Shoutout to Teacher Education faculty Brent Duckor and Counselor Education faculty Lorri Capizzi, who co-presented the webinar “How can Teachers, School Counselors, & Administrators support educational outcomes for students in foster care during extraordinary times?” as part of their SJSU Center for Collaborative Research Excellence in Education (CCREE) and in collaboration with the CSU Center for Closing the Opportunity Gap (CCOG). Watch the recording of the webinar below.
Category Archives: Faculty
Lurie College Faculty Published in Latinas Leading Schools Book
Congratulations to Department of Educational Leadership faculty Fabiola Bagula and Rebeca Burciaga, whose chapters “Belonging and Being Enough” and “Coraje y Amor: Cultivating Leadership Through Cultural Intuition” were included in the recent publication of the book Latinas Leading Schools. The book also includes contributions from Ana Tavares, Melissa Martinez, and Sylvia Méndez-Morse and all five scholars also collaborated on the Latinas Leading Schools panel as part of our Spring 2021 Emancipatory Education Speaker Series.
Emancipatory Education Speaker Series Latinas Leading Schools Panel
Lurie College Faculty Promotions
Congratulations to all of our Lurie College faculty who have recently received tenure and/or been promoted!
- Child and Adolescent Development faculty Ellen Middaugh has received tenure and become an associate professor
- Communicative Disorders and Sciences faculty and chair Nidhi Mahendra has become a full professor
- Educational Leadership faculty and interim chair Rebeca Burciaga has become a full professor and the executive director of our Institute for Emancipatory Education
- Special Education faculty Andy Golloher has received tenure and become an associate professor
- Special Education faculty Saili Kulkarni has received tenure and become an associate professor
- Teacher Education faculty Brent Duckor has become a full professor
- Teacher Education faculty Roxana Marachi has become a full professor
Lurie College Faculty Leading CSU Webinar
Join Teacher Education faculty Brent Duckor and Counselor Education faculty Lorri Capizzi on Tuesday, June 15, from 1-2pm for their webinar “How can Teachers, School Counselors, & Administrators support educational outcomes for students in foster care during extraordinary times?” with the CSU Center to Close the Opportunity Gap. RSVP at bit.ly/3geTgLG
Lurie College Faculty Receives Racial Equity Grant
Congratulations to Special Education Department faculty Saili Kulkarni, who has received a racial equity grant from the Spencer Foundation for her project “Playing Together: Using Learning Labs to Reduce Exclusionary Disciplinary Practices for Young Children of Color with Disabilities!”
Lurie College Faculty Arrivals and Departures
As the 2020-2021 academic year comes to a close, we would like to wish a fond farewell to the current Lurie College faculty who are moving on to their next chapters and extend a warm welcome to the incoming Lurie College faculty who will join our community beginning in the Fall 2021 semester!
Faculty Departing Lurie College After Spring 2021
Elaine Chin | Teacher Education Department
Elaine Chin is retiring from SJSU at the end of this academic year. Elaine has been a part of the Lurie College community since 2007, serving as the associate dean, the dean, and a professor in the teacher education department. She is thankful and grateful to all of the staff and faculty who have worked with her to make the Lurie College the great place it is.
Becca Cruz | Special Education Department
Rebecca Cruz, assistant professor in the special education department, has accepted a position at Johns Hopkins University for this upcoming school year. Throughout this past year, Rebecca had a chance to co-teach several classes with some amazing faculty, learn about our many programs and credentials, and support the emancipatory framework embraced by the university. Rebecca is honored to have been a part of the college this past year. The support and community developed and sustained throughout a difficult year have been invaluable, and she hopes to continue her many collaborations in research and teaching into the future.
Faculty Arriving at Lurie College in Fall 2021
Veneice Guillory-Lacy | Educational Leadership Department
Dr. Veneice Guillory-Lacy recently earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education with an emphasis in Educational Leadership from the College of Education at Washington State University. As a Black woman with Nez Perce Tribal descendency, Dr. Guillory-Lacy brings a rich background and unique lived experiences from the K-12 and higher education sectors. She has served as a high school English teacher in San Jose, CA., a high school varsity basketball coach, a high school principal in the Pacific Northwest, a tribal college instructor, university lecturer and academic coach.
