DLE Master’s Alumna Selected to Education Policy Fellowship

A few months ago, Amber Riehman (’14, ’15, ’20) found herself listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “All, Here, Now” speech. King — speaking in 1966 at the height of the Civil Rights movement — warned against what he called “gradualism,” asserting: “We want all of our rights, we want them here, and we want them now.” For Riehman, those words made an impact.

EDL's James-Ward Talks COVID-19 and Inner-City Schools in U-T Commentary

Dr. Cheryl James-Ward, associate professor in the San Diego State University Department of Educational Leadership, recently published a commentary in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the crisis many schools are facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic — and the opportunity this moment presents to reimagine schools. 

Read the full commentary.

COE Announces New Black Advisory Council to the Dean

Clockwise from top left: Abdi, Butler-Byrd, Chizhik, Harris, Negash, Robinson and Stewart.

Seven members of the San Diego State University College of Education faculty, staff and student communities have been named to the newly-formed Black Advisory Council to the Dean. 

The council was created by Dean Y. Barry Chung in response to the many instances of systemic racism and violence against the Black community, and in acknowledgment of the longstanding inequities that exist within higher education. Chung will consult members on various initiatives to address racism and anti-Blackness in the college. Advisory Board members will also be empowered to suggest actions to strengthen the cultural climate of the college, as well as teaching and mentoring, to better serve all Black students and community members. 

New Counseling Master’s Program Co-Director Shaped by Refugee Experience.

By Michael Klitzing

In a world often defined in black and white terms, Selam Gebrekristos (’07, ’13) has learned to embrace a life somewhere in the middle. 

“I'm not part of my country anymore, and I'm not fully part of American culture,” she explains. “So I like to say that I'm in the gray.” 

Gebrekristos was a young girl when she and her family fled their homeland of Eritrea in the 1980s, refugees of a three-decade war of independence from Ethiopia. The family settled in Redlands, California, finding safety, though not exactly a sense of belonging. 

Welcome from the Dean

As the new academic year kicks off here in the College of Education, I think it’s only natural to dwell on what we don’t see. In ordinary times, the San Diego State University campus would be bustling with activity as students and faculty return to campus. Of course, because of the harsh realities of COVID-19, that’s not possible right now. 

As I look forward, however, I greet this unusual new beginning with optimism and a renewed sense of purpose. The fact is, what we do here has never felt more essential than it feels right now.

College of Education Releases 2020 Impact Report

From a global pandemic to racial injustice, 2020 has put the College of Education to the test. Read how our students, faculty and staff have risen to the challenge of this extraordinary moment in our new Impact Report.

Read the 2020 Impact Report.

New Faculty and Staff for Fall 2020

As the fall semester kicks off, the College of Education is excited to welcome 13 new faces who have recently joined us. 

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: A ‘Future Adventure’ Comes Alive

By Michael Klitzing

Jermaine Rocacorba remembers a San Diego State University Leadership Minor project called “Create a Future Adventure.” The assignment was to create something that doesn’t already exist — something that would make the world a better place. Rocacorba, who graduated from SDSU in December of 2018 with a degree in communication, has been seemingly living that project ever since. 

The native of the Philippines who grew up in San Diego’s Paradise Hills neighborhood has turned a passion for social justice activism into a life’s work. She is currently launching Pag-asa Law Clinic (Pag-asa is Tagalog for “hope”), a nonprofit providing legal services to immigrants, domestic violence victims and individuals facing tenant issues in San Diego’s large Filipino community. 

From Behind a Screen, Lecturer Takes Future Educators to the Outdoors

By Michael Klitzing

As a lecturer in the San Diego State University Department of Child and Family Development, Carolyn Sanders teaches courses in multiple settings. But the course she calls her “passion project” typically meets in only one location: the natural canyon landscape of the SDSU Children’s Center’s backyard. 

For the future educators enrolled in Children and Nature, “That's where the service learning happens,” Sanders said. “We've actually planted, dug up and changed the ground covering. We've done a lot of work there.” 

Children and Nature provides a testing ground for prospective teachers to learn how to address the growing disconnect of children from the natural environment — a long-term trend with detrimental effects on mental, physical and emotional well-being. By getting their hands dirty in the Children Center’s Memory Park, students discover alternatives to teaching within the constraints of four walls.

Suhrheinrich Nets U.S. Dept. of Education Grant to Improve Autism Education

By Michael Klitzing

Dr. Jessica Suhrheinrich, associate professor in the San Diego State University Department of Special Education, is beginning work on a federally-funded project aimed at empowering educators who work with young students with autism.

Over the summer, the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences awarded Suhrheinrich a grant of more than $1.4 million over 4 years to develop a tool to make Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching (CPRT) — a naturalistic, behavioral intervention for children with autism — simpler to deliver and more customizable for preschool and elementary school teachers and paraprofessionals.

Data Champions Team to Present its Work to Further Undergraduate Student Success

Dr. Lisa McCully and Sandra Kahn present their findings at the 2019 Data Champions poster session. 

By Michael Klitzing

A staff team from the Office of the Dean and Office of Student Success is set to offer insight and provide recommendations for improving student success in the College of Education’s two undergraduate majors.

Sandra Kahn, data administrator; Dr. Nina Potter, director of assessment and accreditation; Dr. Lisa McCully, director of the Office for Student Success, Michelle Xiong, liberal studies advisor; and Alison Sternal, community college outreach and undergraduate advisor, will present their findings at San Diego State University’s third annual Data Champions Virtual Poster Session, Aug. 3 and 4. Now in its third year, Data Champions is a university-wide initiative to use data to identify areas where service to students can be improved and equity gaps addressed.

COE STORIES: Ed.D. Student Angel Gonzalez

Meet Angel Gonzalez, a doctoral student in the Ed.D. in Community College Leadership program. Learn about his passion for advancing equity and his dreams of a life in higher education in the first installment of the COE Stories video series.

DLE's Esquinca Named Inaugural Faculty Scholar at SDSU Pride Center

By Michael Klitzing

As a young undergraduate student at the University of Texas-El Paso, Dr. Alberto Esquinca made a daily trek across a bridge spanning the concrete banks of the Rio Grande. The journey provided him safe passage beyond the imposing border fence — the physical representation of the century and a half of geopolitics that separated his family’s home in Ciudad Juarez from the opportunity he sought in the United States.

But upon arriving on campus, Esquinca confronted yet another daunting divide. As a gay man in West Texas in the 1990s, he felt like an outsider — so much that he doubted his ability to even continue with his education. Until, that is, he found a support network.

SDSU Pre-College Institute Aids Local Digital Divide

By SDSU News Team

The San Diego State University Pre-College Institute (PCI) is helping alleviate the digital divide local students are experiencing amid the transition to virtual learning.

PCI staff members have delivered more than 30 digital learning devices, including laptops and hot spots to students across San Diego participating in the Upward Bound/Health Careers Opportunity Program (UB/HCOP).

Supporting Student Learning in the Age of COVID-19.

Dr. Vicki Park, associate professor in EDL.

Dr. Vicki Park, associate professor in the Department of Education Leadership, and students from our Pomona/Alhambra Ed.D. cohort recently published a commentary on education amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). The piece, entitled "Voices of Educators: Supporting Student Learning Amid the Pandemic Requires Prioritizing Social-Emotional Care," offers recommendations on how educators can support the welfare of their students in this time of increased stress.

Read the full commentary.