Fall 2020 Newsletter

Welcome to the quarterly newsletter from the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching! We hope this newsletter finds you well as we embark on an academic year unlike any other. We have had a busy summer in the Anchin Center partnering with teachers, leaders, and school districts in efforts aligned with our mission to help improve the quality of education for K-12 students and provide professional development opportunities for teachers and school administrators. We are delighted to highlight some of our recent work and preview upcoming efforts as we begin fall semester 2020.

In order to continue to receive our newsletters, please be sure to subscribe to our mailing list. To learn more about the David C. Anchin Center, please visit our website.

Constance V. Hines, Ph.D.

Interim Director

Featured in this newsletter:

• Science Teacher Action Research in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Coronavirus School Closures and Learning Loss: Challenges and Promising Practices
• Educational Policy Information Center (EPIC)
  
• Speaker Series
  
• Scholars-in-Residence and STEM Fellow Announcement
• AP Summer Institute Highlights
• Summer Online Professional Development Reaches Global Audience
• Literacy Studies Professional Development Partnership
• Gulf Coast Partnership Resident Program, 2020 Graduates
• The Tampa Bay Wipro Science Education Fellowship Program
• Leadership Collaborative
• Tampa Bay Area Writing Project: Leadership Institute and Virtual Student Camp
• Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities
• Virtual Conference Save the Date! Reimagining Education: Opportunities for Achievement, Equity & Justice in a Post-Pandemic World
• What We're Reading

In this editorial I tell the story of science teacher action research in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In it I try to do two things. The first is to show how science teacher expertise can grow and be shared within an online community of practice (COP), and then distributed to a wider audience of science teachers. The second is to make problematic how we define action research and my role in facilitating the COP.

This editorial is a product of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools in Florida have been closed since early March and instruction has moved to being online. This is likely the case for most readers of this editorial as we try to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. For those of us who work in science education... Read more

School closures can take a significant toll on student learning and achievement. The most common reasons for unanticipated school closings are weather-related, although disease outbreaks, such as influenza, can lead to extended closings to prevent spread or because of high absence rates among students and teachers.

Research on learning loss during these events and extended summer vacations indicates that students can lose knowledge and skills they have already acquired due to the missed time in school. These effects are more pronounced among economically disadvantaged children because... Read more

The Education Policy Information Center (EPIC) provides timely, accurate, reliable, research-based information designed to inform educational policy development at the state and local district levels. EPIC publishes Policy Briefs and Research Briefs to provide relevant research for the professional and lay community and Policy Research Reports that synthesize and disseminate significant scholarship on policy issues. EPIC also hosts a public lecture series to share cutting-edge research by EPIC Fellows and Scholars-in-Residence on policy issues in education. EPIC publications and resources can be found on the “Research and Resources” page on the Anchin Center website.

The Anchin Center speaker series presents cutting edge research and best practices for addressing the most important opportunities and pressing challenges in Florida’s schools.

In November, Dr. Nathan von der Embse, Associate Professor of School Psychology and an Anchin Fellow, shared insights with more than 60 attendees from area school districts on a series of studies highlighting the conflicting influences of stress and well-being on teacher burnout and instructional practices. The session focused on implications of that research for supporting teacher emotional health and developing educational policy. Nate was joined by panelists Ms. Tricia McManus, Assistant Superintendent in the Hillsborough County Schools, Ms. Andrea O’Sullivan, English Language Arts Department Chair in Polk County Schools and Dr. Mandie Dunn, Assistant Professor of English Education in USF’s College of Education.

Dr. Elizabeth Hadley, Assistant Professor of Literacy Studies and the 2019 Anchin Center Scholar-in-Residence, showcased her research and best practices for more than 120 area educators on “Talking to Learn: Supporting Oral Language Development in Early Childhood Classrooms.” Dr. Hadley and panelists Dr. Maria Carlo, Dr. Howard Goldstein and Dr. Trinia Spencer from the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, and. Dr. Lisa Lopez from the College of Education shared insights on how teachers and parents can nurture children’s language development and prepare them to be lifelong readers through language-building conversation. Please click below to view the presentation.

Upcoming Anchin Center Speaker Series presentations in the 2020-21 academic year will feature Dr. William Black, Professor of Leadership and Policy Studies, presenting research on “Turnaround Schools” with recommendations for policy and practice and Dr. Vonzell Agosto on achieving equity and social justice in a post-pandemic educational environment. The speaker series is sponsored by the Educational Policy Information Center (EPIC).

The Anchin Center is thrilled to welcome Dr. Vonzell Agosto and Dr. Karl Jung as the 2020-2021 Scholars-in-Residence. The Scholar-in-Residence program provides an opportunity for scholars to spend one academic year exploring critical issues in education by conducting research, submitting articles to research journals, writing grant proposals, and giving presentations about their work to the education community.