Dr. Guillory-Lacy’s research focuses on amplifying the voices of women of color in K-12 educational leadership, promoting social justice leadership, and centering race and gender. She uses critical qualitative methods, while drawing from Critical Race Theory (CRT), Critical Race Feminism (CRF), Intersectionality, Black Feminist Thought, and Indigenous epistemologies.
Dr. Guillory-Lacy is excited to join the Lurie College of Education’s Educational Leadership Department and Transformational Leadership Master’s Program. She looks forward to building a transformational program that will help student leaders experience first-hand inside knowledge of the schooling system, address issues of culture and power in schools, and develop scholars and practitioners who will stimulate positive change in the educational system, and throughout their respective schools and communities. Dr. Guillory-Lacy’s goals and passion as a professor are to put critical theoretical frameworks to practice through deep engagement with research, schools, students, their families and the community to grow and have a larger impact for greater justice.
Sudha Krishnan | Special Education Department
Sudha Krishnan, Ed.D., has taught students with extensive support needs in middle school for 18 years. She has been an adjunct faculty with San Jose State University for eight years, teaching courses in the Education Specialist credential and Master’s degree programs.
Her interest in special education was sparked by her experiences with children with disabilities during her early years in India and further cultivated when her son was diagnosed with autism. Her recognition of deficit thinking and ableism as she navigated the educational system fueled her research in this field. Her research interests are focused on how implementing literacy practices using pedagogies based on socio-cultural theory can provide challenging and empowering education for students with disabilities. She is interested in research in the disability studies field, particularly participatory action research with individuals with disabilities. She is also examining the use of constructivism in special education, anti-deficit thinking, and teacher perceptions of ability in students with extensive support needs.
Sudha is keen to forward the equity and justice orientation of the College of Education and engage with all the faculty in special education and the college of education. A great start has been her involvement with the disability studies strand in the Institute of Emancipatory Education. Sudha is looking forward to the challenge of training new teachers in evidence-based practices while simultaneously imbibing them with a zeal for transformative leadership.
Tiffani Marie | Teacher Education Department
Tiffani Marie is the daughter of Sheryll Marie, granddaughter of Dorothy Wilson and Annette Williams, and the great-grandaughter of Artelia Green and Olivia Williams. She comes from a long line of Arkansas educators. She is passionate about learning with and from youth, sewing, music production, and connecting to the natural world. Tiffani is also excited about joining the Teacher Education Department and working with Ethnic Studies faculty colleagues at San Jose State University, particularly for the emerging collaborations and collective energy around supporting schools and communities to ensure that every child is seen and treated as a blessing.
Wanda Watson | Teacher Education Department
Dr. Wanda Watson is a teacher-scholar committed to liberatory education and teacher preparation. She is a Black woman first-generation college graduate from Harlem, New York who attended Public School 92, the Mary McLeod Bethune School and Frederick Douglass Academy. Her range of educational and life experiences instill in her a paradoxical understanding of the deep-rooted ways oppression manifests in schools and society as well as the transformative potentialities of education. Dr. Watson’s current research centers Black feminist pedagogies as embodied through political clarity, spiritual connectedness, and transgressive teaching and learning. She maintains an Ethnic Studies teacher-inquiry group with TK-8 th grade teachers in the Bay Area which was initially funded through the Spencer Foundation. Her scholarship also explores anti-racist education in youth organizing and informal learning as conduits for social and political change. She has taught primarily elementary through middle school in Oakland, Harlem and Washington Heights. She earned her BA in Human Biology and credential and MA at Stanford University. She earned her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching and completed her dissertation titled “Putting Up a Fight: Exploring the Social Justice Praxis of Youth Organizers of Color” while at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Watson remains visionary and pragmatic in her work; seeking paradigm shifts and moving beyond the “master’s tools” to educate young people while attending to the present sociopolitical and economic conditions under which children learn. She’s been a teacher educator for the last 10 years and is joining SJSU as an Associate Professor in the Teacher Education Department. She’s most looking forward to working collaboratively with colleagues and various stakeholders to create educational experiences and structures that foster freedom for and with Black, Brown, and Indigenous children and communities.
