CASCW is excited to announce it has been awarded funding by the Minnesota Department of Human Services to support the newly developed Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate (PACC).

The PACC was developed in response to community demand to meet the need for increasing the availability and competency of a professional workforce able to serve the unique and complex clinical needs of adopted individuals and their families.

The PACC curriculum, developed by the Center for Adoption Support and Education (CASE), is an advanced level certificate program for mental health and child welfare professionals. It will consist of 15 Modules (13 in person, 2 online), with the first cohort beginning in September 2011. Successful PACC graduates will earn 80 hours of CEU's, certificate of completion (with potential for a national credential), and inclusion on state-wide list of adoption-competent providers.

Look for registration information on CASCW's website beginning July 5.

Posted by at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The week of July 1st, CASCW is adding to its library of online learning modules with the release of three new modules on the following topics:

Maternal Depression: Double Jeopardy for Mother and Child (1.0 CEH available);. Viewers will gain a greater understanding of some of the key characteristics of maternal depression and its prevalence in society and in the child welfare system.

Special Education & Child Welfare: Involvement of Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Children (1.0 CEH available) This module contrasts the extent to which Minnesota's immigrant children are more likely than non-immigrant children to: receive special education and to be involved with child welfare services.

Mitigating School Suspensions: Enhancing the Strength of Kinship Caregivers (1.0 CEH available). Viewers of this module will learn about the experiences and consequences of school suspension for African American students in kinship care.

Watch for the release of several NEW online learning modules on exciting and timely topics in child welfare to be released by CASCW throughout the summer!


For more information on CASCW's online learning modules, visit: http://z.umn.edu/cwmodules

Posted by at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) has developed, in collaboration with faculty members, a series of online learning modules, designed to present the latest practice-relevant child welfare research from top researchers at the University of Minnesota in a format that is timely, efficient and easy to use for today's busy child welfare professionals.

This week, CASCW is adding to its library of online learning modules with the release of two new modules on the following topics:

Social Supports for Parents with Disabilities (1.0 CEH available) This module helps the viewer understand the assumptions and contexts in which parents with disabilities live. It presents current research on social supports for parents with disabilities

Promoting Placement Stability (1.0 CEHs available) This module provides information about the importance of placement stability, introduces research findings on risk factors and protective factors related to placement stability, and explains how these findings can be used to reduce the risk of unplanned placement disruptions

Watch for the release of several NEW online learning modules on exciting and timely topics in child welfare to be released by CASCW throughout the summer!

For more information on CASCW's online learning modules, visit: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ssw/cascw/PracResources/ModuleHome.asp

Posted by at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Candance Doerr-Stevens, Ph.D. candidate in the literacy education program (Curriculum and Instruction), was awarded a 2011-12 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship by the University of Minnesota Graduate School. These prestigious fellowships are given to select graduate students to allow them to devote full-time effort to their dissertations during their final year of study.

Doerr-Stevens's research examines the use of multiple modes of communication, such as image, sound, music, and motion, as students collaboratively create radio and film documentaries.

Posted by Greg Steinke at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) has developed, in collaboration with faculty members, a series of online learning modules, designed to present the latest practice-relevant child welfare research from top researchers at the University of Minnesota in a format that is timely, efficient and easy to use for today's busy child welfare professionals.

CASCW is adding to its library of online learning modules with the release of two new modules on the following topics:

Common Factors in Case Management with Children & Their Families (2 CEHs available) This module describes four common factors to use in case management with children and their families. The common factors model identifies and documents four elements of psychotherapy with good outcomes. The module guides viewers to develop skills in using the four factors with children and families.

Working with Karen Refugee Youth and Families (1.0 CEHs available) This module provides information about working with Karen refugees from Burma. It offers information about their history in Minnesota, about their experiences while living in camps, and about the effects of the trauma they have experienced on their mental health. It provides recommendations for child welfare workers in their work with Karen refugee youth and families.

For more information on CASCW's online learning modules, visit: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ssw/cascw/PracResources/ModuleHome.asp

Posted by at 2:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeanne Higbee, professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, has been awarded the Horace T. Morse - University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education. She will be honored for her exemplary teaching, research, and service as an undergraduate educator at the Distinguished Teaching Awards Ceremony on campus April 25.

"Dr. H is the Michael Jordan of teaching," said one student in Higbee's nomination materials. She also received enthusiastic support from many others inside and outside the University, including James Banks, director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, and John N. Gardner, executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College.

This statement from her nomination letter sums up the respect Higbee has earned: "Jeanne's legacy, evident in her teaching, research, and educational leadership, is to demonstrate to faculty that their obligation extends beyond access to success, to ensuring that the environments students enter enable them to achieve their full potential. She provides leadership and a vision for equity and access in higher education."

Congratulations, Jeanne!

