Alumni Updates Spring 2013

LeAnn Fong-Batkin (EdD ‘11) presented “Racial Microaggressions in California Community College Administration: The Leadership Experience of Women of Color” in November 2012 at the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Council on Ethnic Participation.The study analyzes the career trajectories and sources of support for 13 California community college women of color administrators and the effect of racial  microaggressions and offers strategies that subjects used to overcome major obstacles in their journey to become administrators. Fong-Batkin is an education programs consultant at the California Department of Education. 

Alumni Presenters at Annual Meeting of Education Researchers

Maria-Cecilia Gomez (PhD ’10) presented “Exploring Academic Language in Exemplary Beginning Teachers Through a Constructivist Inquiry Approach” (with School of Education faculty Al Mendle, Barbara Merino, and Rick Pomeroy) at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April.

Mary Gwaltney (BA ’91, PhD ’12) presented “Reading Comprehension and Component Skills in Elementary and Secondary Students on the Autism Spectrum” (with School of Education professor Peter Mundy and PhD students Frances Holmes, Lindsay Swain, and Nancy McIntyre) at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April.

Rich Hedman (BS ’89, MA ’10) and Lin Xiang (MA ’05, PhD ‘11) presented “Examining How Teachers’ Understanding of Models Interacts with Their Beliefs and Intentions About Teaching Science” (with School of Education associate professor Cindy Passmore, physics lecturer Wendell Potter, Sacramento Area Science Project director Arthur Beauchamp, and PhD students Julia Svoboda Gouvea and Arash Jamshidi) at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April. Hedman is co-director of the Sacramento Area Science Project.

Mong Thi Nguyen (BA ’04, PhD ’12) presented “Language Learning and Reflection: Merging Intellectual and Creative Expressions Through Digital Storytelling” and “Mediated Documentation: How Multiple Forms of Media Are Helping Us Reveal New Ways to Frame Teaching and Learning” at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April.

Irina Okhremtchouk (PhD ’11) presented “Teacher Readiness to Work with English Language Learners: Arizona Context” (with PhD student George Sellu) at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April. Okhremtchouk is an assistant professor of education at Arizona State University.

Shonte Stephenson (MS ’08, PhD ’11) presented “Using Assessments to Capture Students’ Understanding of Epistemic Commitments Across Content Areas and Time” at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April.

Marguerite Wilson (MA ’08, PhD ’12) presented “Metaphors We Learn By: Student Participation and Literacy Practices in New Mainstream Mathematics Classroom” (with PhD students Daniella Torres-Torretti and Orlando Carreón) at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April. Wilson is an assistant professor of human development at Binghamton University – SUNY.