College of Education seeks to be a national leader

Though it functions from a position of strength as a top-ranked college at Ohio State, the College of Education will face some dramatic change as it seeks to stake its national leadership claim in research-based preparation programs and policymaking, Dean Donna Browder Evans says.

In a state-of-the-college address to faculty and staff on Feb. 13, Evans praised past accomplishments, defined the national climate for teacher preparation, and issued a call to the college to move "rather aggressively and rather boldly" in five key areas.

College of Education Dean Donna Browder Evans

On the college's plate are:

• A redesign of the curriculum and revitalization of teacher preparation programs;

• Significant strengthening of technological capacity and leadership in researching the effectiveness of educational technology;

• Focusing at least a portion of research on teaching and learning;

• Re-examining attitudes and becoming more accessible and user-friendly while collaborating more often and more broadly with a variety of audiences; and

• Making the celebration of diversity with equity a reality in the college.

"I hope we will renew our professional commitment and build on our strengths to regain our national voice in the education conversation," Evans said. "I also hope we will inform our profession through visible research related to national, state and local education issues. And I hope we will develop a strong policy impact on education-related issues."

She said the agenda is "as essential as it is ambitious" in the context of the national environment, where education today operates in a fishbowl. Teacher preparation institutions are especially front and center, she said, as momentum for reform continues to build for enhanced teacher quality and quantity.

In addition, in April, the college will be among those teacher-preparation institutions nationally being publicly rated under a 1998 Higher Education Act. The act mandated annual reports on all teacher-preparation programs and will monitor the performance of each program's teacher candidates on licensure and certification tests.

Reaccreditation for the college also is on the horizon in 2003; Evans suggested that in an era of competition and self-examination, and at a time when education reform is on the front burner, the college create a central database for ongoing measurements and reports.

She cited a few of the college's many accomplishments, including attracting a National Science Foundation grant to study how children think; a project through which teachers are being prepared to use technology; recent awards recognizing outstanding teaching; the Urban Academy for Professional Development and School Reform and the Urban Schools Initiative; interdisciplinary centers; a well-received collegewide diversity plan; and the P-12 Project (see story below).

The success, however, should not breed complacency, Evans said. "The message is clear. We cannot rely on past reputation or past achievement. We cannot hunker down and wait for these realities to pass," she said. "I'm an optimist at heart. I believe that change needn't be mindless or ill-conceived; it can be helpful and constructive. It can re-energize a good institution -- such as ours -- with the potential to be outstanding."

A redesign of the teacher-preparation curriculum would involve aligning programs more closely with Ohio and national standards, should involve collaboration with other colleges, especially in mathematics and science education, and should include an examination of the programs' length to minimize redundancies and maximize resource use, she said.

In strengthening research and grantsmanship capabilities, Evans said, the college should better connect its findings to the problems and needs of today's schools. "Our work must relate to children and schools, starting with the University District," she said. "This is not to suggest that we abandon research in basic areas of knowledge. Quite the contrary. I am suggesting, however, that we find ways to connect this knowledge more closely to classrooms and student learning."

With regard to diversity, she said a priority for this year includes recruiting at least one outstanding underrepresented faculty member with a national reputation for excellence.

"In achieving all of our goals, we must continue to depend upon the quality and motivation of you, our faculty and staff. We must encourage and value your contributions and see that you achieve your full potential. For as you succeed, so will our college," Evans said. "We have an opportunity to show the nation what excellence in the preparation of educators, education research, and education policy look like in the early 21st century. I'm very excited about the possibilities and about the many good things we can do together to make our College of Education a leader in the field, and to help improve schools and children's lives all over America."

P-12 Project takes shape, extends reach

The new P-12 Project at Ohio State is reinforcing the fact that working to improve the state's education system is a priority as the University redefines its land-grant mission.