Posted by Jennifer Franko at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeanne Higbee, professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, presented a workshop on "Promoting Inclusion and Retention through Integrated Multicultural Instructional Design (PIRIMID)" at the annual conference of the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) in Salt Lake City in November. On December 10 Higbee was also interviewed by Nancy Shapiro of the Maryland Legislative Task Force on Universal Design for Learning. The task force was appointed by the governor and is making recommendations for teacher preparation related to Universal Design.

Posted by Jennifer Franko at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Murray Jensen, associate professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, hosted the 2nd annual Golden Femur competition. The Golden Femur Awards were held November 17 at the Mayo Memorial Auditorium as part of Jensen's College in the Schools Human Anatomy and Physiology Program. Prizes were awarded for the best group video productions.

This year's theme was "talking to your grandparents about food," which is related to the notion that people were generally healthier in the 1940s and 1950s than they are today. This year's winners were Eagan High School - Golden Femur, Saint Paul Conservatory for the Performing Arts - Silver Scapula, and Richfield High School - Bronze Ulna. To view the top student videos from 2009 and the three winners from 2010 go to http://msjensen.cehd.umn.edu/student-videos/.

Posted by Jennifer Franko at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rashne Jehangir, assistant professor in Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, has had her book Higher Education and First-Generation Students: Cultivating Community, Voice, and Place for the New Majority published by Palgrave Macmillan Press. The book offers a rich understanding of the experience of students who are first in their family to attend college. It contends that first-generation students are isolated and marginalized on many large college campuses and considers learning communities and critical multicultural pedagogies as vehicles to cultivate community, voice, and place for this new majority of students.

The book is a theoretically informed study of the lived experience of first generation students and draws on their voices to demonstrate how their insights interface with what educators think they know about them. What can they learn from these students? How might students' insights inform and shape the learning spaces educators create for them?

Posted by Jennifer Franko at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On November 10th PsTL and CEHD Reads hosted the third annual Common Book author event. All First Year CEHD students gathered in Northrup Auditorium for a special session of the First Year Inquiry course (PsTL 1525W) to hear Marina Nemat discuss her memoir, her childhood in Iran, her time in Evin Prison and her road of recovery. In an evening event, Nemat told the story of her childhood, her imprisonment and recovery to students, faculty, staff, alumni and the public. Nemat encouraged an engaging and moving discussion that provided participants with multiple perspectives on Iran and the power of words.

Posted by Jennifer Franko at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Tekne: Innovation in Teaching Award recognizes innovative classroom use of technology in K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and expands opportunities for students to be successful in technology-related careers.

Scot Hovan, Ph.D. student in science education (Department of Curriculum and Instruction) and engineering coordinator for the Mahtomedi school district, has been instrumental in the creation of the Mahtomedi Engineering Leadership Program (MELP). It currently consists of three facets: engineering curriculum, engineering integration, and community engagement. Through Hovan's relationship with the University of Minnesota's STEM Education Center, he has helped incorporate the use of Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) in several non-engineering classes. Hovan also has led evening engineering events to promote awareness and excitement around engineering, regularly attracting over 500 community members. The community engagement activities of MELP also include engineering summer camps for kids and extracurricular engineering activities.

In addition to the integration of science and engineering into the ninth grade curriculum, Mahtomedi middle school students are now required to take engineering courses. This widespread implementation of engineering is pioneering the future of STEM education in Minnesota.

Congratulations to Scot for this well deserved reward!

Posted by Greg Steinke at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Students in Jill Trites and Kris Cory's section of PsTL 1525W: First Year Inquiry (FYI) class made 2,000 sandwiches to feed the hungry on Oct. 20. In FYI, students focus on the question "How can one person make a difference?" The 2,000 sandwiches were donated to 363, a grass roots organization created by Allan Law, with the mission of feeding 2,000 homeless people in Minneapolis every day.

Law, a retired Minneapolis school teacher, spoke to the class about the level of poverty and homelessness faced in Minneapolis and his lifelong commitment to helping those in need. His message is: Treat people well, don't worry about what you can't control, and there are no excuses for not getting your work done.

Posted by Jennifer Franko at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please join the Curriculum and Instruction community in congratulating
their two Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship recipients. Brant Miller
(PhD candidate in the science education track, adviser Gill Roehrig)
and Jessica Moyer (PhD candidate in the literacy education track,
adviser David O'Brien) have been awarded Doctoral Dissertation
Fellowships for 2010-2011 from the Graduate School. This highly
competitive fellowship will support Miller and Moyer in their research
and dissertation research during the the 2010-11 academic year.
Miller's research involves looking at the development of science
agency in American Indian middle school students as a result of
experiencing a culturally relevant science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) curriculum. Moyer's research is a study of
comprehension, engagement and interest across three leisure reading
formats: print books, e-books, and digital audiobooks among older
adolescents.

