CFD’s Garrity Named to Head Start-Funded National Advisory Group

By Michael Klitzing

Dr. Sarah Garrity, associate professor and chair in the San Diego State University Department of Child and Family Development (CFD), has been named to a national advisory group focused on advancing equity in early childhood education programs.

Starting this month, Garrity will serve on the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning’s Research to Equitable Practice Advisory Group. Funded by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care, the center aims to implement culturally and linguistically responsive child development and teaching and learning practices.

COE STORIES: Dr. Griselda Palma and Yuting Qiao

Yuting Qiao and Dr. Griselda Palma.

 

In our latest installment of COE Stories, meet lecturer Dr. Griselda Palma and student Yuting Qiao from San Diego State University's new Mandarin teaching credential program. Learn how the creation of the program honors a promise Palma made 15 years ago.

Donor Gift Furthers Partnership Between HEY Clinic, Local Elementary School

Photo courtesy of San Diego Unified School District. 

By Michael Klitzing

At schools like San Diego’s Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary, what goes on in the classroom or the Zoom room is often only part of the story. 

On the surface, a teacher might see a student with a behavioral problem or poor attendance. What’s harder to see at this urban school, where 100 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunch, is the trauma many children face outside of class. Maybe it’s a parent facing a job loss, or a family facing food insecurity, or loved ones separated by immigration issues. 

Inspired to Lead: Ed.D. Candidates Embrace Start of New Professional Journeys

Karen Stills and Yolanda Cataño

By Michael Klitzing

As a new year draws near, the finish line has come into view for Karen Stills and Yolanda Cataño. 

Both candidates in San Diego State University’s Ed.D. program with a concentration in community college leadership (CCLEAD) are on track to complete their doctorates in May. Their long journeys as students are almost complete. 

But as their final semester before hooding beckons, both are celebrating the start of exciting new journeys as community college leaders. This fall, Stills was named Associate Vice Chancellor at Dallas College in Texas while Cataño was named Interim Associate Dean of Institutional Effectiveness, Equity and Student Success at Imperial Valley College.

COE Salutes Retiring Mainstays Ludvik, Booth and Hernandez

Clockwise from top: Ludvik, Hernandez and Booth

By Michael Klitzing

As the semester draws to a close, the San Diego State University College of Education bids a fond farewell to three longtime members of the COE family. Dr. Marilee Bresciani Ludvik, professor of postsecondary educational leadership; Dr. Jacki Booth, lecturer and study abroad coordinator in the Department of Child and Family Development (CFD); and Sylvia Hernandez, credential analyst in the Office of Student Success (OSS); will be retiring from SDSU at the end of the year. 

Faculty Honored for Dedication to Student Support During Virtual Instruction

Frank Harris III and Marissa Vasquez

Assistant Professor Marissa Vasquez and Professor Frank Harris III in the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education are among 12 recipients of San Diego State University's Faculty Forward Awards, recognizing their agility and dedication to student support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The honor, presented by Faculty Advancement and Student Success and the Center for Teaching and Learning, celebrates the extraordinary dedication, collaboration and innovation of faculty offering courses virtually in fall 2020.

Vasquez and Harris worked together to develop a single comprehensive assignment to assess student learning in their two doctoral courses. Students were asked to design a campus approach to address the equity issue of their choosing, and present this approach in a one-hour, publicly accessible training webinar for education leaders. This ambitious project is a powerful and scalable example of public scholarship.

 Read the full story at SDSU NewsCenter.

Ready Teacher One: Alumna Builds Vibrant Community for Student Gamers

By Michael Klitzing

In her spare time while earning a teaching credential at San Diego State University, Angelique Gianas would often livestream on the popular video game broadcasting platform Twitch. Yet when she was subsequently hired as a teacher at Helix Charter High School in La Mesa, the lifelong gamer decided it was probably time to pull the plug. 

“I told myself, ‘There’s no way this can transfer over,’” said Gianas (’13, ’16, ’19), a graduate of the College of Education's teaching credential and online Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. “I stopped streaming because it’s kind of a weird place to be as a teacher — I don’t want my kids to find me.” 

Four years later, it’s safe to say that the gamers of Helix found Ms. Gianas. 

