Students, staff and faculty members from Penn State's College of Education share recent research and career achievements.

·       Jane D. Brooker, an education program specialist at the Professional Personnel Development Center in the Department of Learning Performance Systems, is this year’s coordinator of the National Business Education Association annual convention, which will be held at the Chicago Marriott Downtown from April 12-15.

·       Alexis Cherewka, a doctoral candidate in the Lifelong Learning and Adult Education program, is lead author of a paper, “You Can’t Win a Cold War with Hot Weapons: Frank C. Laubach’s Educational Project, Adult Literacy Campaigns, and US Foreign Policy (1945–1961),” in the Comparative Education Review. Cherewka’s co-author on the paper is Esther Prins, professor of education (lifelong learning and adult education).

·       Gilberto Q. Conchas, the Wayne K. and Anita Woolfolk Hoy Endowed Professor of Education, has been honored by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) with the AAHHE University Faculty Award. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated excellence in both research and teaching and has provided significant contributions to their respective academic disciplines.

·       The Journal of Research in Rural Education (JRRE), edited by lead editor Karen Eppley, associate teaching professor of education (literacies and English language), and co-editor Kai Schafft, professor of education (educational leadership) and rural sociology, recently published a special issue of JRRE about Black Lives Matter and rural education. The articles highlight intersectional rural research about resistance, land and learning, speaking truth to power, youth organizing and racial solidarity.

·       Erica Frankenberg, professor of education (educational leadership) and demography, and director of the Center for Education and Civil Rights, was interviewed by Deseret News for an article about the growing political polarization on issues surrounding public education. Also, Frankenberg co-wrote an op-ed, “DEI in schools: New acronym, same intent,” for the Centre Daily Times along with Francesca López, professor of education (curriculum and instruction) and the Waterbury Chair in Equity Pedagogy; and Kevin Kinser, professor of education (higher education) and head of the Department of Education Policy Studies.

·       Karen Babbs Hollett, a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership program, is the lead author on a new paper, “A critical analysis of racial disparities in ECE subsidy  funding,” in Education Policy Analysis Archives. Erica Frankenberg, professor of education (educational leadership) and demography, is Hollett’s co-author on the paper.

·       Beverly Lindsay, professor emerita of education, wrote an article, “University Chancellor and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Mpilo Tutu,” that was published by the Fulbright Association.  

·       Annie Maselli, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Education Policy Studies, co-authored an op-ed, “Focus on recruitment and retention for rural Texas schools,” that was published in Abilene Reporter News.

·       David Passmore, distinguished professor emeritus of education, was appointed as a visiting researcher by the University of Pittsburgh with the University Center for Social and Urban Research. In this position, Passmore will collaborate on research related to regional economic analysis, modeling and forecasting.

·       Kai Schafft, professor of education (educational leadership) and rural sociology, is featured in a podcast, Part I of a six-part series, "Living in Rural America — 2022 and Beyond," produced in collaboration with and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"Around the College" highlights accomplishments by faculty, staff and students in the College of Education, including publications; research presentations at conferences and workshops; and awards, grants and fellowships. Please share your news with us and your colleagues by emailing edrelations@psu.edu.