In the News

Dr. Sam Odom, Director of FPG Child Development Institute (FPG) and Professor at the School of Education at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, will receive the 2011 Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Washington College of Education. The Distinguished Graduate Award was established in 1986 and is awarded annually to a College of Education graduate of marked distinction. Dr. Odom is being honored for the impact of his research and practice on children with disabilities.

The UW Institute for Science + Math Education is partnering in ClimeTime, a Washington public schools initiative supporting climate science education, including providing professional learning opportunities for educators across the state.

UW uses upcoming dam removal to study teaching techniques. The National Science Foundation awarded O’Mahony and UW Professor John Bransford a one-year RAPID (Rapid Response Research) grant. The pair is using the $200,000 to study teaching methods regarding the Elwha River and the upcoming removal of its two dams. Half of the more than 300 participating middle-school students from nearby Port Angeles are doing traditional science projects with PowerPoint presentations. The other half will create five-minute videos that tell the story of the watershed’s past, present and future, including the swamping of local tribal land, the blocking of more than 70 miles of superb habitat from five salmon species, and the biggest dam-removal project in U.S. history.

Julie McCleery, a researcher with the UW Center for Leadership in Athletics, comments on a new report investigating young people's access to sports, play and outdoor recreation in Seattle and King County, which she led as principal investigator.

UW profs urge central school district office personnel to get out to the schools in a new education report. The transformation was phenomenal, said one school superintendent who put the research into practice.

Professors Roxanne Hudson, Carly Roberts and Elizabeth Sanders have been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the National Center for Special Education Research for a study to identify “malleable” reading factors — such as phonological awareness and letter sounds — among elementary students with intellectual disabilities, with the long-term aim of developing effective literacy interventions.

Fordham's April 9 event, Can Budget Cuts Catalyze Education Reform?featured Marguerite Roza from the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education.

Debi Talukdar, a UW College of Education doctoral student, contributed to a new guide helping families broach big questions and feelings that may be surfacing as kids experience the current realities of sickness and isolation.

Everyone has a moment when past experiences tumble together and point the way forward. For Kimberly Mitchell, Special Assistant to Dean Tom, Stritikus, that happened in 2005, as she stood in front of a crowd of suburban schoolteachers who folded their arms across their chests in disgust, as Mitchell tried to explain her concept of “inquiry-based” classroom instruction.

Debi Talukdar, a doctoral student in multicultural education and philosopher-in-residence at Seattle's Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, highlights work Talukdar has been involved with through the UW Center for Philosophy for Children.