The overall mission of the project is to assist in the improvement of Ohio's schools, especially in districts that serve children and youths from lower socio-economic families, said P-12 Project Director Daryl Siedentop. Of particular interest will be establishing relationships with the schools serving children who live in the University District, said Siedentop, former interim dean of the College of Education and professor of sport and exercise science.

The P-12 Project, or preschool-through-12th-grade initiative, was launched after the University's Academic Plan was introduced in October. Siedentop said startup funds have been provided by the Office of Academic Affairs and the College of Education -- the lead college -- while the Academic Plan suggests budgeting $500,000 a year in University-based funding to support the project.

P-12 Project Director Daryl Siedentop

He said the project will make outreach efforts at the University more accessible.

"Outreach for the most part at the University has been the responsibility of individual colleges and departments," Siedentop said. "This is a Universitywide commitment and program. I think it raises that responsibility and awareness to a different level."

Bobby Moser, vice president for agricultural administration and dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and newly appointed vice president for outreach, said education reform is a top priority at the local, state and federal levels right now, and Ohio State has the resources to address some of those concerns.

"The hope is that we'll learn a lot from projects under way and that we not only can make a difference in those schools, but develop a model for other universities to follow," Moser said.

Siedentop said the P-12 Project involves several key elements.

"Part of our mission is to create a clearinghouse of information for those inside and outside the University to find what programs and services Ohio State has to assist P-12 educators," Siedentop said. A searchable database to be established on the Web will provide a single, initial point of contact for those interested in P-12 activities, he said.

Other elements are:

• Engaging the entire University in teacher preparation and continued professional development of educators. This will include the formation of a University Council on Teacher Education comprised of faculty from the colleges of Education and the Arts and Sciences, he said.

• Providing assistance at the state level, particularly in the area of education policy and school improvement programs.

• Focusing on helping to improve schools that serve the University neighborhoods, realizing that these areas need better schools if they are going to revitalize, he said.

"The Campus Partners initiative has been so important to Ohio State," Siedentop said. "If we're going to tell the world that we are a world-class university, we first of all have to be a good neighbor to the schools that serve the children who live in the Campus Partners area."

Already under way is a P-12 Learning Bridge Program that partners Ohio State, Columbus Public Schools and the Columbus Education Association, he said. The program was announced during a reception Jan. 23 at the Longaberger Alumni House that also welcomed several new principals to the district and new College of Education Dean Donna Browder Evans. The first annual awards to outstanding alumni of University neighborhood schools were presented during the program.

Siedentop said the partnership aims to assist in the development of the University neighborhoods as learning communities, and will contribute to the larger goals of Campus Partners to improve the quality of life, safety and security of residents in the University neighborhoods. A Learning Bridge Center will be established in the neighborhoods to provide activities that go beyond the regular programming of Columbus schools, he said. The LBC will have research, teaching and service functions, and will involve Ohio State faculty, staff and students.

Siedentop said that engagement beyond school days -- to provide activities and support for children after school and through the summer -- is a key ingredient in improving school performance. Emphasis will be placed on bringing together families, social service agencies and communities to create a network of support for kids, he said.

He said the P-12 Project is the mechanism through which the commitment to education made in the Academic Plan is being carried out.

"I've been deeply impressed by the commitment and interest I've found around campus by people that are truly concerned with improving Ohio's schools," Siedentop said. "Now it's a matter of capturing the resources to allow those commitments to develop into programs that improve schools."

Added Moser: "This is what outreach is all about. The bottom line of all of it is to try and make a difference in the state, the nation and the world."

Courtesy of Lifetime Television Network     Actresses Lorraine Toussaint and Annie Potts will particpate in an Ohio State diversity forum on Feb. 23.

Actresses to share message with Ohio State

Lorraine Toussaint, star of Lifetime Television Network's Any Day Now, doesn't mince words when she talks about diversity.

"It's always a time to talk about diversity in America. We're not at a place where we have the luxury of not talking about it," Toussaint said recently in a telephone interview.