Lurie College Set to Celebrate Spring 2021 Graduates
The SJSU Lurie College of Education is looking forward to hosting a live graduation celebration to recognize our nearly 500 Spring 2021 graduates (and soon-to-be alumni)! The Lurie College Graduation Celebration will take place online on Friday, May 28, at 4pm PDT and begin with a college-wide ceremony that will include remarks from Dean Heather Lattimer, Associate Dean Marcos Pizarro, and student speakers Janeth Canseco and Charline Tenorio, who are earning their Master’s Degrees from our Department of Counselor Education and Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, respectively.
I didn’t believe I would make it this far, be 20 years into my education, and be the first in my family to earn a master’s degree. It’s something that I’m incredibly proud of, not only for myself but also for my family. It’s also an incredible opportunity for me to be recognized as the first Counselor Education student to be selected as Lurie College’s student speaker. That made me feel a sense of accomplishment. In terms of how I feel about graduating – it’s very surreal. It’s scary to think about what’s next, but I feel like if I try, I apply, and I don’t live with any regrets, then everything will work out. – Janeth Canseco, Counselor Education
Each Spring 2021 graduate will also be recognized during the college-wide ceremony. Lurie College graduates, faculty, and staff have been invited to attend the live ceremony on Zoom, and family and friends are invited to watch the live ceremony on the Lurie College YouTube channel.
After the college-wide ceremony, each Lurie College department – Child & Adolescent Development, Communicative Disorders & Sciences, Counselor Education, Ed.D. Leadership, Special Education, and Teacher Education – is hosting an online reception to include remarks from faculty chairpersons, individualized slideshows, and socializing among graduates, faculty, and staff to close out the semester and calendar year.
San José State University as a whole is honoring and celebrating all Spring 2021 graduates by launching graduate recognition websites, which will go live on Friday, May 28, at 10am. Learn more on the SJSU Commencement website.
This has been the fastest two years of my life and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. Before enrolling in my program, I knew generally that I wanted to be a speech therapist. Now that I’ve completed the program, I know that I want to specialize in schools and work with children from diverse backgrounds. It’s also an honor to serve as the Lurie College student speaker and represent our classmates who have such diverse backgrounds – some are parents, some are working while enrolled in school, some are switching careers, etc. – and have worked so hard to get to this moment. – Charline Tenorio, Communicative Disorders & Sciences
Charline Tenorio – MA, Department of Communicative Disorders & Sciences
Congratulations to our Lurie College Strategic Plan Grant Recipients
During the Spring 2021 semester, Lurie College faculty, staff, and students were able to apply for grant funding for projects that aligned with the priority areas of our strategic plan – community engaged, culturally sustaining, holistic, and interdiscplinary. Congratulations to all of our teams who were awarded funding for the following projects for the 2021-2022 academic year!
“Bilingual Communication Project”
Project leaders: Peitzu Tsai, PhD – Faculty, Communicative Disorders and Sciences; Lyle Lustigman, PhD – Faculty, Communicative Disorders and Sciences; Janet Bang, PhD – Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development
Project description: Nearly half of the people in California speak a language other than English, including 40% of students in public education, and more than 60% of young children under age 5 are dual language learners (CalEd Facts, 2019; Census, 2020; Holtby, Lordi, Park, & Ponce, 2017). However, support for dual language learners has been challenged by lack of available high-quality assessment (Chernoff, Keuter, Uchikoshi, Quick, & Manship, 2021) and limited evidence-based information on dual speech-language development across languages in early childhood. Without empirical evidence, clinicians and educators are often required to make decisions based on judgments that are at risk of biases, particularly while serving clients and families whose cultural-linguistic backgrounds differ from their own. Strengthening our understanding of dual speech-language development can not only establish high-quality, evidence-based, developmentally-appropriate, and culturally-responsive practice guidelines, but also prepare future clinicians and educators to curb biases and make equitable and holistic decisions while serving children and families with diverse backgrounds. This current project aims to examine speech fluency patterns in the course of bilingual language development in Mandarin-English speaking children to provide future clinicians and educators training in differential diagnosis and recognizing signs for referral related to bilingual fluency development, provide evidence for the professional communities about bilingual fluency development, signs for referrals and appropriate clinical services, increase collaboration between SLP and ChAD undergraduate and graduate student training to inform curricular design in enhancing interdisciplinary student engagement in research and community service, and provide developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive information for bilingual families in relation to supporting speech and communication in young children at home.
