Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree approved!

The School of Education (SOE) at the University of Michigan – Dearborn is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the Presidents Council, the University of Michigan Board of Regents, and the Higher Learning Commission to offer a new degree program to meet a critical need in southeastern Michigan for educational leaders who can transform education at the PK-12 and community college levels. The Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree is an advanced professional program that assists veteran educators to enhance their knowledge of theory and best practice, to acquire skills in interpreting and using educational scholarship and reserach, and to understand processes of change and leadership in education settings. The Ed.S. degree is ideal for educators who seek new skills and new opportunities for leadership.

The Education Specialist degree program addresses three distinct yet overlapping areas of study that are essential characteristics for the next generation of leaders in education: engagement with the community; transformational leadership; and scholarly practice. The Ed.S. degree offers four areas of concentration: (1) educational leadership, (2) metropolitan education, (3) curriculum and practice, and (4) educational psychology/special education. Students in the educational leadership concentration can complete the program and be recommended to the Michigan Department of Education for the MDE required Central Office Administrator Certificate for educators in or aspiring to a K-12 district central office leadership position. The other concentrations are ideal for someone seeking advanced knowledge and proficiency in areas of curriculum supervision, professional development, educational evaluation, and related areas.

New students will be admitted to begin studies in Fall 2011. Further details about this exciting new degree program and how to apply will be available shortly on the SOE website http://www.soe.umd.umich.edu.

Mardigian Library Honors Professor Ray Kettel

At a luncheon in his honor on November 5, 2010, Dr. Raymond P. Kettel was named a Distinguished Faculty Friend of the Mardigian Library. Professor Kettel was recognized for his important contributions in helping to build the Juvenile Historic Literature Collection at the Mardigian Library. This collection started with a donation of more than 4,000 children’s books from the Grand Rapids Public Library, and it contains books published from the early 1800’s to the 1970’s. It is one of the finest collections of its type in the country. Professor Kettel not only helped to identify the important resources within the collection but also to pioneer innovative uses of the collection with students at UM-Dearborn preparing to be teachers. Please join me in congratulating Professor Raymond P. Kettel on being honored for his contributions to the Mardigian Library.

For more on Professor Kettel’s accomplishments and distinguished career as an educator, see an earlier blog posting (October 1, 2010).

UM-Dearborn Faculty Member Discusses “Emergent Inquiry” at National Conferences

Seong Hong, Associate Professor of Education, recently led two workshops on the topic of emergent inquiry at the Annual Conference of the Association for Constructivist Teaching in Chicago in October and at the Annual Conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children in Anaheim in early November. Professor Hong used examples drawn from the work of teachers and students in the UM-Dearborn Early Childhood Education Center to illustrate the nature of children’s learning in and through play and the complex decisions that teachers must make in guiding children’s emergent inquiry toward fruitful outcomes. In one workshop, she also illustrated how an emergent inquiry cycle could be used to model the learning processes not only of the children but also the teachers, student teachers, and researchers. The notion of emergent inquiry is closely connected with the philosophy of the Reggio Emilia schools in Italy, and which is an undergirding educational foundation for the UM-Dearborn Early Childhood Education Center.

SOE Student Named Michigan Service Scholar for 2011

Renee Wendt, a student in our Elementary Education program, has been selected as a Michigan Service Scholar through the Americorps Program. Recipients of these awards must complete 300 hours of community service during a calendar year. Renee’s scholarship award will support her in completing a service-learning project in connection with her student teaching placement during the Winter 2011 term in a second-grade classroom at Daly Elementary School in the Westwood School District. SOE Professor Mary Trepanier-Street and Ms. Maureen Molloy, an SOE alumna who is a principal in the Westwood School District, facilitated the integration of Renee’s service-learning project with her student teaching placement. Please join me in congratulating Renee on being selected from among a large number of worthy applicants.

U-Tools Program Supports Youth in Metro Detroit

Under the leadership and coordination of the Save Our Children Coalition (SOCC), a unit housed within and supported by the UM-Dearborn School of Education, the U-Tools program is working with a cohort of about 50 ninth-grade youth to provide enrichment experiences that build academic and life skills and productive habits of mind. The intent of the program is set these youth on a trajectory toward high school completion with a solid preparation for post-secondary education and training.

