Gerri Frager Oral History

Gerri Frager was interviewed by Brian Sisk on June 17, 2019 for approximately one hour and 21 minutes for the Pediatric Palliative Care Oral History Project.https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/oralhistories/1025/thumbnail.jp

Evaluating Environmental Education with Non-Readers

Environmental education (EE) can help develop many skills, including problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making, but these skills can be difficult to measure as educators. Although there is often some form of evaluation in many EE programs, this is typically done through surveys and limits direct feedback from participants, especially young students who are unable to read or write a cohesive response yet. This paper explores the development of an evaluation tool that would allow environmental educators to get direct feedback from young participants on what they learned during a lesson. Before the tool was developed and tested, we first conducted qualitative interviews with environmental educators from across the country to learn about methods that were already being used, and to learn some tips from professionals who do this every day. The evaluation tool was then developed and tested on a group of 14 first-grade students in Maine, and it consisted of a pre- and post-lesson assessment which involved students moving around the classroom to show what they learned. This tool is unique because it would allow environmental educators to collect quantitative data from participants, something that is currently lacking in this field. Also, this tool could be adapted to fit the needs of many different groups, not just young participants, and it would allow for aggregate data to be collected and compared to improve future EE programs. This tool was tested for two different lessons. The results from the first lesson showed that students were able to comprehend the lesson and retain what was being taught. The results from the second lesson showed less change in the participant’s knowledge, meaning that the lesson likely needs some changes in the future. Adoption of this evaluation tool by environmental educators would allow organizations to improve their lesson plans, find new ways to teach participants about the natural world, and evaluate their effectiveness even among non-reader EE participants

The Use and Impact of Strategic Planning in Nebraska Public Schools

In the landscape of modern education, the role of a superintendent has become increasingly complex, marked by demands for higher student achievement and round-the-clock communication. This complexity, underscored by technological advancements and evolving accountability measures, underscores the criticality of strategic planning for school districts. This dissertation aims to explore the relationship between superintendent engagement with strategic planning and student outcomes, particularly focusing on high school graduation rates and ACT scores in Nebraska public schools. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Systems Theory, the study employs a quantitative approach, utilizing surveys administered to superintendents alongside publicly available archival data on graduation rates and ACT scores. Through analysis, the study seeks to ascertain the extent to which strategic planning impacts student achievement and whether superintendents are effectively implementing and engaging with strategic plans. The research questions center on the inclusion of essential components in strategic plans, the relationship between strategic planning and student outcomes, and the fidelity of plan implementation. The significance of this study lies in its potential to inform strategic planning processes in school districts, providing insights into the effectiveness of superintendent engagement and its impact on student success. By addressing gaps in existing literature and focusing on Nebraska public schools, the research aims to guide decision-making and improve educational outcomes. However, the study acknowledges limitations such as subjective perceptions and the specificity of results to Nebraska, thus emphasizing the need for further research in this critical area of educational leadership and management

Beyond Book Jackets: Creative Bulletin Boards to Encourage Reading

The rationale and application of creating bulletin boards is illustrated through three general bulletin board types

Welland Ontario’s Springfield Plan: Post-War Canadian Citizenship Training, American Style?

After World War II, minority activists and their Anglo-Canadian allies convinced the Ontario Ministry of Education to bring the Springfield Plan to Welland, Ontario, as a pilot project to combat racist and religious prejudice through the public school system. Pioneered in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Plan taught children the importance of tolerance by stressing that minority groups had made important contributions to the local community, the nation, and the world beyond. In Welland, however, the Plan only lasted for a few years because many influential Canadians failed to recognize the pervasiveness of discrimination, while non- British immigrants tended to see new industrial unions as better vehicles for claiming their rights. In addition, the Plan was unsuited to the understanding of Canada as a “bi-racial” country founded by the English and French.Après la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, des militants issus des minorités et leurs alliés anglo-canadiens convainquirent le ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario d’introduire le Plan de Springfield à Welland (Ontario), à titre de projet pilote destiné à combattre le racisme et les préjugés religieux par l’intermédiaire du réseau d’écoles publiques. Lancé à Springfield (Massachusetts), celui-ci enseignait aux enfants l’importance de la tolérance en soulignant que les groupes minoritaires avaient apporté d’importantes contributions à la collectivité locale, au pays et au monde extérieur. À Welland, toutefois, le Plan ne dura que quelques années parce que bon nombre de Canadiens influents refusèrent de reconnaître l’omniprésence de la discrimination et que, de leur côté, les immigrants non britanniques eurent tendance à voir les nouveaux syndicats industriels comme de meilleurs outils pour faire valoir leurs droits. De plus, le Plan n’était pas conçu pour faire comprendre le Canada comme étant un pays « biracial », fondé par les Anglais et les Français.

Turning Contemporary Reading Research Into Instructional Practice

This article highlights four promising areas of contemporary reading research as well as the instructional practices implied by recent findings

Point-Counterpoint: Value of School Textbooks

Educators frequently are involved in textbook adoptions in various content areas, an important activity because textbook programs may define school curricula by dictating what is taught, in what sequence, and for how long. Recently, education groups have criticized school textbooks for being boring, incoherent, and dumbed-down. Viewed from one perspective the selection of new textbooks offers little hope for improving the school reading program because by their nature textbooks can inhibit the teaching of thinking. Viewed from a different perspective, textbooks offer the potential for much improvement in the reading program, if features of the text are used to the fullest with a critical approach. Educators looking to improve the reading programs in their schools may reasonably ask, What are the positive and negative values of using textbooks? This point-counterpoint discussion focuses on four issues involved in answering that question

History of Asian Americans

For our History of Asian Americans project, we aimed to creatively showcase some of the important topics discussed in the readings throughout this course. Additionally, our group related these historical topics to modern day issues or personal experiences. This was particularly interesting due to the current events taking place this semester like COVID-19, BLM Movement, and the election. In our project, we strayed away from summaries and explanations as much as possible while still providing context. We aimed to use our creative and critical thinking to highlight certain underlying aspects of the readings we thought were important, but may not have been the main point of the text. We made a couple of timelines to lay out big historical stories in a simpler understandable way. We included a variety of graphs to compare and contrast certain viewpoints or the experiences of different minority groups. Several illustrations were shown throughout our project to visualize these issues and analyze them artistically. Overall, we hope that we have provided a deeper connection to these historical characters and stories by making them relatable and personable to our readers. Although it would be nearly impossible to entirely express the hardships and discrimination faced by Asian Americans throughout history, we hope our readers gain some insight or a different outlook on all they have experienced throughout U.S history. Thank you and enjoy! Brittany Le, Christine Sivilay, and Mollie Fragerhttps://digital.sandiego.edu/ethn-zines/1010/thumbnail.jp