April 2024

Honoring Arab-American Heritage

“We celebrate and honor the diversity and resilience of Arab-Americans during April, Arab-American Heritage Month. We hope you deepen your learnings and support our Arab communities this month and every month!”

Respectfully,

SOE Acting Co-Deans Drs. Corbin Campbell and Rodney Hopson

SOE Alum Wins Prestigious Award at AERA

At the Annual Meeting for the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Dr. Francesca Smith, EdD '22, was awarded the 2024 Outstanding Dissertation Award by the association's Bilingual Education Research Special Interest Group, her second prestigious dissertation honor.

Dr. Clarisse Mendoza Davis, MA ’08, CEO of the Maya Angelou Schools, runs toward the students that everyone else could not reach. Schools she oversees even have locations inside juvenile detention centers, where those with the greatest need for education are served.

Watch our Big Ideas in Education webinar, "A Conversation on School Violence and Safety," a thought-provoking discussion centered on the critical issue of school violence, featuring University of Maryland Associate Professor of Urban Education Dr. Sophia Rodriguez and SOE Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. kecia hayes.

The research series Coffee and Conversation is an opportunity for SOE faculty to build community as they thoughtfully and critically engage with each other and staff about their research and work.

SOE in the Media

Assistant Professor Dr. Sung Ryung Lyu gave a video presentation, "African American Headstart Teachers' Approaches to Police Play in the Era of Black Lives Matter," for Faculti, an academic streaming platform. View her talk, which suggests that policymakers; curriculum designers; and early childhood educators must be more inclusive of teachers of color, here. 

In the Education Week article "How These Teachers Build Curriculum ‘Beyond Black History,’" Acting Co-Dean Dr. Rodney Hopson spoke about his evaluation of a new Black studies curriculum in New York City.

Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Phelton Moss penned an op-ed for The Hill, "School Absenteeism Has Soared, Congress Must Act on Plans to Address the Issue," which details the alarming rise in chronically absent public school students.

SOE Dean Dr. Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy and Antiracist Pedagogy Scholar Dr. Annice Fisher co-wrote the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education op-ed, “Beyond Statements Toward Action: Maintaining the Antiracist Promise During the Anti-DEI Movement,” where they shared six lessons learned about sustaining organizational change amid polarization. 

EdD student Darla Davenport-Powell, ’24, plays the role of the family matriarch Lucy Bell in the slavery-centered live-animation documentary The Bell Affair, which explores freedom lawsuits of US slaves and recently began streaming on Amazon Prime.

SOE in the Community

EdD alum Dr. Marisa Mendonsa, ’22, was appointed Superintendent of Waltham (Massachusetts) Public Schools. Mendonsa has been an educator in public school systems for over 25 years, mostly in Western Massachusetts.

Dr. Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy was awarded the American Counseling Association's 2024 David K. Brooks, Jr. Distinguished Mentor Award, which recognizes an individual who has demonstrated enthusiasm and support for the unique educational experience of mentoring.

Education Policy and Leadership (EPL) MEd students Lauren Gustafson, Meanha Kim, and Kwand Lang, Jr. of Dr. Phelton Moss’s proseminar course are partnering with Opportunity Consulting to develop a series of toolkits for school leaders with strategies to bolster school improvement efforts. EPL MEd students Jarren Newby, Kissiah Valle, and Angeliki Papari-Kosiori accompanied Moss to a Capitol Hill roundtable discussion he organized and facilitated for Black and Latino school superintendents from across the country and the education policy advisors of President Biden and Vice President Harris.

AU recognized Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Carolyn A. Parker and Senior Professorial Lecturer Dr. Ocheze Joseph with Faculty Awards. Joseph won the Outstanding Community Engagement Award while Parker won the Outstanding Contribution to Fostering Collaborative Scholarship Award. 

Adjunct Instructor Dr. Jasmine Rogers gave a keynote address, “Liberation Through Language: Educators as the Catalyst of Linguistic Justice,” at the Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers: World Language Justice Conference, an event which highlights the intersection of social justice and world language. 

Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Robert Simmons was selected as a 2024 Pahara Fellow, a fellowship that identifies exceptional leaders in the educational excellence and equity movement, facilitates their dynamic growth, and strengthens their collective efforts to improve public education.

SOE Spring '24 graduates will participate in AU’s May 11 Commencement Ceremony. Bailey Haines, MEd, will deliver the graduate student speaker address; Faith Arthur, MAT, will be the US flag bearer; and James Silveria, MAT (a City Teaching Alliance student in Dallas), will be the SOE flag bearer.

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