New and Recent Developments
MSU Recruiting for Special Global Teacher Preparation Program
 The Department of Teacher Education is recruiting the first cohort of freshmen students for a special strand of teacher education known as the Global Educators Cohort Program. The goal of this special program is to prepare teachers to teach in a variety of cultural settings. Graduates will be prepared to prepare their students to be global citizens: in regular classrooms, in specialized programs such as in an International Baccalaureate program, in a multicultural classroom, and abroad. Graduates will be able to infuse their teaching with global content, regardless of their content specialization. The preparation of these prospective teachers will be grounded in early experiences with successful global and international educators as well as guided field experiences in multicultural and international settings.
This special program will be open to all incoming freshmen with an interest in multicultural or international education at the elementary or secondary level, regardless of the subject-matter they wish to teach. Students with relevant majors or specializations such as: English as a Second Language, Social Studies, Geography, or majors in the Residential College of Arts and Humanities, or in James Madison College are especially encouraged to apply. Freshmen admitted to this special program will have offerings and opportunities tailored to their special interests, both before and after matriculating into the teacher education program at the junior year.
For further information, click here. |
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Longview-funded Partnership Supports Internationalization Efforts
  The Partnership to Prepare Global and International Educators (P-GLIE) is a collaborative project to support global and international teaching in teacher education courses at MSU and in Michigan K-12 schools. Funded by the Longview Foundation, it connects MSU departments and teaching faculty, area studies centers, MSU libraries, the LATTICE study group (of Lansing area K-12 teachers and MSU international students), local K-12 teachers and the East Lansing Public Library. More specifically, it has worked with 400-level courses in the MSU teacher preparation program, organized seminars for faculty and students on related topics, developed a centralized collection of curricular resources to support global and international teaching, and a website for support of these efforts.
For further information, click here. |
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Margo Glew Joins Department of Teacher Education as Academic Specialist for Internationalization of the Department’s Programs
 Margo Glew (Ph.D Michigan State University, Second Language Acquisition) has become the coordinator of international initiatives for the Department of Teacher Education where her responsibilities are to develop a diverse set of curricular and programmatic activities that will provide students with an international focus to their teacher education program so that more Michigan teachers are prepared to educate students for success in a global society.
A former high-school social studies teacher, Margo has experience teaching both in the United States and abroad, spending two years teaching English as a Foreign language in a high school in Niger, West Africa. She has extensive experience as a language teacher and teacher trainer and has worked on materials development projects as well as directed and co-directed numerous training workshops and seminars for teachers. Her academic work focuses on alternative modes of language instruction, particularly distance learning, and language program development. |
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Cheryl Bartz joins the Office of International Studies in Education
Cheryl Bartz, the new International Outreach Specialist, has started working at the Office of International Studies in Education. Her job is to support international initiatives throughout the College of Education and to collaborate with international units and projects through the university.
Her professional experience includes a distinctive blend of work in a complex academic institution and entrepreneurial experience in the world of NGOs. Her academic support experience includes developing and implementing marketing plans for Student and Academic Support programs at Lansing Community College (LCC); advising students learning English as a second language at LCC, and organizing as well as leading workshops on diversity-related topics for the LCC Multicultural Center. In work with NGOs, Cheryl has successful fundraising experience for non-profit organizations, including at $1.7 million capital campaign for the Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation. She also brings great communications skills from this work with NGOs, including writing and editing of newsletters (both paper and electronic) and website development.
Cheryl began to develop her international strengths years ago as a Peace Corps volunteer working on environmental education in Costa Rica. Since then she has an extraordinary record of service as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV). In particular, she worked with the National Peace Corps Association to develop a national, grass-roots advocacy network for RPCVs. |
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Second Annual Internationalizing Michigan Education Conference
(April 18, 2008)
 All the economic, political and social trends point to the need for Michigan's K-12 students to be ready as never before to understand and engage in the wider world in which we live. The second annual Internationalizing Michigan Education conference is scheduled for April 18, 2008 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center on the campus of MSU. This conference will help participants situate Michigan in the international context, with special emphasis on areas and cultures - mainland Asia, the Indian sub-continent, sub-Saharan Africa and South America - that are likely to provide the greatest opportunities and challenges over the next 50 years. Interactive breakout sessions will include resources to help educators establish international perspectives in their own settings and participants will leave with a "toolkit" to use at the district and school levels.
The first such conference was held at the Lansing Center on March 6, 2007. It drew a capacity crowd of over 300 – mainly Michigan educators, but also including national and international leaders.
Barbara Markle, Assistant Dean for K-12 Outreach, has been the principal organizer of both these events.
For further information, click here. |
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MSU Preinternship Teaching Program Scheduled for Malaysia in Summer 2008
  Our very successful study abroad program which combines cultural immersion, teaching experience and learning about the host country will be offered in Malaysia for the first time in summer 2008. This program targets students in MSU’s teacher preparation program just after they complete their four-year Bachelor’s degree and just before they start their full academic year internship. Previously, this program has been offered in South Africa and Australia.
The Malaysia program will provide five weeks’ experience in classroom teaching in Malaysian elementary and secondary schools located in rural and urban areas near Kuala Lumpur. It is a unique way of preparing students for the challenges and rewards of the teaching profession while gaining 6 Michigan State credits toward the completion of a Master’s degree in education. Malaysia offers students an exceptional opportunity to learn about diversity in race, religion, ethnicity, language, culture and physical environment. Each MSU student will be paired with a collaborating Malaysian teacher in the same academic field and grade level as the student. After a period of classroom observation, the student will develop lessons and co-teach with the cooperating teacher. In addition to their school experience, students will live with a Malaysian teacher and their family.
