Teaching Quality

The recipient of the University of Washington College of Education's 2014 Distinguished Service Award is the Boeing Company. The award honors an individual or organization whose extraordinary contributions have advanced the College of Education’s central mission: To make equitable and excellent education a daily reality for every child in every community. Boeing was presented with the award at the College's commencement ceremony on June 16.

Dr. Kathleen Artman Meeker joins the college as an assistant professor of special education. She specializes in professional development systems for early childhood professionals, innovative web tools for evidence-based practices in early education and early intervention, and practical strategies for promoting social-emotional competence in young children with and without special needs.

The Collaborative Schools for Innovation and Success (CSIS) project is a state-funded partnership between the College of Education and Roxhill Elementary school in Seattle. Last year, CSIS provided an opportunity for teachers and researchers to plan the ambitious collaboration. The 3DL Partnership, co-directed by Professor Leslie Herrenkohl in the College of Education and Professor Todd Herrenkohl in the School of Social Work, supported a mission and vision process that resulted in an Innovation Plan approved and funded by the state.

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) selected "Rethinking Advanced High School Coursework: Tackling the Depth/Breadth Tension in the AP US Government and Politics Course," by Walter Parker, Susan Mosborg, John Bransford, Nancy Vye, John Wilkerson and Robert Abbott, as one of two 2013 Exemplary Research in Social Studies Award winners. The award will be presented at the 93rd NCSS Annual Conference Nov. 22-24, in St. Louis, Missouri.

As Washington State makes plans for adopting rigorous new Next Generation Science Standards, researchers at the University of Washington’s College of Education are already in the field working with partner districts to prepare educators for the coming sea-change in science education.

Read more about the College's work in the 2013-2014 edition of Research That Matters ("The Other Gap," pp. 16-21).

By Meredith Honig

Published by the American Enterprise Institute

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 largely mandated that US school district central office leadership should help schools dramatically improve their performance and significantly shrink decades-old achievement gaps. However, central offices have traditionally focused on business and compliance functions rather than on supporting schools in their efforts to help all students realize ambitious learning goals.

In 2010, approximately one in five Lakeridge Elementary students was passing the state mathematics assessment test. Working with strong instructional leaders, a school improvement grant, and Lakeridge’s phenomenal teachers, Dr. Elham Kazemi’s team helped these classes see gains that are approaching or outpacing the district average on math benchmark assessments. Dr. Kazemi’s collaborative team includes Dr. Allison Hintz from UW Bothell as well as a cadre of graduate and postdoctoral students.