ECU notes
The Daily Reflector

Monday, March 06, 2006

Math graduate gets grant
A mathematics education graduate was recently awarded a research grant for teachers working in the classroom. Renea Baker, a 1992 graduate currently teaching math at D.H.ConleyHigh School, received the grant from the Edward G. Begle Fund and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

The $8,000 grant will let Baker work with Robin Rider, a math education faculty member. They are studying students' understanding of probability and statistics, specifically how Advanced Placement statistics students reason about theoretical probability from empirical data collected through computer simulations.

Rider and Baker presented their preliminary research findings in October at the North American Chapter of the International Group of the Psychology of Mathematics Education conference in Roanoke, Va.

College gets thumbs-up
The College of Education has been recommended for accreditation by a national organization. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the state Department of Public Instruction sent its recommendation to the council's governing board for final approval.

"Our success is due to the wonderful collaboration within the university and with our external partners, "Marilyn Sheerer, dean of the College of Education, said.

The accreditation team delivered the report to Chancellor Steve Ballard Wednesday. A draft report will be sent to ECU within the next 30 days for review before a final report is submitted to NCATE for approval. The accreditation council works to establish high quality teacher preparation programs through the process of professional accreditation.

There are six standards for professional development schools and the university's education programs passed all the standards. The accreditation team cited two particular strengths in ECU's professional education programs. The first was the university's partnerships with the public schools and community colleges, particularly the Latham Clinical Schools Network and Wachovia Partnership East Program. The team said it also was impressed with the integration of technology into professional education programs and the high quality of distance education programs.

“We know we're doing good work, but it's always good to have them validated by outside experts," Sheerer said. "And I love the fact that they view our partnership and distance education work as exemplary."

Katrina assistance
A doctoral student in the College of Education's Leadership Education Department, Ginger Bishop, recently returned from a mission trip to hurricane-damaged Mississippi. Ginger Bishop worked at Camp Coast Care, a disaster relief site operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi and Lutheran Social Ministries in Long Beach, Miss.

“Ginger's spirit conveys the personal ethos that can be found in many LEED students,” said Sandra Seay, assistant professor in the LEED Department.

Bishop and her daughter Jessie delivered supplies and money to hurricane victims of St. Patrick's Episcopal Church on behalf of Calvary Parish in Tarboro. Bishop says all but three families of St. Patrick's Church lost their homes. The church was also lost when it was struck by a 30-plus foot wave of water from the Gulf of Mexico.

Bishop and other volunteers slept on cots in the gymnasium of the Episcopal School. She said she felt strongly about helping hurricane victims because of her memories living in Tarboro when Hurricane Floyd floodwaters lapped at the steps of her home. She remembers people coming from all around to help rebuild her town, she said. “In some ways, it was paying back for the help our community received.”

Bishop said the volume of destruction is overwhelming. “Rebuilding the lives of Hurricane Katrina survivors will take years," she said. "Six months after the storm of Aug. 29 and three months before another hurricane season, they haven't even made a significant dent in debris removal. When we watch stories on television, it just does not give us a total picture."