It has been a busy year in the Department of Education.
We are excited to confirm that our teacher education program meets rigorous state and national standards for educator preparation, including our initial teacher licensure program, which has been fully accredited for the next seven years by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP). We are grateful to many Wake Forest University and Department of Education faculty, staff, administrators, and students, as well as to our local school and community partners, who have played critical roles in supporting the work we do in teacher education. Many of these stakeholders were instrumental leading up to and during our accreditation site visit in October 2023.
Sincerely,
Alan Brown, Chair
Connect with us!
Faculty Spotlight
DR. LEAH MCCOY
Dr. Leah McCoy, Professor of Mathematics Education, was published in The Washington Post recently. Her article, titled “Even Adults Learn from the Popular Video Game, Which Builds on an Important Math Concept,” discusses how Tetris promotes useful concepts for building skills used by architects, engineers, graphic designers, and animators. The article was also published in The Conversation and describes how manipulating game pieces is an exercise in dynamic spatial reasoning.
DR. DEBBIE FRENCH
Dr. Debbie French, Assistant Professor of Science Education, was recently awarded the Dr. Don Bailey University/College Distinguished Service Award for exceptional service to science education in North Carolina. The award was presented at the North Carolina Science Teachers Association (NCSTA) Annual Conference. Dr. French teaches general education courses, science education courses, and a First Year Seminar, titled CO2 and the Future of Earth.
Pictured: Dr. Debbie French (right) with Brad Rhew, NSTA
Section 5 Leader and STEM Coach in Guilford County Schools.
DR. LENI CALDWELL
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Leni Caldwell has accepted a new position as Assistant Teaching Professor in the Wake Forest Department of Education, which will begin on July 1, 2024. She will continue teaching classes related to elementary literacy
interventions, exceptional children, arts integration, and instructional design, assessment, and technology. Congratulations, Dr. Caldwell!
Transportation Associates
Part-time transportation associates in the Department of Education are former school educators or administrators with a positive demeanor and an eagerness to support teacher education. They serve our pre-service educators and university students by transporting them in 12-passenger vans to local schools for clinical experiences, classroom observations, tutoring, and other educational programming. These departmental staff members support faculty as needed and serve as informal mentors to students. They have become an invaluable resource to the department and have allowed us to significantly increase the time our students spend in schools as part of their coursework and fieldwork. The program is supported by the family of a former student and through partnerships with the Dean’s Office, Parking & Transportation, and Campus Recreation.
Jon Williams
Jon Williams (‘95) is a retired principal with experience in WS/FCS and Rockingham County Schools. He was the last winner of WFU’s Marcellus Waddill Award in 2013.
Melita Wise
Melita Wise is a retired principal in WS/FCS, most recently at North Forsyth High School and Hanes Magnet Middle School.
Dack Stackhouse
Dack Stackhouse (‘95) taught in the United States and Thailand, most recently working as a language arts teacher at Summit School.
Kathy Wilheit
Kathy Wilheit retired as an elementary literacy coach for WS/FCS. She has also worked as an instructional facilitator and ESL teacher.
New Books from Our Faculty
Dr. Linda Nielsen
Myths and Lies About Dads: How They Hurt Us All is a groundbreaking book that destroys more than 100 of the most damaging beliefs about fathers. Using the most recent research, Nielsen’s new book exposes these baseless beliefs about dads and describes the toll they take on children’s relationships with their fathers, parents’ relationships with one another, and the physical and mental health of fathers and mothers. Having awarded her book one of their coveted “stars,” Kirkus Review of books praises her work: “Nielsen writes in a lucid, down-to-earth style that’s free of academic cant and replete with tart wisdom.”
Dr. Michele Myers
Dr. Michele Myers teamed up with Dr. Linda Mayes, Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology and Director of the Yale Child Study Center, to offer practical techniques that help students deal with the many challenges. they face in life. In their book, The Educator’s Guide to Building Child and Family Resilience (2023), they show how to build resilience-promoting skills through quality children’s literature, routines, and activities to create a classroom where all children thrive. As children develop those skills, they connect more deeply with peers, teachers, families, and community members and build key reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
Dr. Alan Brown
Dr. Alan Brown and colleagues, Dr. Luke Rodesiler (Purdue University Fort Wayne) and Dr. Mark Lewis (James Madison University), have collaborated on a new book published by the National Council of Teachers of English called Reading the World through Sports and Young Adult Literature. Recommended and award-winning works of young adult literature featuring youth athletes—protagonists who are entangled not only in athletic competition but in the complications of life beyond the arena—offer secure footholds that students can use to explore contemporary sociopolitical issues. With chapters addressing timely topics, this book supports practicing and prospective teachers in using sports and literature to advance critical literacy and to help students reimagine the world as they know it.
Course Spotlight
EDU 101: Issues & Trends in Education: Digital Literacy in the 21st Century Hannah Inzko and Brianna Healey
In the twenty-first century, literacy skills increasingly reflect technology use and the abilities necessary to problem-solve, collaborate, and present information through multimedia messages. In examining the impact of emerging literacy trends on 21st-century students in a digital, global environment, students in this course consider what it means to be a person/learner/educator inhabiting an increasingly intercultural world across digital modalities. We ask students to reflect on who they are and incorporate this reflection into their digital work. We must expose students to digital literacy skills, and in doing so we introduce them to a variety of digital projects, such as podcasts, digital stories, and digital portfolios, that they can continue to develop throughout their time here at Wake Forest and beyond.
