Educational Foundations Community: People
To assist those interested in the various concentrations, here are the names of faculty members, student ambassadors, and recent graduates involved with the Educational Foundations specialization. If you have a general question about the program please visit the Educational Foundations contact page.
Faculty: To view a faculty member's research interests, click on their name (links open up a new window).
Student Ambassadors
Ambassadors are students who have agreed to answer your questions about the program. We know there are times when you really want to hear about the program from a student's perspective, and these students have agreed to share their experiences. If you have general Educational Foundations questions, please contact the program directly here.
Fernando Andrade
fandrade@umich.edu
I am a Peruvian second year doctoral student in the Educational Foundations
and Policy Program. The school of education offers me the opportunity to combine
educational theory with research. I work with outstanding and friendly professors
and other doctoral students. My research interests are related to sociology
of education. Ann Arbor is a very interesting place to live and study. It is
quiet but has many fun alternatives: good movies, music, dance, great bookstores,
international food and gyms. Because of many students from all over the world,
Ann Arbor is a fascinating and multicultural place to live.
Linda Cunningham
lindacc@umich.edu
I am a second year doctoral student interested in issues of educational equity.
After earning my master’s degree in social work from the University of
Georgia in 1995, I worked with children, their families, and teachers in public
schools through nonprofit and higher education organizations. I am currently
exploring several research interests including how different curricula influence
the academic progress of disadvantaged and underrepresented children, the nature
and efficacy of university and K-12 school partnerships on student achievement
and college preparation, and the effects of kindergarten retention on children’s
learning.
Jenny DeMonte
edemonte@umich.edu
I begin the third year of my doctoral studies in Fall 2003. My research interests
are in public policy, assessment, and standards, and how they interact. I’m
also interested in quantitative methods. Before coming to graduate school,
I was a journalist and magazine editor, and wrote extensively about education.
Anne-Lise Halvorsen
annelise@umich.edu
I am a third year doctoral student in the Educational Foundations and Policy
Program, intending to achieve candidacy by spring, 2004. I specialize in the
history of education, in particular in the field of elementary social studies
education - its purposes, content, history, the role of the standards reform
movement and effective methods for instruction and assessment. My interests
also include educational equity, civic education and quantitative methods of
social science research.
Laura Haniford
lhanifor@umich.edu
I situate myself as a teacher and researcher within a larger discourse interested
in creating more equitable K-12 schools. While I draw from an interpretive
research tradition that asks how schools work (or don’t) for certain
students, I consider myself in equal dialogue with both qualitative and quantitative
researchers interested in equity issues. I have worked to create a program
of study that primarily uses sociological tools to examine teaching and teacher
education. I am interested in how teachers represent and position students
through their discourse. My work also seeks to inform teacher education, as
teachers are perhaps the most powerful levers for change in schools. I plan
to embark on my dissertation in the Fall of 2003. Deborah Michaels
Richard Osguthorpe
rosgutho@umich.edu
My disciplinary focus is educational philosophy and my research interests include
moral education, moral development, teacher manner, practical reason, and educational
foundations. In particular, I am interested in the relationship that obtains
between the manner of teachers and the moral development of students. I was
led into doctoral study by a passion to figure out why I was so unsatisfied
with my practice as a teacher and by a desire to qualify for a lifetime of
work in the academy. I have completed my coursework and am about to embark
on a dissertation.
Clare Penlington
cpenling@umich.edu
I am an international student, coming from New Zealand. Currently I am at
the end of my second year in the doctoral program at the School of Education.
My
disciplinary interest lies in the philosophy of education. Within this field
I am currently exploring alternative ways of understanding the work of teachers
and researchers and how this insight might help to deepen our understanding
of the so-called theory-practice divide as well as offering a new perspectives
on ways this divide might be bridged.
Sarah Tucker
tuckers@umich.edu
After working for a few years in the social work field, I decided that the
most effective way for me to affect change was to embark on a Ph.D. program
that qualified me to research and implement education policies. Presently,
I am a second year doctoral student in the Foundations and Education Policy
program. Within this program, I am particularly interested in education
policy. While my specific area of interest within the policy arena tends
to change
depending on the courses I take, I am primarily concerned with policies
about rural education.
Ambassadors are students who have agreed to answer your questions about the program.
Applicants who would like to contact students in the master’s
degree program should send an email to Jeff
Mirel 
.
Recent graduates
from other programs
