December 2021 Newsletter

Educational Talent Search Receives $4.8 Million in New Grants

The School of Education’s REEd Center has received five federal Educational Talent Search (ETS) grants totaling $4.8 million over the next five years to support the continued and expanded work of ETS programs in Sacramento, Solano, Yolo and Shasta counties.

The programs collectively serve 2,700 students in grades 6–12 who have academic potential, want to continue their education beyond high school, and need extra support and information to reach their goals. Two-thirds of these students are from families that have a demonstrated financial need and in which neither parent has completed a four-year college program.

“These grants allow us to connect with the hopes and dreams of families and students from underserved backgrounds in the northern part of the state and across the Sacramento region,” said Carlas McCauley, EdD, Executive Director of REEd and Director of Research and Partnerships. “We’re grateful to the Department of Education for their belief in the impact that the School of Education can make, not only on our students, but the schools we partner with. It’s a highly competitive process, and it’s an honor to be selected.” Read the full story.

UC Davis Welcomes Back Graduates for an In-person Graduation Ceremony 

On December 9, UC Davis hosted its first in-person graduation ceremony in two years, welcoming back 2020 graduates who hadn’t been able to celebrate together. Students from the School’s PhD, CANDEL and Teacher Education programs were among the participants. “Everyone has their own superpowers,” said Chancellor Gary S. May during his remarks. “Use yours for good.” The recording of the livestreamed ceremony is available here.

Wheelhouse Receives Lumina Foundation Grant

Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research, has received a $375,000 grant from Lumina Foundation for an 18-month research project to study participation trends in California’s community colleges, with a focus on determining which demographics of students stopped or slowed their educational trajectories during the pandemic. The research team will include Prof. Michal Kurlaender, Prof. Paco Martorell, Prof. Scott Carrell (Department of Economics), Wheelhouse Director Susanna Cooper and Associate Director of Teaching and Learning Claudia Escobar, and research fellows Elizabeth Friedmann and Robert Linden. 

Supporting Education Leaders through the California Superintendents Collaborative Network

For six years, the School’s Center for Applied Policy in Education has provided professional development for education leaders through the California Superintendents Collaborative Network. This unique program strengthens superintendents’ leadership capacity and their ability to find solutions to the myriad challenges faced by California school districts. Participating superintendents meet for a series of facilitated sessions each academic year, collaboratively exploring case studies and implementation strategies in a supportive environment led by experts in the field. Learn more in this article written by CAP-Ed Executive Director Tina Murdoch and colleagues for AASA’s School Administrator magazine.

Two New Scholarships Established for Former Foster Youth

Former foster youth bring a wealth of valuable experience to roles as teachers, but often face significant financial and other barriers to completing college or attending graduate school. Generous donors have recently established two new endowed scholarship funds to support former foster youth who want to become teachers through the UC Davis Teaching Credential/MA program: the Davis and Jan Campbell Guardian Teacher Scholarship and the Lou and Hillary Fernandes Guardian Teacher Scholarship. “I want to share our heartfelt thanks to these wonderful donors on behalf of the many former foster youth who will benefit from these scholarships,” said Dean Lauren Lindstrom, “and on behalf of the K-12 students who will benefit from their teaching over the years to come.” Learn how to support Guardian Teachers.

ALUMNI NEWS

Arbuckle Teacher Goes Above and Beyond for her Students and Community

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Arbuckle Elementary School teacher Alena Anberg, BA ’15, Education minor, went door-to-door to ask how many families had the internet connection needed for remote lessons. When she learned that almost none of them did, she got them mobile hotspots, testified about lack of internet access, found a new internet provider willing to serve her community, and even found places to install the equipment. Read the full story here. 

Students from Refugee Families Find Safe Haven in their Sacramento Classroom

Arden-Arcade elementary school teacher Anisa Amani, Cred. ’17, MA ’18 brings her personal experience and fluency in Farsi/Dari to her third grade class, where most of her students are refugees, two-thirds of them from Afghanistan. This is a particularly challenging year for her students, who are coping with both the return to in-person learning and the end of the war in Afghanistan, which has directly affected many of their family members. Read the full story about how Amani supports her students and their families in Medium.

For more on Anisa Amani, listen to “Teaching through a Pandemic with Anisa Amani,” part of the Immunocity: Science in a Time of Crisis podcast series, available here.

EVENTS

Dean Lauren Lindstrom Presents at the MIND Institute

Dean Lauren Lindstrom will present on her research as part of the UC Davis MIND Institute’s Research Seminar Series. Join us on January 7, 2022, from 9–10 a.m. via Zoom for “Paths 2 the Future: Improving Career Outcomes for Young Women with Disabilities.” Dean Lindstrom will address the unique barriers experienced by young women with disabilities as they transition from school to careers, the benefits of a gender-specific career development curriculum using the Paths 2 the Future model, and information on career exploration and transition planning for young women with disabilities. For Zoom link, RSVP by email to Jennifer Martinez, Senior Director of Development.

Graduate Group in Education Monday Seminar Series Returns

Our newly renamed Graduate Group in Education Monday Seminar Series returns on January 24 at 12:10 p.m. with guest speaker Michael W. Moses II, PhD. A UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the UC Riverside Graduate School of Education, Dr. Moses will be speaking on “Racialized Methodological Norms: Theorizing IRBs and Anonymity as Racism.” All are welcome to attend. Join us on Zoom on January 24.

Show Off with School of Education Gear

Looking for a way to show off your School of Education pride? You’ll find shirts of all styles, as well as mugs, hats and more with the School of Education logo at the online UC Davis Store. Proceeds from all store sales benefit UC Davis Athletics.

PUBLICATIONS

• Prof. Heidi L. Ballard, PhD candidate Christopher C. Jadallah and Erin Hardie Hale, MA ’07, PhD ’13 published “Collaborative research as boundary work: learning between rice growers and conservation professionals to support habitat conservation on private lands” in Agriculture and Human Values.

• Prof. Kerry A. Enright and PhD student Alicia Bencomo Garcia published the chapter “Latinx Youths’ Plurilingual Abilities as Workplace Abilities and Program Change” in the book Plurilingual Pedagogies for Multilingual Writing Classrooms.

• Prof. Margarita Jiménez-Silva co-edited the book “Latinx Experiences in U.S. Schools: Voices of Students, Teachers, Teacher Educators, and Education Allies in Challenging Sociopolitical Times,” featuring School of Education contributors Prof. Patricia Quijada Cererer, Lecturers Orlando Carreon and Nadeen Ruiz, research assistant Samantha Smith, and credential student Karen Kay. Printed by Lexington Books.

• Prof. Peter Mundy was one of 32 members of an international Lancet Commission that has released a report on the future of care and clinical research in autism, published in The Lancet.