Paige Ware, interim dean of Simmons, in a commentary written for The Dallas Morning News proposes that the Texas Legislature continue with its commitment to funding pre-K education by increasing the quality of the programs and the allocation of money.
She suggests looking at the way Michigan has made a difference in the education of young children. Read her commentary here.
In the recent Journal of Experimental Biology, Simmons researchers from the Locomotor Performance Lab, present a new equation to better predict a runner’s speed.
Their findings have immediate application for running performance, injury prevention, rehab and the individualized design of running shoes, orthotics and prostheses.
Researchers include Peter Weyand, Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness; Larry Ryan, the lab’s research engineer and physicist; and Kenneth Clark, assistant professor at West Chester University in West Chester, Penn., and formerly with the lab. Read more coverage in the Huffington Post.
Annie Wright, director of evaluation for the Center on Research and Evaluation in Simmons, talks about the importance of social-emotional learning in schools and the difficulties in evaluating the outcomes in this Advocate article.
In partnership with Big Thought, the Dallas Independent School District has applied for a grant from the Wallace Foundation to develop social-emotional learning for classrooms and after-school programs.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program has announced two Simmons candidates will receive fellowships from its highly competitive application pool.
Congratulations go to Kristen Biedermann ’16, who earned a Master’s degree in Simmons, and gains an English teaching assistantship in Colombia. Also, accolades to Adam Garnick, a current Simmons graduate student, who will assume an English teaching assistantship in Hungary.They were two of seven semifinalists from SMU.
The program gives grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs. Read more.
Caitlin Anderson (Wellness), Sherril English and Diego Román (Teaching and Learning), join 18 other SMU faculty members who have been awarded Sam Taylor Fellowships. The fellowships support research and award up to $2,000 for full-time faculty members at United Methodist-related colleges and universities in Texas.
Anderson will examine how first-year students define their values and rationalize their behavior. She’ll investigate “the correlation between values congruence, GPA, and well-being.”
English’s research will look at urban school students’ conceptions of learning by examining “the classroom and out-of-school learning experiences of several DISD students, their approaches to learning tasks, and the ways that they view learning outcomes as they grow to become independent and self-regulated learners.”
Román seeks to further his research in bilingual education by “examining the sociolinguistic knowledge and language attitudes of bilingual teachers towards the varieties of Spanish spoken in North Texas.” He looks at whether the notion of having “one correct Spanish” may impede students’ bilingualism.
Denton Creek Elementary in Coppell ISD has named Maricela Leon its Teacher of the Year. Leon, a former economist, teaches fifth grade and is a current student in the Master of Bilingual Education program. The Simmons School is proud of her and her accomplishments!
Congratulations to students in the Early Literacy program who received their 2016 Certificates of Achievement. This 18-credit hour literacy program provides professional development for K-2 classroom teachers in high need public schools (including charters) to meet the literacy needs of their students. Read more.
Congratulations to Betty Gilmore, Simmons faculty member and director of the Center for Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management at SMU-in-Plano, who was honored by her peers November 4, 2016.
Dr. Gilmore was chosen by The Southern California Mediation Association to receive the ninth Randolph Lowry Award for her “passion and dedication to education in the field of dispute resolution.” Read more.
A new SMU academy for Dallas Independent School District science teachers will help them share the wonders of science and technology with as many as 47,000 middle-school students. A $1.7 million grant from Texas Instruments and the TI Foundation will help fund the academy.
The STEM Teacher Academy at SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development will help teachers develop methods for engaging students in science at a key decision-making time in lives. Professor Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Texas Instruments Endowed Chair in Education, will lead the academy. Read more.
Professor Peter Weyand shared his knowledge to break down the biomechanics of XPogo demonstrations at the State Fair of Texas. In this did-you-know story, KERA reporter Courtney Collins gets to the scien
ce behind what the high-flying XPogo jumpers do. Read more here.
Weyand holds the school’s Glenn Simmons Endowed Professorship and directs the Locomotor Performance Laboratory. He is a member of the Applied Physiology and Wellness faculty.
