Education Eclipse

There are principals, and then there are principals-of-the-year principals. Valencia Toomer is the award-winning type! She’s a College of Education alumna, and we’re excited that she recently was honored in North Carolina for her excellence. We talk to her about the award, and how at the root of everything, she’s an agent of change by … Continue reading "055 Agents of Change: Valencia Toomer"

At Washington State University, one aspect of the Drive to 25 initiative is to increase enrollment of international students. To achieve this, WSU became one of 11 universities in the United States to partner with INTO. INTO is a private organization that partners with universities to connect potential students with opportunities in higher education. Chad … Continue reading "054 INTO Higher Educat...

Most educational experts agree that quality teaching is the single most important factor in improving educational outcomes for students. Improving that instruction then is perhaps the number one thing K-12 leaders can do, from Superintendent on down. Kristin Huggins, an associate professor of Educational Leadership WSU Vancouver, has always been interested in the field of … Continue reading "053 L...

In rural Washington, there is a shortage in both the number and diversity of students who enter biomedical careers. Thanks to two Washington State University professors, and a 1.2 million dollar federal grant, the HEAL project aims to solve this issue. HEAL stands for Health Education through Arts-based Learning. The two faculty members, Molly Kelton … Continue reading "052 HEAL project grant"

Heidi Rhodes is the first graduate of Washington State University’s Mathematics and Science Education doctoral program. Rhodes has completed this program from WSU Vancouver and talks about the highs and lows of earning her Ph. D., as well as shares her research about middle school principals and their perceptions about math.

A number of students who have been accepted to Washington State University (WSU) are underprepared to enter into a required mathematics course mandated by their selected area of study. In response to this issue, WSU created a course, Mathematics 100, to strengthen students’ basic math skills. Further analysis found that certain modifications to the online … Continue reading "050 The Online Develop...

Every once in awhile, we run into one of our graduates whose career is NOT in their field of study. We often find those stories to be every bit as interesting as others we share. Well, here’s the story of CJ Robert, who graduated from WSU with a Kinesiology degree and now owns TWO businesses. … Continue reading "049 From Kinesiology Grad to Business Owner"

Every year, a Washington State University College of Education student wins the Inga Kromann Book Award. Dr. Inga Kromann was the children’s literature professor at WSU for 38 years. She created an endowment to support a book contest, which was created by her successor, Associate Professor Jane Kelley. The Inga Kromann Book Award contest is … Continue reading "048 Inga Kromann Book Award 2018"

Washington State University’s Learning and Performance Research Center (LPRC) hosts its sixth annual Methods Workshop May 10-11, 2018. The LPRC isn’t alone in its sponsorship. It’s joined by the College of Education’s Educational Psychology, CAHNRS’ Department of Human Development, and the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Psychology. There are multiple entities involved because … Contin...

It is commonly agreed that practicum-based learning is essential for success in a variety of different careers. This is especially true for educators who already get great experience through this process. Yet, many preservice teachers feel unprepared to work with culturally- and linguistically-diverse students. Enter case-based instruction which assistant professor of educational psychology Kira C...

There’s a new program for students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. It’s called WSU ROAR. The WSU stands for Washington State University. ROAR stands for Responsibility, Opportunity, Advocacy, and Respect. If those also sound like VALUES, you may be right! We talk to co-founder Brenda Barrio about how WSU ROAR gives a college experience to … Continue reading "044 WSU ROAR"

Every year, as part of the sport management program capstone, students split into small groups and put together a fundraiser. This requires them to use all the knowledge they’ve acquired during their time in the program. This includes all event planning, from logistics to promotion. One group ran the Palouse Mental Health Resource Fair over … Continue reading "045 Palouse Mental Health Resource Fa...

It’s been well publicized that there is a teacher shortage. Well there’s also a shortage of individuals from Native or Tribal communities who are state-certified teachers. Enter in Ti’Tooqan Cuukweneewit, a project through Washington State University’s College of Education, that helps those in Tribal communities to take life experience and their already acquired Indigenous Knowledge … Continue rea...

Hannah Martian is a sophomore Sport Management major in the College of Education. She’s from Arlington, WA and has a desire to one day become a baseball play-by-play broadcaster. In the meantime, she has recently filed to run for ASWSU Senator and represent the College of Education.

Every year, a WSU student wins the Inga Kromann Book Award. We’ve highlighted previous winners on our podcast. The purpose of this award is to recognize the literary talents and efforts of the students. This year’s winner is Stephanie Sparks, with her book A Pencil Named Benson. She tells us more. Education Eclipse starts now.

Law enforcement officers often consider their fellow officers as a brotherhood or sisterhood. That extends to canine officers. Police dogs. Quite frankly, some officers spend more time with their canine companions than they do with their own families, making those dogs de facto family. But how do we train police officers to render first aid … Continue reading "040 A special police bond"

Quite simply, we can teach better, as a society, when we better know how students learn. A lot of research has been done through classroom observation. But getting down to learning from a neurocognitive perspective, can really help researchers better assess what works and what doesn’t. Jonah Firestone, from WSU Tri-Cities, runs a lab, called… … Continue reading "039 Learning how to learn (SIMIAN L...

We’ve all heard the phrase “best practice,” or, as is often used after research, “evidence-based practice.” Not all current teachers know what that best practice may be because they are uninformed about the newest research, or professional development hasn’t been provided to them. That certainly holds true for special education. We met up with Yun-Ru … Continue reading "038 Evidence-based practice...

For stage actors, it’s not just about what is said, but how it’s said. And the body language that is used. The same can be said for teachers. Educational psychology doctoral student David Alpizar talks about something called “signaling,” which can be a variety of ways to emphasize thing for students; to draw their attention. … Continue reading "037 Signaling in the multimedia classroom"

During a teacher shortage, one place to look for teachers is the classroom itself. Washington state already has a lot of paraeducators… folks who are in the classroom day in and day out, and aren’t certified teachers for a variety of reasons. Lindsay Lightner is at WSU Tri-Cities, and introduces us to its Alternate Route … Continue reading "036 From Parapro to Teacher"

This might sound like a no-brainer, but something that captivates a students’ attention, will help them to then better engage in the lesson, activity, discussion, or what have you. Personal interest is something that is more long-term… more innate… it’s value-based. Situtational interest is something that teachers often have incredible ability to control, and it’s … Continue reading "035 Increasin...

People are bringing dogs into schools more than ever before. Usually, the reason deals with social aspects or social skills. Comfort dogs, for example. A lot of times, we call it canine therapy. But do we know the effect that dogs truly have on learning? Some research suggests there are some benefits to dogs in … Continue reading "034 Dogs in school"

Research has shown that small interactions between students during small group learning environments can help the overall achievement of that group. But then do those small group interactions help the collective, whole classroom level of interaction? It’s not something recognized as having previously been investigated. We talk to Josh Premo, a graduate student in the … Continue reading "033 From s...

You may have heard, but Sesame Street is debuting its first autistic character, Julia. Good timing, because, April is also Autism Awareness Month. As one reporter from a Staten Island news outlet wrote: “Producers of Sesame Street said they took a lot of care in how they portrayed Julia. They worked with autism advocates, teachers, … Continue reading "032 How Literature Treats Autism Spectrum Diso...

Classroom technology integration has always been vital. So with every new building built, we must look at not only how to integrate current technology, but how to prepare for future technology, whatever that may be. That’s no easy feat. Educational psychology doctoral student Kripa Sundar joined some of WSU’s AMS experts to research active learning … Continue reading "031 Active Learning Classroom...