David Arsen

Faculty member David Arsen has received the Michigan School Business Officials’ (MSBO) 2013 Friend of Education award.

Given in recognition of outstanding support of education in Michigan, the Friend of Education award was presented to Arsen by MSBO Board of Directors President Angie McArthur, at the organization’s recent Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Arsen is a professor in the Department of Educational Administration, and an economist who specializes in educational policy analysis.

Researcher Rebecca Jacobsen

In the wake of President Obama’s “college scorecard,” new research finds that government attempts to grade educational institutions can backfire when done for political or policy purposes.

Rebecca Jacobsen of Michigan State University studied the effects of publicizing performance data for K-12 schools, which was mandated by No Child Left Behind in 2001. While Jacobsen believes school report cards are warranted to keep the public informed, she said too often the information presented is unclear or misleading to parents and can ultimately erode trust in the schools.

And now comes the president’s interactive scorecard for colleges and universities. In his February State of the Union address, Obama said the scorecard compares schools “based on a simple criteria: where you can get the most bang for your educational buck.”

Jacobsen, assistant professor of teacher education, said attempting to determine the value of a college or K-12 education with a set of data can be a dangerous proposition.

“It can be scary, because they’re trying to give you a prototype that attempts to get at the value of an education,” Jacobsen said. “But how do we determine value? I may value the network I develop, while someone else may value the diversity of courses or another facet of the educational experience.”

While K-12 schools may share a more common mission than colleges and universities, the data used to grade any educational institution can have unintended consequences.

“It’s a growing problem,” Jacobsen said. “Policymakers and state legislators have realized they need to put the data out there in a way that’s clear, but sometimes those efforts toward clarity are actually backfiring.”

In New York City, where K-12 schools are given a simple letter grade, education officials in 2010 capped the number of schools that could receive an “A.” Consequently, many schools saw grades fall even though student performance did not necessarily drop.

The result, as Jacobsen discusses in the March/April issue of Educational Policy, was a drop in parent satisfaction with the schools. In addition, increased grades did not boost parent satisfaction, suggesting the psychological effect of declining grades has a larger effect than seeing a school maintain or improve its performance.

Raising the bar on student performance has been shown to spur academic achievement in school districts, making it an appealing policy, Jacobsen said. But little attention has been paid to how the public is influenced by the report cards that publicize the results.

Long-term consequences of decreased parent satisfaction could include a decline in enrollment, donations and volunteers, and even a drop in housing values, which are tied to the community schools.

Many states and school districts have changed their grading systems from year to year. Jacobsen said they should pick one system that’s easy to understand and then focus on parent outreach.

“In our rush to produce data of all shapes and sizes and then reshape these data for policy or political purposes, we cannot forget to consider how the public is interpreting these data,” Jacobsen said. “Parents want one clear number, and I don’t think we should monkey with that number.”

The study was co-authored by Andrew Saultz and Jeffrey Snyder, both doctoral students in the Educational Policy program at MSU.

The College of Education at MSU also now ranks No. 15 overall — up from No. 16, according to the latest graduate school rankings compiled by U.S. News & World Report. Looking across all the program rankings, the college has a total of five programs ranked 1st or 2nd. That’s more top-2 programs than any other education school in the country.

The overall college rankings reflect the quality of the curriculum, faculty, students and research within the college, as well as data from surveys of education deans and school superintendents nationwide. The individual program rankings are based on the survey of deans.

“We continue to be a leader among education schools across the country,” said Donald E. Heller, dean of the College of Education. “And the number one reason for this is our people — the faculty, students and staff who contribute to our excellence. While many people know of our long-standing, No. 1 ranking in elementary and secondary education, I am particularly pleased that my fellow deans across the country have recognized the high quality of a number of our academic programs.”

“None of this could have been accomplished with the support we have enjoyed from the university, our research sponsors and our generous donors,” he said.

