College of Education News

• NSU Signs Digital Equity and Transformation Pledge
• COE Reading Professors Start Literacy Podcast
• NSU-BA Hosts Summer Camp for Children and Adults with Disabilities
• Psychology Bachelor's Degree Now Available Fully Online
• Library Media and Info Tech program ranked a top online degree in Library Science
• COE American Sign Language Instructor Holds Coffee Chats for Deaf Community
• COE Faculty and Staff Receive Model the Way Honors
• COE Faculty Promote Education Careers to High School Students
• COE Faculty and Student Receive 2022 DaVinci Institute Awards

News Archives

Northeastern State University has joined with more than 60 Education Preparation Provider leaders at the U.S. Department of Education to launch the EPPs for Digital Equity and Transformation initiative.

"Our College of Education has always strived to be innovative in the educational technology strategies provided to our teacher candidates," Associate Dean of the College of Education Dr. Lisa Bisogno said. "Now more than ever, it is crucial to instruct our future teachers how to bridge the technology equity gap of which our teacher preparation programs will vow to continue to implement."

You can read more about the launch of the initiative at Inside Higher Ed, THE Journal, and EdWeek. 

Read the full article about NSU's pledge from the Tahlequah Daily Press here. 

July 2022

Northeastern State University Department of Curriculum and Instruction Reading Program Professor Dr. Tobi Thompson launched a podcast to Spotify on July 6, with two other NSU associate professors, Dr. Ingrid Massey and Dr. Sarah Ramsey.

The podcast, which is called "That's Why We Read," will discuss issues and trends in literacy education and how they impact teachers. Thompson said the best practices for teaching children with dyslexia, and how unique assessments can be used to help drive the instruction, will also be a part of the discussion.

She said the amount of work administrators pile on teachers, coupled with federal and state mandates, makes smaller and shorter informational techniques easier for teachers to use.

"Bite-sized professional development is often the best way to reach teachers, as they can listen on their way to school in the morning, or on their lunch break, or after school," said Thompson.

Read the full article from the Tahlequah Daily Press here.

July 2022

In partnership with the College of Education and Continuing Education office, the NSU-Broken Arrow campus hosted a free summer camp for children and adults with disabilities from June 27 to June 30, 2022. 

The "See My Ability" summer camp "gives older children and young adults with disabilities the opportunities to express themselves through artistic means and teach them to advocate for themselves,” Associate Dean of the College of Education Dr. Lisa Bisogno said. 

“It takes the ‘dis’ out of disability and lets the community truly ‘see’ what they are able to accomplish through visual arts furthering the expectations of people with disabilities and empowering this diverse group of people.”

A grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council makes it possible for the camp to be offered for free.

Read the full RiverHawk News press release here.

June 2022

The NSU College of Education has received full approval from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to add a fully online option for the Bachelor of Science in Psychology degree. 

“While clinical work is a well-known career of psychology majors, our program teaches a student to understand and nurture productive, pro-social relationships,” NSU Psychology and Counseling Department Chair Dr. Johnny Kirk said. “These skills are highly sought after in management positions, sales, entrepreneurship and other fields.”

Kirk said pursuing a psychology bachelor’s at NSU remains a good option for many in the region due to its affordability, small class sizes and diverse faculty. He added just because NSU is more affordable it does not diminish the quality of the instruction, technology and service.

Read the full RiverHawk News press release here.

June 2022

The graduate degree in Library Media and Information Technology has been ranked as one of the best colleges in the nation for online library science degree programs. 

The Student Training & Education in Public Service (STEPS) listed NSU at No. 19 on its Best Online Master’s Degrees in Library Science in 2022. The program is accredited by the American Association of School Librarians.

“The Library Media and Information Technology program at NSU has been recognized multiple times over the past few years, and it is always nice to have our work acknowledged as exemplary in the field of library science,” Program Chair for Library Media & Information Technology Dr. Alesha Baker said.

Read the full RiverHawk News press release here.