We are also excited to announce that Dr. David Rosengrant will be joining our Anchin Center’s STEM Fellows Program. As a STEM Fellow, he will engage in activities that will strengthen the Anchin Center’s professional development offerings in STEM fields for classroom teachers. Additionally, he will lead and assist in the development of grant proposals to support STEM education, continue the conduct of research in his areas of interest and will make a presentation in the Anchin Center’s speaker series.

Learn more about the faculty members chosen to participate.

The Anchin Center's annual AP Summer Institute is the third largest in the world, with participants joining us from 39 states and 11 different countries, including Canada, Germany (DOD), The Netherlands (AFE), Malaysia, Nicaragua, Taiwan, China, Qatar, Thailand, and Vietnam. This summer, we welcomed approximately 1,000 AP teachers to our AP Summer Institute which was delivered fully online.

The Institute was very well received by participants who shared that they gained a lot from the opportunity to build their knowledge around their AP courses from experienced and enthusiastic College-Board consultants, and from fellow participants. One teacher stated, "I felt our facilitator did everything she could to make sure the workshop was as helpful and engaging as possible through our online platform. She was very knowledgeable and was able to clearly explain concepts that seemed intimidating at first. I am very happy to have attended the workshop as I now feel much more prepared and confident as a new AP teacher." Participants logged in to synchronous sessions via Blackboard Collaborate and worked through asynchronous course content in Canvas.

We want to thank Caryn Musgrave for her excellent leadership in developing and supporting this important event, our APSI facilitators for their flexibility and expertise, as well as Huiruo Chen, Alexa Arata, Cortnie Seymour, and Megan Ghillyer for all of their assistance.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of educators were abruptly forced to move courses online where they scrambled to solve the unique challenges of distance learning. In efforts to support these teachers, the Anchin Center welcomed over 500 teachers and administrators from around the world in three sessions of Effective Online Teaching, our first course in a 3-course online professional development series. Participants joined us from 29 states in the USA and from 16 other countries, including Bahrain, Canada, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates.

Participants joined in one of three, two-week sessions: June 15-29, 2020, July 6-17, 2020, or July 20-31, 2020. This fully online and asynchronous course was facilitated by college faculty member, Dr. James Hatten, and was offered free to participants. The course supported both novice and veteran teachers in cultivating effective teaching practices in online environments.

The course was very well received by participants and many are expressing excitement about continuing in the series. One participant wrote, "I am so glad that I signed up for the Effective Online Teaching course. I knew I didn't like what happened last spring and if I needed to teach virtually again, I wanted better skills going forward. I never thought I'd enjoy online teaching or consider it as a career option, but after taking the course, I can see that there might be a place for it in my future."

The second course is the series, Building Relationships in Online Courses is open now for registration. A fall section of Effective Online Teaching is also open for registration. The third course will launch in the summer of 2021.

In partnership with the COEDU Literacy Studies program, the Anchin Center launched two sessions of our Reading K-12 Exam Preparation online professional development opportunity for teachers. This online asynchronous professional development course was created to support teachers in their preparations to earn a passing score on the Reading K-12 Subject Area Exam (035). A passing score on the Reading K-12 Subject Area Exam (035) is a state-approved pathway to a complete reading endorsement, a new legislative requirement for any teacher who provides intensive interventions in reading.

Facilitated by Dr. Lindsay Persohn and Dr. Aimee Frier, this course reviewed best practices in reading instruction and intervention. Over 80 teachers from around the state spent six weeks learning more about building students' literacy skills as they work towards their Florida reading endorsement.

The Anchin Center wants to thank Dr. Jenifer Schneider for her leadership related to this joint offering.

The GCP is proud of the forty-eight assistant principals who completed the year-long program at the end of spring semester 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program had to transition to an online delivery system in the spring. The 2019-2020 cohort was the 8th group completing the program. It has been sustained through a partnership with the David C. Anchin Center, College of Education's Education Leadership and Policy Studies Program, and the leadership development departments of nine Florida school districts. The nine district partners for 2019 - 2020 were Hernando, Manatee, Pinellas, and Polk school districts, as well as districts from the Heartland Consortium, which includes Hardee, Highlands, Hendry, Okeechobee, and Glades. The GCP leadership development training is a program that ultimately leads to Florida Level II Principal Certification. Four hundred thirty-one principals and future principals have completed the year-long program.

The 2020 - 2021 GCP Level II Principal Preparation Program started its 9th cohort in April 2020 and has a group of forty-eight new participants. Dr. John Mann continues to lead the program proudly.

The Tampa Bay Wipro Science Education Fellowship Program is proud of its 20 fellows in the first cohort who completed the program this year. This 2-year professional development program for science teachers is designed to develop their capacity to become change agents from within their classrooms. The program is implemented in partnership with three school districts—Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco County School Districts—and administered through the David C. Anchin Center under the leadership of Dr. Allan Feldman.

