Current Research & Passions- by Dr. Thomas Alsbury

The consistent focus throughout my career as a HS Science teacher, principal, and professor has been a passion for helping develop environments for improved learning. As a teacher, I strove to attract the struggling science student and develop  experiences and classroom systems to give under-represented children a better chance at success. As a principal, I tried to transform culture to create effective building environments. As a professor, I’ve continued that passion to help reform districts and governance systems.

District Reform

I’ve pursued the passion of helping students with my current National Science Foundation funded grant project entitled STEM Teams: Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career interest, skills, and knowledge through Strategic Teaming. This initiative allows me to partner in districts with 97% African American and impoverished communities to improve the district. This is accomplished by creating teams of teachers, and school and district leaders and working to improve the implementation and sustainability of innovative curriculum and programs in the district. The current program is based in the middle school and purposes to increase the number of students of color and poverty to pursue STEM careers. This work has been presented recently at the 2012 UCEA conference and to be at the 2013 AERA meeting.  The process of district wide teaming was published in the following book chapter:

Alsbury, T. L. (2008). Promoting sustainable leadership within the reform system. In B. Hand (Ed.), Science inquiry, argument and language: A case for the science writing heuristic [177-194]. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense.

School Board Governance

Another passion has been my interest in the efficacy of local control of schools through school boards. The increased centralization of schooling is evident in national movement to standardize assessment and content, and now the policy agenda seems to be focused on removing the control of schools from local community boards to a state or national level. I am currently engaged in studies of school governance in Taiwan, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, Germany, and India, to name a few. I also speak around the country debating the question, “Are school boards still relevant today?” Most recently I debated this issue the ex-secretary for the office of Civil Rights before 700 school board members, members of Congress, and USDE Secretary of Education. Reactions to the debate can be found at this link: http://schoolboardnews.nsba.org/2013/01/panel-discusses-research-and-relevancy-of-school-boards/

Some of my most recent and significant writings on the school board governance include the following:

Alsbury, T. L. (In Press, 2013). Hitting a moving target: How politics determines the changing roles of superintendents and school boards . In  B.  S. Cooper, J.  G. Cibulka, & L. D. Fusarelli (Eds.)  Handbook of education politics and policy (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Mountford, M.  E., & Alsbury, T.  L. (2012). School boards: Nobody does it better. UCEA Review, 52(3), 11-13.

Alsbury, T.  L. (2011). Should the K-12 organizational structure of schools in the U.S. be changed dramatically? In Russo, C. [Ed.] Debating issues in American education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Alsbury, T. L.(Ed.). (2008). The future of school board governance: Relevancy and revelation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Dr. Alsbury has been a Professor in the School of Education at SPU since 2011. He teaches educational leadership courses and mentors many doctoral students. He is a recognized national expert in school board research and received the 2008 UCEA Culbertson award for influential researcher in educational leadership.

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How do I value my transfer from the PhD program at UGA to SPU?

By Daihong Chen

Milan Kundera, one of my favorite writers, claimed that life is about choices. Every choice leads to a different adventure and experience. I believe that pursuing a PhD degree is a crisis choice in life since it means a huge investment of time and effort. Meanwhile, the decision of which program to enter is a critical choice too. People around you as well as resources and opportunities you can have are essential to enhancing your knowledge, harnessing your research ability, and impacting the development of life values and personality. It sounds like a dramatic change for me to make the choice of transferring from the University of Georgia (UGA), a 33,000 student public university in a small college town to Seattle Pacific University (SPU), a less than 4,000 students private university in a comparatively big modern city. I am blessed and overjoyed that this choice has been leading me to a fascinating path of being a doctorate student.

