Search Committees Should Meet This Week to Discuss Two 1999-2000 Searches

Searches for two replacement tenure track faculty members in the Education Department to start August 2000 have been authorized in the area of Early Childhood Education and Learning and Teaching.  Dean Kleine has requested both short and long versions of these position announcements as soon as possible for the School of Education and Professional Studies ad in the Chronicles of Higher Education.  Please convene the Search Committees ASAP to develop the ads and the search procedures.

Please note:
Revisions to the 2000-2002 Catalog are due to the VP-AA by Friday, October 1, 1999.

Planning for Teacher Education Community Advisory Council -
proposed - September 30, 1999, 12-2, LIB 204 - lunch (sponsored by Dean Kleine)

* four 5 minute presentations on department's conceptual framework -
Constructivism,
Whole Language/Literacy,
Diversity, and
Educational Technology Infusion

* discussion with regional superintendents, curriculum directors, university supervisors, cooperating teachers, colleagues across campus, student representatives, on

impressions of ECSU graduates,
directions for program given changing foci in regional schools,
current and potential collaborations,
other topics ...

* possible library tour

Macintosh Computers are available
If anyone is interested in obtaining a Macintosh for a student worker or special project, please contact Steve Frazier at x55081 ASAP.

CT Voices for Children First Monday policy colloquium on
"Technology, Youth and the Digital Divide".

Tuesday, September 14th, 9 am to noon in the Legislative Office Building, Room 2C of the State Capitol.  The policy colloquium is open to the public, but you might want to RSVP to CT Voices as we expect a good crowd.  We also anticipate strong media coverage.

Key speakers will include:

-Lt. Governor Jodi Rell
-Kelly Levy of the National Telecommunications Information Administration
(NTIA), federal Department of Commerce,  and author the latest Dept of
Commerce "Falling through the Net" report
-Terry Lee, CEO and founder of Cyber-Youth, a Washington, DC youth technology
enterprise. Terry is also an HUD consultant on youth and technology to all of
the national Empowerment Zone grantees.
-Ann Pollina, Headmaster of the Westover School and Co-Chair of the CT Girls&
Technology Network

There will also be several youth speakers.

There is some good background information on the issue of the Digital Divide
in the March 1999 Special Report on Technology and K-12 Education
(at -- http://www.ctkidslink.org/kidslink/code/PDFs/edtech.pdf). Other
materials will be available at the colloquium and, then, on-line at CT
KidsLink.

David Stoloff has reserved a car for the trip to Hartford.  Please see him for further details.

Student/Professional Opportunities (Please see David for details.)

American Association for University Professors - Connecticut State University
Research Project in Developing Online Courses for PK-12 Schools

Seeking a diverse group of ten PK-12 teachers, representing a variety of grades and subjects taught, to develop collaboratively month-long courses that they would plan to implement in their classrooms during the 1999-2000 academic year.  These courses would focus on a curricular topic that would be enriched through the integration of at least 100 links to websites woven into the course’s narrative and activities for learning.  This project will examine the factors influencing the effectiveness of curriculum supported by web-based resources.

 Qualifications:  experience teaching in a PK-12 school, coursework in curriculum development.  Willingness to develop in webpage development.

 Participants will receive a stipend of $300.  They may either work on their own with collaboration with the project director via email or attend workshops during July 1999 at ECSU.  They may also earn graduate credit for their participation by enrolling in an oncampus or online educational technology workshop.

 For more information, please contact Dr. David Stoloff, Education Department Chair, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT 06226, email:  stoloffd@ecsu.ctstateu.edu, tel. no. (860) 465-5501, or visit  http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/stoloff/su99project.html .

Opportunities for Math and Reading Tutors

from "ENC Focus:
A Magazine for Innovators," vol. 6, no.2, 1999, and the America Counts
website (http://www.ed.gov/inits/Math).

Higher education institutions usually offer students jobs through the
Federal Work-Study program, whereby the feds provide some of the $ for
the students' wages.  As part of its America Counts program, the U.S.
Dept of Ed now will pick up the total cost when the student works as a
K-9 math tutor.  Any public or non-profit school or community based
organization in need of math tutors should contact the financial aid or
community service office of nearby colleges or universities.

Also, to support high-quality tutoring programs, they're developing and
identifying existing resource materials, which are posted on the
website.

