University of South Carolina College of Education

COE in the news! The Post and Courier: There's a 23 point difference in college enrollment between graduates of low-poverty high schools and graduates of high-poverty high schools. GEAR UP SC aims to close that gap. ⚙️ https://bit.ly/49EmLCg And a repost in GVLtoday: ⚙️ https://bit.ly/4ga0KgX

Dean Hodges shares the vision for the $35 million GEAR UP South Carolina project with The Post and Courier. "The University of South Carolina College of Education wants to simplify this by leaning into our role as the state’s flagship institution," says Dean Hodges. "As such, our mission is to offer support, opportunity and access to all students in our state from their earliest days in the classroom through high school and beyond. We work beyond collegiate affinities, serving all learners and educators in South Carolina." 🔗 https://bit.ly/49O5O8x

Thank you to the Governor and General Assembly for investing in the future of education! With this increased funding, we can expand our reach and serve even more teachers through our program, creating a greater impact on students and schools statewide.   We invite you to watch and share this video with your networks to help spread awareness of the important work we do. Together, we can continue to strengthen education in South Carolina.

COE in the news: College program seeks to put more counselors in SC’s highest-need schools in the SC Daily Gazette South Carolina public schools reported 30 unfilled counselor positions statewide this fall, according to a report by the state’s Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement. USC’s program, funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, aims to help fill those vacancies going forward by recruiting, training and graduating a total of 72 new school counselors by 2029. More: https://bit.ly/3VjGkcN

“This is the institution of the people; more and more it is conducted for the people; and increasingly is it to live, not merely with, but in the people – an integral part – a vital organ – of the people.” So said Dr. Patterson Wardlaw about the University of South Carolina in a 1939 article in The Carolinian titled “The Future of the University.” As a longtime faculty member and the university’s first dean of education, Wardlaw played an integral role in shaping USC’s history around the time of its centennial and is the namesake of the building in which the College of Education resides. Now, thanks to Wardlaw’s great-granddaughter, Lee Wardlaw Jaffurs’, recent donation of a wealth of his materials, students and researchers will get an even deeper look into his life as well as the history of higher education at the University and abroad. Learn more about this great collection: bit.ly/3Ctbd8e

Tonight, Capstone is glowing garnet as we celebrate one of the largest grants in university history. The award to the University of South Carolina College of Education will help thousands of disadvantaged South Carolina students achieve college and career readiness.

Kathryn Pedings-Behling's encouragement from her high school mentor, Nancy Long, is still making ripples in math education today. Pedings-Behling has created an innovative textbook for business calculus that is encouraging many students to view the subject more positively. Most of her students will complete their math education in her class. She is considering her responsibility as their last math professor and wants to leave them with a better attitude toward the subject. “My dissertation hopes to change the narratives around math and leave students with an appreciation of what math can bring to their lives,” says Pedings-Behling. More: https://bit.ly/4fp9UVW

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. We're sharing the story of a recent alum and his passion for how the brain works from early learning through advanced aging. Ayan Mitra, Ph.D. is an atypical student of education and neuroscience. His passion is neuroscience, and he came to the University of South Carolina with an interesting research goal. He sought to understand how the nursery rhymes of childhood stick so well in our minds throughout our lives. By integrating neuroscience, neuroimaging and education, Mitra was able to work between the College of Education and Department of Psychology to create a doctorate that achieved his goals. He is currently a clinical research manager and scientist at Harvard Medical School. Mitra works in a dual role that bridges neurology research between the Harvard Medical School and their affiliated hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “I needed a faculty member who was daring enough to reach beyond their area of expertise,” Mitra says. “My supervisor, professor Lucy Spence, was not scared of a challenge. Even though she had no background in neuroscience, she was always interested in the brain. She was willing to support a student who wanted to understand the minds of children and how that could inform instructional and literacy development. That was a big leap of faith for her.” More about Mitra's work: https://bit.ly/4e47SJI

Congratulations to Sean Yee, Ph.D. for receiving a prestigious NSF grant for his project, “Supporting the Faculty who Provide Teaching-Focused Professional Development to the Next Generation of College Mathematics Instructors.” This award recognizes Yee’s dedication to improving math education and helping new college math teachers get better training. The grant will allow Yee and his team to create new programs that help graduate students and other new instructors become better teachers, which will benefit college students across the country. More: https://bit.ly/3XNRcQR

Last week, SC TEACHER had the opportunity to host a group of district administrators from across #SC interested and invested in utilizing SC TEACHER data to inform their work. The goal of the event was for districts to provide insights into how our team can bolster and refine resources to best serve #SouthCarolina educators. Thank you to those leaders who shared their valuable time and insights! #lovescschools #educationresearch #education