Along with elementary and secondary education holding steady at No. 1 for so long, MSU has also held the No. 2 spot in curriculum and instruction for 12 consecutive years. Together, those rankings reflect the College of Education’s commitment to improving the practice of teaching and learning in K-12 schools, through research, graduate study and programs that prepare new teachers for careers in elementary and secondary classrooms.

The 2014 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools hits newsstands April 9.

Here is the list of College of Education programs ranked:

Elementary education - #1

Secondary education – #1

Rehabilitation counseling – #2 (Ranked in 2011)

Curriculum and instruction – #2

Higher education administration - #2

Educational psychology – #7

Administration/supervision – #9

Education policy – #11

Visit http://www.usnews.com/grad for more information.

Check MSU News for information about graduate programs across campus.

In addition, the doctoral program in kinesiology at MSU, also offered within the College of Education, ranks #6 in the nation, according to a report from the National Academy of Kinesiology (NAK). Learn more.

Rebecca Jacobsen

Education Week blogger Rick Hess has named four Michigan State University faculty members to the Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings, an annual listing of scholars known for making significant contributions to national debates in education.

College of Education Dean Donald Heller was ranked No. 76 on the list (up from No. 83 last year). Rebecca Jacobsen, assistant professor of teacher education, was new to the ranking at No. 141 (tied). The other MSU representatives listed by the Rick Hess Straight Up (RHSU) blog were Gary Sykes, professor emeritus of teacher education, and Sarah Reckhow, assistant professor of political science. A total of 168 scholars were spotlighted this year.

Donald Heller

The ranking, as Hess writes, “reflects both a scholar’s body of academic work–encompassing books, articles, and the degree to which these are cited–and their 2012 footprint on the public discourse.” That includes appearances in education and general news media, blogs and social media.

“One small way to encourage academics to step into the fray and revisit academic norms is, I think, by doing more to recognize and value those scholars who engage in public discourse,” explained Hess, who serves as director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute. “These results offer insight into how scholars in a field of public concern are influencing thinking and the national discourse.”

Heller is a national authority on issues of higher education accessibility, funding and financial aid, topics on which he has often been called to speak before university leaders, policymaking organizations and lawmakers. Jacobsen has conducted extensive research on public opinion and its impact on education. Her current work has focused on the role of accountability policies.

Several former MSU College of Education faculty members also are on the Public Presence list, such as Richard Elmore, Yong Zhao, David Cohen, Andrew Porter, Deborah Ball and David Labaree.

Read more about the rankings, including the metrics used to measure public impact.

William Schmidt

A new study analyzing the previous math standards of each state provides strong support for adoption of common standards, which U.S. students desperately need to keep pace with their counterparts around the globe, a Michigan State University scholar argues.

Forty-six states are implementing the Common Core math and reading standards, which nonetheless have come under fire recently by some researchers and would-be politicians.

But William Schmidt, MSU Distinguished Professor of statistics and education, said the Common Core is a world-class set of standards. In his study with senior research specialist Richard Houang, published in the journal Educational Researcher, Schmidt found that states whose previous standards were most similar to the Common Core performed better on a national math test in 2009.

“We can’t yet prove anything about the Common Core standards because they’re just now being implemented, but if we look back we find that those states that were closest to the Common Core on average did better on the 2009 NAEP test (National Assessment of Educational Progress),” Schmidt said. “This is another strong piece of evidence that we are moving in the right direction.”

The study also found that some states previously had Common Core-worthy criteria – such as requiring eighth-graders to understand and apply the Pythagorean Theorem – but essentially let the students and teachers off the hook by having low proficiency standards. Michigan, for example, had high standards but low proficiency guidelines – students could pass the standard math test by scoring less than 40 percent.

Richard Houang

Common Core addresses that deficiency with a set of standard proficiency guidelines slated to go into effect with the 2014-15 school year, Schmidt said.

Schmidt’s research refutes a Brookings Institute study that suggested the Common Core will have no effect on student performance. But that study, Schmidt said, relied on opinion-based ratings whereas his is a statistical analysis relying on coded-based data.

