Melanie Brooks
Please welcome Dr. Melanie Brooks to C&I. Dr. Brooks’ background includes an M.Ed. in Curriculum &
Instruction and a Ph.D. in Educational Foundations with a strong research focus in international
education. We have successfully hired her into a joint position between C&I and L&C. Her tenure home
and her supervision will reside in C&I and she will work out of the Boise Water Center.
Dr. Brooks received her doctorate from Florida State University in 2009 and multiple master’s degrees
from University of Missouri-Columbia in 2001 & 2003.
Dr. Brooks has served in the Peace Corps teaching English as a Foreign Language in Thailand; and, she
has taught high school English in Holden, Missouri. As well, her vitae indicates she has held positions as
Associate Librarian at Florida State University, Assistant Librarian and Coordinator of International
Programs at Auburn University, and most recently she has served as Assistant Professor of Educational
Administration at Iowa State University. Dr. Brooks has published widely on teaching and policy in
International settings.
Please welcome Dr. Melanie Brooks to the Department of Curriculum & Instruction.
Janine Darragh
Please welcome Dr. Janine Darragh as our new Assistant Professor in English as a New Language/Literacy
Education, beginning in August 2013.
Dr. Darragh earned her Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education from Washington State University
(2010); and she has been widely recognized as a teacher earning National Board Certification in English
Language Arts/ Adolescence and Young Adulthood (2004), the “Salute to Excellence Teacher of the Year
Award” (2003-2005), and the F. B. Walter Outstanding Educator Award (2003). At the college level, Dr.
Darragh was awarded Whitworth University’s Provost’s Award for Junior Faculty Achievement (201112).
Dr. Darragh has taught for eighteen years, including high school English in rural Appalachia and
instructing graduate level teacher education courses. She holds a permanent teaching certificate
(English 7-12) in the state of Ohio and is certified in ELL (K-adult). She has also taught courses for both
undergraduate and graduate students in both elementary and secondary education programs.
Dr. Darragh’s area of research is in English as a new language and literacy education. Her latest research
project focuses on English language learners and literacy; where she, and her research partner, are
analyzing English Language Learners’ WELPA (Washington English Language Proficiency Assessment),
WLPT (Washington Language Proficiency Test), MAP (Measures of Academic Progress), and MSP
(Measurements of Student Progress) assessment scores and conducting case study interviews with
students and teachers to ascertain what literacy interventions will best help individual and groups of
students progress in their English Language Acquisition.
Join with me in welcoming Dr. Janine Darragh to the C&I department where she will be teaching,
conducting research, and helping to lead our ENL/ESL curriculum revision efforts for K-12 education.
Cassidy Hall
Please welcome Ms. Cassidy Hall as our new Clinical Assistant Professor and Lab Manager for the
Albertson’s Doceo Center.
Ms. Hall earned her Masters of Education in School Library and Information Technologies from
Mansfield University, Pennsylvania, in 2006.
She has worked as a library media specialist and technology coach for the past six years. She has been
at Turkeyfoot Valley Area School; and more recently, was employed as a “Coach” with the “Classrooms
for the Future” statewide grant program, in Pennsylvania. As “Coach” she assisted teachers with the
selection, access, and effective use of technology in the classroom. She employed modeling, coteaching, cooperative planning, and provided one-on-one and small group technology training. In part
due to Ms. Hall’s work integrating technology into teaching and learning, Turkeyfoot Valley Area School
was named a Distinguished School by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Please welcome Ms. Cassidy Hall to our C&I department where she will teach courses and provide
professional development and training for P-12 teachers and university faculty through the Albertson’s
Doceo Center.
Royce Kimmons
Please welcome to the College of Education, Dr. Royce Kimmons, who will begin as tenure-track
Assistant Professor of Learning Technologies in Summer 2013. Dr. Kimmons will report to the Dean as
our lead faculty/researcher associated with the Albertson’s Doceo Center for Learning and Technology.
Dr. Kimmons received his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from UT-Austin in August 2012. He has held
various positions in UT-Austin’s College of Education and has taken leadership roles regarding the
deployment and assessment of technology integration, ranging from large-scale university pilots of
emerging tools like Google Apps for Education and Instructure Canvas to smaller-scale experimental
projects like an Elgg-based personal learning network platform, the development of 21st century
classrooms, and a Drupal-based online training platform.
His scholarship is related to understanding actual outcomes and social contexts surrounding technology
integration. He has worked collaboratively with other researchers and has been recognized for a “Best
Conference Proposal Award” (out of 120 submissions) from the Research and Theory Division of AECT in
2011 and he was recognized as one of two emerging scholars invited to present research at an invited
session on the topic of social networks in education at AECT’s 2012 meeting; and his research team was
named a finalist in SIGGRAPH’s Disney Learning Challenge 2011.
Dr. Kimmons has taught in public schools and has
 Planned, deployed, and maintained a high-traffic 120+ computer network, which was used by
every student and teacher in every classroom throughout the day.
 Developed all school policies for technology inventory, security, and management from the
ground up.