For further information, click here. |
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Disability in a Diverse Society: The First College of Education Study Abroad Program in Ireland
 Already highlighted in The New York Times last year, a study abroad program in Ireland was inaugurated in summer 2007 by College of Education Professor Leahy and sponsored by the College’s Office of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. On site in Dublin, Ireland, participating students had a variety of opportunities to develop more knowledgeable perceptions, attitudes and beliefs about persons with disabilities.
For further information, click here. |
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New College of Education Faculty Members Strengthen International Capabilities
   Of the eleven new faculty members in the College of Education for 2007-08, three are of immediate and particular importance to our internationalization efforts: Amita Chudgar, Cassandra Guarino and Kyle Greenwalt.
Amita Chudgar is an economist of education whose work focuses on the factors which impact learning outcomes in developing and industrialized countries. Her Ph.D is from Stanford and she has done research on India, her country of origin.
Cassandra Guarino is also an economist of education who has studied teacher effectiveness issues and teacher labor markets. She also has a strong interest in the effect of health on learning. Her Ph.D is also from Stanford and she comes to MSU from the RAND Corporation.
Kyle Greenwalt specializes in social studies education. His Ph.D is from the University of Minnesota, and he did his dissertation research in France, examining the way in which a French and an American high school reproduce national identity. |
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Faculty Search Under Way for Associate Professor of International Development Education with Emphasis on East Africa
 MSU is currently developing an inter-college, multidisciplinary effort to collaborate with African institutions and agencies in capitalizing on existing human resources to address problems of poverty, hunger, health and environment in African rural communities through targeted interventions and applied research. Initially, the focus will be on Tanzania. To provide leadership for the educational component of this effort, the Department of Teacher Education is seeking to appoint a new faculty member at associate level (although other levels may be considered)
For further information, click here. |
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MSU Confucius Institute Recognized as Among the Best in the World
 Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute has been honored as a 2007 Confucius Institute of the Year, one of only four institutes in the United States and 20 of the 210 CIs worldwide to receive this designation.
MSU’s Confucius Institute is the only institute offering online Chinese language courses, reaching more than 2,000 K-12 students and adults when combined with other Web-based learning materials and face-to-face programs in schools. The institute was first established in May 2006 in collaboration with China Central Radio and TV University. Its three major projects include offering podcasts of video-based Chinese learning materials and daily news, online Chinese courses for K-12 students and adults and a Chinese instructor training program.
For further information, click here. |
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Results for MSU-led Six-Nation Study of Mathematics Teacher Education Released at National Press Club
  The initial findings of an MSU led study of preparation of lower secondary school teachers to teach mathematics were released on December 11, 2007 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. This study was featured as front-page lead article in Educatin Week, Dec. 19, 2007. This is a study of the mathematics content knowledge and the mathematics pedagogy knowledge of students at the end of their teacher education programs in six countries. The six countries are Korea, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico and the U.S.. Data were collected from a purposeful sample of institutions of teacher education and their students in each of the countries. The resulting report is titled “The Preparation Gap: Teacher Education for Middle School Mathematics in Six Countries.” The results show important differences between students in the different countries in terms of their knowledge of mathematics content as well as their knowledge of mathematics pedagogy. Bill Schmidt is the PI and Teresa Tatto the Co-PI of this study.
For further information, click here. |
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TEDS-M 2008, an International Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education, Now Collecting Data from National Samples in Eighteen Countries
 The first international assessment of learning outcomes in higher education using national samples has started final data collection in eighteen participating countries. Known as TEDS-M 2008, for Teacher Education Study in Mathematics, the study is based on national probability samples of institutions of teacher education, their faculty members and students. It is a study of preparation to teach mathematics at primary and lower secondary levels, gathering data on the routes, institutions, programs, practices and outcomes of teacher education. The study is sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), the organization that has sponsored many other cross-national studies, including TIMSS. MSU is the lead institution in TEDS-M for all the participating countries. Findings will be released in late 2009. Maria Teresa Tatto is the international director of the study with Sharon Senk, Jack Schwille and three colleagues from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) as co-directors. Bill Schmidt is the U.S. national director of the study.
For further information, click here.
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Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship: Amy Jamison
Amy Jamison, a third-year doctoral student in MSU’s Educational Policy program, was awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship to help fund her research in Tanzania. She plans to devote all of 2008 gathering data for her doctoral dissertation at a university in Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam.
Her research will analyze what factors have affected the University of Dar es Salaam’s international relationships since its establishment in 1961, and what may come into play in the future. With a passion for and previous training in history, Jamison plans to gather a wealth of oral recollections from practicing faculty. Those personal case studies will provide essential information as she explores how knowledge has been exchanged and valued over time and across international boundaries.
For further information, click here. |
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International Studies in Education
By integrating international perspectives into its teaching, research and public service, the College of Education seeks a comparative understanding of educational policies, institutions and practices. The goal is to find ways to enhance the learning of children, teachers, and other adults in the United States while contributing to the worldwide effort of educators to meet the economic, environmental, social, cultural and political challenges of our time
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