I still clearly remember the most struggle-filled midsummer I have ever had. Every day I prayed for the clues and guidance from God, consulting pastors and experienced senior scholars, talking with family and friends, so as to figure out an answer to whether I should move to Seattle or stay at Athens. Most of my Chinese friends suggested that I stay at UGA without any hesitation because they even didn’t hear about SPU and obviously the program of the Learning, Design, and Technology at UGA enjoys a strong reputation. I wrote many emails to Dr. Lumpe asking many questions about the transfer and he was always very patient in answering any question.

Time flies! Now I have started my second quarter in the PhD of Education program at SPU. The journey of exploring and adventuring at SPU in the past half a year has provided me sufficient insights and experience to give answers to my questions and concerns before I came here.

My experience in the past six months tells that ranking doesn’t matter as much as you think. Being educated from kindergarten to graduate school in China, I cannot be clearer about the importance of the ranking of schools which is closely associated with the quality of education and the future career development opportunity in China. I have to say it was the biggest struggling I had. UGA is well known in China and the program I was in has been top ranked in the field of educational technology.

I talked about this concern with two Chinese professors working in UGA; however, they told me that, ranking doesn’t mean so much in USA because big public schools definitely have more resources and advantages regarding these standards for evaluation, but these standards for assessing a school usually are not too much associated with your personal learning experience and growth. What really matter is how much personal care, direction, assistance, support and resources you can have from professors and the school.

Now I can say that, the direction, care, help and support I gained from SPU is not less than I had in UGA, and is even more customized and personalized as it is a small group in which students can obtain more attention and assistance. For example, I was impressed that after the international student orientation, every international student has an individual meeting with the coordinator for personal issues or requirements. Because the program is small, everyone knows everyone very well and the acquaintance makes me feel comfortable and encouraged everyday. I have never met the dean of the College of Education at UGA in person, but at SPU, you can talk with the dean, faculty and staff frequently and they are always very happy to help. In this small school, actually, you can reach more resources and have more assistance.

The other main concern I had for the transfer was if there were opportunities to be involved in research and academic practice in the doctorate program at SPU. As we know, research is a critical part through the journey of the doctorate education. Now, I would say that the doctorate program in the School of Education at SPU provides many opportunities involving me into real research project and practice, conference presentation, and journal or book chapter publication. I have started to work in the bPortfolio project since I registered in the school. Benefiting from this ongoing project so far, I was listed as the fourth author of a presentation in at the 18th Annual Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning in Orlando, Florida in October, 2012. Additionally, a full paper coauthored by Dr. Lumpe and I has been submitted for the AACE conference presentation in the coming June. The effort of coding data and writing a paper for this project is a rather valuable experience in terms of improving research skills and academic writing. Additionally, I am blessed to get involved in writing a book chapter in terms of “teacher reflection” with Dr. Lumpe and Dr. Bishop. I believe my knowledge has been broadened and enriched greatly in terms of teacher education, educational technology and research methodology in the past half a year.

Above all, I do enjoy my new journey in the school of education as a doctorate student. I like the fact that SPU places a huge emphasis on students’ development and individual needs and builds a harmonious and collaborative community.

In closing, I would like to use what my friend in my previous program at UGA told me about my choice. When I told her what I am studying and learning, she said that, I think you made a right decision for the transfer to SPU.

About Daihong Chen:

I am a current doctorate student in the PhD of Education program at Seattle Pacific University. I am originally from China. I graduated from Beijing Normal University with the Bachelor degree in Education and Master degree in Education majoring in Curriculum and Instruction. Before I came to USA, I was a high school teacher teaching Moral and Political Education for three years and then worked for the China National Curriculum Resources Center for two years. I finished my first year of PhD education in the program of Learning, Design, and Technology at the University of Georgia in which I was a graduate assistant working for the coordinators of Master programs of Learning Design and Development and School Library and Media. I also co-instructed the course of Introduction of Instructional Design with Dr. Clinton in the summer semester of 2012 at UGA. I transferred to Seattle Pacific University in August, 2012. My research interest is technology integration and teacher education.

