Announcements

The Office for Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) invites community colleges to submit proposals for the Educational Leaders Equity–Centered Transformation (ELECT) Spark Grants Initiative Program.

The ELECT Initiative will provide grants for a one-year period or less (calendar year 2019), awarding up to five community colleges $8,000 to spark or extend equity focused and culturally responsive curriculum efforts. We define educational equity as the process of identifying how disparities affect the educational opportunities of students based on marginalized social identities (i.e. race, gender, socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality, age, citizenship, religion, physical and mental ability, etc.) and subsequently developing strategic solutions to take systemic action to redress these inequities (DeCuir & Dixson, 2004) through ongoing and sustainable efforts (Gorski, 2016) that are equity centered.

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The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been approved as an entitled institution for the Gateways to Opportunity EGE Credential Level 5 through 2023. As an entitled institution, students at Illinois have the opportunity to qualify for state-recognized credentials as they take courses or complete a degree through the Department of Curriculum & Instruction in the College of Education.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is among a small group of institutions in Illinois to be selected for the Gateways to Opportunity Credentials. All Gateways to Opportunity Credentials have competencies that reflect multiple professional standards, including the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards. The faculty members at Illinois have worked diligently to align their courses with the Gateways to Opportunity competencies.

In a time when early childhood education is defining itself as a field that promotes professional development, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champiagn has become entitled to help further this goal by graduating students who are ready to provide quality care and education to young children in Illinois.

The Gateways to Opportunity within the Illinois Professional Development System is designed to provide guidance, support, and recognition to practitioners who serve children and families in Illinois. Gateways to Opportunity is administered by the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) on behalf of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS). Visit the Gateways to Opportunity website at www.ilgateways.com to learn more.

Pat Meyers Giles '69 C&I and her husband, Bob, are the recipients of this year's Lou Liay Spirit Award, an honor established in 1997 to recognize graduates who consistently display extraordinary spirit and pride toward the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Learn more about the couple's honor.

From 2009 to 2016, Educational Psychology scholar Jennifer C. Cromley was one of the top-producing female authors, editors, and editorial board members in her field, according to a paper in the journal Educational Psychology Review.

Cromley and the 22 other educational psychologists who were recognized in the piece collectively had 161 published articles in educational psychology journals. “By most standards of scholarly productivity,” the paper reads, “these women are highly accomplished contributors to the field.”

In all, Cromley contributed to 21 articles during the time period of the study and was a first author in one piece. Of those articles, seven were published in the five peer-reviewed “targeted” journals gauged in the study, which were Cognition and Instruction, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, Educational Psychology Review, and Journal of Educational Psychology.

Cromley said all seven of the articles in the targeted journals had graduate students as authors. Four of those articles, she said, had students as first authors, two of which were dissertations.

“It feels wonderful for all of us to receive this recognition,” Cromley said.

The abstract of the study noted that the top-producing women in educational psychology have less seniority, on average, in the field than their male counterparts. Male authors also have more publications, on average, and more sole authorships and first authorships compared to female authors, the study found.

“No discernible progress has been made by women in terms of editorial board memberships or editorships since 2004,” it says at the end of the abstract.

Professor Cromley was recognized in 2016 by the same publication as one of the top 20 most published educational psychologists in the world.