“Creating an Inclusive Climate: Queering Our Classrooms and Our Campus”
Project leaders: Robert Marx, PhD – Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development; Kyoung Mi Choi, PhD – Faculty, Counselor Education; Frank Peña – Outreach Coordinator, The LGBTQ Youth Space
Project description: If you’re hoping to make your class, office, or programming more accessible for and supportive of your queer and trans students and coworkers, be on the lookout for upcoming training sessions and a professional learning community supported by the Strategic Plan Seed Grant. “Creating an Inclusive Climate: Queering Our Classrooms and Our Campus” represents a partnership between the Lurie College of Education and The LGBT Youth Space to offer introductory and advanced trainings at the department and college level around topics like pronouns and vocabulary terms, the hidden curriculum in our classes, and creating opportunities for authentic self-expression. We will also be hosting a Professional Learning Community for faculty and staff who want to more deeply engage in the work of transforming their corner of the campus into a queer-affirming space.
“Early Childhood Connections”
Project leaders: Joy Foster – Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development; Jessica Fraser – Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development
Support team: Iya Namata – Student, Child and Adolescent Development; Isabel Vallejo, EdD – Staff, Dean’s Office; Andrea Golloher, PhD – Faculty, Special Education; Donna Bee-Gates, PhD – Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development; Maria Fusaro, EdD – Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development
Project description: Early Childhood Connections brings together a cohort of SJSU Lurie College of Education students and recent alumni from across disciplines, who are in pursuit of careers involving young children. Through virtual meetings, ECC provides a space for participants to cultivate relationships, build community, and learn from community partners.
“Enacting Emancipatory Education: The Development of an Intersectional Disability Studies Strand (IDSS) at SJSU”
Project leaders: Saili Kulkarni, PhD – Faculty, Special Education; Sudha Krishnan, EdD – Faculty, Special Education
Project description: This project seeks to develop an Intersectional Disability Studies Strand (IDSS) under the existing Institute for Emancipatory Education (IEE) at San Jose State University. Housed in the Lurie College of Education under the Institute for Emancipatory Education, the (IDSS) at San Jose State University will serve as a community-engaged, culturally sustaining space that centers disability visibility and disability as an intersectional identity. Our strand is defined as a space within the IEE that would provide specific resources and supports to engage intersectional disability studies and accessibility in education.
“Enhancing Ethnic Studies Education and Teacher Diversity Pathways”
Project leaders: Luis Poza, PhD – Faculty, Teacher Education; Travis Boyce, PhD – Faculty, African American Studies; Khalid White, EdD – Faculty, San
José City College
Project description: This project will unify and provide support for numerous incipient efforts currently underway between the Teacher Education Department and various other entities. TED seeks to diversify the teacher workforce and increase the anti-racist and emancipatory orientations of teacher candidates. One part of this work is the Ethnic Studies Residency Program (ESRP), which places carefully selected Social Science/History teacher candidates in Ethnic Studies classrooms at Overfelt High School of East Side Union High School District to help prepare teachers specifically of Ethnic Studies or, at minimum, with robust understanding of Ethnic Studies principles and practices should they go on to teach another subject within their credential. Another facet of the work involves partnering with the Ethnic Studies Council at San Jose State to recruit undergraduates in African American Studies, Chicana/o/x Studies, Asian American Studies, and Native American Studies into teacher preparation pathways through the SAGE programs that allow undergraduates to start taking graduate level courses for their teaching credential in their final years as they simultaneously complete their majors. A third dimension encompasses collaboration with Ethnic Studies faculty at San Jose City College who also teach high school dual enrollment Ethnic Studies courses to help their students feel welcome at their various transition points (from high school to junior college, transferring to SJSU SAGE undergraduate pathways, and ideally to Lurie College graduate programs including the ESRP). This project unifies all three of these efforts as part of a cohesive pipeline for capacity-building around Ethnic Studies content and pedagogy.