The overall goal of this project is to prepare elementary, middle, and high school teachers to be science teacher leaders in their school districts. Emphasis is placed on developing teacher leadership skills and providing teachers the tools to become more effective instructors, to advance science education curriculum and engage in leadership activities such as mentoring new teachers as content area experts. A select group of 20 science teachers from the three partner school districts participated in the program during 2019-2020.

The Leadership Collaborative is an initiative sponsored by the Anchin Center and school district professional development leaders from the west coast of Florida, including Citrus to Sarasota Counties, Polk County and the Heartland Consortium. Participants focus on issues related to professional development and discuss items of concern at the state level.

The Leadership Collaborative held its May meeting online where participants discussed new legislative requirements for teacher recertification, upcoming professional development opportunities, and shared strategies in support of teaching and learning amidst ongoing school closures due to COVID-19.

The Tampa Bay Area Writing Project (TBAWP) hosted its Summer Leadership Institute online this summer 2020. At the Institute, teachers came together to write, discuss their teaching, and think deeply about the ongoing craft of teaching writing.

TBAWP also launched a new online summer program for students when their face-to-face campus had to be reimagined due to COVID-19 closures. The "Dear Writer" camp offered young writers 8-weeks-worth of writing prompts and engaging activities to keep students writing throughout the summer. Each week, campers received a package in the mail related to the camp theme of the week that included materials and writing activities that they can develop into longer pieces. Student campers then shared their writing with other participants for feedback via online discussion boards.

The Anchin Center is proud to support the ongoing work of the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project and is grateful for Dr. Michael Sherry's collaborative leadership of the group.

Online Teaching and Learning

• Introduction to Effective Online Teaching: Online technologies have changed the shape of teaching and learning. Teaching online demands new approaches to facilitate learning and this course is an introduction to those approaches. An Introduction to Effective Online Teaching is the first course in a three (3) course series to support educators in best practices in online pedagogy. Reserve your space and register.

• Building Relationships in Online Courses: In this course, participants will learn ways to continue to build a positive classroom culture online where teacher-student relationships continue to drive and support student academic learning. Building Relationships in Online Courses is the second course in a three (3) course series to support educators in best practices in online pedagogy. Introduction to Effective Online Teaching is a prerequisite for this course. Reserve your space and register.

Literacy

• Reading K-12 Exam Preparation: This online asynchronous course will prepare you to earn a passing score on the Reading K-12 Subject Area Exam (035). A passing score on the Reading K-12 Subject Area Exam (035) is a state-approved pathway to a complete reading endorsement, a legislative requirement for any teacher who provides intensive interventions in reading. Facilitated by a literacy and reading expert, this course will review best practices in reading instruction and intervention. Reserve your space and register.

• B.E.S.T. Florida Standards in Language Arts: Offered in partnership with the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), this workshop will introduce participants to the newly adopted B.E.S.T. Florida Standards in Language Arts. In this online professional development opportunity, teachers will familiarize themselves with the new standards and the best approaches to aligned instruction and intervention in English Language Arts.

Mathematics

• B.E.S.T. Florida Standards in Mathematics: Offered in partnership with the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), this workshop will introduce participants to the newly adopted B.E.S.T. Florida Standards in Mathematics. In this online professional development opportunity, teachers will familiarize themselves with the new standards and the best approaches to aligned instruction and intervention in mathematics.

WHEN

Thursday, December 3, 7:00 p.m. EST to Saturday, December 5, 1:00 p.m. EST

WHERE

This is an online event. Registration information will be forthcoming.

MORE INFORMATION

The current pandemic underscores longstanding inequalities that exist in the educational system and serve as a barrier to achievement by all of Florida’s children. The crisis precipitated by extended school closings also provides an opportunity to change policy and practice to address these persistent issues and inequities. This conference capitalizes on the sense of urgency created by the pandemic and seeks to launch enduring, transformative changes in the way education is provided to diverse populations in Florida schools, especially those from the most vulnerable families and communities.

FEATURED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• Dr. Pedro Noguera, Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education
• Dr. Joan Hughes, University of Texas at Austin
• Dr. Eric Hall, Senior Chancellor at the Florida Department of Education

• City Schools and the American Dream 2: The Enduring Promise of Public Education, by Pedro Noguera, Ph.D. & Esa Syeed, Ph.D.
• Research Review on Early Literacy, by Elizabeth Hadley, Ph.D.
• Tackling Equity in Disciplinary Practices, by Olayinka Alege & J. Howard Johnston, Ph.D.

The mission of the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching is to collaborate with teachers, school leaders, districts, and other educators to improve the quality of education for students and to transform the teaching profession to attract, retain, and develop quality educators. We achieve this mission through partnerships with schools, the broader educational community, business and industry, and the community at large.

Email: AnchinCenter@usf.edu
Website: usf.edu/education/anchin
Location: 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL, USA
Phone: 813-974-5959
Facebook: facebook.com/USFAnchin
Twitter: @USFAnchin