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Doctoral Student from Small District Interested in Educational Technology

by Jon Tienhaara

Twelve years in a small, rural school district have provided me a variety of educational experiences.  A native of Naselle (pronounced nay-sell), I have done everything from mowing the grass and fixing computers during my college summers, teaching science and mathematics to elementary, middle and high school students, to my current position of business manager and serving as one of the principals in the Naselle-Grays River Valley School District.

I have always had a passion for technology and its implications for both teaching and learning.  For example, two years ago I wrote a grant which funded a 1:1 iPad initiative for Naselle’s ninth and tenth grade classes.  Today grades 9-12 are 1:1 with iPads.  Students utilize the iPad in most all of their classes and technology is very much integrated into the school.  I also oversee our online Alternative Learning Experience school which has a larger student population than our regular brick and mortar school.  Currently, I am working with Michigan State University to bring online Mandarin Chinese to students across Washington.  

Technology plays an important role in student learning, and principals have great ability and responsibility to influence technology utilization in their schools. This is one of the reasons I am pursuing a doctorate degree at SPU.  My research interests include the role principals and superintendents play in positively and effectively integrating technology into K-12 education.  My future educational goals include a superintendency and/or professorship working in education technology leadership.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first two quarters at SPU.  The doctoral program continues to be a great experience.

Follow Jon’s work at http://mrt-naselleschools.blogspot.com/

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A Doctoral Student’s Dissertation Research – Language and Racial Identity

By Dr. Gail Stewart

Over the last fifteen years, I have developed and maintained an interest in equity, retention and social justice in higher education, especially among historically disadvantaged/marginalized social groups attending colleges and universities (such as students of color, for example). In addition, my experiences as a doctoral student at Seattle Pacific University have sparked an interest in sociolinguistics and assessment; specifically, the relationship between language attitudes, racial identity and the quality of classroom experiences.  The aforementioned influences, along with consistent questions from colleagues regarding classroom engagement among African American males attending community colleges, served as the motivation for my recently completed dissertation Racial Identity, Language Attitudes and Educational Experiences: The Voices of African American College Students.

This study provided an opportunity for me to develop a new research instrument that measures language attitudes and racial identity- The Language Attitudes Questionnaire (LAQ).  The results of my research also indicate several issues for consideration: 1) the power of language dictates to a large extent, the language one speaks, and is intimately tied to one’s sense of identity, 3) understanding of students’ home language or dialect has a major influence on classroom performance, especially among African American students, 3) in a classroom setting, the way students are evaluated and labeled by teachers may have a major lifelong impact on their educational trajectory and 4) language attitudes may serve as a retention issue that has a profound impact on students of color.

I look forward to conducting follow-up studies on language and racial identity among diverse racial-ethnic populations attending colleges and universities to further develop my research instrument.

I am extremely grateful to the faculty at Seattle Pacific University, especially my dissertation committee, Dr. William Nagy, Dr. Nyarazdo Mvududu and Dr. Cher Edwards. I feel truly blessed to have had such wonderful mentors who provided me with an outstanding quality of education, guidance and support that will have a positive influence on my future professional endeavors and personal growth.

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Gail Stewart successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in April 2012. She earned a master’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington. She has taught at the community college level for 11 years. She is a classically trained musician who enjoys anything pertaining to the arts.

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My Recent Research Endeavors – by Dr. Bill Nagy

I have always been interested in how children learn words and how vocabulary can best be taught, and over the years I have often tried to synthesize what I know about effective vocabulary instruction.  My most recent publication (Nagy & Townsend, 2012) is the latest such attempt, focusing in particular on the challenges students face in understanding academic language.  I am also interested in how students’ awareness of language contributes to their reading ability.  In particular, I have been investigating morphological awareness – students’ knowledge about morphemes (prefixes, roots, and suffixes).  In my recent work with Dr. Scott Beers, I have also begun dealing with another aspect of literacy, writing.

