CEHD For The Record: Spring 2023

Roderick L. Carey (PI), assistant professor, received a culturally relevant youth program grant for The Black Boy Mattering Project from the National Urban League.

Elizabeth Farley-Ripple (co-PI), associate professor, CEHD alumna Jessica Rodrigues (PI) and Joel Malin (co-PI) were awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant on “Diffusion of Research on Supporting Mathematics Achievement for Youth with Disabilities through Twitter Translational Visual Abstracts.” ($311,844.00; 2023-2026)

Roberta M. Golinkoff, Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Chair and professor, and her team are preparing for a June 1, 2023, launch of a new website for Ukrainian children: Stories with Clever Hedgehog. Supported by the Jacobs Foundation and in partnership with Unite for Literacy, this project will offer free e-books, fun facts, parent resources and more for Ukrainian families who are struggling due to the ongoing Ukrainian war. The URL will be www.ebooks4ukrkids.org.

Jason Hustedt, associate professor, and Gerilyn Slicker, Ph.D. student, were awarded a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Secondary Analyses of Child Care and Early Education Data grant for “Understanding Child Diversity in Centers Accepting Child Care Subsidies and Links with State CCDF Policies.” 

Hye Rin Lee, postdoctoral scholar, is PI for “STEM Ed PRF: Understanding and Improving Undergraduate CS Regulation, Performance, and Motivation Using Digital Traces and Technologies.” 

Sarah Mallory, assistant professor, is PI for “Supported decision making summit and awareness campaign, Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council.”

Teo Paoletti is PI for “Middle grades students’ Graphing from the Ground Up.” ($150,935.00; 2022-2025)

Teomara Rutherford (co-PI), associate director of graduate studies in the SOE and associate professor, was awarded the NSF ECR-EHR-Core for “Research Infrastructure for the Development, Implementation, and Assessment of Mathematics Interventions at Scale: An Incubator Project: Network for In Vivo Education Research (NIER)” with Prasad Ram (PI). ($499,898; 2023-2025)

In collaboration with faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Kenneth Shores, assistant professor, was awarded a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation for his project on “The Effects of School Officers on Student Outcomes.” ($65,699; 2023)
Shores also received two grants to evaluate the contexts under which students of color are over- or underrepresented in special education. Shores was awarded a grant from the Spencer Foundation ($50,000; 2023) and, in collaboration with faculty at New York University, he was also awarded a grant from the W. T. Grant Foundation ($50,000; 2023).

Anamarie Whitaker and Martha Buell, professor, were awarded the HHS ACF Secondary Analyses of Child Care and Early Education Data grant for “Instructional Coaching and State Early Care and Education Policies: Inclusion, Alignment, and Evidence-Based Practices.” (2022)

Jackie Wilson, Alison Travers and Bryan VanGronigen received The Leadership Academy grant from The Wallace Foundation. 

Brittany Zakszeski (PI) and Marika Ginsburg-Block (co-PI), associate professor, were awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) for a project entitled “School-Based Mental Health Promotion in the First State: Building Capacity with Multi-Tiered Systems of Support.” ($4,484,242; 2023–2027)

Christina Budde, assistant professor, was an invited speaker at The Council of Chief State School Officers EL Collaboratives Joint Session With English Language Arts Collaborative. She presented “The Science of Reading and Instructional Needs of Multilingual Learners” virtually in January 2023.

Sarah Curtiss was an invited speaker for the Delaware Network for Excellence in Autism. She presented “Learning from the research on autism and human sexuality” in Newark, Delaware, in March 2023. Sarah was also an invited speaker for the YWCA Racial Justice Challenge. She presented “Let’s talk disability” in Wilmington, Delaware, in April 2023.

Laura M. Desimone was invited to give the Helen DeVitt Jones teacher education lecture at the 2023 AERA meetings. Her talk was entitled, “What have we learned about teacher learning?”

Elizabeth Farley-Ripple was invited to speak at the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement in Vina del Mar, Chile. She presented “Collaboration, Research, Equity, and Action Together in Education: An Approach to Co-Design of Evidence-Informed Equity-Centered Resources” in January 2023.

Elizabeth Farley-Ripple and Katherine Tilley, Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP) postdoctoral scholar and CEHD alum, and Hilary Mead, CRESP staff and CEHD alum, were invited to speak at the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement in Vina del Mar, Chile. They presented “Evidence Use in Practice: A Mixed Methods Multiple Case Study of “Deep Use” Schools” in January 2023. 

