CSP Team’s ‘Soul Work’ Aims to Address Pandemic’s Impact on Foster Youth

From left: Ashley Kruger, Tonika Green and Jennica Paz.

By Michael Klitzing

For young people in the foster care system, school can be an empowering place. It’s a setting to build relationships, find a sense of belonging and gain access to mental health support services. 

 

That place of refuge all but vanished with the COVID-19 shift to virtual learning. Even with in-person classes back, the impacts on foster youth are still rippling out. 

$1.2 Million NSF Grant Funds New Science Teacher Pipeline

Two San Diego teachers participate in a coding workshop at SDSU.

By Michael Klitzing

During teacher recruitment calls with school district administrators, Donna Ross often hears a touch of desperation when the topic turns to certain subjects. 

 

“The panicked calls come late in summer asking about chemistry and physics,” said Ross, an associate professor of science education at San Diego State University. “Most years, we just don't have applicants for those areas. I'm lucky in my methods course if we have one physics student." 

 

It’s far from a local problem. California has faced a statewide teacher shortage for years, and science teachers are one of the most acute areas of need. 

An Alumna's Journey From Migrant Student to San Diego County Teacher of the Year

Photo by Terri Rippee.

By Michael Klitzing

Juanita Nuñez’s (’01) road to becoming one of San Diego County’s best teachers started with 524 miles of sun-scorched asphalt. 

 

The combination of highways spanning the California farming communities of Salinas and Calexico defined much of the San Diego State University alumna’s childhood. Nuñez — who was born near the journey’s midway point in the town of Camarillo — was constantly on the move between north and south, and from one classroom to the next. 

Lifelong Passion for Literacy Earns Fisher Reading Hall of Fame Honor

By Michael Klitzing

Douglas Fisher still recalls his first college paper, written for an English class when he was a first-year student at San Diego State University. The topic he chose to write about was aliteracy — the state of being able to read, but choosing not to. 

 

Now professor and chair in SDSU’s Department of Educational Leadership (EDL), Fisher’s passion for literacy hasn’t dimmed. 

COE Stories: Marlene Baldonado on Bringing Dance to the Classroom

Marlene Baldonado. Photo by Ian Ordonio.

By COE News Team

In our latest installment of COE Stories, meet liberal studies major and ITEP student Marlene Baldonado, who brings together her passions for teaching and artistic expression. Video by Ian Ordonio.

SDSU Selected to Transform Early Childhood Education in Nation of Georgia

The Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi, Georgia, illuminated at night. (Adobe Stock photo by Boris Stroujko)

By Michael Klitzing

San Diego State University’s partnership with the nation of Georgia to enhance its education system has taken a significant step forward with an initiative to empower the nation’s youngest generation. 

 

The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia selected SDSU to lead a $4.19 million World Bank-funded effort to transform early childhood education, which focuses on children from ages 2-5, including 5-year-old preschoolers. SDSU was chosen in a contract finalized last week as part of a competitive proposal process, which attracted multiple international institutions. 

Meet the College of Education's New Faculty and Staff for Fall 2022

By COE News Team 

 

The College of Education is excited to welcome eight new tenured/tenure-track faculty and one new staff member joining us for the fall semester! 

Challenging the Narrative: Q&A with New CSP Chair Travis Heath

By Michael Klitzing

Travis Heath’s journey in the field of psychology started in an unlikely place — the very back of the classroom. 

 

Heath was a new student at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, fresh off an unsuccessful attempt to catch on with the famed Gonzaga basketball team as a walk-on point guard. At the time, he had no real direction in his academic career. In fact, he admits he was only in the introduction to psychology course because his college counselor chose the subject for him. 

Dean Y. Barry Chung: Welcome to the 2022-2023 School Year!