Some political candidates in Michigan and elsewhere around the nation have criticized the Common Core as federal meddling into state education matters – despite the fact that the Common Core was developed by a coalition of state leaders including the governors.

Beyond the ideological attacks, Schmidt said the Common Core represents a great opportunity for U.S. students to become competitive in the global economy.

“This is probably the best chance we’ve had to improve America’s mathematics education in 50 years if not more,” Schmidt said. “We finally have standards that are comparable to what the top-achieving countries have. It would be foolish for Michigan or any other state to pull back now.”

David Arsen

Michigan’s emergency manager law gives individuals sweeping power over financially troubled public school districts. But in a new study Michigan State University researchers say the law does not address student learning and could even hurt academic performance in high-need communities.

The Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act grants governor-appointed emergency managers all powers of the superintendent and elected school board, plus more. They can, for example, unilaterally cancel labor contracts, open and close schools and change curriculum – even though the law does not include standards or consequences tied to student achievement.

Citizens will decide whether to repeal the emergency manager law when they vote on Proposal 1 Nov. 6. So far, emergency managers have been appointed to three school districts: Detroit, Muskegon Heights and Highland Park.

“There are dozens of additional districts that currently have deficits, and the policy we have for addressing them is underdeveloped,” said David Arsen, professor of educational administration in MSU’s College of Education and a faculty associate in the Education Policy Center. “We need a policy under which leaders are obliged to take learning seriously and this law says nothing about it.”

Arsen and Mary L. Mason, an attorney and doctoral student in educational policy in MSU’s College of Education, analyzed the creation and implementation of the law based on government documents such as legislative histories, legal proceedings, school district financial statements and orders issued by emergency managers. Their study is available on the Education Policy Center website and has been accepted for publication by the journal Educational Policy.

Mary Mason

In the hurry to balance budgets, emergency managers with no background in education and without input from educators and the public could end effective academic programs or make other poor educational decisions, the researchers say. Also, although it is too early to assess academic outcomes, Arsen and Mason argue that simply shifting authority from local leaders to emergency managers will not fix the underlying financial problems.

“The law fails to take account of the role of state funding and school choice policies that place districts serving low-income families at a decisive disadvantage,” said Arsen. Unless this is addressed, he added, the state will only encounter more financially troubled districts.

The researchers recommend a policy framework for supporting financially troubled school districts that 1) ensures leaders have expertise in education, not just finance and business, 2) expects accountability for (not just authority over) academic decisions and 3) recognizes solving the deep-rooted problems in Michigan’s troubled districts will require a sustained effort among multiple stakeholders.

“As much as we’d like to think so, these are not problems that can be solved simply by changing the boss,” Arsen said. “Schools work better when they cultivate trust among educators, administrators and families, and we need to structure external support that can sustain that.”

Arsen and Mason made a presentation about the findings on Nov. 1 in 133-F Erickson Hall on the MSU campus. A copy of the findings and recommendations of the House Education Subcommittee (the Nathan report) cited in the study can be found here.

The class of 2011, the first group of students exposed to the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) for their entire high school careers, saw mixed results.

The introduction of the MMC reduced graduation rates slightly for students who entered high school with weak academic skills. For those who entered with strong skills, there was no effect of the MMC on high school completion rates.

Performance on standardized tests rose slightly for students who entered high school with strong skills. The impact on test scores was small or negative for those who entered high school with weak skills. The best-prepared students saw better performance in science, reading and math. All students experienced declines in writing scores, according to an analysis released Monday by the Michigan Consortium for Educational Research (MCER).

The consortium is a partnership between the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the State of Michigan. The results of its research are being presented at a conference at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing on Oct. 22.

Results show that the merit curriculum reduced the five-year graduation rate among lower-achieving students by approximately 4.5 percentage points (from 49 percent to 44.5 percent). The merit curriculum also appears to have prompted some students to extend their stay in high school beyond the traditional four years, perhaps in an effort to meet the more rigorous curricular requirements.