Everything I know about these topics is going to be needed for my upcoming research.  Dr. Beers and I are now part of the research team led by Dr. Virginia Berninger at the University of Washington in the new Center for the Defining and Treating Specific Learning Disabilities in Written Language.  This center is part of the Learning Disabilities Research Centers Consortium funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).  (For a press release, see http://www.nichd.nih.gov/news/releases/011712-learning-disabilities-centers.cfm).  We’ll be part of an interdisciplinary team, including not only educators, but computer scientists, geneticists, and experts in brain imaging.  Our work will range from basic research on the nature of writing disabilities to very applied work on developing interventions to help students who struggle with writing.

Nagy, W.  & Townsend, D. (2012).   Words as tools:  Learning academic vocabulary as language acquisition.  Reading Research Quarterly, 47(1), 91-108.

Dr. Nagy has been a Professor in the School of Education at SPU since 1996. He teaches literacy and research courses and mentors many doctoral students. He was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in vocabulary development. 

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My Path to SPU

by Amy Vaughn

As a math teacher in California, I was fortunate enough to be hired to teach at a Catholic high school that openly honored the values I felt called to demonstrate.  I immediately felt that I was a part of a unique community and wholly embraced the hallmarks of the school, particularly that of community service.  In the classroom, I felt that I had much more impact on my students’ emotional and spiritual growth because we could openly discuss our shared values.  But beyond this, I believe my students also participated in learning at much deeper levels because of our trust in each other and their willingness to take risks.             

During my time teaching in California, I felt called to continue my education to the doctoral level, and these same principles became part of the criteria in my search for a university.  I searched the nation for a school that I believed would best suit my needs as a student, a professional, and a Christian.  I wanted a school that was small enough to have a family feel, but large enough to have a powerful presence in the education community.  In fact, during my first visit to SPU, I could feel the same sense of community, rigor, and spiritual connectedness that I felt at the Catholic high school where I was teaching.  I genuinely feel fortunate to have found SPU as a fit for my educational, professional, and personal goals.

Now, as a professional pursuing a doctoral degree, I am committed to innovation and change in terms of teacher preparation and support, especially in light of the high attrition rate of new teachers.  This means raising the standards within the profession and teaching teachers as they should teach their own students.  I am committed to producing better teachers by maintaining my own research and modeling the latest instructional techniques. SPU has allowed me to pursue these goals.  Additionally, the faculty members at SPU have always treated me as a respected colleague and I greatly value their expertise.  SPU and the School of Education have far exceeded my expectations and I would recommend this institution to anyone seeking more than an academic degree. 

Amy is a student in the Ph.D. in Education program at SPU. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, post-baccalaureate teacher certification in mathematics at Texas Tech University, and a Master’s of Arts from Notre Dame de Namur University. She taught high school mathematics in Texas and California and currently serves as an Clinical Instructor of Teacher Education at SPU.

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Distinguished Doctoral Graduates

Since the inception of doctoral programs at SPU, there have been a number of graduates who distinguished themselves professionally. In this post, four of our graduates are highlighted.

Dr. Gary Newbill earned a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) from SPU in 1999. He currently serves Northwest University as Professor of Education and Dean of the School of Education. He previously served Washington school districts in a variety of roles including as teacher, personnel director, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Gary Newbill joined the graduate faculty of educational leadership at Seattle Pacific University, preparing principal and superintendent candidates for state certification and graduate degrees. He then moved to Northwest University to head its teacher preparation program. http://www.northwestu.edu/faculty/newbill/

Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel earned the Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) degree from SPU in 2004. She currently serves as superintendent of the Renton School District. She was previously Deputy State Superintendent for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for six years. Dr. Heuschel also served as a school principal, assessment specialist, and classroom teacher. Mary Alice was awarded the 2011 Washington Superintendent of the Year.