June 2022

Jameie Combs, American Sign Language instructor in the College of Education, hosts a monthly ASL coffee chat for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. On May 28, she held a workshop to raise money for a mission trip to Malawi. 

“We will do an introductory history of the deaf community. We’ll share about linguistic features that are distinct to ASL, survival signs, then I’m going to teach how to sign a song. It is a light introduction, as it piques interest in people's minds and hearts,” said Combs.

She said that about one in 10 people experience some kind of hearing loss in the U.S., often due to old age or an accident, but culturally deaf people are fewer in population and live within a deaf culture.

“In the U.S., there are one to two million who are culturally deaf and subscribe to deaf culture. Here in Tahlequah, there are 20-25 people that are culturally deaf,” said Combs.

Many deaf people throughout Cherokee County have struggled to find a gathering place to socialize, so Combs and Dawn Sledd are bringing them together monthly at Northeastern State University.

Read the full RiverHawk News press release here.

May 2022

NSU awards Model the Way honorees for the College of Education Dr. Ingrid Massey, left, with NSU President Dr. Steve Turner, was named 2022 President's Model the Way faculty honoree.

Lois Buttress, right, with Dr. Steve Turner, was named 2022 President's Model the Way staff honoree.

Each honoree receives a $1,000 check from the NSU Foundation and will have their names, photos and bios displayed on a plaque that will reside in the Administration Building on the Tahlequah campus.

Congratulations to both of our exceptional colleagues!

May 2022

Northeastern State University faculty are visiting school districts across Oklahoma to promote teaching and education careers to high-school student athletes.

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education awarded NSU funding through its Oklahoma Teacher Connection Collegiate Grant program to implement an outreach initiative to attract Oklahoma high school student-athletes to the education and teaching profession. These are one-year grants “that encourage the recruitment, retention and placement efforts of teachers in Oklahoma,” according to the OSRHE website.

“Speaking to high school athletes about the rewards of a career in physical education and coaching could be an effective way to influence them to consider teaching,” Assistant Dean of the College of Education Dr. Kelli Carney said. “Adding more health and physical fitness teachers in Oklahoma's schools would go a long way to help the teacher shortage in this area.”

While Oklahoma’s teacher shortage is not a new phenomenon, Carney said for the last couple years health and physical fitness teachers were included on the Oklahoma Teacher Shortage Areas list. At NSU, the Health and Physical Education program prepares candidates to teach physical education and health in grades K-12.

Read the full RiverHawk News press release here.

April 2022

Dr. MooSong Kim, associate professor of Health and Kinesiology in the College of Education, and Kaylee Potter, a senior in the Health & Physical Education program, were both awarded DaVinci Institute awards this spring. 

The DaVinci Institute Fellowship funds creative projects among Oklahoma’s higher education faculty. Winners are awarded on the premise that creative thought and insight are fundamental components across academic disciplines. Fellows receive a $1,000 grant to promote scholarships in any area of creativity in education.

Kim’s proposal is titled “School Principals’ and PE Teachers’ Facilitators and Barriers to Adopting and Implementing an After-School Physical Activity Policy for Children with Disabilities.” The project focuses on accountability measures for schools to provide equal opportunities for after school physical activities to students with and without disabilities. 

The DaVinci Institute Scholar Award is awarded to pre-service teachers for their academic success and community service. Winners are provided a $1,000 grant to support their creativity and critical thinking they will bring to their students. Each scholar will graduate from a college or university in Oklahoma and have chosen to remain in state to build a teaching career.

Potter’s proposal is titled “Healthy Living Project” and focuses on promoting health-conscious practices for middle and high school aged students including daily exercise and eating healthy.

“This award means that I will be able to have funding for implementing this project into my future classroom,” Potter said. “I am not sure what school I will be teaching at in the near future but I know this will mean a lot for my future students.”

Read the full RiverHawk News press release here.

Click here to learn about current and past DaVinci award winners.

April 2022