Senior education official Yudin keynote speaker at COE - April 29, 2013 - Research Forum- April 29, 2013 - Mississippi State University hosted a visit from a senior U.S. Department of Education official on Friday, April 12.

Michael Yudin, acting assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services, delivered the keynote address at the sixth annual College of Education Faculty-Student Research Forum at Bost Extension Center.

Yudin heads the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which houses programs aimed at improving results and outcomes for infants, toddlers, children and adults with disabilities.

During his visit to MSU, he shared information about the administration's priorities and vision for achieving inclusion, equity and opportunity in education for all students.

The College of Education and the Office of Research and Economic Development hosted this year's showcase of faculty, staff, and student research programs and projects.

"Our annual forum provides an environment to facilitate discussion and promote collaboration with other colleges on campus," said Associate Dean for Research J. Elton Moore.

In addition to Yudin's presentation, activities included:

--Remarks from David Shaw, vice president for research and economic development, and Richard Blackbourn, dean of the College of Education;

--Breakout sessions, including "Student Involvement in Research to Expand Career Opportunities" and "Publish or Perish: Strategies for Increasing Your Refereed Publications;"

--Poster session featuring the college's researchers; and

--Lunch and awards presentation for best posters by graduate and undergraduate students.

The award-winning posters were:

Graduate Students
First place - Meghan Dehring et al. - "Using social narratives to extend feeding therapy to the natural environment"
Second place - Hallie Marie Smith et al. - "State of crisis planning in education: A national sampling"
Third place - Peyton Groff et al. - "Skills vs. knowledge based teaching training: Performance & attitude outcomes"

Undergraduate Student
First place - Kurt Cooksey - "Physical activity levels of 7th and 8th graders participating in a studio-based learning summer camp"

MSU faculty, noted Ohio singer give collaborative recital Thursday - April 11, 2013 -

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Internationally recognized singer and composer Dawn Sonntag will be featured Thursday [April 11] in a collaborative recital with Mississippi State faculty members.

Free to all, the university program begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert and Freda Harrison Auditorium of Giles Hall.

Sonntag, an assistant professor of music at Hiram (Ohio) College, will be performing selections by Schubert, Sibelius, Mozart, Rossini and Crumb, as well as original commissioned song-settings drawn from the poetry of Walt Whitman and Sara Teasdale.

Tara Warfield, MSU music department voice area coordinator, will join Sonntag in operatic duets from Mozart, Mendelssohn and Rossini. Linda Elliott, a member of the department's horn faculty, will perform with Sonntag on Franz Lachner's "Waldärts."

Karen Murphy, departmental coordinator of collaborative piano, will provide piano accompaniment, while Nancy D. Hargrove, Distinguished Giles Professor Emerita of English, will speak about Walt Whitman as an introduction to Sonntag's song-setting of "Come Up from the Fields, Father."

Sonntag has performed opera, oratorio and art song repertoires on stages across the U.S., as well as in France, Germany and Norway. She also has appeared with the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Wis. and Chamizal National Theater of El Paso, Texas, among other venues.

As a soloist, she has been featured with numerous chamber and community choirs in the U.S. and Germany.

Her commissions have included works for the 2008 International Leif Eriksson Festival and Luther Seminary's "All God's People Sing" 25th Anniversary Reformation Festival; settings of poetry by Iowa Poet Laureate Marvin Bell; and music for the PBS documentary film, "Voice to Vision."

Her choral works have been performed by choirs at the Ohio State University and Augsburg and Hiram colleges, Oslo University, and the University of Minnesota, among others.

For more information on the event, contact Murphy at kmurphy@colled.msstate.edu.


External Link › http://www.msstate.edu/web/media/detail.php?id=5995

First class assembled in new MSU teacher excellence program- April 8, 2013 -

STARKVILLE, Miss.--A 20-member Mississippi State class soon will hold the honor of being the first at the university receiving scholarships in the recently announced Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program.

Richard Blackbourn, College of Education dean, said members of what he termed "the honors college for education majors" are being chosen from among 53 applicants.

Announced statewide in late January, the MSU program is enrolling top incoming freshmen and community college transfer students majoring in English and mathematics education curriculums. The goal is to increase the number of Mississippi middle and high school teachers in these subject areas, the dean said.

According to Blackbourn, those accepting the scholarships so far have an average 3.85 grade-point average (based on a 4.0 scale), and a composite ACT score of 29.

"It's no surprise that we've attracted this number of outstanding students so quickly; Mississippi State is known for the quality of its education programs," he said. "Combine that with the university's prestigious reputation and you have, we feel, a win-win situation for both our majors and students in the state's middle and high schools."

Praising them as "clearly the best of the best," the veteran educator and administrator said, "Not only do their test scores and academic credentials well exceed those of the state average, but all of the candidates went through a rigorous interview process with a committee of faculty members who all have expertise in teaching."

Funded by more than $12.9 million from the Jackson-based Robert M. Hearin Foundation, the new MSU education scholars are receiving awards covering tuition, room and board for up to four years. In return, graduates will commit to teach in Mississippi for at least five years.

"A passion for teaching was one of the critical admission criteria," Blackbourn stressed. "This generation of students has a great interest in service to the community, with almost all of the candidates having been involved in many different volunteer and service activities with children."

Austin Funhouser of Southaven and Gabriela Saab of Mobile, Ala., already have joined MSU's first education scholar class.

Funkhouser said experience he has had tutoring peers led him to consider the teaching profession.

"I thought, 'Maybe I could have a career in this,'" said the Desoto Central High School senior who will major in mathematics education.

Saab, a McGill Toolen Catholic High School senior who will major in English education, said, "It gives me great joy to serve others, and it helps me to grow as a student and adult. Being selected for this program is both thrilling and humbling."

The class roll will be announced once the final scholar-designate has accepted the invitation to participate.

The METP is a joint effort of MSU's education college and the School of Education at the University of Mississippi.


External Link › http://msstate.edu/web/media/detail.php?id=5985

MSU to assist Oktibbeha County School District- March 4, 2013 - The College of Education, along with the Research and Curriculum Unit, the Early Childhood Institute, and other MSU units are working with the Oktibbeha County School District, which has recently been placed under conservatorship, to provide resources aimed at improving student achievement and graduation rates at OCSD schools. Read more at:

External Link › http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/node/13308

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