COE STORIES: Student Council President Leslie Britzel López Moreno

Leslie Britzel López Moreno — president of the College of Education Student Council and an undergraduate student in the counseling and social change minor — sat down with us in our latest episode of COE Stories. Learn more her journey from Tijuana to San Diego State University and her dream of starting her own nonprofit organization.

Amid COVID-19, Interwork Institute Agencies Step Up to Offer Critical Support

Susan (left), a CSA support facilitator, meets up with Kathy, an essential employee, at the end of a work shift.

By Michael Klitzing

Around the office, Kristoffel van de Burgt has earned the nickname “The King of PPE.” On the other end of a Zoom call, Creative Support Alternatives’ (CSA) director shows why, giving an impromptu tour of a storage room stocked with N-95 masks, face shields, thermometers, cleaners, toilet paper and other ubiquitous necessities of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Ever since this hit in March, we've been acquiring supplies nonstop to be able to bring them into people's homes,” van de Burgt said. “We've given masks and PPE to all the employees and we've purchased non contact thermometers. We’ve had to be creative with how we acquired this stuff." 

Alumni Spotlight: Dismantling Barriers for Community College Students

By Michael Klitzing

As a counselor and assistant professor at Palomar College, Dr. Hossna Sadat Ahadi is a champion for racial equity and social justice on her campus. Her motivation, she says, comes from the kinship she feels with the students she meets on a daily basis.

“When I see my students, I see the future of this country — but I also see myself,” she said. “My students are international students, immigrant students, undocumented or DACA students, and English Language Learners. Seeing my students and the inequities they are confronted with gives me the motivation to do more for them.”

Faculty Focus: Challenging Expectations — in Research and in the Classroom

By Michael Klitzing

Dr. Belén Hernando-Lloréns returned to her hometown of Madrid in 2013 expecting to find a brewing feminist revolution in the schools. What she found instead turned her own expectations and beliefs — and her dissertation research — upside down.

She was there to explore how Latina immigrant students responded to instances of sexual harassment in their schools, and what she found surprised her. Rather than taking to the streets in protest or speaking out in other ways in school, Hernando-Lloréns found girls self-blaming, falling silent and using what she called the technologies of the body — loose-fitting clothing meant to under-sexualize themselves.

What was going on? And what did this mean for her research? 

New Partnership Addresses California’s Rural Bilingual Educator Shortage

A DLE graduate celebrates at the department's 2019 graduation ceremony.

By Michael Klitzing

Across California, school districts are scrambling to fill a severe shortage of bilingual educators to keep up with the growing numbers of English learners in the classroom. The need in rural communities is particularly acute. As a result, many schools have turned to teachers with only bachelor’s degrees and “emergency credentials” — one-year permits typically given to substitutes — to fill in the gaps. 

A new collaboration between San Diego State University’s Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education (DLE), Feather River College and the Butte County Office of Education is stepping up to address the problem. Project Access, as the new program is called, will provide “emergency” educators an opportunity to earn a bilingual credential online in as little as one year. 

Chizhik Named Coordinator of SDSU's Liberal Studies Program

By Michael Klitzing

San Diego State University’s Liberal Studies program has a new leader. Dr. Estella Chizhik, professor in the School of Teacher Education, has been named the new coordinator of the major, which provides a multidimensional education in a variety of disciplines for undergraduate students interested in teaching, the education field and other professions. 

Chizhik, who has more than 20 years of experience at SDSU training educators and conducting research in the teacher educator field, will assume the new role in January 2021. Informed & Inspired spoke with her about why she’s passionate about teacher education, her vision for the major and more.

$16.5M Grant Furthers SDSU’s National Leadership in Vocational Rehabilitation

By Michael Klitzing

San Diego State University has been awarded a $16.5 million federal grant to keep the university at the forefront of improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities. 

The U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) will provide the funding over five years to support a new center, housed in SDSU’s Interwork Institute, that will provide quality management to the 78 public vocational rehabilitation agencies nationwide that connect people with disabilities to career resources. 

COE STORIES: Ph.D. Candidate Charlene Holkenbrink-Monk

Meet Charlene Holkenbrink-Monk a local teacher and doctoral candidate in the Joint Ph.D. Program in Education between San Diego State University and Claremont Graduate University. In the latest installment of the COE Stories video series, learn about what she loves about the program as well as her research into student support during the COVID-19 pandemic.