Kenneth Frank

In 2006 Michigan adopted the merit curriculum, a set of high school graduation requirements that emphasize math and science. The goal was to increase the rigor of high school courses and better prepare students for college. The first students covered by the curriculum started ninth grade in the fall of 2007 and would have been scheduled for an on-time graduation in spring 2011.

“These findings are for the first set of students subject to the new requirements. The results may change as schools and teachers gain experience with the curriculum,” said Susan Dynarski, a professor at U-M’s Ford School of Public Policy, School of Education and Department of Economics. “As more students complete their high school years, we will find out whether the curriculum boosts college attendance and success, a key goal of the reform.”

Additional findings indicate large gaps across income groups and Michigan’s districts in high school graduation and college attendance. Four-year high school graduation rates range from less than 50 percent to over 90 percent across Michigan’s largest school districts. Fifty-seven percent of low-income freshmen graduate high school within four years, compared to 85 percent of students with higher incomes. And 31 percent of low-income students attend college within five years of entering high school, compared to 61 percent of students with higher incomes.

The Michigan Merit Curriculum also appears related to some personnel changes. Additional results released at the conference show that the teaching staff at Michigan’s high schools has shifted toward merit curriculum subjects, with those teaching these topics rising from 58 percent in 2004 to 71 percent in 2011.

“Between 2004 and 2011, the overall number of high school teachers in Michigan fell. However, with the introduction of the MMC it appears that schools and districts focused their limited resources on teachers who taught core academic subjects,” said Kenneth Frank, a professor in the College of Education at MSU.

Barbara Schneider

The merit curriculum requires that students take Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2, as well as Biology 1 and either Chemistry or Physics. Students must take four years of English Language Arts and complete two years of a foreign language.

“The findings of this first study are important and must be seen as a diagnostic tool for our teachers, administrator and education leaders,” said State Superintendent Michael P. Flanagan. “The Michigan Merit Curriculum is the right direction and must be maintained. We need to delve deeper now and see how we can help schools deliver it successfully to every student in Michigan.”

The study uses data from 700,000 students enrolled in Michigan’s public high schools to examine the effects of the merit curriculum. The research was funded by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education.

Joining Dynarski and Frank on the study are Brian A. Jacob, professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at U-M, and Barbara Schneider, professor at the College of Education and Department of Sociology at MSU. They will present their findings Oct. 22 at a conference that runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a keynote speech scheduled for 1 p.m. by Flanagan.

Additional reports are available on the MCER website: www.michiganconsortium.org.

Council member Mark Reckase, a University Distinguished Professor of Measurement & Quantitative Methods in the MSU College of Education, said this will give educators an opportunity to essentially try out different (1) tools for classroom observation and (2) methods for assessing student growth before creating a system for widespread implementation, a process that will require broad support and training.

“It’s really difficult to see how these things might be brought to scale for a whole state,” said Reckase, an educational assessment expert who was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder. “We said the only way to really know is to do a pilot study.”

The study is now moving forward in 12 school districts with $6 million in state funding.

Gov. Snyder also appointed two MSU College of Education graduates to the MCEE: its chairperson Deborah Loewenberg Ball (’76, ’82, and ’88), dean of the University of Michigan School of Education, and Nick Sheltrown (’99, ’07), senior director of measurement, research and business intelligence at National Heritage Academies. Michigan Department of Education official Joseph Martineau (Ph.D. ’04) serves on the council without vote.

The other members are David Vensel, principal of Jefferson High School in Monroe, and Jennifer Hammond, principal of Grand Blanc High School. Suzanne Wilson, chair of the MSU Department of Teacher Education, provides technical support to the committee as well.

