To:
From:
Date:
RE:
Graceland University Board of Trustees
Tammy Everett, Dean
May 17, 2014
Report on the Edmund J Gleazer School of Education
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Edmund J Gleazer School of Education
The Special Interest Groups (SIGs) the Gleazer School of Education has initiated for faculty
was launched this spring. The initial groups that have organized are: Teacher Identity,
Professional Development School Partnerships, and Distance Learning. Faculty across the
GSOE and CLAS are collaborating in these groups for research and scholarship interests.
Graduate Programs
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A new MEd emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction in a Quality Classroom has been
legislated and now working through the approval processes to launch this new degree
program.
Continued development of Adult Literacy program in Falmouth, Jamaica led by teachers
who are students in Literacy Instruction MEd. Adult students began first classes in
January. MEd students will arrive in the summer to assess and develop continued
curriculum. The launch of this program was highly successful and promises to be another
transformational experience for Graceland students and adults of the Falmouth
community. Shelly and Sherry Leialoha visited students and teachers in March at
Falmouth to provide additional curriculum and assess student learning.
Six Continuing Education courses have been created as Skillpath offerings and now
approved by accrediting organizations as continuing education courses. We are excited
about the initiation of this partnership and its success in the coming year.
Debbi Leialoha, Tammy Everett, and Sandy Hamar attended the AACTE conference in
Indianapolis the February.
Debbi Leialoha has been invited to appear on two refereed programs: The Educational
Paradigms Conference in July, and with Shelly Leialoha and Sherry Leialoha, The
Teaching Professor Technology Conference in October.
Lisa Thomas served as the COA Lead Accreditor for four accreditation visits and a lead
CAEP reviewer this year. Lisa has submitted the following book for publications at
Pearson Learning Solutions: Assessment of Morphological Awareness. Lisa has also
been invited to appear on the program for the International Conference on Learning in
July.
Shelly Leialoha and Sherry Leialoha have presentation acceptance to the Tenets of
Online Learning conference in July.
Initial Programs
 Peggy Henson will be retiring in May and a new faculty has been hired as her
replacement. Peggy has sponsored the Graceland Student Education Association for
several years and this year the Lamoni Campus Graceland Student Education
Association (GSEA) will be honored at the John Stoddard Cancer Center on May
13th. GSEA raised money for the Rally Against Cancer by sponsoring a Community
Cancer Walk. They will be honored as part of the Field Goal Club. The GSEA
members who will be honored are: Andrew Murphy, Joelle Wright, Hannah Henson,
Sara Mongrain, Travis Watanabe, and Rachel Clemence.
 More courses are being developed as online offerings. Linda Koehler and David
Trewhitt have piloted the Special Education courses as online and hybrid offerings
this spring.
 Welcome to Jane Chaillie. Jane is a new EdD graduate from Creighton University.
Her MEd is from the University of Missouri in Literacy Education.
 Linda Koehler: Students from the past several semesters have used my 2011 chapter
"Assistive Technology for Daily Living" as a basis for presentations and/or research
papers in other classes, thus endorsing the BOT encouragement for faculty
scholarship efforts. Student engagement in scholarship is enhanced when modelled by
faculty. In addition, this example may show how the benefits of technology become
personalized in student scholarship.
 Dennis McElroy as Director of Technology is implementing an iPad initiative for the
school in 2014-2015. The initiative has been named GUniverse. For more information
see: http://www.graceland.edu/GUniverse
 Allison Dudley, Nancy Halferty, Sandy Hamar collaborated with a former PDS
building principal, Toni Mallams, who is now teaching courses for GSOE undergrad
and working with the PDS program presented a session in Las Vegas at the National
Professional Development Schools Conference in March.
 Sandy Hamar and Dave Trewhitt also presented at the PDS conference in Las Vegas
on how to develop and utilize an articulation agreement in a PDS program between
districts and the university.
 Tanya Coffelt is serving as Gleazer School of Education and Graceland University
partner to Central Decatur School District in a 3.5 million dollar grant by The System
for Teacher and Student Achievement (TAP).
 Michele Dickey-Kotz and Nancy Halferty presented in Indianapolis in March at the
ILACTE (Institutions of Liberal Arts Colleges of Teacher Education)
 The Lamoni campus hosted the Young Writer’s Conference in April with Brod
Baggert as guest author. DEKKO grant funds have supported this event for
elementary age children and teachers to gather at Graceland to work with GSOE
faculty and pre-service teachers for over fifteen years.