That is not only the first line of our mission statement, but the vision for our courses, our programs, and our research. The faculty and students at SES are a diverse group, but we are unified in that commitment to making a difference in the lives of others through leadership roles in organizations varying from pre-kindergarten to postsecondary education.
As leaders, part of our responsibility is to take the initiative for change – especially for social justice. This means research that benefits our society’s most neglected students, including special-needs children and our migrant and immigrant populations, as well as general focuses on math education, community colleges, and higher education governance. Some of the work here I’m most proud of is research on effective classrooms that include culturally responsive teaching and rigorous standards; research on new approaches of engaging students, and keeping them in school; and grants that get our faculty out in the communities to talk about youth education.
To put these initiatives in a broader context, SES is focusing on four priority areas for the immediate future: Latino education, math education, community college leadership, and international issues in education. Fortunately, we have so many projects and research activities we can’t fit them all in this magazine, but in the following pages you will be able to read about some of our work that touch upon these areas.
On a personal note, I am especially proud of our thriving Urban Leadership Cohort program that prepares principals and superintendents to lead all over California. I have also been pleased to learn that 90 percent of graduates from our Teacher Education Internship Program are still in the field five years after they’ve graduated. Teacher retention is one of the most frustrating problems in K-12 education, and it’s heartening to know it’s far from intractable.
But the biggest privilege of my job has been meeting our marvelous students and alums who have taken what they learned at CGU and used it to affect change in their own communities. The list is far too long to recall, but many immediately come to mind: Carlos Garcia is the superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District; Diane Watson is a member of United States House of Representatives; Lisa Wolf-Wendel is a professor and researcher at the University of Kansas; Pamela Wiley-Wells was recently honored by the March of Dimes for her service to the African American community, and directs several speech therapy clinics in West Los Angeles; Don Hossler has just been named the Sidney Suslow Award recipient by the Association for Institutional Research, and is executive associate dean at Indiana University’s School of Education; Gail Thompson, an SES faculty member and alumna, was recently appointed to the California State Board of Education African American Advisory Committee; kindergarten teacher Yvette Walker was recently honored as Azusa Unified 2009 Teacher of the Year. Of course this is just a partial list. There are many more examples of our wonderful students and alumni on the SES website.
These individuals are the living embodiment of our school’s Vital Feasible Plan, which states that “Since its inception, the CGU School of Educational Studies has been consistently reflective and responsive to the real needs facing society. For SES, transformation is a verb, not a noun.”
Reading this list of our alumni and their achievements, I am reminded of the challenge I take on as dean. I have to not only continue, but build upon the school’s success in responding to the most pressing educational needs of our society. But then, this is a challenge our faculty also accept, as they need to provide life-changing education for our graduate students. Still, ultimately, it’s our students who have accepted the biggest challenge. They are the ones charged with the vital task of educating the next generation. All of these challenges are daunting, but I am constantly renewed by the progress we have made and continue to make.
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