Toussaint and co-star Annie Potts will bring their voices to Ohio State Feb. 23 for a dialogue on racism and diversity. Can We Talk: Confronting Our Differences Together will be a 90-minute discussion forum involving stars and principals of the award-winning drama and members of the University and Columbus communities.

Potts said helping people to talk about diversity is a natural extension of Any Day Now's mission.

"We have done this show for three years and have become increasingly aware of its usefulness, in terms of its shaping ideas that can create dialogue about race, diversity, tolerance, black and white issues," she said.

Any Day Now is about the interracial friendship of attorney Rene Jackson (Toussaint) and homemaker M.E. Sims (Potts). The program is set in Birmingham, Ala., and makes regular use of flashbacks to Rene and M.E.'s childhood in the 1960s. Recent shows have dealt with M.E.'s teen-age daughter's pregnancy by her African-American boyfriend and Rene's interactions with a prejudiced women's club whose political endorsement she is seeking.

"The importance of our show is it gives our audiences permission in a way to actually think about issues they wouldn't normally," Toussaint said. "You watch M.E. and Rene go to the mat on an issue and argue or disagree on a particular issue and suddenly think, 'Maybe I can do that.' It can give them (audiences) courage to bring up the uncomfortable or frightening."

Both actresses take pride in being part of a drama that tackles difficult issues with candor.

"Theater touches people in a way that nothing else does. It cuts to the chase, changes minds and hearts faster than any other tool," Toussaint said. "That's why it's very important for us in entertainment and television to be responsible for what we produce. It can change minds and perspectives."

Potts agreed. "It's a mirror of society, always. When we have 3 million people watching a program, that can be a very powerful social tool."

Potts hopes the forum will make an impact on the Ohio State students who attend. "When you come out to a large campus, you start with a microcosm and you hope to do the ripple effect," she said.

She referred to a book she had recently read, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race, by psychologist Beverly Daniel Tatum.

"Working in a city-sized campus, there's a need to do anything to bridge those gaps between people, so we're not all sitting in different parts of the lunchroom," Potts said.

Potts and Toussaint both said their demanding production schedule tends to prevent them from making public appearances to talk about diversity. This is the first time they will address a university audience.

"I love doing it and I hope there are more opportunities. That we are able to do this is pretty extraordinary," Potts said.

Toussaint praised Ohio State for planning a diversity forum.

"The mere fact that you guys have created this summit -- you've already won," Toussaint said. "It speaks to the fact that there's already a consciousness about you that there is a necessity for dialogue. Give yourselves credit. It's nice to be a part of it."

Joining Toussaint and Potts on stage for the forum will be Nancy Miller, Any Day Now's creator and executive producer; Gary Randall, executive producer; Sheldon Pinchuk, a former executive producer; and Lois Johnson, a member of the writing team, as well as President William E. Kirwan. Journalist and author Farai Chideya will serve as moderator.

Ohio State alumna Barbara Pinchuk, who is married to Sheldon Pinchuk, conceived of the summit during a conversation with Dean of the College of the Arts Judith Smith Koroscik. Sue Ott Rowlands, associate professor of theatre, and Ted McDaniel, professor of music and African American and African studies, chaired the planning committee.

Can We Talk is sponsored nationally by Mercedes Benz, USA and Lifetime Television Network, and is coordinated by the College of the Arts, the Fisher College of Business and the College of Humanities. Community sponsors include Wendy's, the Hyatt on Capitol Square and Paul Werth Associates Inc.

The forum takes place from 3-5 p.m. in Weigel Hall. All tickets for this event have been reserved. Ticket holders are asked to be seated by 2:50 p.m.; at 2:55 p.m., empty seats will be filled with nonticket-holders. The forum will be simulcast in the Wexner Center Film/Video Theater as well as the Frank Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center. The event also will be broadcast live on UNITS closed circuit campus cable television Channel 37.

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