Education Commons^™

How Other Countries Reopened Schools During The Pandemic – And What The Us Can Learn From Them, Robert W. Spires

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

As American school officials debate when it will be safe for schoolchildren to return to classrooms, looking abroad may offer insights. Nearly every country in the world shuttered their schools early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have since sent students back to class, with varying degrees of success.

I am a scholar of comparative international education. For this article, I examined what happened in four countries where K-12 schools either stayed open throughout the pandemic or have resumed in-person instruction, using press reports, national COVID-19 data and academic studies.

Pervasive Pedagogy: Collaborative Cloud-Based Composing Using Google Drive, Maury Elizabeth Brown, Daniel L. Hocutt

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Cloud-based services designed for educational use, like Google Apps for Education (GAFE), afford deeply collaborative activities across multiple applications. Through primary research, the authors discovered that cloud-based technologies such as GAFE and Google Drive afford new opportunities for collaborative cross-platform composing and student engagement. These affordances require new pedagogies to transform these potentialities into practice, as well as a reexamination of contemporary theory of computers and composition. The authors’ journey implementing Google Drive as a composing and communication environment required continually remediating content, relationships, practices, and their own identities as they interacted with students in the cloud. This chapter addresses …

Solidifying Segregation Or Promoting Diversity? School Closure And Rezoning In An Urban District, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Kimberly Bridges, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Purpose: Layered with myriad considerations, school closure and rezoning processes in urban school systems are politically fraught with the potential for damaging consequences. This article explores the politics and impacts of a closure and rezoning process in Richmond, Virginia, through the lens of themes applicable to urban school systems and students across the nation. These include the intersection of closure and rezoning with growing White reinvestment in urban school systems, as well as the importance of focusing on diversity and equity during a time of intense pressure to close schools.

Research Methods/Approach: Drawing on the case of Richmond, …

An Open Letter To Governor-Elect Mcauliffe, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Almost every governor elected in recent memory has recognized how critical education is to the economic and social welfare of our commonwealth. Each has come into office ready to put his personal stamp on Virginia's educational system. However, we believe the time has come for our state's chief executive to realize that our current system is no longer functioning in an equitable manner, particularly for children who are at or below the poverty line.

Increasing Diversity In The City Schools: Unexplored Paths Of Opportunity, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Kimberly M. Bridges, Thomas J. Shields, John V. Moeser, Renee Hill

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

In its school rezoning and closure process from May 6 - June 3, 2013, the Richmond School Board voted to close 3 schools and change 14 elementary school zones despite opposition that overwhelmingly outweighed support at both public hearings. Though there were a wide range of concerns cited, including the rushed timeline, lack of transparency and absence of clear criteria for closing and rezoning these schools, many stakeholders expressed particular disapproval related to the potential increase in racial isolation that would result from the plan, formally known as Option C.

While regional efforts to promote school diversity—a central theme of …

Promote Equity, Excellence In Our Region's Schools, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

In a region that loves history, public anniversaries offer an opportunity to reflect on events that have shaped our collective present. This spring brings just such an occasion; it has been 40 years since the U.S. Supreme court halted a federal court order mandating the consolidation of the Richmond public school district with the Chesterfield and Henrico districts. This action locked in city and suburban school boundaries - and associated inequities - that still exist.

Intergenerational Learning: Beyond The Jargon, Edward L. Ayers, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Opportunities for intergenerational learning abound on college campuses. The advantages of these experiences for both young and mature learners are well documented, particularly in the context of service learning, civic engagement, and other experiences outside the classroom. Less well documented but no less compelling are the advantages of intergenerational learning within the traditional classroom setting. At the University of Richmond, our vision of intergenerational learning is one where adult students share the college classroom with traditional-aged students, and cross-school collaboration is a central tenet of the learning experience for all students. What follows is a presentation of why we are …

A Call To Action For Restoring Trust, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

If you have been following the recent impasse between the Richmond School Board and school administration and Mayor Doug Wilder and his administration, you will notice that very different stories are being told -- each side trying to find a receptive audience.

Engaging Continuing Education Alumni, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

An effective alumni relations program is the heart of all fundraising efforts. Every college campus in America has an office of alumni affairs. Today, active and engaged alumni create chapters across the country, contribute financially to both annual fund drives and capital campaigns, and generally serve their alma mater in numerous volunteer capacities. However, continuing education programs, both credit and noncredit, have historically existed on the periphery of traditional alumni groups or have been excluded from alumni activities altogether.

Overview Of The 84th Annual Ucea Conference: Blurring The Boundaries Of The Academy, Karen Berthold, David Grossman, Paul Hamlin, Sue Maes, James Narduzzi, Thomas Shostak

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

To meet the challenges of the next century, continuing higher education is recreating itself to assume position of campus-wide leadership. Traditional continuing education units that were simply the university's off-campus course providers are using their organizational flexibility to take on innovative and expanded roles that include for-profit distance learning centers, international educational partnerships, welfare-to-work initiatives, and post-baccalaureate programs for the changing workforce. While maintaining the academy's high standards of scholarship and research, continuing education is also being asked to become a lead voice in conceiving the new academy and in linking the university to the demands of society. These new …

Kuwait Special Educators Program, William R. Nelson, Linda Friedman, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

The United States has long been recognized as a world leader in responding to the developmental needs of individuals with mental retar­dation (Rowitz, 1989). Particular strengths exist in the educational arena, both in traditional settings as well as in the vocational area (Glidden & Zetlin, 1992; Clark & Kolstoe, 1990; Wehmen, 1990; Schlack, McGaughey, & Kiernan, 1989). Because of these strengths, an increasing number of inter­national groups are seeking training opportunities to study these practices. In July 1992, the Cultural Attache at the Embassy of Kuwait in Washington, D.C. issued a request for proposals directed at special education practices in …

A Business Curriculum For The Commonwealth Of Independent States, Susan Coleman, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Eastern Europe and the former states of the Soviet Union have undergone and continue to undergo a period of dramatic transformation from centralized economies to free market systems. This has involved a shift from public to private ownership for many large state enterprises, and it has also involved the development and launch of many new business ventures. Privatization as it is called, has created a demand for American style business education, capabilities, and experiences.