http://www.rentonschools.us/FILES/DISTRICT/Superintendent/MAH_Bio_updated_1-6-11.pdf

Dr. Duane Baker is the founder and president of Baker Evaluation, Research, and Consulting, Inc (The BERC Group). Dr. Baker served as a classroom teacher, school administrator, and assistant superintendent in K-12 schools. The BERC group is currently working on research and evaluation projects at the national, state, regional, district, school, classroom, and student levels in over 1,000 schools nationally. He earned a doctorate from Seattle Pacific University in 1999.

http://www.bercgroup.com/

Dr. Shannon Harvey is currently the Principal of Cascade Elementary School in the Renton School District, Renton, Washington. She previously served as an elementary school teacher. She earned a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) from SPU in 2000. In 2008, she was given the $25,000 Milken Educator Award.

http://cascade.rentonschools.us/PrincipalsMessage

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Update on Recent Faculty Research and Publishing Activities

The core doctoral faculty in the School of Education at SPU are active researchers. We believe that pursuit of an active research and publishing agenda is critical for mentoring doctoral students. Below is a sample of some of our most recent publications. Detailed information about our research interests and copies of our curriculum vita can be found on the School of Education’s website.

Recent work by Dr. Lumpe

Lumpe, A. T., Czerniak, C. M., Haney, J. J., & Beltyukova, S. (2011). Beliefs about Teaching Science: The Relationship between Elementary Teachers’ Professional Development and Student Achievement. International Journal of Science Education. (PDF)

Abstract

Because of increasing calls for school accountability, an increased emphasis placed on the role of the teacher, and theoretical connections between teacher beliefs and classroom action, a critical need exists to examine teacher professional development programs to determine their impact on teacher belief systems, teaching practices, and student learning. The primary goal of this study was to assess elementary teachers’ science teaching efficacy as they participated in a large scale professional development program and to determine the relationship of these beliefs with student learning. It was found that elementary teachers who participated in a long-term, intense (over 100 contact hours annually) science professional development program displayed significant gains in their science teaching self-efficacy. Several background variables were found to be predictive of teacher beliefs including how often teachers spend teaching science. Males tended to display more positive beliefs than their female counterparts. Although a small portion of the variance was explained, teacher beliefs and the number of hours participating in the research-based professional development program were significantly predictive of students’ science achievement. Other factors may be involved in teachers’ beliefs and their connection with student learning including classroom practices, curriculum materials, support systems, and student background variables. These factors should be the target of future investigations.

Butler, K., & Lumpe, A. T. (2009). Student Use of Scaffolding Software: Relationships with Motivation and Conceptual Understanding. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(5), 427-436.

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Recent work by Dr. Sink

Sink, C. A. (Ed.). (2011). Mental health interventions for school counselors. Belmont, CA: Brooks-Cole.

Webb, M. Sink, C. A., et al. (2010). The Suffering with God Scale: Theoretical development, psychometric analyses, and relationships with indices of religiosity. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 21, 71-94.

Abstract

Religion provides resources to cope with negative life events, yet people may still struggle with God. The Suffering with God Scale (SWG) was developed to assess schematic representations of, and affective responses to, God in light of negative life events. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a two-factor solution reflecting two underlying dimensions: Struggling with God and Enduring with God.  Struggling with God was negatively associated, and Enduring was positively associated, with theism, religious participation, personal devotions, and intrinsic religiosity.  Persons who were unsure of their faith in God reported greater struggle over issues of suffering than those who reported high or low faith. Results are interpreted in light of psychology of religion research and philosophical and theological reflection regarding the problem of suffering for sustenance of faith.

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Recent work by Dr. Ellis

Ellis, A. (2010). Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Together: Reflective Assessments for Elementary Classrooms. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Zirkle, D., and Ellis, A. (2010). Effects of Spaced Repetition on Long-Term Map Knowledge Recall. Journal of Geography. (5) 109.