Reckase has been studying what works best among one popular type of student growth measure, value-added models or VAMs, as part of a research project with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Jeff Wooldridge, University Distinguished Professor in the MSU Department of Economics, and Cassandra Guarino, associate professor at Indiana University, are co-principal investigators on that project.

As in other states considering policies related to educator evaluation, Reckase said Michigan’s new system will have implications for researchers studying questions of teacher quality – including how prior education plays a role.

In July 2012, the state of Michigan was granted flexibility under the federal Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA), often known as No Child Left Behind. State education leaders say the change moves Michigan schools into a new era of rigor, accountability and performance.

 The Michigan State University Office of K–12 Outreach has been identified as one of the state’s key partners in implementing the revised structure. The office, based in the College of Education, was active in writing and developing the state’s flexibility request, and will play a prominent role in strengthening school- and district-level achievement.

“Although K–12 Outreach staff members have been working with Michigan’s Statewide System of Support since 2007, their roles are evolving in new and exciting ways, said Assistant Dean Barbara Markle, who is heading MSU’s effort. “We strongly support the state’s approach and look forward to the possibilities it holds for Michigan learners.”

This summer, the Office of K–12 Outreach has been busy recruiting and training about 100 specialists and facilitators who will be working in Michigan schools starting this fall, helping improve student performance and narrow achievement gaps. These professionals will build upon the effective strategies developed through university research and MSU-led school improvement initiatives such as the Michigan Fellowship of Instructional Leaders and Coaching 101. Moreover, they will support the creation of a new and more robust system of locally-based data diagnosis and dialogue that will lead to new findings about school reform.

Michigan’s new accountability structure

Moving away from past definitions of  Adequate Yearly Progress (or AYP), Michigan is now assessing the performance of its schools using a slightly modified “Top-to-Bottom” list. This list ranks schools from top (highest-performing) to bottom (lowest-performing) based on student achievement, improvement and differences in achievement between the highest- and lowest-performing students within a school. Schools are then grouped as follows:

• Priority schools are those in the bottom 5 percent of schools on the Top-to-Bottom list. These schools are required to create and implement reform plans. Additional supports are also provided to turn around their performance including, in the case of Title I-funded schools, the deployment of MSU-trained intervention specialists who will lead data analysis and professional dialogue. These specialists will also work to build and support district officials’ capacity for leading change at the building level.
• Focus schools are identified as the 10 percent of schools with the widest gaps in student achievement between low-performing (lowest 30 percent of students) and high-performing (highest 30 percent of students) within the school. These schools also receive additional support to review their data and implement strategies to address these gaps. For Title I-funded schools, this will mean work with an MSU-trained district improvement facilitator, who will help district officials devise and implement effective strategies for change.
• Reward schools are those that achieve high levels of performance, proficiency or growth, or those that “beat the odds” in comparison to their comparable peers. These are the strongest performing schools in Michigan and, as such, they are eligible for special recognition.

Renewed promise for the future

Through its active partnership with the Michigan Department of Education and the state’s School Reform/Redesign Office, MSU will continue its strong investment in the work of school improvement and change. Markle said this work is critically important to ensure the needs of every Michigan learner are met.

“The state has charted a course toward excellence and equity for all learners,” she said. “We are pleased and honored to serve as a trusted partner. MSU has the expertise and leadership resources necessary to carry out this vital work.”

The public believes that all three levels of government – local, state and federal – should be involved in education policy and that local officials should be in charge of day-to-day operations of the schools, said Rebecca Jacobsen, lead researcher on the project.

Jacobsen, assistant professor of teacher education, and Andrew Saultz, a doctoral student in Educational Policy, analyzed some 40 years of public surveys involving education. Their analysis, in Public Opinion Quarterly, comes as federal education initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have led many policy advocates to focus on federal control of schools.

But Jacobsen said it’s a mistake to discount the popularity of local school boards. There are more than 90,000 locally elected school board members serving on nearly 15,000 school boards in the United States.

