Internationally oriented faculty and professional staff (international faculty, international staff)

International Faculty Experience and Leadership

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

- Faculty

Ann Austin is a professor in higher education, holding the Mildred B. Erickson Distinguished Chair. She specializes in the study of faculty careers, institutional transformation and issues of teaching and learning in post-secondary education. While her international research initially centered on South Africa, she has now written on higher education in developing countries more generally.

Maenette Benham is a professor of educational administration. A Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), her work focuses on educational research issues related to native/indigenous schools, pre-K through post-secondary, and the communities (Aotearoa, Australia, Hawaii, Alaska, Canadian First People, North American tribes, and South American communities) they serve.

Cynthia Carver is an assistant professor of teacher education. Her research and teaching interests focus on the policy and practice of new teacher support and development, including the role principals play in supporting new teachers and their mentors. Her teaching experience includes two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Eastern Caribbean (St. Vincent, l988-1991).

Amita Chudgar is an assistant professor with specialization in economics of education. Her research addresses the educational challenges facing developing countries, with special emphasis on equity in access to education in India and equity in educational achievement in international context, as well as on achievement studies in the U.S.

Joseph Codde is a professor in educational technology and director of the Educational Technology Certificate Program. His interests focus on professional development and its effects on the use of computer technology in K-12 education. A major part of his current work deals with technology integration in the Middle East and North Africa.

Sandra Crespo is an associate professor of teacher education. Her specialty is mathematics education. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she has been part of a curriculum reform team that has been studying the effects of the mathematics texts the team developed for that country’s elementary and middle school grades.

John Dirkx is a professor in higher education and lifelong education (HALE). His research focuses on the preparation and continuing professional development of educators of adults. He has taught comparative higher and adult education in Great Britain and the United States. He is also working with Can Tho University in Vietnam to develop a program for adult learners within the Mekong Delta.

Jim Fairweather is a professor of higher, adult, and lifelong education (HALE). His interests include faculty roles, industry-university partnerships, the quality of academic programs, reform of undergraduate education, and post-secondary education for students with disabilities. He has a strong interest in comparative higher education and is working to enhance the international dimension of the HALE program, especially in Finland and China.

Lynn Fendler is an associate professor of teacher education with specialties in the teaching of foreign languages and of English as a second language. She has extensive experience in China and Thailand. Her research interests are also informed by current European trends in Continental philosophy.

Robert Floden is a University Distinguished Professor, associate dean for research, and co-PI of MSU Teachers for a New Era. He has studied teacher education and other influences on teaching and learning. His international work includes work on teacher education standards in Egypt, consulting on international studies of teacher education, and serving as a Humboldt Fellow at the University of Tuebingen and an Academic Visitor at Oxford.

David Fortus is an assistant professor in teacher education, specializing in secondary science education, curriculum development and enactment. With dual citizenship in the U.S. and Israel, he has also lived in the Netherlands and the Philippines. He is a senior scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

James Gallagher is a professor emeritus of teacher education. In addition to directing many science education projects, he has done training and research in science and environmental education throughout the world, with a concentration most recently in Thailand and Vietnam.

Kyle Greenwalt is an assistant professor of social studies education. His research focuses on collective memory, public schooling, and teacher identity. He examines how popular coding practices of teaching impact the images teachers use to construct their personal identities. He has studied the way in which a French and an American high school reproduce national identity.

Cassandra Guarino is an assistant professor in economics of education. Her current interests include the study of academic achievement in young children, teacher effectiveness, teacher labor markets, charter schools, and issues in which health and education are linked. She lived for six years in Italy and has been working on education in Qatar for the RAND Corporation.

Elizabeth Heilman is an associate professor of teacher education. Her research addresses ideas of democracy, national and global citizenship, and identity and diversity, as well as how people develop a sense of power, political efficacy, human connection and responsibility to others. She has done research on literacy campaigns in central America and Asia and has served as an education development advisor in Xinjiang, China. Her emphasis is on how globalization influences education policy and how to improve global education curricula.

Michael Leahy is a professor and the Director of the Office of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies at MSU. His research interests include professional competency development and education, professionalization of practice, vocational assessment, case management, evidenced-based practice research, vocational outcomes, and international perspectives about disability. He has organized a study abroad program in Ireland.