“Expanding Community Capacity for Youth Civic Empowerment”
Project leaders: Ellen Middaugh, PhD – Faculty, Child and Adolescent Development; Mark Felton, PhD – Faculty, Teacher Education
Project description: Civic education is widely viewed as an essential part of the K–12 education social studies. Yet, high quality civics curriculum is limited and even less has been developed surrounding online civic engagement that intentionally incorporates the lived experiences of students and teachers (Andolin & Conckin, 2020). Furthermore, research has found racial inequities in access to high quality civic learning opportunities, such as opportunities to discuss social problems and current events, options to express student voice and make decisions in an open classroom climate, and inequities based on school achievement and socioeconomic status in the total number of high quality civic learning opportunities (Kahne & Middaugh, 2008). Previous research suggests that the most effective civic education involves teaching through civic participation rather than just teaching about it (Blevins, LeCompte & Wells, 2016). However, teaching through participation online, which is where much public discourse unfolds and where youth often engage with civic issues (Cohen et al, 2012), can feel risky to teachers who have little experience in guiding youth in navigating such settings (Herold, 2016), especially in politically diverse environments. Our goals are to share existing opportunities and practices for youth civic empowerment (e.g. what’s working); identify critical needs for expanding and deepening youth civic empowerment: explore opportunities for integrating digital and civic learning opportunities in school; propose a set of design principles for curriculum that promotes civic action through social media; and develop and implement exemplar units.
“Interprofessional Education Project”
Project leaders: Jason Laker, PhD – Faculty, Counselor Education; Colette Rabin, PhD – Faculty, Teacher Education; Grinell Smith, PhD – Faculty, Teacher Education
Project description: The Interprofessional Education Project group (Jason Laker (Counselor Education), Rebeca Burciaga (Educational Leadership); and Collette Rabin, Grinell Smith, and Lara Kassab (Teacher Education)), will be developing two interdisciplinary education courses to be offered College-wide. One will focus on socio-cultural foundations of education, and the other will introduce students to Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR), possibly in collaboration with a local School District or other educational or community organization. We will be consulting with faculty across the College to identify representative content, apprehend interest and support among our colleagues, and determine the elements needed for one or both courses to “count” toward various degree and credential programs.
“Justice-Centered Science Teacher Collective: Supporting the Preparation and Development of K-12 Justice-Centered Science Teacher Leaders and Change Agents”
Project leaders: Tammie Visintainer, PhD – Faculty, Teacher Education; Single Subject Credential Program teacher candidates and beginning teacher alumni; teachers from the Lurie College STEM+C Teacher Institute
Project description: In this moment in history, the intersecting racial injustice, public health, and environmental crises have laid bare myriad educational inequities and the K-12 education system finds itself at the precipice of reproducing the injustices of normalcy or transformative change. At the same time, in K-12 science classrooms in California and elsewhere, the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the most recent science education reform, promotes shifting away from formulaic instantiations of the scientific method (e.g., prescribed labs) to align with the way real scientists do their work. However, while NGSS presents exciting opportunities, it also presents challenges. First, teachers are asked to teach science in ways that they often have not experienced themselves. Second, curricular materials are limited as are professional learning opportunities for teachers. To address these challenges, this project brings together Lurie College’s Teacher Education Department and College of Science’s Science Education Program to support the professional learning and development of transformative science educators through participation in a Justice-Centered Science Teacher Collective.
“Perspectives on Culturally Sustaining Practices for Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication”
Project leaders: Alison Pentland – Faculty, Communicative Disorders and Sciences Department; Wendy Quach, Ph.D. – Faculty, Communicative Disorders and Sciences Department
Project description: This project will explore how professionals are supporting and can better support Black, Indigenous, and people of color who have severe communication needs. We intend to bring together individuals from these communities who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to express themselves. Researchers and moderators will conduct four semi-structured interviews and four focus groups virtually through video conferencing and asynchronous text-based discussion hosted in Canvas. The groups will include people who use AAC and their families, focusing on how their unique cultural and linguistic identities may be supported by the professionals who work with them (e.g. speech-language pathologists, educators, occupational therapists, etc.).