Abstract

Sixth-grade students studying Latin America were placed in experimental and comparison groups to test the effects of map-study repetition on long-term memory. Mean scores on a place-name test of the region indicated that the experimental (repetition) group outperformed the comparison group at a statistically significant level with respect to both posttest and retention-test outcomes. The tentative conclusion of long-term potentiation principles in the classroom modestly suggests that a salient step in creating more persistent declarative memories is protein-synthesis dependent repetition.

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Recent work by Dr. Nagy

 

Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Nagy, W., & Carlisle, J.  (2010). Growth in phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in grades 1 to 6. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39, 141-163.

 

Nagy, W., & Hiebert, E. (2011).  Toward a theory of word selection.  In M. L. Kamil, P. D. Pearson,  E. B. Moje, & P. P. Afflerbach (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV (pp.388-404).   New York:  Routledge.

 

Beers, S. F., & Nagy, W. E. (2011). Writing development in four genres from grades three to seven:  syntactic complexity and genre differentiation.   Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 24, 183-202.

 

Berninger, V. W., Nagy, W., & Beers, S. (2011).  Child writers’ construction and reconstruction of single sentences and construction of multi-sentence texts: contributions of syntax and transcription to translation.  Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 24, 151-182.

 

 Abstract for Nagy & Hiebert, 2011:

 

One of the tasks facing educators is deciding which of the many potentially difficult or unfamiliar words in a text students are about to read need to be taught.  The purpose of this chapter is to provide a principled basis for making these choices.  The use and limitations of eight features that can play a role in word selection are discussed:  The frequency of the word in the language, dispersion (distribution of the word across different subject areas), morphological and semantic relatedness to other words, familiarity of the word to students, conceptual difficulty, the role of the word in the particular text, and its role in the larger curriculum.

Nagy, W. (2010). The word games. In M. G. McKeown & L. Kucan (Eds.). Bringing reading research to life (pp.72-91). New York: Guilford.

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Looking for Doctoral Program? : Seattle Pacific University is the right place. by Whitney E. Meissner, Ed.D. 2008.

A part of me has always known I would obtain a doctorate degree at some point. Had you asked me 20 years ago, I would have been definitive that I would pursue this education outside the state of Washington. However, when the time came to choose a program, I had two young children, aged 5 and 3 when I began, and I knew it was more important to stay close to home.

Several factors went into my choice of Seattle Pacific University. The first was somewhat simple: a friend of mine and I had decided to approach this adventure together, and she had a previous experience with SPU’s Educational Leadership program. I should say, she has a previous phenomenal experience. That, in and of itself, was enough to encourage me to apply. As I learned more about the program, several other advantages became clear. The option of some online courses appealed to me given I live on the west side of Puget Sound in Jefferson County. Further, the cohort design of the program encouraged a shared and collaborative learning experience. The emphasis on empirical research coupled with practical application was also a bonus. The fact that most courses were held on Saturdays fit well with my work and family schedule. And, perhaps the greatest benefit for me was the practical application of the knowledge and activities. I am confident that each course I completed improved my leadership skills, and that my experience in successfully completed my Ed.D. is a benefit to myself professionally, but more importantly, to the staff, students, and families I serve.

On a personal note, I gained life-long friendships with the peers in my cohort as well as deep professional relationships with the professors in the program. Having completed my degree in 2008, I have found numerous opportunities to reach out to those with whom I worked so closely while in this program. I am sincerely grateful that I was invited to join the SPU community as an adjunct professor. This opportunity continues to enhance my leadership and research skills.

This was undoubtedly the most rigorous educational experience I have ever had. With an undergraduate degree in English with a math minor, I thrive on both literature and numbers. I can honestly say I never worked harder on something than this program, but one of the reasons that the hard work was, in a sense, easy was that it was both intellectually stimulating and professionally relevant. Further, when things got hard, intellectually or emotionally, there were many, many supportive people there to lend a hand.

