October 2019 Newsletter

California Education Lab Publishes New College Readiness Reports

Researchers at the School of Education’s California Education Lab (CEL) have released two new publications on college readiness: Improving College Readiness: A Research Summary and Implications for Practice, and 12th Grade Course-taking and the Distribution of Opportunity for College Readiness in Mathematics. In their first report, Prof. Michal Kurlaender, CEL Executive Director Sherrie Reed and PhD student Alexandria Hurtt examine four factors that are key to college readiness—aspirations and beliefs, academic preparation, knowledge and information, and fortitude and resilience. The report also highlights several successful frameworks currently being used to foster a college-going culture and support students on their educational journeys.

Kurlaender, Reed and PhD candidate Minahil Asim co-authored the second report examining patterns in mathematics course-taking among California public high school seniors. They found that although a large majority of college-bound students enrolled in math in their final year of high school, advanced math pathways were not equally accessed among high school seniors. These disparities in enrollment patterns by race/ethnicity and school characteristics likely contribute to disparities in postsecondary access and success. Learn more about how CEL research is impacting education policy and practice on our website.

Megan Welsh Awarded OECD Fellowship

Prof. Megan Welsh, who is spending the 2019–20 academic year at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, has been awarded a Thomas J. Alexander Fellowship to support her research. Welsh is currently at the OECD working with Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data to examine how gender and immigration status affect average performance and predict changes in variability over time. She will also use PISA data to compare the results of different methods commonly used to examine the extent to which a test measures the same thing across groups. We’re excited to see her important work around equity and international assessment continue!

EVENTS, PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

Caffeine with the Dean

Dean Lauren Lindstrom invites all faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the School of Education to join her for coffee and conversation on Wednesday, October 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Room 174, School of Education Building. Please direct any questions to Cyn Sengnalivong at cinseng@ucdavis.edu.

Fall Welcome 2019

School of Education faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends and family came together last month to kick off the 2019–20 academic year with food and fun. Congrats to all our raffle winners! Check out photos from the celebration on our website.

New Video Highlights PhD Program’s Real-World Impacts

The UC Davis Graduate Group in Education brings together faculty and PhD students who want their research to have real-world impacts on the disparities that exist for students at all levels of our educational system. In this new video, hear from faculty and recent alumni about the ways that their research is having an impact, and how they work with teachers, colleagues, community members and policymakers to create change.

Other Community News

The School of Education welcomed two visiting scholars from Chile to campus in September—math teacher Pilar Carrasco and physics teacher Ismael Botti, both from the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile. They met with faculty involved in STEM education and our Center for Community and Citizen Science to learn about retention strategies and to explore further opportunities for collaboration.

Removing a 115-year-old dam is a big step for watershed health. This summer several of our Center for Community and Citizen Science (CCS) researchers traveled to Montana to observe and participate in the environmental monitoring associated with the removal of Rattlesnake Creek Dam. Their work was funded by a Resources Legacy Fund grant to allow CCS to support communities in monitoring the effects of dam removal throughout the Western United States. Check out their photo essay on the CCS blog.

Last month marked a special performance on the UC Davis campus of Ranked, A New Musical. Written by School of Education alumnus Kyle Holmes (‘10, Cred. ‘11, MA ‘12), Ranked is a nationally acclaimed musical exploring what life is really like for high schoolers today. Learn more about the show on its website.

Alumni Spotlight: Cynthia Sommer (EdD ‘18)

While in the CANDEL program, Cynthia Sommer (EdD ’18) rotated into various roles at California community college campuses, where the equity gap for Latinx students was troubling her. “Being a Latina and first-generation college student myself, I wasn’t comfortable with the easy story that these students were not ready for college or that their culture doesn’t appreciate having a higher education degree,” she said. “Given my own background and my experiences working with some of these students, I felt there was more to it.” Find out how Sommer is using her doctorate in educational leadership to explore Latinx success in this alumni spotlight.

Recent Faculty Research Publications

Prof. Danny C. Martinez and Prof. Elizabeth Montaño co-authored the chapter “Leveraging Youth Cultural Data Sets for Teacher Learning” in Language and Cultural Practices in Communities and Schools: Bridging Learning for Students from Non-Dominant Groups.

Prof. Margarita Jimenez-Silva co-wrote an article titled “STEA2M Camp at the Orchard: A Community Cultural Wealth Approach” in the NABE Journal of Research and Practice.

Prof. Yuuko Uchikoshi co-authored the article “Language Proficiency, Parenting Styles, and Socioemotional Adjustment of Young Dual Language Learners” in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.