Lurie College Faculty and Student Featured in Rethinking Schools
Shoutout to Special Education faculty Saili Kulkarni and students Samuel Bland and Monica Gonzalez, who were highlighted in the recent Rethinking Schools publication for their Special Education Teachers of Color Collective. Read the highlight at bit.ly/3oa8gye
Lurie College Faculty Publishes Opinion Piece
Shoutout to Communicative Disorders & Sciences Department faculty Nidhi Mahendra, who recently co-published the opinion piece “India Ignited: COVID-19 Second Wave Unleashes Death and Devastation” on Newsweek! Read the opinion piece at bit.ly/3xYX4sL
Watch Our Faculty Research Symposium
Watch our Lurie College faculty present their research related to diversity, social justice and culturally sustaining pedagogy!
- 0:00 – Welcome to our Faculty Research Symposium
- 0:42 – Opening remarks from Dean Heather Lattimer
- 1:55 – Allison Briceño, EdD – Assistant Professor, Teacher Education – “Teaching Pre-service Teachers to Enact Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: Shifting Critical Consciousness”
- 27:48 – Roxana Marachi, PhD – Associate Professor, Teacher Education – “Philanthro-Capitalism and Equity Doublespeak: When ‘Innovation’ is Exploitation and Silicon Solutions Fuel Next Level Systemic Racism”
Watch Our Lurie College Faculty Research Symposium
Watch our Lurie College faculty present their research related to diversity, social justice and culturally sustaining pedagogy!
- 0:00 – Welcome to our Faculty Research Symposium
- 0:57 – Opening remarks from Dean Heather Lattimer and Dr. Mark Felton
- 2:52 – Lyle Lustigman, PhD – Assistant Professor, Communicative Disorders & Sciences – “‘And what were you doing?’ ‘Helping!’ Adult scaffolding in children’s early language development”
- 26:24 – Nidhi Mahendra PhD – Associate Professor, Communicative Disorders & Sciences – “Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic (SPARC): Where aphasia research, clinical service delivery, and student training meet”
Join us for our next Lurie College Faculty Research Symposium on Thursday, May 6, 12-1pm – RSVP for the Zoom link
- Allison Briceño, EdD – Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education
- “Teaching Pre-service Teachers to Enact Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: Shifting Critical Consciousness”
- Roxana Marachi, PhD – Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education
- “Philanthro-Capitalism and Equity Doublespeak: When “Innovation” is Exploitation and Silicon Solutions Fuel Next Level Systemic Racism”
Lurie College Faculty Receives SJSU Early Career Investigator Award
Congratulations to Child and Adolescent Development faculty Ellen Middaugh, who was selected by the SJSU Office of Research and Innovation to receive the Early Career Investigator Award! Dr. Middaugh and her team of Student Research Assistants – George Franco, Kristen Huey, and Kristina Smith – research how youth utilize social media platforms to empower their voices, promote community and encourage civic engagement. Watch the recognition video below that was shown during the SJSU Celebration of Research and learn more about Dr. Middaugh’s related CLARION (Civic Literacy, Action & Reasoning in Online Networks) Project at sjsu.edu/education/community/clarion-project.
Lurie College Faculty Publishes Op-Ed
Shoutout to Special Education Department faculty Saili Kulkarni, who recently published the op-ed “South Asians Are Asians Too. When Will Our Racial Reckoning Be?” on Ms. Magazine! Read the opinion piece bit.ly/3aBtaRh
Attend Our Lurie College Faculty Symposia
Join our SJSU Lurie College of Education faculty as they present their research related to diversity, social justice and culturally sustaining pedagogy!
Thursday, May 6, 12-1pm, RSVP for the Zoom link
- Allison Briceño, EdD – Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education
- “Teaching Pre-service Teachers to Enact Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: Shifting Critical Consciousness”
- Roxana Marachi, PhD – Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education
- “Philanthro-Capitalism and Equity Doublespeak: When “Innovation” is Exploitation and Silicon Solutions Fuel Next Level Systemic Racism”
Monday, April 19, 1-2pm, RSVP for the Zoom link
- Lyle Lustigman, PhD – Assistant Professor, Communicative Disorders & Sciences
- “‘And what were you doing?’ ‘Helping!’ Adult scaffolding in children’s early language development”
- Nidhi Mahendra PhD – Associate Professor, Communicative Disorders & Sciences
- “Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic (SPARC): Where aphasia research, clinical service delivery, and student training meet”
Institute for Emancipatory Education Launch and Executive Director Search
After multiple years of discussions, activities, and iterations, what was formerly known as the Future of Learning Initiative and the Emancipatory Education Initiative has now formally received approval by SJSU to become the Institute for Emancipatory Education (IEE)!
