway School District; Jeana Williams and Sherry Williams, Greenbrier School District. In the Act 56 Awards for Outstanding Programs, Atkins School District was recognized for merit in districts of less than 1000 students.
Robin Clark of Greenbrier is the President of AGATE and presided over the conference. Patti Thompson of Conway School District was the AGATE Awards Chair. Six of the twelve AGATE Affiliate groups for parents and supporters of gifted and talented education for 2010-11 school year are from the Arch Ford Education Cooperative Area. Laura Binz, Russellville School District, is the Affiliate Director. The AGATE Board of directors includes Jane Conley, South Conway County School District, who is the Secondary Teacher Representative, and Polly Bakker is the AGATE Emeritus Chair.
UCA’s College of Education periodically offers endorsement courses for Gifted and Talented if there are sufficient enrollees to offset instructor expenses. If you are interested in seeking a GT endorsement, please contact Dr. Kathleen Atkins, Chair of the Early Childhood/Special Education Department at 501.450.4551 or ecse@uca.edu.
Masburn Center hosts Arkansas Adolescent Literacy Intervention Potential Professional Developers’ Institute
The UCA Mashburn Center for Learning hosted an Arkansas Adolescent Literacy Intervention (AALI) Potential Professional Developers’ Institute for math, literacy, and science state specialists. The institute was held the week of April 4-8 at the Conway Garden Hilton Inn.
Dr. Patty Kohler-Evans, Dr. Renee Calhoon, and Mrs. Debbie Cooke facilitated this week of learning that focused on equipping state specialists with the necessary knowledge, materials, and techniques to become certified Content Enhancement Professional Developers and provide AALI services for grades 4-12 educators across the state of Arkansas.
Faculty Presentations and Publications
Jud Copeland, associate professor in the Department of Leadership Studies, made several presentations including Telling the Story of Resource Description and Access: The Role of the New Cataloging Code in Writing the Next Chapter in Arkansas at Arkansas Association of Colleges for Teacher Education( ArACTE) 2011 Spring Conference at Harding University; Blazing New Trails: Copyright as a Tool for Incorporating New Technologies into Education and Resource Description and Access (RDA): The Role of the New Cataloging Code in Blazing New Trails in Education at the 40th Annual Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM) Conference at Hot Springs Convention Center; and was a guest lecturer in School of Library and Information Management (SLIM) PhD Program at Emporia State University (ESU – Kansas). A doctoral student had read Dr. Copeland’s article, RDA: A Brave New World in Cataloging: A guide to understanding the fundamental changes in cataloging and requested the lecture. The lecture and discussion was delivered to doctoral students in the Seminar in the Organization of Information class through the Adobe Acrobat platform. This lecture was an initial step in a series of “partnership” lectures with ESU.