Professor Jesus Garcia was invited by the editorial staff of Phi Delta Kappan to contribute a critique on the Kevin St. Jarre article Reinventing Social Studies which argues history's role within the curriculum has been overwhelming and needs to be curtailed. In Reinventing Social Studies: By all Means Professor Garcia highlights the challenges to a well-thought-out approach that would lead to K-12 social studies program with greater history content and instruction. The St. Jarre article along with Dr. Garcia’s critique appear in the May 2008 issue of the Kappan.

Dr. Garcia joined the C&I faculty in the Fall of 2004. He completed his Ed.D. at UC Berkeley.

Mary Sowder has accepted a position as assistant professor at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah in the Department of Teacher Education, beginning August 2008. She will teach courses in elementary education and supervise student teachers. She will defend her dissertation, entitled Mentored Learning to Teach: A Case Study of Mentoring Novice Elementary Teachers from Various Teacher Preparation Programs in Elementary Science Teaching, in August, 2008. Her committee co-chairs are Dr. Odell and Dr. Wang.

Teresa Leavitt has accepted an assistant professor position at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in the Department of Teacher Education, beginning August 2008. She will teach courses in elementary education, along with an active role in the internship program. She successfully defended her dissertation titled “German Mathematics Subject Content and Pedagogical Content Knowledge” on April 16th. Her committee co-chairs are Dr. Odell and Dr. Wang.

Assistant Professor Shaoan Zhang recently published a study in a peer-reviewed Hong Kong education journal, New Horizons in Education in Vol.56, No.1, May 2008. The study was entitled: "Chinese Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Effects of Teacher Self-Disclosure". The study was co-authored by three other Chinese scholars, Dr. Qingmin Shi from Hebei Normal University, Professor Xiao Luo from Xiamen Jimei University, and Ms. Xueyu Ma from Xingtai University.

Dr. Zhang joined the C&I faculty in the Fall of 2007. He completed his PhD at Old Dominion University.

Project KNOTtT (Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Texas Transition to Teaching) is a consortium of colleges and universities in Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Texas. UNLV is the only Nevada institution in this consortium. Dr. Martha Young is the Program Director at UNLV for Project KNOTtT. The program offered through UNLV is based on the grant requirements to prepare 15 "high needs" teachers in English language arts, math and science through alternative routes to licensure.

For more information visit the Project KNOTtT website.