 Managed technology purchasing and budgeting decisions for the school (i.e. hardware,
software, and facilities development).
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Deployed and managed Windows- and Linux-based servers in an Active Directory environment.
Provided on-going technical support to other teachers and administrative staff.
Taught a full course load of digital media and computer literacy courses to high school students.
Developed and maintained the school’s web presence.
Please welcome Dr. Royce Kimmons to the College of Education and the Albertson’s Doceo Center for
Learning and Technology. He will be working with all of us in the Curriculum & Instruction Department
as a consultant and trainer and will teach courses in online teaching and “technology, teaching and
learning.”
Alex Hollingshead
Please welcome Dr. Alex Hollingshead to the Curriculum & Instruction department, Special Education
program.
Alex is certified to teach students with mild through severe disabilities in special education; and in her
home country, Poland, she has taught English and social studies. While working in higher education, Dr.
Hollingshead has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in traditional classroom settings, as
well as, online. She has taught about assistive technologies and Universal Design for Learning; and, she
has co-taught Master’s level courses addressing advanced instructional strategies.
Alex’s focus in research and practice is on providing engaging instruction that facilitates learning and
produces meaningful outcomes for students with autism spectrum disorders and students with severe
disabilities across educational settings. Alex’s dissertation study, which uses a phenomenological
analysis of interviews with experts in the field of students with severe disabilities, concentrates on
defining engagement for students with autism spectrum disorders, and she plans to secure external
funding and conduct applied research in this area.
Please join with me in welcoming Dr. Aleksandra (Alex) Hollingshead as our newest colleague in the
Curriculum & Instruction department.
Shauna Williams
Please join with me in welcoming and congratulating Shauna Williams as the successful applicant for the
full-time faculty position in Business and Marketing Teacher Preparation. Shauna will work out of our
Boise Center. She brings extensive experience as a classroom teacher in Business and Marketing
Education and as a Professional-Technical Student Organization Advisor.
Welcome Shauna, it’s great to have you on faculty in our Career and Technical Education Program.
Mary Jaglois Orr
Please join with me in welcoming and congratulating Mary Orr as our newest full-time faculty member
in the Curriculum & Instruction Department. Mary will work out of the Coeur d’Alene Center as Clinical
Assistant Professor in Literacy and she will support the implementation and design of our elementary
education program and she will also teach Education Core courses in Coeur d’Alene. Mary has taught in
the Post Falls School District as a Special Educator and has taught for the University of Idaho as either a
Graduate Teaching Assistant or Temporary Faculty person for the last seven years. She is a graduate of
the University of Idaho, receiving her B.S. in Elementary Education and Special Education, her Master of
Science in Special Education, and she is planning to complete her Ph.D. this year. Her dissertation
working title is: Analyzing Online Learning Readiness in Students in Secondary Grades.
Please welcome Mary Orr as our newest Clinical Assistant Professor in Coeur d’Alene.
Grants continuing or new:
Anne Adams –
 NSF MSP Institute: Making Mathematical Reasoning Explicit - $1,210,131.75
Julie Amador –
 Idaho Mathematics Regional Professional Development Infrastructure - $284,302.80
 Idaho Mathematics Steering Committee - $253,488.00
 Idaho Mathematics Regional Professional Development Infrastructure Part II - $90,000.00
John Cannon –
 PTSO Consultants - $ 85,921
 PTE Teacher Preparation – $400,000
 PTE Leadership Institute - $40,000
 New PTE Teacher Pre-Service Workshop - $42,925
John Davis –
 Assessing Idaho secondary in-service teacher’s educational technology competence - $6,198
Raymond Dixon –
 NSF ATE - Creating A Regional Workforce for Rural Manufacturing: Linking Technical Education
Systems and Students to Local Business - $200,000
Anne Kern –
 NSF-ITEST: Back to the Earth - $1,196,695.54
 Collaborative Development of a Climate Change Curriculum for Classrooms in the Intermountain
West - $547,725.86
 Colllaborative Research, Pathways Project: Project SOS - Making Connectins Using the Science of
Sustainability - $42,897.96
Allen Kitchel –
 Assessing Idaho secondary in-service teacher’s educational technology competence - $6,198
Brant Miller –
 Integrating Technology in Teaching: Redesign of Technology Tools for Teaching and Learning
Course at the University of Idaho - $9,700
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Assessing Idaho secondary in-service teacher’s educational technology competence - $6,198
Adventure Learning to promote GreenSTEM education and physical activity in schools - $12,000
Collaborative Research: CI-TEAM Demo: Adventure Learning through Water and MOSS. OCI – CITEAM, NSF grant #1135577 - $170,811
Collaborative Development of a Climate Change Curriculum for Classrooms in the Intermountain
West (ICE Net) - $547,727
Margaret Vaughn –
 Examining Knowledge: Transformational Learning through Pre-service Teachers’ Action Research
in Diverse Communities - $6,000
 Nez Perce Summer Youth Writing Project: Cultivating Stories, Writing within an Indigenous
Perspective - $14,894
 Examining Teacher Adaptability with Nez Perce Students during a Summer Youth Writing Project
- $11,980