2007 News

A new fund at the UW Foundation allows the Department to offer an annual graduate assistantship to a first-year Ph.D. candidate interested in rural education administration.  James T. Thompson, recently retired Executive Vice President of The Mosaic Company, created the fund in honor of his parents, Barbara S. Thompson and the late Glenn T. Thompson, both alumni of the Department.
      Both Barbara and Glenn dedicated much of their teaching and administrative careers to the advancement and improvement of rural education.  Jim Thompson noted that his parents both grew up in rural areas and always had an interest in the special issues facing rural education. With that in mind, he decided to establish the Barbara S. and Glenn T. Thompson Graduate Award Fund, designed to make an annual award to a first-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA) with an interest in rural education.
      After each earned their Ph.D. in educational administration from UW–Madison in 1969, Barbara and Glenn Thompson went on to provide leadership to educational organizations throughout the state. Barbara, now 83, also served as the Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1973-1981, the first woman elected to that office, during a time of major change and challenges.   Elizabeth Burmaster, the current state superintendent, and Julie Underwood, dean of the UW–Madison School of Education, credited Barbara for opening doors for women in educational leadership and for advancing the Wisconsin Idea of service to all parts of the state.
      To celebrate the award, a special reception was held Oct. 19 on campus.  ELPA faculty, staff, students and UW Foundation staff met the Thompson family and honored Barbara’s achievements and legacy. At the reception, in addition to the comments by Superintendent Burmaster and Dean  Underwood,  ELPA chair Paul Bredeson and ELPA emeritus professor Dean Bowles spoke about their memories of Superintendent Thompson and about the successes and challenges of her tenure in office.  
      The first graduate assistantship from the Thompson fund will be awarded in the spring of 2008, for a student starting in the 2008-09 academic year. 
      “We wanted to give back to a great university,” Jim Thompson said, by helping the department where his parents earned their degrees to compete for the best graduate students. But he doesn’t view the university and the graduate students as the ultimate beneficiaries of this award. “This is really about kids.”

Jim Thompson speaking about his parents' careers and legacy.
(Photo by Kerry Hill, UW School of Education External Relations Office)

Former State Superintendent of Public Instruction with ELPA faculty member Jim Shaw; Kent Peterson in the background. (Photo by Kerry Hill, UW School of Education External Relations Office)

Barbara Thompson, former State Superintendent of Public Instruction. (Photo by Kerry Hill, UW School of Education External Relations Office)

The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) has selected ELPA Graduate Fellow Cornelius Gilbert as one of its " Emerging Leaders" for 2006-2009.  NACADA will fund his attendance at its national conference in October, where Mr. Gilbert will receive the award.

"The Brothers of the Academy (BOTA) named Professor Jerlando F. L. Jackson Brother of the Month for July 2007.  Jackson was recognized for "shaping the literature on diversifying the higher education workforce" and for his national reputation. Read more.

ELPA student Mark Paige is one of three law students in the nation awarded a year-long fellowship "to work with a public interest educational equity project or attorney of their choice in the areas of educational equity and opportunity" by the Institute for Educational Equity & Opportunity, based in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.  Mark, receiving a law degree in 2007, proposed to assist the Wisconsin Education Association Council in its ongoing litigation on behalf of Wisconsin children.  Read more on the IFEEO website.

From the Spring 2007 newsletter of the Phi Delta Kappa International University of Wisconsin-Madison Chapter 0021:
The Phi Delta Kappa University of Wisconsin-Madison Chapter is pleased to recognize Michael Gonzalez as the first recipient of the Jack Kean Portfolio Award. Mike was nominated by ELPA Clinical Professor Jim Shaw. According to Shaw, " I nominated Michael for the Portfolio Award because Michael's portfolio exemplifies school leadership that advances learning for all students. I think Jack Kean would be proud of Michael's portfolio and his focus on equity." Michael's portfolio is used as a model for other ELPA students. Michael is currently a social studies teacher at Madison's La Follette High School. His career goal is to work as a school principal in an urban and diverse school.

The University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management recently selected Kate Alder, ELPA Ph.D. student, as a 2007 Juran Doctoral Award recipient.  The awards are for first- and second-year doctoral students to stimulate their thinking about quality principles early in their Ph.D. careers. To date, Kate's research associate assignments at the Center on Education and Work have explored the challenges associated with advancing quality improvement initiatives in high schools.  Congratulations, Kate!

Alumna Sherri Cyra (M.S. '96) received an Outstanding Administrator Award from the Wisconsin State Reading Association at its 2007 convention in February. Cyra, principal of Sauk Trail Elementary School in Middleton-Cross Plains, has secured several grants to bring in noted speakers on various literacy issues and areas of instruction and has personally coached and mentored staff members in literacy instruction. On their birthdays, Sauk Trails students may select a gift from Cyra's Birthday Bookshelf, where books are organized in baskets by genre.

Alumnus Boyd Simonson (M.S. '69) received a Celebrate Literacy Award from the Wisconsin State Reading Association at its 2007 convention in February. Simonson, principal of the 800-student Waupaca Learning Center, helped to establish the United for Reading Success program, in which local Rotary Club members tutor students in reading skills. He also worked with the Waupaca Public Library to establish an after-school homework help program. He is retiring this spring after 50 years in education.

ELPA Ph.D. candidate Jason Johnson's first book is in print, with a little assistance from professor Clif Conrad. Full bibliographical information is: Conrad, Clifton F. and Johnson, Jason (co-editors). College and University Curriculum: Placing Learning at the Epicenter of Courses, Programs and Institutions. Boston, MA: Pearson. 2007 (880 pp.)

