In the News

Dr. Sam Odom, Director of FPG Child Development Institute (FPG) and Professor at the School of Education at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, will receive the 2011 Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Washington College of Education. The Distinguished Graduate Award was established in 1986 and is awarded annually to a College of Education graduate of marked distinction. Dr. Odom is being honored for the impact of his research and practice on children with disabilities.

The UW Institute for Science + Math Education is partnering in ClimeTime, a Washington public schools initiative supporting climate science education, including providing professional learning opportunities for educators across the state.

UW uses upcoming dam removal to study teaching techniques. The National Science Foundation awarded O’Mahony and UW Professor John Bransford a one-year RAPID (Rapid Response Research) grant. The pair is using the $200,000 to study teaching methods regarding the Elwha River and the upcoming removal of its two dams. Half of the more than 300 participating middle-school students from nearby Port Angeles are doing traditional science projects with PowerPoint presentations. The other half will create five-minute videos that tell the story of the watershed’s past, present and future, including the swamping of local tribal land, the blocking of more than 70 miles of superb habitat from five salmon species, and the biggest dam-removal project in U.S. history.

Julie McCleery, a researcher with the UW Center for Leadership in Athletics, comments on a new report investigating young people's access to sports, play and outdoor recreation in Seattle and King County, which she led as principal investigator.

UW profs urge central school district office personnel to get out to the schools in a new education report. The transformation was phenomenal, said one school superintendent who put the research into practice.

Professors Roxanne Hudson, Carly Roberts and Elizabeth Sanders have been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the National Center for Special Education Research for a study to identify “malleable” reading factors — such as phonological awareness and letter sounds — among elementary students with intellectual disabilities, with the long-term aim of developing effective literacy interventions.

Fordham's April 9 event, Can Budget Cuts Catalyze Education Reform?featured Marguerite Roza from the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education.

Megan Kelley-Petersen, director of the UW Accelerated Certification for Teachers program for teachers who want to earn their certification while working full time, comments on how new technologies, like videoconferencing, allow students to work together remotely in ways that mimic face-to-face learning.

Washington will be the eighth state to adopt the “Next Generation Science Standards,” which outline what students should know about big ideas of science, key practices scientists and engineers use to solve problems, and fundamental concepts that apply across all scientific fields. Dr. Philip Bell and Dr. Jessica Thompson are quoted. 

Christine Tran, a doctoral student in educational leadership, policy and organizations, writes about the role of school food labor amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its connections to school food history and social justice movements.