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 MichaelsRichard 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
.