The next step in launching our IEE is to commence a search for a founding Executive Director. The position has been posted on the SJSU Jobs website and the priority review of applications will begin after Tuesday, April 27. Please share this opportunity with anyone who you believe has the interest, experience, and passion to advance the goals of our IEE.
SJSU and Lurie College Broadband Access Report Highlighted in News
In 2020, Lurie College faculty Luis Poza, Eduardo Muñoz-Muñoz, and Tammie Visintainer collaborated with SJSU faculty Ahoura Zandiatashbar, California Assemblymember Robert Rivas, and the Watsonville High School ECHO Leadership Academy to better understand the impact of known gaps in broadband internet access across California’s 30th Congressional District and published a report of their findings.
Their report recently gained some visibility when it was highlighted in the Monterey County Weekly as well as on KCBS radio! It is also being utilized to inform policy proposals at the state level such as Assembly Bill 14.
Lurie College Faculty Referenced in Psychology Today Article
Shoutout to Child and Adolescent Development faculty Maureen Smith, who was referenced in the article “Imaginary Friends Help Children Cope with Isolation: “Hammie” to the rescue” in Psychology Today! Read the full article at bit.ly/3dI03w8
Lurie College Emeritus Dean Publishes Opinion Piece
Shoutout to former SJSU Lurie College Dean, Susan Meyers, who published an op-ed in the San José Spotlight to advocate for ethnic studies curriculum and shine a spotlight on the current partnership between Lurie College and Overfelt High School to support the implementation of ethnic studies courses and curriculum. Read the full opinion piece at bit.ly/3mlwpB2.
Upcoming Lurie College Faculty Documentary Broadcast
EdD Leadership Program faculty Bob Gliner’s climate change documentary, Growing Up Green, will air on KQED+ on Mon., Apr. 5, at 5:30pm throughout the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas (Comcast 10 and 710 HD). As climate change impacts increase, a few schools across the country are motivating their students to learn by engaging them outside classroom walls in real world experiences trying to solve environmental problems in their own communities. Growing Up Green tells the story of a unique environmental education initiative in Michigan, where a statewide effort involving thousands of students in both rural and urban areas, is having a profound impact on both the environments students inhabit, as well as student educational outcomes across a broad range of disciplines – a model other states might find well worth emulating.
Student Spotlights: Alaysia Palmer, Paulina Medina, and Vinson Vũ
The SJSU Lurie College of Education provides research awards to support students, mentored by a faculty mentor, on a student-initiated research project to support student-faculty collaboration on an on-going or proposed research project related to the student’s major. Learn about our recent student research award recipients – Alaysia Palmer (Child & Adolescent Development), Paulina Medina (Communicative Disorders & Sciences), and Vinson Vũ (Child & Adolescent Development) as they discuss their experiences with their research projects, faculty mentors, and more.
- 0:00 – Meet Alaysia, Paulina, and Vinson
- 0:29 – Description of research projects
- 4:27 – Relationships with faculty mentors
- 7:05 – How the research award experiences have shaped them
- 10:13 – Advice for future applicants
The Lurie College of Education is pleased to offer up to three student-research awards for the 2021-2022 academic year to support students, mentored by a faculty mentor, on a student-initiated research project. These awards are designed to support student-faculty collaboration on an on-going or proposed research project related to the student’s major. Students can receive an award of $2,000 per semester and $4,000 a year. Apply for a research award by Monday, April 12, at sjsu.edu/education/financial-aid.
Student Spotlight: Fanny Camacho
Our SJSU Lurie College of Education Critical Bilingual Authorization Pathway (CBAP), Bilingüismo y Justicia, prepares teachers to obtain an authorization to serve in dual immersion or bilingual school settings in California. The pathway specializes candidates in pedagogy, practices, and ability to identify linguistic assets and potential for students and empowers candidates to be changemakers in their own context. Watch this conversation to learn more about our CBAP / ByJ program from current student Fanny Camacho, who recently received a California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) grant!
