SOE News

Maryjean Tykoski

Maryjean Tykoski (nee Gray), BSED, CERTT ‘95, has been named the Middle-School Science Teacher of the Year by the Science Teachers Association of Texas.

The school’s Graduate Student Community Organization (GSCO) is hosting their annual Fall Kickoff Party on Thursday, October 1, 2009, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Good Time Charley’s on South University Avenue. The event will feature free appetizers, activities for children, and more.

I am interested in hiring a U-M education student to tutor my daughter in math. She is currently a fifth-grade math student at Maltby Middle School in Brighton. She is a good math student and I would like to solidify her skills at this critical stage in her development as well as challenge her a bit more. She is also a very nice girl who likes to learn. Contact Molly Hamilton.

Students will be hired as hourly research assistants for a newly funded research project “A Mixed-Method Study of Exemplary Research Opportunity Interventions.” Opportunities to work on secondary data analysis and measurement development components of the project are available. Specific roles and responsibilities will vary depending on the students’ training, experience, and other qualifications; typical tasks include data management and analysis; conducting literature reviews; supervising and training undergraduate assistants; developing survey instruments; conducting pretests of instruments; assisting the Project Director and other staff with various technical, clerical and administrative tasks related to the project. Students should apply by email,  sending a cover letter highlighting their interests and qualifications and a copy of their cv to Angela Ebreo.  No phone calls, please.

Successful applicants will acquire research experience and skills. Depending on their qualifications, experience, and training, students will be involved in data collection, management, and analysis. Students may also be involved in the production of project reports, research presentations, and manuscript writing. As part of a research team, students will gain experience in supervising the work of undergraduate research assistants.

Job Requirements
1. Must be a graduate student with an above average academic record.
2. Must have excellent English communication skills.
3. Must be a proficient pc user and be proficient in the use of MS Office Suite.
4. Must be proficient in the use of one or more of the following statistical packages: SPSS, STATA, SAS.
5. Experience or training in structural equation modeling & associated statistical packages (e.g., AMOS, MPlus, LISREL, or EQS) is a plus.
6. Experience or training in psychometrics is a plus.
7. Experience or training in survey research methodology. Applicants should be well-organized, able to work independently and as part of a diverse team, and be self-motivated. Students who meet the following criteria will receive priority consideration: a. interest in postsecondary and higher education issues; b. interest in the development of survey instruments; c. ability to continue working through the spring/summer; d. interest and experience in mentoring undergraduate research assistants.

Number of Available Openings
2-3

Hours
Approx 10 to 20 hours per week (negotiable)

Compensation
$14.00/hour to $20.00/hour, Depending on qualifications and experience

Time Frame
Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer

Contact Person
Angela Ebreo
Assistant Director for Research & Training
aebreo@umich.edu

Work Location
National Center for Institutional Diversity

We are interested in hiring a U-M early childhood education student for a babysitting opportunity two full days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays are preferable but we can be flexible). Applicant must have prior experience with infants and must provide references. Our baby is eight months old and is a pretty easy baby. Interested candidates should send their contact information to babysitter.wanted.ann.arbor@gmail.com.

Our all-School of Education meeting for fall 2009 will be held on Friday, October 2, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Schorling Auditorium (room 1202). Lunch will directly follow in the west hall just outside of Schorling. This meeting is designed for all faculty, staff, and students in the school.

There will be three major chunks to the all-SOE meeting. First, Dean Terry McDonald of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, will come to talk with us.  He will make a brief presentation on his ideas about what distinguishes Michigan as a university, how he sees education, and our role in all of this. There will be time for questions that people may want to ask him.  Then, I will present the annual State of the School talk (about our progress on major initiatives, the budget, the broader university fiscal picture, our enrollments, and our goals for this year in key areas), followed by time for questions and answers. Finally, we will have a set of smaller group meetings on topics key to our work this year. You will be able to choose from a range of topics the area in which you have the greatest interest and then be able to learn more about what is happening and give input on plans and strategies in that area.

I ask that you please make time to attend the annual all-school meeting next Friday. It is important to me that we do this once a year:  Holding these all-SOE meetings is one of many efforts we make to build our collective capacity and sense of community for our work together to improve education.

Yesterday was the semi-annual Dean’s Advisory Council (DAC) meeting. We had excellent attendance and the DAC members were, as always, very well-prepared for the meeting and deeply engaged in the topic: teacher education reform.  Two new members have joined the group:  Edie Resnick (BSED,’48 CERTT,’48, AM EDUC ‘75) and Frances Eisenberg (ABED ‘64, CERTT ‘64), both alumni, and both wonderful supporters of the university.  One highlight of the day was a panel discussion among the four school superintendents who serve on the DAC: Barbara Eason-Watkins (Chicago, who is also our alumna—ABED ‘73, CERTT ‘73!), Carol Johnson (Boston); Michelle Rhee (Washington, D.C.), and Todd Roberts (Ann Arbor), joined by Sally Vaughn, deputy superintendent for public instruction for the State of Michigan, on the topic of what beginning teachers struggle with and what they would like teachers to come to schools really able to do.  It was fascinating to hear both how much they saw in common, even across their different contexts, and also how closely what they talked about fit with the work we have done to identify the core curriculum for our new program (in the Teacher Education Initiative).  There were issues they mentioned, too, that we have not worked on, and this was very helpful.  There were other important discussions and advice and overall they were extremely enthusiastic about where we are and where we are going and had lots of good suggestions. I find them terrifically helpful and am so grateful for their time and commitment to our school.

This year, as in previous years, the Teacher Education Initiative (TEI) will sponsor a seminar series intended to foster our own learning as a school about teacher education and about the design work involved in re-imagining how we prepare teachers on our own campus. This year’s seminar series, “Learning to Reach all Learners: Equity and Diversity in the Teaching of School Subjects,” will focus on the intersection of equity and diversity issues with the work of teaching specific school subjects.

The first talk of the series will be on Monday, October 5, at 10:30 a.m. in the Whitney Auditorium (room 1309). Kris Gutiérrez, professor in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, will provide an introduction to and a context for the seminar series in her talk, “Conceptualizing the Work of Equitable Instruction.”

Professor Gutiérrez’s research focuses on studying the literacy practices of urban schools. In particular, her research concerns itself with the social and cognitive consequences of literacy practices in formal and non-formal learning contexts. Across her work, she examines the relationship between literacy, culture, and human development.

I hope you can join us as we begin the work of indentifying and discussing key concepts for the equitable education of all students.

I would like to invite interested faculty, students, and staff to participate in a small working group that will meet with each of the speakers in this year’s Teacher Education Initiative (TEI) seminar series and with members of the TEI’s Curriculum Group. This group will prepare a set of recommendations for how we can design our new curriculum to help our graduates deliver instruction that is highly likely to meet the needs of diverse learners. This group will work directly with Project Manager Francesca Forzani and me to contribute to our existing curriculum framework. I expect the time commitment to be a few hours per month, and group members will be invited to breakfast or lunch meetings with each of our seminar speakers. If you are interested in participating in this group, email Francesca Forzani a short note of interest. We hope that this opportunity will be exciting to you and look forward to hearing from you. There will also be an opportunity to talk about this work at the all-school meeting next Friday, October 2, 2009.

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to gather for coffee, tea, pastries, and conversation in the South Hall, near the lounge and Tribute Room, on October 5, 2009, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

This is the first of a series of informal coffee hours cosponsored by the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs. Future dates for coffee hours include October 26, 2009, November 30, 2009, January 25, 2010, and February 22, 2010. Each will take place from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.