By Y. Barry Chung

It is with a great sense of excitement that I welcome you back to San Diego State University for the start of a new school year. I hope you had a happy, healthy, and rejuvenating summer. I can report that I am particularly energized to embark on what promises to be a pivotal year. Here’s a small glimpse of what’s in store: 

 

We are preparing to implement a new college-wide strategic plan — created from the input of students, faculty, and staff — that will guide our efforts for the next five years. Thank you to everyone who contributed. You will be hearing a lot more about this in the weeks and months ahead. 

An Unintended Legacy: A Salute to Fred McFarlane's 50 Years of Excellence

By Caren Sax

Editor’s Note: Caren Sax, professor emeritus and director of the Interwork Institute, submitted the following tribute in honor of Fred McFarlane’s 50th anniversary at San Diego State University. 

 

When Fred McFarlane was first hired at San Diego State College in 1972, he had just completed his doctoral degree at the University of Georgia. He was hired to coordinate a certificate program in rehabilitation counseling and direct the newly-awarded federal grant program that was designed to jointly prepare social work and rehabilitation counseling students to serve community members who had either vision or hearing-related disabilities. 

 

Frank Harris III Reflects on Faculty Honor, Sets Sights on Interim DEI Post

By Michael Klitzing

As the new school year approaches, Frank Harris III is about to take center stage in the College of Education. 

 

First, he’s set to be honored on a literal stage during All-University Convocation as the College of Education’s recipient of the Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Faculty Contributions. It’s a prospect that Harris admits is somewhat anxiety-inducing. 

SDSU Ready to Assist as California Takes Transitional Kindergarten Plunge

CFD master's student Flor Burciaga at the SDSU Children's Center. (August 2019 photo)

By Michael Klitzing

As the new school year approaches, a major change is coming to elementary education in California: public schools are about to get younger.
 

This fall, schools will open transitional kindergarten (TK) programs serving children who just missed the kindergarten cutoff, turning 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 5. It’s California’s first baby step toward a goal of universal TK for all 4-year-olds — an ambitious vision that foresees enrolling more than 300,000 children and hiring tens of thousands of newly qualified teachers by 2025-26. 

 
San Diego State University’s College of Education is eager to help the state meet massive, looming workforce needs — and do so in a way that puts teachers in TK classrooms who understand the unique developmental needs of their youngest pupils. 

Katherine Sciurba Brings Academic Magic to Comic-Con Harry Potter Fandom Panel

Katherine Sciurba and Naim Martin

By Michael Klitzing

Katherine Sciurba remembers feeling butterflies as devoted denizens of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin filed in by the hundreds. Seats disappeared quickly and soon the standing-room spaces began to vanish, too. 

 

An academic conference this most certainly was not. 

 

It was during last fall’s scaled-down special edition of Comic-Con International that Sciurba — an associate professor of literacy education at San Diego State University and director of the SDSU Literacy Center — first nervously graced the long-running Harry Potter Fandom panel.
 

Doc Students, Alumni Receive Fellowship to Prepare Future Cal State Faculty

Clockwise from top left: Horg-Aaron, Nealon, Paredes and Garcia. 

By Michael Klitzing

Two current students and two recent alumni from the San Diego State University College of Education are recipients of a prestigious California State University (CSU) fellowship that will further their dreams of pursuing careers in academia. 

Denise Villarrial Nealon and Griselda Paredes, students in the Joint Ph.D. Program in Education with Claremont Graduate University, and Fernando Garcia (’17) and Cassandra Horg-Aaron (’20), alumni of the Postsecondary Educational Leadership: Specialization in Student Affairs (PELSA) master’s program, were accepted into the Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) for 2022-23. They were among seven SDSU-affiliated fellows among the cohort’s 67 members. 

Student Spotlight: Lily Hopkins, Builder of Safe Spaces

By Aaron Burgin

“Safe space” is not merely a buzzword for San Diego State University graduate student Lily Hopkins, who’s spent the better part of the past seven years creating them.
 
Hopkins, a student in the College of Education's online-hybrid counseling master's program, worked last year in The Pride Center’s Pride House peer mentorship program and will return in the fall as the graduate assistant supervising and training all of the Pride House mentors.