Lurie College Faculty Receive SJSU Level Up Grant
Congratulations to Child and Adolescent Development faculty Ellen Middaugh and Teacher Education faculty Mark Felton, who have received an SJSU Level Up Grant for their project “Enfranchised: Using social media to foster dialogue and civic empowerment.” This grant will provide internal resources for conducting research that will ideally lead to future external funding to conduct additional research.
Lurie College Faculty Receives Research Worth Reading Award
Congratulations to Teacher Education faculty Tammie Visintainer, whose publication “I think at first glance people would not expect me to be interested in science: Exploring the racialized science experiences of high school students of color” has been chosen for a Research Worth Reading award by the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST)!
Reflections from Dean Heather Lattimer on 1 Year Anniversary of COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place
Watch this video to listen to SJSU Lurie College of Education Dean Heather Lattimer share some reflections on the 1 year anniversary of when Santa Clara County and SJSU first transitioned to a shelter-in-place in response to COVID-19 and share some updates and optimism about returning to SJSU to teach, learn, and work in person as we look ahead to the Fall 2021 semester. The full text of Dean Lattimer’s remarks is available below.
Dear Lurie College students, faculty, and staff,
It has been one year since we left campus due to COVID-19. When we said goodbye a year ago, I suggested that staff and faculty pack up what they would need for a couple of months – just to be on the safe side. It has obviously been a lot more than a couple of months.
As I reflect back on the past year, I am both heartbroken and grateful. I am heartbroken by the incalculable losses that we’ve witnessed – Friends and family members lost to COVID and other illnesses. Job losses and financial insecurities. Exacerbated inequality. Anti-Asian, anti-Black, and anti-immigrant violence targeted toward our BIPOC communities. Isolation and mental health challenges. Wildfire-related disruptions and displacements. Missing celebrations and curtailed rites of passage. These losses are real and significant and we grieve them with you.
But I am grateful too – I have been so deeply impressed by the resilience and commitment of our Lurie College community. During the past year, we’ve witnessed students, faculty, staff, and community partners coming together to support and care for one another. There have been real accomplishments that would have been significant in normal times and are monumental in COVID times. For example – this year 330 undergraduate students in Lurie College have earned the dean’s scholar award, a 50% increase over the previous year. Enrollment in our credential programs grew by 40%. We’ve seen an increase in faculty and staff recognition through awards, grants, and publications. We’ve deepened partnerships and outreach and provided direct support to school districts, community-based organizations, and clinics.
Each and every day I wake up humbled and grateful to be part of a college community that consistently demonstrates care and kindness toward one another and a passionate commitment to our larger mission to prepare and sustain transformative educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders. Thank you!
One year later we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. If vaccination continues to progress and infection rates continue to decline, we anticipate that we will be in a very different context by August. We are planning that most classes will be able to have face-to-face meetings for the Fall 2021 semester. We are anticipating that most field experiences will be in person at our partner sites. College offices will be reopening and I anticipate being back on campus in Sweeney Hall full time by August 1.
We recognize that some people may have health concerns that prevent them from returning to campus and will need accommodation. We also recognize that there have been some real benefits to the online environment and are exploring how effective use of the virtual space can support student learning and strengthen access moving forward. However, I know that many of us are eager to be able to see people face to face and be in community together. As you look to the year ahead, please anticipate that we will be returning to campus. There will likely be the continued need for masking and some social distancing, but it will be so good to be able to see people in person!
Of course, the pandemic isn’t over and I encourage you to continue to wear masks, socially distance, and wash hands. When you are able, please go get the vaccine. Santa Clara County is now in phase 1 b of vaccine distribution, with people working in education and childcare eligible to be vaccinated. This includes all SJSU employees and all Lurie College students who currently are or anticipate returning to school or clinic sites in Spring 2021. I received my first dose at Levi Stadium last weekend. The health care workers and volunteers at the stadium were fantastic. And it felt really good knowing that it represented a huge step toward getting us all back to campus.
Thank you again for all that you do to contribute to the health, well-being, and success of our community. Lurie College is a family of dedicated, talented, smart, creative, passionate, and capable individuals. Together we have not just survived this past year, we have thrived. Thank you for being part of our family. I look forward to seeing you back on campus next semester!
With gratitude —
Heather