VCU School of Education

The National Weather Service is calling for heavy rain and thunderstorms this afternoon. Out of caution for our community’s safety, VCU’s New Student Convocation will be held via livestream at vcu.edu. The Ram Spirit Walk has been canceled. We encourage all new students to join live at 4 p.m. to hear from President Rao, the Provost, your Student Government President and VCU leadership! VCU leaders are continuing to monitor the forecast and will communicate any additional changes. As of now, the Weeks of Welcome Block Party is still scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on the Commons Plaza.

Learn more: https://news.vcu.edu/article/2024/08/new-student-convocation-moved-to-virtual-event-format-spirit-walk-canceled

Congratulations to VCU's ACE-IT in College for this impressive accomplishment!

Breaking news: ACE-IT in College at Virginia Commonwealth University has achieved an extraordinary milestone, becoming the first program in Virginia and the third in the nation to be fully accredited by the Inclusive Higher Education Accreditation Council .

We are ecstatic and grateful to share this historic moment with you all!

Thank you to every one of you who has helped us grow this program into what it has become. The seed was planted in 2010, and it continues to bloom.

We’re feeling unstoppable.

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ACE-IT in College is part of the VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU RRTC ), which is a part of the VCU School of Education.

Winifred A. Winston will be the keynote speaker for the 2024 Dyslexia Symposium hosted by the VCU School of Education. Winston brings 15 years of expertise as an HR and career management administrator in K-12 and higher education, a journey deeply influenced by her experience navigating special education challenges with her daughter.

Winston founded Dyslexia Advocation, a 501c3 charitable organization that provide access to quality, affordable remediation for the parents of struggling readers and adults. She also hosts the Black and Dyslexic podcast and is the author of Dyslexia Puzzle Word Search Book.

Dyslexia Advocation (soallcanread.org)
Black and Dyslexic podcast (soallcanread.org/b-a-d-podcast.html)
VCU School of Education (soe.vcu.edu)

Meghan Depue, the staff advisor for the student organization “SVEA at VCU”, will represent Virginia advisors of the Student Virginia Education Association - Aspiring Educators (SVEA-AE) at the National Education Association (NEA) Aspiring Educator Conference in Philadelphia this summer. At the conference, Meghan will learn more about supporting the student organization at VCU as well as how other chapters around the country support their aspiring educators. To learn more about the VCU chapter of the SVEA, find the Rams Connect page for SVEA at VCU here: vcu.campusgroups.com/sveaatvcu/club_signup.

Check out this Fall 2024 Online Course! Foundations of Bilingual Education (TEDU 551).

ABOUT TEDU 551: The course will focus on the historical foundations of bilingual education in the U.S., current models of bilingual programs in PK-12 school settings and contemporary understandings of bilingualism/biliteracy development using sociolinguistic and sociocultural perspectives.

✅ Open for registration today!

✅ Online-Asynchronous

✅ 3 credits

Happening this week!

Join us for the 2024 MERC Summit on Thursday, June 13th, at Tomahawk Creek Middle School in Chesterfield County Public Schools. The summit features 17 interactive breakout sessions that connect research, policy, and practice on a variety of topics relevant to public PK-12 schools.

There are special ticket rates available for MERC school divisions, VCU, and students. Lunch is provided. All participants receive a certificate for 8 hours of professional learning.

Register Here: bit.ly/MERC-Summit

Join us for the 2024 MERC Summit on Thursday, June 13th, at Tomahawk Creek Middle School in Chesterfield County Public Schools. The summit features 17 interactive breakout sessions that connect research, policy, and practice on a variety of topics relevant to public PK-12 schools.

There are special ticket rates available for MERC school divisions, VCU, and students. Lunch is provided. All participants receive a certificate for 8 hours of professional learning.

Register Here: bit.ly/MERC-Summit

Education services in high school that are based on research help young people with disabilities get and keep better jobs.

In our study with the University of Wisconsin, we surveyed the research literature on the transition of youth with disabilities to identify which vocational rehabilitation services are most effective in promoting employment and which factors affect their effectiveness.

What did we find on education services that make a difference?

