November 1, 2021

In the News: Edwards Named Teacher of the Year, Diversity in Tenured Positions, An ‘Epic’ Grant, and More

San Bernardino Teacher of the Year Ryan Edwards (back row, far left) with his environmental students, who were recognized by the Rancho Cucamonga mayor and council members for their work with the city in 2017.

ONE OUT OF 19,000: Ryan Edwards (Teacher Education, ’13) has been named as one of San Bernardino County’s Teachers of the Year.

“There are more than 19,000 teachers countywide, and while we appreciate all of them, our Teacher of the Year award recognizes those who have gone above and beyond,” said County Superintendent Ted Alejandre in a news release earlier this month. “It is gratifying to honor and recognize the terrific educators throughout the county who embody excellence and dedication to our students.”

A science teacher at Etiwanda High School, Edwards had been supported at CGU by the Claremont Colleges STEM Initiative, a National Science Foundation grant upon which Harvey’s Mudd’s Professor Adam Landsberg and SES Dean DeLacy Ganley served as principal investigators (the grant was also coordinated by CGU’s Eddie Partida, who is the director of CGU’s Teacher Education program).

When Edwards received word of his selection as a teacher of the year, Ganely said, she and Partida received the following text from him: “I have big news to share! Thank you all for your guidance and mentoring! CGU and all of you were instrumental in me becoming an effective teacher.”

TASK FORCE APPOINTMENT: Gipson (right) pictured here with SES Dean DeLacy Ganley.

TASK FORCE APPOINTMENT: Cheers to Professor and Urban Leadership Program Director Frances Gipson, who, earlier this month, was named as part of a new statewide literacy task force launched to help all California students reach the goal of being literate by Grade 3 by 2026. The announcement was made by State Superintendent Tony Thurmond. As the former chief academic officer of LAUSD, Gipson established a literacy program called Primary Promise. With the task force Gipson will serve as the staff coordinator for this new literacy effort. Read more here

Gipson also was recently featured in WalletHub’s piece about the nation’s “States with the Best & Worst School Systems.” Want to know what she said? You can find it here.

DIVERSITY MATTERS: Daryl Smith discusses diversity and tenure on a broadcast by NBC affiliate WRAL in North Carolina.

DIVERSITY & TENURE: Daryl G. Smith, senior research fellow and professor emerita, spoke to NBC-affiliate WRAL about an issue involving a tenure case at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She discussed significant challenges involving diversity and tenured positions. “The fact is,” Smith told the WRAL reporter, “that if you look at most institutions, it’s the absence of diversity of faculty. In many departments, in many colleges, it’s the absence of real progress in diversifying the faculty given that our society is getting more diverse.” Watch broadcast and read the report here.

AN ‘EPIC’ GRANT TO TEACHER EDUCATION: In addition to the recent $1.3 million grant to SES for its CNA Fellowship program mentioned above, the school’s Teacher Education Department is the recipient of a grant from the California Educator Preparation Innovation Collaborative, also known as CalEPIC.

CalEPIC is providing the department, under the leadership of Director Eddie Partida, with a new $300,000 “transformation grant.” With the new funding, the Teacher Education Department will create an adaptive digital platform that will be used to support novice teachers’ development of inclusive, culturally responsive, and anti-racist teaching competencies.

CalEPIC, which has been made possible by support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was developed by the Thompson Policy Institute on Disability at Chapman University,includes a network of partner institutions including CGU (the others are the University of Redlands, Loyola Marymount University, Saint Mary’s College of California, and University of San Francisco).