Recruit and Retain the Best Faculty

August 1, 2017

The School of Education celebrates faculty publications, collaborations, conference presentations.

Liz Chase, Ed.D.

Liz Chase, Ed.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, has three new publications. Her first piece, “Beyond the Diploma: Dimensions of Success for Teenage Mothers in High School” was published in the August 2017 edition of Educational Review (Volume 69, Number 4). The abstract for this article is as follows: 

Abstract: Research has shown how dominant narratives about teenage mothers in high school situate them as a problem population because they are at risk of dropping out of school without promising employment opportunities. Illustrating the narratives of three Latina and Black women who graduated from high school as mothers, this qualitative study responds to these dominant narratives. Data were collected through three in-depth, semi-structured interviews with each participant and one focus group interview with all participants. Guided by work on narrative portraits, this study explores the participants’ counternarratives with regard to success and failure in school. Findings show that participants expressed resolve and flexibility in the face of difficult and unforgiving life circumstances, and they articulated new ways of envisioning success that challenge traditional notions of achievement. By documenting the participants’ counternarratives, this study makes a case for renegotiating the physical, socioeconomic, and temporal boundaries around traditional notions of success. This study has implications for research and school-based practices in reconsidering how young mothers are supported in their efforts to succeed in high school and beyond.

She is also the author of a chapter in Leadership: Learning, Teaching, and Practice, edited by Autumn Tooms Cyprés and published by Information Age Press. For more information, visit infoagepub.com/products/leadership-learning-teaching-and-practice. That chapter is titled, “Newbie Again: Transitioning to the Professoriate from a Life in K–12.”

Her third piece appeared in Alternatives to Privatizing Public Education and Curriculum: A Festschrift in Honor of Dale D. Johnson, edited by Daniel Ness and Stephen Farenga. Her chapter is titled, "Conditions of Success for Teenage Mothers: Revisiting School Achievement on the Margins."

Barbara Cozza, Ph.D.

Barbara Cozza, Ph.D., had the opportunity of hosting a two-day visitation at St. John’s University for Branislav Pupala, Ph.D., and Ondrej Kascak, Ph.D. These professors are Senior Research Fellows at the Slovak Academy of Sciences at Trnava University in the Slovak Republic. 

These visiting professors were on campus to discuss international partnerships with the Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership. Tata Mbugua, Ph.D., from the University of Scranton, joined the visitation since she is presently working with these professors on recent research projects. 

Dr. Cozza and the visitors discussed how to collaborate on international research projects focusing on educational leadership agendas, plan international studies agendas for students, and discuss school reform issues on a global level. 

Dr. Cozza and the team traveled to PS 360 (a School of Choice, New York City Board of Education) and visited with Ryan Cooke, Principal. Mr. Cooke explained that PS 360 is a new school supported by the New York City Department of Education’s Chancellor’s Office. The school opened in September 2015 as a primary program and presently houses pre-K through first and second grades. The school will be expanding the student enrollment to grade five in the near future. The professors from Trnava University were very impressed and enjoyed the school tour. Professor Pupala remarked, “This school has many excellent effective strategies that help young students to achieve on high levels. The music thematic approach in the school allows young students to express their creativity and enjoy learning.”

Dr. Cozza is presently in discussion with these professors on collaborative partnerships. If anyone is interested in becoming involved in this collaboration, please e-mail Dr. Cozza at [email protected].

Smita Guha, Ph.D.

Smita Guha, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, recently presented “Understanding Relationship between Indian Music and Mathematics: Impact on Teacher Practices and Student Learning.” Accepted for presentation at American Educational Research Association, Division K–Teaching and Teacher Education. San Antonio, TX. April 27–May 1, 2017 at AERA.

Dr. Guha also presented at the 2016 Corporation for National and Community Service Research Summit Home and School Collaborative Approach for the Prevention or Management of Overweight or Obesity among young children.

Evan Ortlieb, M.Ed., Ph.D.

Evan Ortlieb, M.Ed., Ph.D., gave two keynote addresses to participatory literacy specialists and coaches at the Tennessee Reading Association Annual Conference in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His talks on “What’s Hot in Literacy as well as disciplinary literacies garnered fan favor from many of the attendees, including Dr. Timothy Shanahan, coauthor of the National Reading Panel Literacy Reports, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the Common Core State Standards. His annual contributions to the What’s Hot, What’s Not Survey in Literacy are among the most highly anticipated and read articles in the field each year, alongside coauthors Dr. Jack Cassidy and Dr. Stephanie Grote-Garcia.

Heather C. Robertson, Ph.D.

Heather C. Robertson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Counselor Education, published a manuscript entitled, “Substance Misuse and Career Development” in the Career Planning and Adult Development (CPAD) Journal’s spring 2016 special edition on “The Connection Between Mental Health and Career Development.” Dr. Robertson also presented two education sessions at the North Atlantic Region Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (NARACES) in Syracuse, New York, in September of 2016. Dr. Robertson’s first presentation, Counselor Educators’ Perception of Military as a Culture and Focus in Counselor Training Programs, detailed her collaborative research with colleagues Seth Hayden, Ph.D. from Wake Forest University and Emily Kennelly from Florida State University on faculty members’ perception of the military as a unique culture in counseling. Dr. Robertson’s second presentation, Helping Students Prepare for the CPCE: A CSI Program, Faculty Presentation, and Alumni Panel,” outlines a collaborative program hosted each semester involving students, alumni, and faculty, in collaboration with Chi Sigma Iota, the international counseling academic and professional honor society.

Mary Beth Schaefer, Ph.D.

Mary Beth Schaefer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Chair of Curriculum and Instruction, presented with Mirella Avalos-Louie ’11Ed.D.,  in the Catholic SIG of AERA on “Using Sacred Art, Bibles, and Open-Ended Questions for Religious Instruction in Catholic Elementary Schools.”