Read the article in the Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, Volume 37, Issue 1:
https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrrrpe/37/1/80

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The VCU-RRTC on Employment of Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities is part of the VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU RRTC), which is a part of the VCU School of Education VCU School of Education.

Check out the employment outcomes for students with intellectual disabilities in postsecondary education programs!

For more on this topic, Read the Research Highlights at: https://idd.vcurrtc.org/resources/content.cfm/1425

The VCU-RRTC on Employment of Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) is part of the VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU RRTC).

The VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU RRTC) is part of the VCU School of Education.

ALL OF US RESEARCH PROGRAM:
The All of Us Research Program is building a diverse health database to learn about how to help people stay healthy.

The program is trying to collect data from at least one million people in the United States.

It is especially important for the All of Us program to collect data from people
who have been left out of research, including people with disabilities.

In this webinar, representatives from the All of Us program will talk more about what it is, why it’s important, and how you can get involved.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5 2024
12 PM - 1 PM

REGISTER: https://radford.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAlf-qhqDgrGdMwrGx7cKv5XMHePF6epi9k #/registration

Questions?
Kayla: [email protected]
Sarah: [email protected]

We are affiliated with: VCU School of Education Association of University Centers on Disabilities Center for Family Involvement All of Us Research

Spread the news….

The 2024 Transition Summit is not to be missed! You will have the opportunity to collaborate and learn with fellow transition practitioners.

Monday, June 17, 2024
9:00 am- 3:30 pm
at the Virginia War Memorial Building
COST: $50 per person
The cost covers registration, meals, and resources.

For additional information and to register online visit: https://cvent.me/8axb1P

All are invited to download Understanding the Virginia Literacy Act, a 32-page research and policy brief.

The brief provides key takeaways and recommendations and explores the following questions:

What are the recent trends in reading achievement in Virginia?
What are the policy implications of the VLA for Virginia school divisions?
What does the research say about Science of Reading (SoR)?
What core instructional programs are approved to meet the VLA?

Check out the report here. No login required:
bit.ly/VALiteracyActMERC

Learn more about MERC and get details about the MERC Summit in Richmond, VA on June 13: merc.soe.vcu.edu/

Welcome Class of 2028! Coming to VCU this fall?

You've made an UNdeniably good choice. We are so excited that you decided to join the RAMily and are looking forward to having you on campus soon! View the accepted students' checklist and next steps here:

https://admissions.vcu.edu/accepted-students/first-year-checklist/

* updated link

VCU Student with Cerebral Palsy Connects Passion with Employment

Chad Lowery, a VCU School of Education student majoring in special education, combined his passion for advocating for individuals with disabilities with his employment at BeneCounsel, a law firm in Richmond that specializes in disability benefits and advocacy.

The VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU RRTC) is part of the VCU School of Education.

Read more on the RRTC website, and be sure to subscribe to RRTC's newsletter:

Newsletter Sign Up:
https://vcurrtc.org/subscribe/index.cfm

Article
https://vcurrtc.org/about/features/feature.cfm?id=5

VCU RRTC
VCU Department of Counseling & Special Education

Two of our faculty members in the VCU School of Education, Educational Leadership Department, were featured in the news last week to help bring focus to the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board decision.

“How Black teachers lost when civil rights won in Brown v. Board” in The Conversation was co-authored by Andrene J. Castro, Ph.D., assistant professor (right). Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Ph.D., professor (left), was quoted in Axios Richmond’s article “School segregation in Virginia is increasing 70 years after Brown v. Board ruling”.

Article links here:

https://ow.ly/Mzw850RMCNa

https://ow.ly/s4xt50RMCN7

We are so grateful to our faculty and staff!!

Photos uploaded to Flicker here:

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We uploaded more graduation photos to this album on Flicker. Congrats grads! 🐏🖤💛🎓💛🖤🐏🎓🖤🖤🐏

126467612@N03/aaH7G5n42M" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/gp/126467612@N03/aaH7G5n42M

Save the date! Join us for the 2024 MERC Summit on Thursday, June 13th, at Tomahawk Creek Middle School in Chesterfield County Public Schools. The summit features 17 interactive breakout sessions that connect research, policy, and practice on a variety of topics relevant to public PK-12 schools.