The concept and original design of the U-Tools program was developed with the help of representatives from Vista Maria and the Wayne County 3rd Judicial Circuit Court and Department of Human Services. As the name suggests, the U-Tools project uses the metaphor of loading “tools” into a toolbox. The conceptual framework for the U-Tools program is based on Sean Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. The program also recognizes the building of trust and relationships among participating students and caring adults as a critical factor for success. Toward this end, consistency of participating faculty and mentorship are stressed throughout.

The current version of the U-Tools program is scheduled to run from October 2010 through May 2011, via a series of monthly, all-day Saturday sessions. Given SOCC’s focus on supporting foster children in Southeast Michigan, participants in the UTools program are drawn from Vista Maria Academy in Dearborn Heights, Black Family Development in Detroit, and some other DHS foster care settings in the region. Program activities will take place on the UM-Dearborn campus, thereby allowing participating students to gain first-hand experience regarding college life and facilitating the participation of university personnel.

At UM-Dearborn, faculty and staff from School of Education, Career Services, Athletics, Student Activities, Admissions, and the Environmental Interpretive Center will be involved in the program sessions planned for AY 2010-11. The U-Tools program is supported in part by a grant from the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS); SOCC also receives help and support from UM-Dearborn for full operation of the project’s planned activities.

School of Education Honors Professor Ray Kettel

On October 1 friends, colleagues, and students came together to honor Dr. Raymond P. Kettel on the occasion of his retirement from the School of Education. Ray began his career as an educator while serving in the Philippines as a Peace Corps volunteer. In 1969 Ray accepted a teaching position in the Detroit Public Schools, where he served for two decades, serving stints as a teacher, reading coordinator, demonstration teacher, and language education supervisor. Ray joined the faculty at University of Michigan–Dearborn in 1988, where he has taught prospective and practicing teachers for the past 23 years.

Ray Kettel is known regionally, nationally and internationally for his expertise in the area of children’s literature and for his innovative contributions to the teaching of reading and language arts. Kettel’s publications in children’s literature, storytelling and reading have appeared in such journals as The Reading Teacher, English Journal, Storytelling World, Voices from the Middle, and the American Library Association’s Book Links. He was the creator and senior author of the CLUE ME IN literature program which encourages students to read some of the best in children’s books. In addition, he directed the ASK (Authors Specialists and Knowledge) program, through which students at the college and precollege levels dig deeply into literature by interviewing authors or specialists whose work domains are closely tied to particular selections.

Ray’s expertise is widely recognized and much sought after. He has served on a variety of committees for both the International Reading Association and the Michigan Reading Association, within which he was elected to the Board of Directors in 1982-1985. Ray Kettel is also viewed as the quintessential teacher. In 1993, he received the Distinguished Teaching award from UM-Dearborn, and in 1995 the students of the Association of Educators named him the most inspirational faculty member. In 2005, Ray received the Michigan Reading Association’s Teacher Educator Award, and later that year the UM-Dearborn Alumni Society named him Faculty Member of the Year.

Individuals wishing to recognize Ray Kettel’s legacy of contributions to UM-Dearborn and to assist the School of Education to maintain strong support for its students may do so through a contribution to:

School of Education Student Scholarship and Support Fund

To do so, please make your check payable to the above named fund and mail to:
School of Education Student Scholarship Fund
c/o Becky Dresselhouse-Nauss
University of Michigan-Dearborn
School of Education
19000 Hubbard Drive
Dearborn, MI 48126

Toni Simovski Named 2010 SOE Alumnus of the Year

The University of Michigan-Dearborn has named 8 individuals as
Alumni Difference Makers for 2010. [More information can be found at http://www.umd.umich.edu/alumniawards] Among those so honored is Toni Simovski, who was named School of Education Alumnus of the Year.

Mr. Simovski teaches American Government and Advanced Placement American Government at South Lyon High School. He has received several other recognitions as an outstanding educator in the state of Michigan, including 2007 Civic Educator of the Year and 2009 Michigan Social Studies Teacher of the Year. In addition to his distinguished career as a teacher, he also served in the U.S. Army as an interpreter during the conflict in Macedonia and Kosovo. The Alumni Association Award will be presented to Mr. Simovski, and the corresponding award winners from other units on the UM-Dearborn campus, at a ceremony on October 15. Please join me in congratulating Toni Simovski on his distinctive accomplishment and in thanking him for his dedication to the education profession.

Pictures from the ceremony are available on our UM-Dearborn Facebook page.  Click here to view.

Recipient videos are also available to view.