Below is a round-up of recent Graduate School of Education faculty research, awards, and news.

Dean Thomas M. Smith, Associate Dean and Assistant Professor Louie F. Rodriguez, and Professor John S. Levin were honored at this year's AERA in Toronto.

Thomas M. Smith, professor and dean of the Graduate School of Education, was named a 2019 Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Smith is one of only 10 prominent scholars to receive this honor, and was selected on the basis of his “notable and sustained research achievements.” Read more

Louie F. Rodriguez, associate dean of undergraduate education programs and associate professor, accepted the AERA Hispanic Research Issues SIG on Research in Elementary, Secondary, or Postsecondary Education Award. The award recognizes research using any type of methodology or paradigms which represent research contributions in elementary, secondary, or postsecondary levels of education pertaining to Hispanic/Latino issues and concerns.

John S. Levin, professor, received AERA’s Exemplary Research Award, Division J, which recognizes an individual who demonstrates an outstanding record of scholarly research in our field and an unusually high level of accomplishment. They are recognized scholars whose published research has made an outstanding contribution to knowledge and understanding in the field of higher education. 
 

Read the full list of GSOE AERA presentations here.

Additional Faculty News and Honors:
Jan Blacher, associate dean and distinguished professor, executive produced a new groundbreaking documentary that explores what it's like to go to college with autism. Autism Goes to College premiered at the AERA Theatre in Santa Monica, with follow-up screenings at Newport Film Festival and UCR Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts. Read more

Dr. Blacher was also awarded the 2019 Edgar A. Doll Award from Division 33 of the American Psychological Association. Presented annually, this career award recognizes an individual for his or her substantial contributions to the understanding of intellectual or developmental disabilities. Read more

William P. Erchul, a professor in the Graduate School of Education, has been awarded the 2019 Jack Bardon Distinguished Service Award from Division 16 of the American Psychological Association. This lifetime achievement award is presented annually to a school psychologist who has had a distinguished career of providing exceptional programs of service meriting special recognition. Read more

The Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions selected Louie F. Rodriguez as an MSI inspiring leader for their second MSI Aspiring Leaders Forum in November. MSI Aspiring Leaders is a three-day forum and two-year mentoring program that connects prominent Minority Serving Institutions' (MSI) leaders with mid-career aspiring leaders from the education, non-profit, and business sectors in an effort to prepare the next generation of MSI presidents.

Keith F. Widaman received the Alumnus of the Year Award from the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University. He also received this year’s Samuel J. Messick Award for Distinguished Contributions from Division 5 of APA, the Division on Quantitative and Qualitative Methods at the August 2019 APA annual convention in Chicago. Read more

Papers, Presentation, Conferences:
Joseph Kahne
Kahne, J. & Bowyer, B. (2019). Can media literacy education increase digital engagement in politics? Learning, Media and Technology, 44:2, 211-224, DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2019.1601108  Read more

Rollanda O'Connor
O'Connor, R.E., Beach, K.D., Sanchez, V.M., Knight-Teague, K., Orozco, G., & Jones, B. (2019). Teaching academic vocabulary to sixth grade students with disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly

Davidson, S.J., & O’Connor, R.E. (2019). An intervention using morphology to derive word meanings for English Language Learners. Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis.

Raquel Rall – Presented the following at the Annual Trusteeship Conference of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, Orlando, FL.
Master Class – Embracing Educational Equity (Part I): What Every Board Member Should Know. 
Governance Seminar – Embracing Educational Equity (part II): Board-Centered Approaches that Enhance Institutional Inclusion.

Grants:
Joseph Kahne and Erica Hodgin received $325,000 from the McCormick Foundation. The grant will enable a two-year study of the impact of civic learning opportunities on civic and academic outcomes as well as of the degree to which these learning opportunities and outcomes are equitably distributed across varied groups of students in the district.

Asha Jitendra received $435,000 from the U.S. Department of Education for a three-year study to develop an intervention for students with or at risk of mathematics difficulties.

Cassandra Guarino received $297,000 from the U.S. Department of Education for a two-year study to aid districts and schools in grappling with the incidence and consequences of non-promotional student mobility.