Guofang Li is an associate professor of teacher education. Her research interests focus on Asian children's home and community literacy practices, second language and literacy education, and culturally reciprocal pedagogy. Originally from China, she has conducted research and teaching in China and Canada.

Reitumetse Mabokela is an associate professor in higher education. She studies institutional transformation with an emphasis on issues of race, ethnicity and gender. Originally from South Africa, she has done extensive research on universities in her home country. She has also held leadership roles in comparative and international education at the national level in the U.S.

Barbara Markle is assistant dean for K-12 outreach in the College of Education. She develops and implements programs for teachers, administrators and policy makers that translate educational research for application in schools and settings where education policy decisions are made. She also has a strong commitment to international education and the internationalization of K-12 education, and has been a leader in developing linkages in China for the College and Michigan educators in general.

Susan Melnick is an associate professor of teacher education and assistant dean for academic outreach programs. Her research and teaching interests focus on learning to teach diverse students, professional knowledge for teaching, the influence of policy on teacher education, and issues of race, class, gender and educational equity, both domestic and cross-national. She has taught master’s degree courses for teachers in locations throughout much of the world.

Punya Mishra is an associate professor of technology for teaching and learning. His research centers on the theoretical, cognitive and social aspects of computer-based learning environments. He has been the founder and leader of the Taleem Group @ MSU, an informal group of faculty and students with an interest in educational issues in the Indian subcontinent.

Lynn Paine is an associate professor in teacher education with specialties in comparative education and sociology of education. She is known for pioneering cross-national research on teacher mentoring and induction. She has now done field research in China for over 20 years.

Susan Peters is an associate professor of special education. She brings a multicultural and international perspective to issues of disability, disadvantaged youth and urban education. Her international field work has centered on Zimbabwe, South Africa, and more recently Trinidad and Tobago.

Tenko Raykov is a professor in measurement and quantitative methods. He specializes in statistical and mathematical modeling of behavioral phenomena, educational and behavioral measurement, and modeling of developmental processes. Originally from Bulgaria, he received his Ph.D and the still more advanced habilitation degree from Humboldt University in Berlin. He is, therefore, fluent in German as well as English and his mother tongue.

William Schmidt is a University Distinguished Professor specializing in quantitative research methods. A leader in the original 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), he is currently U.S. national director for the IEA Teacher Education in Mathematics Study (TEDS-M), co-director of the 6-nation developmental study known as MT 21 (aka P-TEDS), and co-director of the U.S. China Center for Research on Educational Excellence.

Barbara Schneider is the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and a professor of sociology of education. Her research interests focus on how the social contexts of schools and families influence the academic and social well being of adolescents as they move into adulthood. As a Fulbright New Century Scholar, she has worked with East Asian colleagues to study variation in academic ambition among young people in Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Jack Schwille is a professor and assistant dean for international studies in education. His international work has centered on the organizational and policy conditions which foster improved teaching and learning in civic education and core subject matters. His recent field experience has been in Africa. Active in international assessment research since 1972, he is one of the international study directors for the cross-national IEA Teacher Education Study (TEDS-M).

Avner Segall is an associate professor of teacher education. His research interests focus on secondary social studies education, critical theory and pedagogy, cultural studies, media education, and qualitative research methods. He has dual Israeli and Canadian citizenship.

Sharif Shakrani is a professor of measurement and quantitative methods and co-director of the Education Policy Center at MSU. His research interests include analysis of the effects of national and state accountability systems on student achievement and alignment of standards, assessment, and pedagogy. He is a native speaker of Arabic and has professional experience in various Arabic-speaking countries.

Teresa Tatto is an associate professor of teacher education. Her primary research interest is in educational reform from an international perspective. She is noted for her research on education reform and teacher education in other countries as well as the U.S. After earlier studies in Mexico (her home country), in Sri Lanka and in the US, she is currently the principal international study director for the IEA Teacher Education in Mathematics Study (TEDS-M), and the co-director of the 6-nation developmental study known as MT21 (aka P-TEDS).

Yeow Meng Thum is an assistant professor of measurement and quantitative methods. His research focuses on multivariate, multilevel models of behavioral data, with additional emphasis on models for educational and psychological growth and change. Originally from Malaysia, he continues to do short-term assignments in his country of origin on an occasional basis.