Eric Layland was invited as the inaugural speaker at NYU Silver School of Social Work in the Intersectional Stigma and Stress Series. He presented “Can intersectional stigma be studied quantitatively? Demonstrating multidimensional subgroup analysis as a tool for intersectional research in a cohort of Black and Latinx sexual minority men” in February 2023.

Sarah Mallory was invited to speak at the Outside the Box Conference. She presented “A comprehensive and anti-ableist approach to implementing behavioral supports for students with autism” in Dover, Delaware, in May 2023. Sarah also submitted a poster to the American Association for Developmental Medicine and Dentistry One Voice Conference. Her poster was accepted into the conference and was subsequently selected to be one of 12 finalists who led a brief presentation about her work at the conference. Her presentation won first prize.

Eric Sisofo, assistant professor, was invited to speak at the Delaware Math Coalition’s Coaches and Leaders Meeting. He presented “Steps we could take as a K-20 community to more meaningfully connect pre-service and in-service math education” virtually in December 2022.

Sharon Walpole, professor, was invited to speak at Council of Chief State School Officers’s (CCSSO) Early Childhood Education Collaborative. She presented “Building Capacity Among Early Learning Leaders to Shape Comprehensive Early Literacy Policies” in Chicago, Illinois, in May 2023.

Five CEHD faculty and staff participated in the One Idea, One Slide Summit, hosted by the UD Office of the Provost on May 19. UD faculty and staff presented ideas that addressed challenges and identified opportunities for change at UD using one slide in two minutes. CEHD faculty and staff shared ideas on recruiting and welcoming students of color in UD’s educdation programs, CEHD’s Teacher Residency program, AI-enhanced learning and providing a social worker on UD’s campus to support students.

• Jamie Bailey, recruiter for teacher preparation programs in the Center for Excellence and Equity in Teacher Preparation (CEETP), presented “Scholarship Opportunity for Students of Color to Pursue Education at University of Delaware.”
• Maya Constantine, associate director of residencies in CEETP, presented “Strategic Three-Year Support for The University of Delaware Teacher Residency Program Graduates.”
• Deandra Taylor, Teachers of Tomorrow program manager in CEETP, presented “A Comprehensive Approach to Recruiting, Retaining and Welcoming Students of Color into UD’s Teacher Education Programs.”
• Joshua Wilson, associate professor, presented “AI-Enhanced Learning: A New Frontier for Foundational Courses.”
• Rebecca Wilson, human services program coordinator, presented “Providing On-Site Social Worker to Meet Students’ Diverse Needs.”

Sarah Curtiss provided expert advice on sex education and disability to Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Yakima, Washington. She also consulted for Dfusion Incorporated on SkillTalk Communication training around sexual health topics for parents of youth with autism spectrum disorder in Scotts Valley, California.

Nancy Jordan is leading a NSF-funded project “Paving the way to fractions: Exploring foundational concepts in first grade.” Through partnerships with seven Delaware private and public schools, Jordan and her team continually disseminate findings to school administrators, teachers and parents. They are grateful to have been able to follow up with children’s fraction understanding for two consecutive years. They look forward to continuing these partnerships in the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.

William Lewis, professor, along with Jill Flynn, professor in UD’s Department of English, are leading a year-long professional learning experience with English Language Arts teachers in Delaware’s Appoquinimink School District on equity-oriented quad text sets. This work is helping teachers to design high-quality instructional units that focus on both social justice and equity themes, and building robust literacy skills through sets of related texts. 

Joshua Wilson was appointed as advisory board member to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, NextGen Task and Rubrics Advisory Committee.

Sharon Walpole was appointed as Early Literacy Content Specialist for the CCSSO Early Learning Networked Improvement Communities.

Brittany Zakszeski and Marika Ginsburg-Block are leading a new state-wide partnership between Delaware school districts, university training programs and centers, and state and community agencies, to advance training and practice in evidence-based, equity-centered school mental health service delivery within a multi-tiered systems of support framework. Project GROW (Growing Resilience, Opportunities and Wellness in Delaware schools) is funded by the DOE through the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program. Project GROW seeks to address two documented societal crises: the prevalence of mental health needs among children and adolescents and the shortage of school-based mental health professionals.