“A lot of policymakers today think they can just go around the local boards; that the federal government can create a policy that goes directly to the schools or works around the existing institutions,” Jacobsen said. “But that’s not going to work in the long run, because local control is not dead. People still feel it plays an important role.”

When it comes to policy decisions related to equitable funding and standards across all schools, the public favors state and federal government control, Jacobsen said.

“At the national level we want schools to be relatively equitably funded, and we want schools to teach relatively the same topics and make sure kids have access to the same types of curriculum,” she said.

But the public also believes local officials should be in charge of “running schools” or “improving schools,” the paper found. These findings are particularly powerful, Jacobsen said, given that national policy discussions have criticized local control and steps have been taken to diminish local decision-making ability through policy changes.

“Some argue that local school governance is a ‘dinosaur’ that needs to be replaced, but local leaders are going to be the ones implementing these federal policies,” Jacobsen said. “So if they’re going to have a major hand in how these policies get shaped at the local level, then we better pay attention to their resources, their capabilities, and not just dismiss them.”

Read their paper in Public Opinion Quarterly.

Under the new administrative rules, teachers no longer have to earn 18 credits in a planned program to qualify for the Professional Certificate. They may now meet that portion of their requirements with six credit hours at an approved teacher preparation institution or the equivalent number of hours in state continuing  education or district-provided professional development (or a combination thereof).

In addition, teachers will no longer need a recommendation from a teacher preparation program to apply for renewals or upgrades to their certification. Instead, they will apply directly to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Visit education.msu.edu/certification/certification-update for more information about the new rules.

If your certificate expires before Sept. 1, 2013, you must meet requirements under the current rules. Information about current requirements can be found on our website at education.msu.edu/certification/certification-overview.asp and education.msu.edu/certification/teachers-administrators.

The College of Education at Michigan State University offers several advanced degree programs for educators who want to expand their knowledge and experiences while updating their certification along the way. Visit education.msu.edu/academics/masters.

That was the message of Michigan State University College of Education Dean Donald Heller, speaking in downtown Lansing April 19 before a group of noted educators and policymakers.

“In the years to come, institutions of higher education are going to bear the brunt of difficult fiscal, labor market and policy issues,” said Heller, an expert in higher education policy. “It is quite possible that state appropriations for higher education are not going to recover after this recession as they have in the past. Publicly-funded colleges and universities will have to develop innovative solutions to reduce costs, shift revenues and deliver effective programs using new models and technologies.”

Heller was speaking as part of the President’s Education Forums, a series of events sponsored by MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and the College of Education through the Office of K-12 Outreach. The forums are intended to inform policymakers and education leaders about current education policy issues and to foster discussion

Heller said Michigan public universities are worse off than the rest of the nation, having experienced funding declines of more than 26 percent since 2001.

“The numbers get even more alarming when we look at them on a per-student basis,” Heller said. “Michigan appropriates only $2,992 per student today, or about 60 percent of the national average. Nobody knows just where this number is going to be down the road, but we are quite a bit worse off than the rest of the nation.”

Colleges and universities are responding with the tools at their disposal, including:

• Personnel changes (e.g., layoffs, freezes, furloughs and a heavier reliance on adjunct faculty)
• Operational shifts (e.g., budget cuts, increases in employee health care contributions)
• Revenue adjustments (e.g., tuition or enrollment increases, aid reductions, fundraising)

“One model that many institutions are considering would differentiate tuition for students depending on their area of study,” Heller said. “High-cost programs like science, technology or engineering would cost more for students than lower-cost majors in areas like the humanities.”

Despite these concerns, Heller remained optimistic about the impact of current work on the practice of educating postsecondary students.

“There are many things we can be doing to improve access and achievement, if we continue to work together,” Heller said. “The Lumina Foundation has established a goal of 60 percent degree attainment by 2025. If we coordinate our efforts, focus on providing support for at-risk students and build a more seamless path from PK–20, we can increase our current growth rate and get there.”

For more information, view the slides from Heller’s presentation, available on the Dean’s Website.