Posted by Greg Steinke at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A film/poem written by Thom Swiss, professor of culture and teaching in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, will air on French television and in French-speaking Africa, for the next few months as part of a global media show, "Mensomadaire." The film, a collaboration with director Yoshi Sodeaka of Japan, is titled "Blind Side of a Secret" and includes spoken parts in English, French, and Dutch. View an early version
of the piece.

Posted by Greg Steinke at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doctoral candidate Phebe Veronica Jatau is one of four students highlighted in a UMNews story on research by recipients of the Graduate School's 2009-10 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships. Her research focuses on high school dropout rates among northern Nigerian women and the gender gap and inequities that pervade the educational system. Jatau is in the literacy education track in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

Jatau is also featured in a University video called "Dissertations in one minute or less."

Posted by Greg Steinke at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tamara Moore, co-director of the STEM Education Center, and the center's project with a local school are the subject of a KARE 11 Sunrise segment, "What's Cool in Our School." The STEM Center has partnered with Central Middle School in Columbia Heights to create a pilot program integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts in a new engineering class at the school.

Students in the class are learning to combine these concepts through the hands-on tasks of designing and making a cardboard chair that can support 200 pounds. Moore, assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, discusses the real-world applications of STEM with the students and describes how important it is to integrate STEM in teacher training and student learning.

Posted by Greg Steinke at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please join us at the CEHD Academic Technology Services (ATS) open house on Tuesday, April 20 from 9 to noon in Ed Sciences, Room 325! Join Dean Quam and the ATS staff for refreshments and great conversation. While there you can meet and chat with CEHD instructors and staff who are showcasing recently developed and designed technology enhanced learning tools and projects. Staff will also be available to talk about the project process and help you understand how you can get involved next year. For more information contact Melissa at mmw@umn.edu or call 6-9298.

Posted by Melissa Martyr-Wagner at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Provost Thomas Sullivan today named professor Jean K. Quam as dean of the College of Education and Human Development, subject to approval by the University's Board of Regents at its November meeting. She has served as interim dean of CEHD since October 2008.

"Dean Quam has served with great distinction as interim dean," Sullivan said. "It is clear that she enjoys extensive support from within CEHD and beyond. She is a leader of calm and careful judgment, with strategic vision, and, very importantly, she has that very special set of skills needed to share and help realize that vision."

Quam holds a Ph.D. in social welfare from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She conducts research broadly in the fields of aging and marginalized populations. Quam has been active in professional organizations including the state and national organizations of the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work, the Council on Social Work Education and the American Society on Aging.

"I'm honored to serve the University of Minnesota and to lead the College of Education and Human Development forward into the future. As dean, I am eager to continue our work on creating an 'engaged college' internally and externally by further diversifying the college and our disciplines, being innovative in all that we do, and last but not least, in deepening our excellence in research," Quam said. "Our college is ready, and I'm ready to help each and every one of us to pursue our full potential and our vitally important mission."

Congratulations Jean!

Posted by Diane Cormany at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Knoll area lockers are now available for students to rent for a semester, academic year, or calendar year. Lockers are located in Peik Hall. The locker rental contract form [pdf] should be completed and returned to 125 Peik Hall along with payment for the rental term.

Posted by Lynn Englund at 6:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Xiaojia Ge, professor of the Institute of Child Development, best known for his seminal findings of puberty onset on adolescent developmental outcomes, passed away on August 26, 2009. Ge joined ICD in the fall of 2006. He was an exceptional scholar and a dedicated educator. He was a wonderful addition to Child Development and he will be missed by all who knew him. We extend our sympathy to the family of Jenny Li, his wife, who works in Financial Services in the CEHD Dean's Office.

The Star Tribune obituary is available at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/startribune/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=132072199

A memorial service dedicated to the celebration of his life and our love for him will be held on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, at 2 p.m. at the Coffman Theatre, Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Avenue, SE, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455.

Posted by Danielle Bordeleau at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeffrey Nurick of the Institute on Community Integration was featured in a July 8 Fox9 News story in which he talked about what he's learned about doing a successful job search as a person with a disability.

Posted by Tom Donaghy at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CEHD News is a collaboration between various units within the College of Education at the University of Minnesota.

Formerly "CEHD Inside/Out," CEHD News seeks to keep a constant stream of information flowing about the ongoing work of faculty, staff, and students at CEHD. This work is accomplished by various persons housed in departments and centers in CEHD.

Posted by John Brian Becker at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Q: What are those links I see directly below "CEHD Inside / Out Feed"?

A: Those links are RSS feeds for each of the College's departments. So, if you wanted, you could choose which departments' news you wanted to subscribe to via RSS feed and which you didn't. But since this is a college where we celebrate multidisciplinarity, I recommend that you subscribe to both the main RSS feed and your department's feed, to make sure you're getting all the latest and greatest news for the entire College.

Posted by Anitra Budd at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)