There are special ticket rates available for MERC school divisions, VCU, and students. Lunch is provided. All participants receive a certificate for 8 hours of professional learning.

Register Here: bit.ly/MERC-Summit

MERC - Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium
RTR Teacher Residency at Virginia Commonwealth University
Partnership for People with Disabilities

VCU T/TAC
VCU RRTC

🎉 We proudly celebrate our 2024 VCU School of Education Faculty & Staff Award recipients! 🎉

✨ Staff ✨
🏆 Outstanding Achievement Award: Carla Dannouf
🏅 Patricia Pleasant Award of Excellence: Katie McColgan
🌟 Emerging Leader Award: Chardaesia Hartridge
🌈 Inclusive Excellence Award: Mariah Taghavie-Moghadam
🎉 Impact Award: Kim McKnight
🏅 Distinguished Legacy Award: Thomas Beatty
🎉Team Award: Finance Team

🎓 Faculty 🎓
🌟 Outstanding Community Engagement Award: John Fife
💡 Outstanding Mentor Award: Whitney Newcomb
📚 Outstanding Adjunct Award: Aaron Voyles
🏅 Outstanding Term Faculty: Elizabeth Edmondson
📈 McLeod Faculty Development Award: Beth Bukoski
🔍 Distinguished Service Award: T’Airra Belcher
🎓 Distinguished Scholarship Award: Luciana de Oliveira
📖 Distinguished Teaching Award: Wendy Rodgers
🏅 Distinguished Early Career Faculty Award: Nick Chang
🌟 Award of Excellence: Charol Shakeshaft

Congratulations!!!!

Congratulations to our Project SEARCH graduates from St. Francis Medical Center: Meccaylah Roane, Ronnie Gaylor, Katie Kelso, James Mukuria, Marcus Bennett, and J.P. Mines.

They join the program’s 269 alumni, 93% of whom have gone on to obtain employment.

Project SEARCH is a nine-month training program designed for students with disabilities aiming for competitive employment. Hosted entirely within businesses, it concentrates on honing employability skills. Interns in the program engage in three distinct internships, receiving training and delving into their career interests. Since 2008, VCU-RRTC has partnered with Project SEARCH, presently collaborating with five host businesses in the greater Richmond area.

The VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU RRTC) is part of the VCU School of Education.

Ready to kick-start your journey with VCU School of Education’s undergraduate programs?

Say "YES" to VCU by May 15 and join the School of Education and VCU RAMily!

https://ow.ly/sETb50RF4Xv

Attention Grads:

The First Destination Survey is and we want to hear from the 2024 grads!

Whether you have already accepted a job or graduate school offer, are starting a business, volunteering in the community or abroad or are still defining your next steps, we ask that you complete this survey.

Survey link:
https://ow.ly/rCEg50REPv3

Many Virginia students still separated by race, economic class

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education Department of Educational Leadership professor Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Ph.D. is quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch article:

“There is this story, I think, that gets told that desegregation was the cause of white flight,” Siegel-Hawley said. “It accelerated it, at least temporarily, in places that did not do a (metropolitan-wide desegregation plan). But it wasn’t the only force.”

Local governments “essentially subsidized” white flight to the suburbs through the construction of highways, racial discrimination in the housing markets, and mortgage financing that was more available in the suburbs, Siegel-Hawley said.

https://ow.ly/QAIG50RElx1

Many Virginia students still separated by race, economic class Nearly 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education, the all-white schools of the past have all but vanished and have been replaced by schools with almost exclusively students of

We are so proud of our CFI team and their outreach and programs.

Quote Cafe: Disabled people are not the burden. Inaccessibility is the burden.

Who are we?: cfi.partnership.vcu.edu

Find us on Instagram: center4familyinvolvement

The Center for Family Involvement is affiliated with: Partnership for People with Disabilities Association of University Centers on Disabilities VCU School of Education Center for Family InvolvementVCU School of Education

Congratulations!
・・・
I did a thing today! Graduated with my PhD in Education! Alumna x 3. Could not have done it without the support of and along with my family and friends 💜

Such an inspiring celebration of our 2024 VCU School of Education grads!

Photos by Michael Lay

Still celebrating our School of Education Spring 2024 grads!

Photos by Michael Lay