Christopher Wheeler is a professor of teacher education with extensive experience in the Southeast Asian countries of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. He has been a leader in developing MSU international linkages with Can Tho University in the Mekong Delta. His projects have shown how universities and schools can contribute to community development and environmental protection.

Yong Zhao is a University Distinguished Professor of educational psychology. His research focuses on the social, cultural and psychological interactions between technology and education (e.g. in teaching English and Chinese on line). Originally from China, he directs the U.S. China Center for Research on Educational Excellence and the MSU Confucius Institute.

- Academic Staff and Other Resource Persons

Cheryl Bartz is the International Outreach Specialist at the Office of International Studies in Education. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica in the field of environmental education and brings to MSU a background in marketing, fundraising and communications in higher education and among non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In particular, she developed a national grass-roots advocacy network for the Peace Corps Association. Her job is to support international initiatives throughout the College of Education and to collaborate with international units and projects across the university.

Norris (Sandy) Bryson is a senior academic specialist and program manager for Graduate Studies in Education Overseas (GSEO). He coordinates the delivery of three overseas MA programs to international school educators and serves as the College's liaison to international school professional associations. He also serves as the College's liaison to the Japanese Saturday School in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Soo-yong Byun is a postdoctoral fellow for the IEA Teacher Education Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M). His research interests include comparative education, sociology of education, and quantitative methods and statistics. Originally from South Korea, he received his Ph.D. from University of Minnesota, majoring in Comparative and International Development Education. He has studied how high-brow culture activities are rewarded in terms of student achievement across nations, using the 2000 PISA.

Leland Cogan is a Senior Researcher with the Center for Research on Mathematics and Science Education and Assistant Director for the U.S. Research Center for the Teacher Education Study in Mathematics (U.S. TEDS-M). His current research interests include evaluation of mathematics and science curricula, mathematics and science classroom instruction, and the preparation of mathematics and science teachers.

Margo Glew is an academic specialist in the department of Teacher Education where she works to support global/international initiatives. Currently, she is coordinating efforts to provide an international/global perspective to the teacher education program so that more teachers are prepared to educate students for success in a global society. She has extensive experience as a teacher, both in the United States and abroad, and as a teacher trainer. Her academic interests include international education and language issues in K-12 instruction.

Richard Houang is the Director of Data and Research in the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education. He specializes in international curriculum comparison and a wide range of topics in quantitative research methods. An area of special interest is the synthesis of curriculum assessment results to inform evidence based curriculum improvement. His current involvement includes PROM/SE, MT21 and US TEDS-M.

Yukiko Maeda is a post-doctoral research scientist in the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (IEA/TEDS-M) International Center at MSU. She specializes in quantitative methods in Education. In particular, she is interested in understanding educational phenomena with the application of multilevel modeling and meta-analytic techniques.

Sally McClintock is founder and retired director of Linking All Types of Teachers to International Cross-cultural Education (LATTICE), an award winning study group for MSU international students and faculty, mid-Michigan teachers and community members. She continues to participate in the LATTICE study sessions as well as the LATTICE Book Club and other "spin-off" projects such as the LATTICE Basket/Scholarship Project in South Africa.

John Metzler is the director of outreach for the African Studies Center, with an adjunct appointment in Teacher Education. He has worked with K-16 educators across Michigan and nationally in collaborative endeavors to internationalize curricula. He was a founding member of LATTICE and co-directed the LATTICE sessions, 2005-2007. Since 1992 he has led the COE’s TE 250 study abroad program in Southern Africa. He has worked on education in Southern Africa since 1972.

Kristin Janka Miller is co-director for the Partnership to Prepare Global and International Educators. She is an academic specialist and assistant outreach coordinator for the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at MSU, and co-director for LATTICE. Earlier, she was a fourth grade teacher in Michigan and traveled widely throughout Latin America. Her research interests include: teacher learning, professional development, global and international education, social studies education, and Latin American studies.

Anne Schneller has lived and worked in eastern and southern Africa for 14 years designing and implementing education projects for government, NGOs and universities. She has designed and co-directed study abroad programs for the College of Education in Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Malaysia. She is currently responsible for recruitment of sponsored international students for MSU.