HDFS Awards

Alexis Ambroise, Ph.D. student, was awarded the Lynn R. Okagaki Graduate Tuition Scholarship in Human Development and Family Sciences Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Kelsey Bianca, Ph.D. student, was awarded the Barbara Halliday Settles Family Futures Student Support Fund in Family Sciences Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Melissa Stoffers, Ph.D. student, was awarded the Strattner-Gregory Child Advocacy Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

SOE Awards 

Christina Barbieri was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Kelly Carvajal Hageman, director of curriculum and instruction at Delaware’s Seaford School District, was awarded the Second Mile Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Michael Doherty, M.A./Ed.S. student, was awarded the Victor Mankin Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Cassidy Edmondson, M.A./Ed.S. student, was awarded the Pearl and Oscar Bregman Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Cara Kelly, Ph.D. student, was awarded the Amy Rextrew Graduate Student Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Catrina Long, Ph.D. student, was awarded the Frank B. Murray Award for Excellence in Graduate Research at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Deja Rodriquez-Santiago, M.A./Ed.S. student, was awarded the Victor Mankin Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Ethan Smith, Ph.D. student, was awarded the Mathematics Education Graduate Award at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

Sugely Solano, Ed.D. student, was awarded the Richard L. Venezky Award for Creative Research in Literacy at the 2023 Celebration of Excellence.

SSC Awards

Jackie Wilson was awarded the Women Leading Delaware Education Award at the 2023 Women Leading Delaware Education Conference hosted by the Delaware Academy for School Leadership within the SSC.

University Awards

Elizabeth Soslau was awarded the 2023 Excellence in Teaching Award at the Faculty Senate meeting in May.

National & International Awards 

Stephanie Del Tufo, assistant professor, was awarded the 2023 Association for Psychological Science Rising Stars Award.

Steven M. Eidelman, H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Human Services Policy and Leadership, was awarded the 2023 American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities’ Service to the Field Award.

Sue Giancola, senior associate director of CRESP and professor, joined the editorial board of New Directions for Evaluation and became chair of American Evaluation Association Translational Research Evaluation Group.

Eric Layland, was selected for the inaugural All of Us PRIDEnet Researcher Basecamp and became the Society for Behavioral Medicine Diversity Institute Fellow.

Sarah Mallory was awarded an international conference presentation award for her poster, “A targeted approach to COVID-19 vaccine access for people with disabilities” at the American Association for Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) One Voice Conference in Denver, Colorado. 

Deborah Drain, Ph.D. student, was awarded the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation dissertation grant from the Administration for Children and Families. Drain’s is the fourth grant of its kind to be awarded to a UD student in the past two years. She is advised by Rena Hallam, professor and director of the Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood.

Chanel Gaither, Ed.D. student, was named an Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Champion in Education (2022). She also founded and launched Ascend Legacy Academy in Fall 2022.

Allison Gantt, Ph.D. student, published her first authored research article with Teo Paoletti and Ph.D. student Julien Corven “Exploring the Prevalence of Covariational Reasoning Across Mathematics and Science” in the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. 

The Associate in Arts Elementary Teacher Education (AA ETE) program in Wilmington graduated its first cohort from the B.S.Ed. in Elementary Teacher Education program in May 2023.

Eleven undergraduate teacher candidates studied abroad in Spring 2023. Seven traveled to Seville, Spain, and four traveled to Athens, Greece. They worked with two partner schools: new UD partner San Francisco de Paula in Seville and the American Community School in Athens. Lynn Worden and Vicki Goettel worked together to plan and implement the experience for the candidates.

Kim David, grants analyst II, shared that her son has completed the installation of a donation drop box, two benches and a birdhouse for the Cecil County animal shelter—a required project earning him his Eagle Scout rank this spring.

Erica Litke ran her first half marathon in November 2022 as a mentor/running leader with Students Run Philly Style.

Daniel Loughlin, lead preschool teacher at the Early Learning Center, recently got married to his long-distance girlfriend of three years and is excited to begin building a life together with his (now) wife.

Teresa Rush, AA-ETE program coordinator and assistant professor, got married in April 2023. Her new married name will be Hickok.

Teomara Ruthorford’s child’s original composition, A Quiet Ripple, was performed by her high school choir in their spring concert. A video of the performance is available online. Teomara’s child will also be starting her undergraduate degree at UD in the fall.

Shelly Silva, digital communications specialist for CEHD, participated as a vending artist for the first time at the Bellefonte Arts Festival on May 20 showcasing her cyanotype prints art.

Josh Wilson was quoted in an article in the Washington Post about ChatGPT, “Teachers are on Alert for Inevitable Cheating After Release of ChatGPT.”