Educative Teacher Performance Assessment
By Dr. Leah McCoy, Assessment and Accreditation Director
edTPA (Educative Teacher Performance Assessment) is a direct measure of student teacher performance that is widely used across the United States. edTPA was developed at Stanford University and is administered by Pearson. Each student teacher compiles and submits a portfolio to demonstrate their performance.
edTPA has been a licensure requirement in North Carolina since 2018. Seventy-seven Wake Forest teacher education candidates have submitted portfolios, and 100 percent have passed. Of these, 96 percent of students passed on the first try.
The measure is subject-specific, and it has three parts: Planning, Instruction, and Assessment. During student teaching, the candidate plans a learning segment of three to five days. They collect and submit evidence including school and student descriptions, lesson plans and materials, teaching video, and assessments of their students. Each part also requires a lengthy commentary where they answer in depth questions about why and how they designed and carried out the lessons, and the outcomes in terms of student learning.
Candidates learn the basics of edTPA preparation throughout the program,
particularly in methods courses. During student teaching, they are coached by faculty members who are familiar with the process.
The portfolio is scored by anonymous reviewers who have expertise in that subject. edTPA is currently a licensure requirement in about 40 states, including North Carolina. Each state sets a “cut score,” and candidates must submit this minimum score in order to be licensed.
While edTPA is an extensive (and exhaustive) process, we encourage candidates to embrace its high expectations. We tell them that the portfolio simply asks them to document their effective teaching practices.
Leadership, Equity, & Education Speaker Series
Dr. Stephanie Rowley
Dr. Stephanie Rowley, Dean and William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Education from the University of Virginia, visited Wake Forest on Monday, February 12. Dr. Rowley is a developmental psychologist whose research explores how parents’ attitudes toward race and gender, and their own social experiences, influence their children’s motivation in school. The title of her talk was “Race-Related Parent Cognitions in African American Parents.” Prior to becoming Dean at UVA, she worked as a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina and University of Michigan before moving into administration at Teachers College, Columbia University. This event was sponsored by the Department of Education, African American Studies Program, Center for Literacy Education, Department of Psychology, Program for Leadership & Character, Department of Education’s Student Leadership Council, and Winston-Salem TEACH.
Professional Development
Alumni Industry Chat
Alumni participated in a recent conversation about opportunities and challenges faced by leaders in education. The event was led by Adam Dovico (’04, EdD’23), Academic Director of Wake Forest University School of Professional Studies. The Alumni Industry Chat took place on Wednesday, March 20, and was a collaboration between the Department of Education and the Office of Alumni Personal & Career Development Center. We look forward to more Alumni Industry Chats in the future.
Professional Learning Series
Our spring Professional Learning Series panel was co-sponsored with the Center for Literacy Education and took place on Monday, March 25. Amanda Kaufman, Learning and Instructional Services Librarian at Wake Forest University’s Z. Smith Reynolds Library, presented on “Teaching Lateral Reading for Evaluating Information Online.” Hannah Inzko, Executive Director of Academic Technology, and Brianna Healey, Associate Director of Academic Technology, presented on “Applying Digital Literacy to Empower 21st-century Communicators.”
Department Events
EDCAMP336
After a long hiatus due to COVID-19, we hosted edCamp336 on Saturday, March 2, 2024. We had approximately 50 attendees and lots of great conversations around important educational topics, including the use of AI, trauma-informed practices, teaching multilingual learners, physical movement and academic learning, and book challenges in K-12 schools. Thanks to our Student Leadership Council, who were instrumental in supporting edCamp336. A big shout out to our planning committee made up of faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners, including Jennifer Fernbach, Alan Brown, Alicia Lemar, Leni Caldwell, Debbie French, Adam Dovico, Laura Bilton, and Alexandra Hoskins.
Graduate Hooding
We are excited to announce that the Wake Forest Graduate School of Arts & Sciences has named Kim Jones (’05, ’06), the 2023 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year, as its 2024 Hooding and Commencement Ceremony Speaker. Graduate hooding will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 4:00 pm in Wait Chapel.
36th Annual AP Summer Institute
This year’s Advanced Placement Summer Institute will take place June 10 – 13. We’ve added new courses this year: African-American Studies, Environmental Science, and Psychology for experienced teachers. Language, English Literature, US Government & Politics, Spanish Language, US History, and World History.
Celebrate Student Teachers
Our Fall 2023 student teachers completed their internships in December. Congratulations to those undergraduate students who taught in the following schools: Arts Based School, Downtown School, Moore Magnet Elementary, and Whitaker Elementary.
Our Spring 2024 student teachers are currently in their placements. They were celebrated at our student teacher induction ceremony in January. Students are teaching this semester at Atkins HS, Mount Tabor HS, North Forsyth HS, Reagan HS, and West Forsyth HS.
Bo Cummins – ACC Go Teach Award
Bo Cummins, an elementary education major in the non-licensure pathway and athlete on the men’s soccer team, was the recipient of the Atlantic Coast Conference Go Teach Dr Pepper Tuition Giveaway. Bo has served as an intern at WFU’s Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School and the Skip Prosser Literacy Program. Faculty and staff in the department describe Bo as kind, thoughtful, and empathetic. Congratulations to Bo on this outstanding accomplishment.