The first product from ELPA professor Richard Halverson's Games, Learning and Society project has just been released. The Teacher Evaluation Game ia available for download at http://slg.gameslearningsociety.org/

The Department granted research travel awards this semester to ELPA students Phillis George, Natalie Tran, Mark Benedict, Sarah McKinney, Tori Maslow, Kate Alder, Bridget McCurtis, Jason Johnson, Hans Klar and Ariel Kaufman to support their research and participation in professional conferences around the nation.  In addition, Kim Kile received a Vilas Travel Grant Award from the UW Graduate Student Collective to allow her to present at the National Career Development Association (NCDA) conference in Washington, D.C. July 9-11, 2008.  The application deadline for the next round of awards given by ELPA's Student Personnel Committee is Jan. 25.  See the details and simple application form here. 

ELPA master's student Scott Seyforth has inspired a unique experiential learning course, according to the Fall 2007 issue of On Wisconsin magazine. The course took students and professors on a ten-day, five-city trip to learn the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights movement from people who had lived it. The author of the article, course professor Susan Zaeske, credits Seyforth as "the major force behind the trip, leading the effort to coordinate hundreds of details, and gaining broad sponsorship from nine different campus organizations, including the Dean of Students, the Chancellor, and the Provost." Seyforth also contributed a side article on the history of LGBT people at the UW from 1950 to 1970.

LeRoy J. Peterson (Ph.D. '32), emeritus professor of educational administration, dies May 12, 2007. He was 101. He served as research director of the Wisconsin Education Association from 1932 to 1948 and taught classes in school finance and administration at the UW from 1948 until his retirment in 1971.

Wilson B. Thiede, who earned bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, died May 19, 2007 at age 91. He served the university in numerous capacities--as a counselor in the University Counseling Center; as director of admissions, director of correspondence study, and recorder of the University Extension Division; as director of field services, chairman of the Education Department in University Extension; and as professor in the School of Education and Extension, chairman of the School of Education Department of Education, associate dean of the School of Education, and provost for outreach in the Univesity of Wisconsin System. He retired in 1982.

The Department is pleased to announce that Jennifer A. Delaney, who recently received her Ph.D. in higher education from Stanford University, will join the Department as an assistant professor this fall. With considerable experience as an educational policy analyst — most recently at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education — her teaching and research agenda focuses on higher education finance, the role of higher education in state budgets, and access to higher education for low-income students. Dr. Delaney's appointment begins Aug. 27, 2007.

The Department is delighted that Elton J. Crim, Jr., Interim Associate Dean of Students, will join the higher, postsecondary and continuing education (HPCE) faculty as a clinical professor in August. Dr. Crim, who received his Ph.D. in higher education from Penn State University, will be teaching, directing and advising students in the master's program in HPCE, and managing an electronic portfolio assessment system, among other responsibilities.

From the Wisconsin Association of School Boards:

The George Tipler family has funded an annual grant to be given to a student in the administrator preparation program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Mr. Tipler was the former Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The grant is for the study of a school legal issue. The amount of the grant in 2007 is $700.

An application for the grant should include a one- or two-page description of the school legal issue to be studied and the proposed use of the grant funds. The application should be submitted to Prof. Julie Mead of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. The deadline for applying for the grant is August 1, 2007.

Applications will be reviewed initially by faculty in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis to insure that the proposals satisfy the purposes of the grant. Those proposals deemed worhty of support will be forwarded to the President of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards and the President of the Wisconsin School Attorneys Association. The Presidents will select the grant recipient. The grant will be awarded after September 1, 2007.

Assistant Professor Jerlando F.L. Jackson was recommended for promotion to Associate Professor with tenure April 26 by a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee of the Social Studies Division of the Faculty.  Dean Julie Underwood concurred and congratulated him, and the Department will celebrate with an evening reception at Professor Mead's home May 11.

Professor Kent Peterson was coming through the airport in Chicago April 9 when his wife, Ann, drew his attention to the bold Sun Times front-page headline, "Clone This Principal."  Lo, underneath is 2003 alumnus Don Fraynd!  The caption reads, "Principal Donald Fraynd is lauded for bringing 'fresh ideas' to Jones College Prep. He was recruited from Wisconsin."  Read more.

Policymakers statewide are debating an overhaul of Wisconsin's $10 billion school funding system, based on recommendations of an "adequacy" funding model developed in a study on which Professor Allan Odden is lead author.  The Wisconsin State Journal recently examined the issues and prospects for his proposal. 

Photo by Joseph W. Jackson III, from
the Wisconsin State Journal Jan.29, 2007, p. 1.

Academic progress at a high-poverty Madison school was featured in a Jan. 26 Capital Times article, "Successful students, successful school: Mendota Elementary beats the odds."  Prominent in a sidebar was Prof. Rich Halverson, who has been studying Mendota and praised principal Sandy Gunderson's leadership. 

Long-term school study by Susan Troller, The Capital Times

University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Richard Halverson is an expert on school leadership, and as part of a large, ongoing research project through the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis Department, he has been studying Mendota Elementary and other schools since 2003. "We were trying to identify schools with a good reputation for leadership, and almost everyone in Madison said, 'You've got to talk to Sandy,'" he said, referring to Mendota Principal Sandy Gunderson. Although his study is still ongoing, Halverson said preliminary research suggests that the best schools and districts have created a whole new professional relationship among teachers, principals and other administrators as they look at data on student performance and try to find solutions for improvement.The best administrators "look at things that need to improve in a school as a puzzle to be solved, not a problem," he explained. And they are good, he added, at working collaboratively to find solutions.

"Sandy is very, very perceptive in understanding what's necessary to get
her entire staff and parents working together as a team," he said. Halverson added that excellent school leaders are capable of carefully balancing the demands of creating a good curriculum with the overall climate in the school. Good schools dedicate their energy to the kids' well-being as well as to academic efforts, he explained. In addition, they reach out to their communities, especially parents.