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College of Education News

Archives for September 2021

Supporting English language learners

September 30, 2021 by Strategic Communication

When Dr. Kennedy Ongaga, assistant professor in the department of counseling, leadership and special education, found out he won the Spencer Foundation research grant, he ran to his front yard and shouted, “Thank you, God!”  

“When we have a crisis, marginalized students and English learners are always left behind,” Ongaga said. “During COVID-19, our homes, our students’ homes, became the schools when schools moved to remote. The question becomes, what resources are available or did schools leverage to support student learning?” 

Ongaga’s research seeks to assess the education of English language learners (ELL) in Springfield Public Schools (SPS) during the pandemic. 

The data he collects will serve as a foundation for improving and creating support services for ELLs in times of crisis.  

Working in social justice 

Ongaga’s work in SPS specifically addresses ELLs. Many of them are refugees from around the world including Afghanistan, Congo, Iraq, Malawi and Tanzania.  

“I try to acculturate them and help them to understand what life is like in America,” Ongaga said. “I also do interpretation for students who don’t speak English for the K-12 schools within this region.” 

The pandemic caused transitions in class delivery, communication and the structure of school. Ongaga’s research questions address how accommodations were made to assist ELLs during this transition and the ongoing pandemic.  

Asking the right questions  

Ongaga will officially begin this research project in October 2021 and plans to conclude it in September 2023. 

The data collection will occur in four phases: 

  • Surveying students, administrators, EL specialists, teachers and other staff members.  
  • Interviews with counselors, school nurses, social workers and psychologists.
  • Focus groups with parents, teachers and students.
  • Secondary data including assessment results and test scores from DESE. 

“Using secondary data, in connection with the qualitative data that we’ll get from the participants, we should be able to make evidence-based projections of what is going on,” Ongaga said. 

He hopes this data will help answer questions such as:  

  1. What services, strategies and special accommodations did SPS implement to support ELLs learning during the pandemic? 
  2. To what extent do ELLs perceive that their academic needs were actually met during the pandemic? 
  3. What is communication like between the school, teachers and parents to keep the momentum of student learning going? 
  4. What guidance and supports are educators provided with to address EL learning needs?   

“For some students, school is where they take their breakfast, their lunch and sometimes that’s where they get that sandwich that they take home for dinner,” Ongaga said. “I want to know what services and programs have been used to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the ELL’s social-emotional development and their family’s wellbeing.” 

Ongaga hopes to make research-based recommendations for SPS and other K-12 districts so they can be more specific in addressing the needs of such sub-groups and marginalized students.  

“We have a lot of resources to rehumanize education in times of crises – if only we can know how to leverage those resources to reach students,” Ongaga said. 

Spencer Foundation Funding  

Ongaga’s research is funded in part by the Spencer Foundation research grant that he won this fall. The Spencer Foundation awards grants nationally and applicants have only a 5% chance of receiving funding.  

Ongaga submitted the application himself, but he is grateful for the support he found in his department. 

“Dr. Reesha Adamson, who was my answering department head, was absolutely helpful in calming me down,” Ongaga said. “She’s very good with grant writing and shared sort of a toolbox of what I needed to do.” 

The pandemic continues to reveal inequities that ELLs and children from immigrant families experience in U.S. schools and their communities.  

Support from the Spencer Foundation is an acknowledgment of how important this kind of work is in making a difference in the lives of students.  

“I’m very sure, through these small grants, we will be able to make an impact and meaningfully partner with our K-12 school districts in addressing challenges of reaching vulnerable populations,” Ongaga said. 

Making a difference 

Ongaga’s research connects to the ways Missouri State is working to improve the community through the public affairs mission. Ongaga hopes the work he is doing will inspire others.  

He referenced a well-known quote: “You don’t get harmony when everyone sings the same note. Only notes that are different can harmonize. The same is true of people.”  

Ongaga encourages people to find their own ways to help the people around them.  

“When you look at what’s going on around the world and see what people are going through – they’re not worse than me and you. They’re just human beings caught up in some kind of mess,” Ongaga said. “We have a moral responsibility to be our brother’s keeper, and I’m very sure we can do it.” 

Learn more about the public affairs mission   

Filed Under: COE Faculty Tagged With: counseling leadership and special education, diversity, education, grant, research, Springfield Public Schools

Giving teachers input on rural school policy

September 23, 2021 by Strategic Communication

The Rural Imperative Initiative aims to give a voice to rural schools across the nation. Missouri State University is partnering in this effort to bring the needs and concerns of rural schools to the attention of state, regional and national policymakers.  

The initiative is a collaborative effort between Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC), National Rural Education Association (NREA) and Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO). The initiative is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

The Rural Imperative Initiative will help teacher-leaders connect policy to place in five rural regions: Appalachia, Black Belt, Borderlands, Rust Belt and Northern California. 

The College of Education (COE) at Missouri State University is spearheading the rural school initiative program for the Rust Belt region.  

“We’ll be working with school partners to identify teachers to participate in this initiative,” COE Interim Dean Barri Tinkler said. “The COE is very excited to be a part of this work to engage teacher’s voices in contributing to policy formation.” 

Each of the five regions will create their own rural-teacher caucus. These groups will work together to create a “policy playbook” of local recommendations based on the specific challenges and opportunities in their area. 

Each partner organization receives $10,000 in funding to support their regional teacher caucus. 

Other regional partners include:  

  • Borderlands region: Arizona Rural Schools Association 
  • Appalachia region:  The University of Tennessee – Chattanooga 
  • Black Belt region: The University of West Alabama 
  • Northern California region: North State Together

“Advocating for rural education has been a long-standing priority for each of these organizations,” RSC Executive Director Taylor McCabe-Juhnke said. “We are honored to work with such high caliber partners to create a meaningful platform for teacher advocacy.” 

Over the coming school year, the policy playbook partnership will support these five partners in exploring the opportunities and challenges faced by teachers in their region. RSC, in partnership with the NREA, will then compile these recommendations and advocacy guidelines into a useful resource to benefit teachers and policymakers everywhere. 

Filed Under: COE Faculty, Uncategorized Tagged With: education

Dr. Elizabeth King featured in Mind’s Eye magazine

September 7, 2021 by Strategic Communication

Dr. Elizabeth King studies social-emotional development in young children. Her recent research into how preschool teachers affirm or minimize children’s emotions – and how it varies between genders – is featured in the 2021 issue of Mind’s Eye.  

The full story is available on the site now. 

Here is an excerpt:   

King believes gender plays a major role in our social-emotional development. 

“The ways we talk about emotions with young children is affected by and affects our views of gender,” King said. 

“Our views of gender influence who we allow to experience and express various emotions. That changes how we talk about emotions with children.” 

Read the full story 

Congratulations, Dr. King!  

Filed Under: COE Faculty, Early Childhood and Family Development, Elementary Education, Uncategorized Tagged With: childhood education and family studies, Mind's Eye

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