I cannot say enough about the wonderful experience I had. I recommend SPU to all those looking to enter education as well as those already in the field looking to “walk the talk”, so to speak, and further their own learning, skills, and knowledge.

Whitney E. Meissner, Ed.D.

Principal, Chimacum Middle & High School

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/willhale/3640684126/sizes/s/,

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Benefits of a Doctoral Degree: Professional and Personal – by Laurynn Evans, Ed.D.

I initially began my doctoral journey solely for intrinsic reasons.  As a person who simply enjoys the process of learning, pursuing an advanced degree was a natural step in my life journey.  Well, that, and I also made a promise to my grandmother that no matter what it took, I would obtain my doctorate sometime during my adult life.  My doctoral journey was something that I was doing just for myself, just because I wanted to experience that particular level of challenge and engagement. 

I knew that I’d learn a lot during the course of my studies at SPU, and I knew that my studies would also further my understanding of theory and knowledge as it applies to education in general.  What I never really anticipated, however, was how useful and applicable my learning in doctoral program would be to my career.  I’m happy to report that I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I have put my learning to work in my day-to-day work life.  My doctorate has benefitted me in ways big and small in my professional pursuits, and for that I am doubly grateful that I persevered and completed the doctoral program at SPU.

Yes, it is true that having the letters “Ed.D.” after one’s name is a nice plus when you are a brand new building principal.  Staff, colleagues, parents, and even kids seem to hold a hefty respect for that level of educational pursuit.  That fact, in and of itself, has been a nice side benefit of my decision to complete the program.  There just seems to be an inherent respect for a person who undertakes and completes a rigorous course of study from a well-respected program such as the one offered by SPU’s School of Education.  However, the true professional benefit of having my doctorate runs deeper than just providing others with a positive perception of my ability. 

Prior to undertaking my doctorate, I had a basic knowledge of theory and relevant literature for the field of education, but now, I truly own the knowledge.  In talking with staff, parents, or colleagues, I have an extensive learned knowledge base that I can pull from at any time, because after the intensive degree of research offered by the program, I now just “know” the information.  Furthermore, I’m able to distill credible researchers and theorists from those who lack a basis for their conclusions.  Even more important, I am able to concisely and clearly articulate why one theorist has credence while another may not, and I can do so without jargon or confusion.  This has been enormously helpful as my building leadership team discusses pedagogical decisions for our team.  I also learned the art of staying current on research trends, which I know will pay enormous dividends as my career progresses. 

Another essential benefit to my work is the fact that the strong statistics emphasis provided in the SPU program has translated into my being able to guide my staff through assessment results in a way that I was not able to do previously.  In this era of growing accountability for student performance, understanding the way in which assessments are crafted and evaluated is of paramount importance.   Our discussions about state testing data and results were made more applicable and meaningful to our staff and students because I had the ability to clarify just what the results meant and how they translated into gains for student achievement.  I was also able to take complicated results and craft trend data that was eminently more useful in our building discussions.  Being able to handle staff questions about testing data, even highly detailed questions, felt very empowering to me and it clearly gave the staff confidence in my abilities as an instructional leader.    

I began my doctoral work with the goal of making myself a better person and offering myself the opportunity to engage in extended and meaningful discourse with like-minded students.  I concluded my doctoral work realizing thatthe experience transcended all of my expectations.  Yes, I became a better person, and yes, I ended the program with a wonderful cohort of intelligent and dedicated educators whom I now call my friends.  However, the journey transcended my expectations due to how it is benefitting not just me, but how it’s also benefitting my school community.  I am already witnessing the ripple effect of this on my staff and students.  It is my hope that I can continue to translate those small ripples into greater and greater effects on the achievement of my students.

Laurynn Evans, Ed.D.

Principal

Rose Hill Junior High School

Stella Schola Middle School

levans@lwsd.org / 425.881.2079

photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catspyjamasnz/

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