Equity

Mia Tuan, a distinguished scholar who has worked to strengthen equity and inclusion in educational settings, will officially assume the deanship of the University of Washington College of Education on July 1.

Dr. Tuan joins UW after serving as a professor of education studies at the University of Oregon. During her 18 years at UO, she held a number of leadership roles, including interim dean of its College of Education, associate dean of its Graduate School, and director of the Center on Diversity & Community.

A hum fills the classroom in Marysville's Liberty Elementary. Students huddle together in groups over large sheets of poster board, sketching maps and arranging prints of photos.

University of Washington College of Education post-doctoral researcher Shelley Stromholt leans down to talk with one group of two boys and a girl, asking where their photographs were taken. Two weeks earlier, the students snapped pictures of some of their favorite places in and around Liberty Elementary. Tonight, they're working together to draw a map of the school with their photos to illustrate it.

IslandWood, an outdoor learning center on Bainbridge Island serving thousands of poverty-impacted children across the Puget Sound region each year, and its founders Paul and Debbi Brainerd are the 2015 winners of the University of Washington College of Education's Distinguished Service Award. 

More than 30 leaders from school systems and educational organizations across Washington state will present public demonstrations of their leadership in addressing critical issues involving educational equity, improving teaching and learning, and strategic decision-making and governance. Each member of the University of Washington College of Education's Leadership for Learning (L4L) class of 2015 will present their capstone project and answer questions during hour-long sessions taking place May 8 and 9 in Miller Hall.

The University of Washington is hosting the 2015 Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO) conference June 29-30 in Mary Gates Hall. The event will feature hands-on workshops about introducing philosophical inquiry in elementary, middle and high school classrooms, as well as presentations on topics such as creating classroom communities, building school philosophy programs, developing a culturally responsive pedagogy for philosophy programs, and much more.

Educational leaders and policymakers in the United States can learn a great deal by looking northward to Canada says Ken Zeichner of the University of Washington College of Education.

"Schools in Alberta are performing well not only on academic achievement, but also on measures of equity," said Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at UW. "Unlike here in the U.S., there's not a high level of criticism of teachers and teacher education. Teachers are valued for their professional acumen."

In Washington's Highline School District, as many as 25 languages can be spoken in a single classroom. That presents a serious challenge to educators who want to provide English learners with rigorous, grade-level appropriate curriculum.

All too often in teacher preparation programs, families and communities are portrayed as obstacles to teachers' work, says Ken Zeichner of the University of Washington College of Education.

"We're parachuting teachers into schools and communities to try and save students," said Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at UW. "Most universities have neglected their communities and the deep knowledge that parents and other community members can offer as we prepare the teachers of their children."

Debates about educational equity often overlook or disregard the voices of the families and communities most impacted by educational disparities. During an April 16 session at the American Educational Research Association's annual meeting, Professor Ann Ishimaru of the University of Washington's College of Education discussed an ongoing UW project that aims to change this reality by tapping the knowledge and experience of parents.

Highland Middle School Principal Anissa Bereano, a 2004 graduate of the University of Washington's Danforth Educational Leadership Program, has been named 2015 Washington State Middle Level Principal of the Year.