The following participate in America Counts:
 Eastern Connecticut State University
 Gateway Community Technical College

Please contact Dr. Pat Martin, Director of Career and Experiential Education Services, at 465-5247 for more details.

substitute teaching opportunities for students

Killingly schools are interested in recruiting mature, talented people to serve as part of a core
substitute teacher cadre.  Members of this substitute teacher cadre will have regular
work and the added benefit of being able to participate in programs through Killingly’s
newly established professional development center.

Please see Mitch Sakofs for details.

Opportunities to Contribute

Relay for Life - American Cancer Society - October 16-17, 1999. The Stoloff family is looking for sponsors;  we will be walking around the track at Windham High School from 6-7 pm on Saturday, October 16.

Lessons Learned: Breaking the Cycle of Violence at ECSU

WILLIMANTIC, CT - Parents, school board members, school administrators,
teachers and guidance counselors are urged to take part in three free,
national, interactive videoconferences on school violence this fall.
Eastern Connecticut State University will be the Connecticut site for the
conferences, which are being broadcast from the Cincinnati PBS Affiliate
WCET and hosted by the HOPE Foundation, a non-profit foundation sponsored
in part by the United Way of New York and the Institute for Instructional
Leadership.

 "Acting on Early Warning Signs," the first conference in Lessons Learned:
Breaking the Cycle of Violence II, will be held September 21 from 4 to 5:30
p.m. in the Community Room (Room 204) of the J. Eugene Smith Library on the
Eastern campus. Kevin Dwyer, author of the White House Publication Early
Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools, will be joined by James
Garbarino, author of Lost Boys and director of the Cornell Family Life
Center; Denise Rockwell-Woods, executive committee member of the National
Education Association (NEA); Fred Mathews of Toronto Youth Services;
students; and practitioners who participated in the first Lessons Learned
conference.

"Comprehensive Prevention Planning" will take place on October 19 from 4 to
5:30 p.m. in Webb Hall, Room 110; and "Containing Crisis: Managing School
and Community Emergencies" will be held on November 30 from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
in the Community Room of the J. Eugene Smith Library. According to the HOPE
Foundation, each of the Lessons Learned: Breaking the Cycle of Violence II
programs "will feature state of the art practices, leading experts on the
topic, and professionals from education, law enforcement and mental health.
The programs are designed to allow individuals to sharpen their skills and
knowledge, while schools and communities can also use this as a springboard
for collaborative planning."

ECSU's sponsorship of this national videoconference is an extension of the
community outreach and teacher training programs offered by the university.

According to Early Childhood Education Professor Jeffrey Trawick-Smith of
Eastern, "Our research has shown that children who don't learn social and
conflict resolution skills by the age of 6 probably won't learn them, but
that adults can make a difference; teachers can teach students to resolve
conflicts. Building on that research, we developed a powerful model of
direct intervention in the classroom. We recruited students to prepare them
not only in teaching, but in learning the intervention techniques. We also
worked with parents to implement these techniques." Funding legislation
introduced by U.S. Representative Sam Gejdenson (D-2) will enable Eastern
to re-establish the violence prevention training program, previously
offered by the university, for which funding was cut.

The videoconference series is free and open to the public. For more
information, contact Pat Kucharski, School of Education and Professional
Studies, at (860) 465-5264.
 

Recently acquired media

At the PDS Forum, Jackie Bowman bought

Johnston, M. (1997) Contradictions in collaborations.  NY:  Teachers College Press.

Levine, M. & Trachtman, R., ed. (1997)  Making professional development schools work.  NY:  Teachers College Press.

Please see Jackie if you would like to borrow these books, which were purchased with the support of the Technical Assistants  in the P-12 Schools project.

David Stoloff has the proceedings of the "In Praise of Education" conference in his office.  Also, Learn and Live, a video from the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

On David's bookshelf:

The Dean shared with David - "Rising Expectations:  A Framework for ERIC's Future in the National Library of Education."

SDE's report on "Public School Educator Supply and Demand in Connecticut:  A Look Toward the 21st Century."

Large binder and other materials to prepare for NCATE 2000 Standards and our next program review.

*********
Please contact David Stoloff at (860) 465-5501, email: stoloffd@ecsu.ctstateu.edu if you have any questions or comments on this newsletter.