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School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Cover Story
Personal Stories Show CIRTL's Commitment to Diversity

Engaging all students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is a priority goal for U.S. higher education. The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) seeks to contribute to this goal by enabling present and future STEM faculty to enhance the learning of all students whom they teach irrespective of preferred learning styles, race, ethnicity and culture, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, age or socioeconomic backgrounds.

An active interest in diversity unites the professional lives of many CIRTL researchers and students. This article introduces the work of Mark Connolly, Carol Colbeck, and Sarah Wright.

A “Stone Soup” Model of Evaluation
Mark Connolly brings to his work a dedication to empowering colleagues and students. As a researcher for CIRTL, he believes in participatory evaluation – training his colleagues to evaluate their own programs.

Connolly’s interests range across many university issues – from undergraduate life to faculty preparation. His appetite led him to pursue a master’s degree and then a doctorate in programs related to higher education. “I absolutely love collegiate life,” Connolly says.

Throughout his career, Connolly has maintained a strong interest in diversity:  His research has included a study of the cultural issues surrounding the use of Native American mascots and he has written about the undergraduate experiences of LGBT students.

Connolly’s research on LGBT life on campus inspired him to title one of his new publications “Coming Out as a College Teacher at a Research University.” He compares the stigma of disclosing that one is more interested in teaching than in research to the stigma of revealing one’s LGBT identity. “It’s OK to be a teacher,” he says.
 
Although he is modest about his techniques, Connolly has a knack for creating inviting environments for participatory evaluation. His inclusive methods are having a positive effect within the Delta Program, CIRTL’s learning laboratory on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Read the rest of the article here.



   


Events & Press
Press

Norman Webb's Depth of Knowledge metric is discussed in the context of Mississippi's curriculum and assessment programs (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 28 April).

Allan Odden discusses teacher pay, benefits, and incentives at a Hechinger Institute conference (Grand Rapids Press, 24 April).

Timothy Boals discusses WIDA's ACCESS for ELLs English-language proficiency test (Education Week, 26 March).

Terry Millar is profiled in the University's Wisconsin Idea series in part because of his work with the Madison school district.

Patricia Burch discusses variations in the quality of federally mandated public after-school tutoring (USA Today, 26 March) and (Shreveport Times 27 March).

Adam Gamoran discusses the relationship of small class sizes to student achievement and teachers' practice (USA Today, 24 March).

 

 


CENTER SITES

CIRTLCenter for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning

CPREConsortium for Policy Research in Education

CCECoordination, Consultation & Evaluation Center

CoMPASSCoMPASS

Day, Residential, and Juvenile Correctional Schools Project

Data-Driven Instructional Systems

Diversity in Mathematics Education

Early Child Care & After-School Care

Interdisciplinary Training Program in the Education Sciences

Minority Student
Achievement Network

Secondary Teacher Education Project

Surveys of Enacted Curriculum

System-wide Change for All Learners and Educators

Teaching Enhanced Anchored Mathematics

Testing Accommodations Research

Transana

Value-Added Research Center

WIDA Consortium

Research News
Improving Achievement in Elementary Science

With funding from the National Science Foundation’s Teacher Professional Continuum Program, Geoffrey Borman and Adam Gamoran are testing experimentally the impact on student achievement of a content-rich, systemic intervention in teacher development for elementary school science. System-Wide Change is an approach to science teaching and learning that addresses preservice, in-service, and curricular development. Conceptual lessons coupled with science immersion units bring teachers and students through a full cycle of inquiry in core problems of scientific investigation. This approach aims to cultivate deeper understanding of science, higher scores on science achievement tests, and reduced inequality of science achievement. More information on immersion units is available here.