Donald E. Heller became the sixth dean of the Michigan State University College of Education in January 2012. Also a faculty member in the Department of Educational Administration, Dean Heller’s own teaching and research has focused on issues of higher education policy, economics and finance. Before coming to MSU, he was a professor of education at Penn State University and director of its Center for the Study of Higher Education.

Youngs, who has been teaching in MSU’s secondary teacher preparation program for six years, is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to the field of education within the early stages of his career. Specifically, his research regarding the measurement and promotion of teacher quality has gained the attention of educators, researchers and policymakers across the nation. Additionally, Youngs has written an extensive record of publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

Youngs said working in the College of Education has directly contributed to the advancement of his career.

“The quality of mentoring has helped me enormously with grant-writing, carrying out research studies, writing for publication and teaching and advising at the university level,” he said.  “I have also thoroughly enjoyed working with doctoral students in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education (CITE) and  Educational Policy Ph.D. programs.”

Youngs was nominated by Ben Pogodzinski, an assistant professor of educational administration at Wayne State University, and Nate Jones, a research scientist at Educational Testing Service. Youngs served as a Ph.D. adviser to Pogodzinksi and Jones, who both earned a Ph.D. from MSU.

Kang is currently a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Washington. Her dissertation, Understanding How Secondary Science Teacher Candidates Learn to Teach: Analyzing the Role of Knowledge, Practice, and Professional Identity, revealed the relationship among secondary science teacher candidates’ depth of scientific knowledge and beliefs, the stance taken in a teacher education program and implications for science teacher education. Kang was recognized by AERA for her use of strong methodology and sound theoretical grounding. She conducted a case study of 14 teacher candidates, and presented the findings in multiple ways, including teaching videos, written lesson plans and interviews. Her data analysis then led to two sets of case studies of teachers in similar contexts.

Kang expressed her appreciation for the opportunities and learning experiences she received as a student at the MSU College of Education.

“I would like to thank my adviser, Dr. Charles W. Anderson for being supportive during the most difficult times, challenging and encouraging me,” Kang said. “I would also like to thank my committee, Suzanne Wilson, Christina Schwarz and Peter Youngs for giving me critical feedback. I am deeply appreciative to all faculty who worked with me, and to my college graduate students who listened my stories. I could not have done it without your support.”

Attending the AERA annual meeting? Keep in touch with your Spartan community on Twitter with the #MSUatAERA hashtag.

The No. 1 rankings reflect the College of Education’s commitment to improving the practice of teaching and learning in K-12 schools, through research, graduate study and programs that prepare new teachers for careers in elementary and secondary classrooms.

The 2013 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools, which hits newsstands April 3, also recognizes the quality of faculty and graduates from several other program areas offered within the College of Education community. In fact, two program areas achieved notable increases in the rankings this year: From #4 to #2 in Higher Education Administration and from #8 to #5 in Administration and Supervision.

In addition, the College of Education was ranked #16 overall — up from #17.

“I am very pleased with the position of a number of our programs in the U.S. News & World Report rankings,” said Donald E. Heller, dean of the College of Education. “We strive to ensure that the teaching, research and outreach conducted by the faculty, students and staff in the College of Education are of the highest quality and are helping to improve education and related professions in the nation and beyond our borders.

“While this is only one validation of our work, it is affirming for us to be recognized by our peers who are surveyed by U.S. News.”

The full list includes:

Elementary education - #1

Secondary education – #1

Rehabilitation counseling – #2

Curriculum and instruction – #2

Higher education administration - #2

Administration/supervision – #5

Educational psychology – #5

Education policy – #11

Special education – #15

Visit http://www.usnews.com/grad for more information.

Check MSU News for information about graduate programs across campus.

In addition, the doctoral program in kinesiology at MSU, also offered within the College of Education, ranks #6 in the nation, according to a recent report from the National Academy of Kinesiology (NAK). Learn more.