News Releases

UHCL’s Kids U introduces summer camps for preschool children. University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Kids U will offer something new this year with the addition of summer camps for pre-kindergarten children, ages 3-5. The Discovery Through Play Camps, designed for typically developing children as well as those with mild developmental delays, will be held in the university’s new early childhood model classroom under the direction of the school’s early childhood education faculty. Offerings will also include a My Camp session reserved exclusively for kids with special needs.

The two camps are approached from a play-based philosophy, explains UH-Clear Lake Assistant Professor of Special Education Elizabeth Beavers.

“While it will be structured and activities are planned, it will very much be child-directed,” says Beavers. “Most children need an opportunity to engage in authentic play experiences, and this will add a unique camp twist. It will give young children a chance to experience their own version of a summer camp that is completely age-appropriate and that celebrates everything camp should be.”

UHCL streamlines program, announces weekend cohort. University of Houston-Clear Lake School of Education announces a reduction in hours to its Master of Science in Educational Management with Principal Certification degree program. In addition, the school will begin offering its first weekend cohort for those seeking the degree with one-time scholarship opportunities available for new students admitted and enrolled in classes offered at San Jacinto College North.

Streamlining the program’s course content reduced the required semester credit hours from 39 hours to 33 hours effective at the start of summer 2012.

“By carefully reassessing program content, we were able to merge and consolidate content in four of our courses,” said Bettye Grigsby, assistant professor of administration and supervision and educational management program coordinator.
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Educator couple works together to improve student learning Classrooms figure prominently in the life of University of Houston-Clear Lake Assistant Professor Kent Divoll and his wife, Angelica Ribeiro, an English as a Second Language elementary school teacher in the Pasadena Independent School District. The two educators met in a classroom, were married in a classroom and now both spend much of their days working in classrooms.

Divoll, assistant professor of teacher education, supervises interns and teaches classroom management for UH-Clear Lake’s School of Education. Ribeiro, originally from Fortaleza, Brazil, teaches fifth- and sixth-grade language arts to English language learners at Melillo Middle School.

The pair met while enrolled in the same class at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He was a doctoral student and she, a master’s student. Two years later, shortly before relocating to Houston, the couple exchanged vows in the same classroom where they met. They would later marry in a formal ceremony before family and friends in Massachusetts, and yet again in Brazil, bringing the total number of anniversaries to three. ...

UH-Clear Lake School of Education 2011 Outstanding Students Named University of Houston-Clear Lake graduate student Kristen L. Foxley and undergraduate Sarah Bennett were named recipients of the prestigious Dr. Patricia Potter Wilson School of Education Outstanding Graduate and Undergraduate Student Scholarships.

“We’re pleased to recognize these two highly, commendable students, both of whom have excelled academically and provided exemplary examples of leadership on campus and within the community,” says School of Education Dean Dennis Spuck.

Foxley graduated this December 2011 with a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction. Currently a full time faculty member at San Jacinto College – Central Campus, she was instrumental in starting the college’s successful CHARM (commitment, history, accountability, resources and mastery) initiative providing special assistance to students struggling with developmental mathematics classes. ...

School of Education Welcomes New Faculty for Fall 2011-2012 The School of Education welcomed five new faculty members for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Joining the UH-Clear Lake School of Education lineup are Marva Gavins, assistant professor of special education; Elizabeth Beavers, assistant professor of special education; Dee Sloan, assistant professor of counseling; Vanessa Dodo Seriki, assistant professor of science education; and Jill Smith, assistant professor of early childhood education;

Gavins returns to UH-Clear Lake where she completed a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in special education; she received a doctorate in special education from the University of Maryland. Before accepting the position at UH-Clear Lake, Gavins served as the Director of Special Education at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina...

Early childhood education program celebrates its first graduates University of Houston-Clear Lake’s School of Education recognized the first graduates of its Bachelor of Applied Science in Interdisciplinary Studies program. Delisa Reyna, of Houston, and Betty Page, of Lake Jackson, completed coursework in August and will participate in formal graduation ceremonies in December.

Reyna, owner of two child care facilities in Northeast Houston, first began higher education studies in 2000, but left school to start a family. She learned of the new degree at UH-Clear Lake from faculty at San Jacinto North Campus.

“It was a perfect fit for me because a lot of the classes I had taken transferred,” she explains.

The coursework has proven beneficial, as well....

Grigsby to lead educational management program University of Houston-Clear Lake’s School of Education appointed Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Bettye Grigsby as its educational management program coordinator, responsible for the oversight of the Master of Science in Educational Management degree and related principal certification programs. 

Grigsby joined the UH-Clear Lake faculty in 2007.  At present, in addition to teaching responsibilities, she is conducting research in several areas including development of on an interview protocol that can be used during the hiring process to assist in identifying quality teaching behaviors.

She is a member of the board of the Southwest Education Research Association, and has presented at several national and regional conferences on issues related to educational administration, higher education special education issues and principal preparation programs. ...

UHCL’s Digital Academy offers digital skills to area educators Area educators can learn the basics of incorporating online instruction in their classrooms at the University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Digital Academy this fall. K-12 teachers and college and university faculty are invited to explore the fundamentals of designing, developing and implementing a class group project in an online learning management system ...

UH-Clear Lake Kids U, Assistance League a Winning Partnership    Building molecules, launching rockets, mastering Chinese calligraphy – it’s just another day at the University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Kids U, where more than 700 area youth participated in the annual summer enrichment programs that have been a feature on the campus for nearly 30 years. For almost as long, the volunteer organization, Assistance League of the Bay Area, has worked in close partnership with the university, aiding the program’s success and ensuring the area’s economically disadvantaged children have a chance to join in the fun and learning.

“We’re able to stretch kids’ minds doing things that they don’t ordinarily do during the school year,” explains Anne Coppenhaver, director of UH-Clear Lake School of Education Center for Educational Programs which houses the summer program. ...

UH-Clear Lake doctoral student receives CREATE Research Grant    The Center for Research, Evaluation and Advancement of Teacher Education (CREATE) awarded University of Houston-Clear Lake School of Education doctoral candidate Alicia Martin one of only ten 2010-2011 Public School Research Scholars Program grants. The $3,000 award will assist Martin in developing her dissertation research titled “Integration, Learner-Centered, and Curriculum-Centered Approaches in a High School Mathematics Course.” ...

“The CREATE research grant funding process is highly competitive and selective,” explains UH-Clear Lake Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Program Coordinator of Teacher Education Denise McDonald. “Recipients must exhibit great promise as an educational researcher,” she notes. “Ms. Martin is a stellar representative of the UH-Clear Lake doctoral program.” ...

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From social media to academia: Facebook makes the grade Two University of Houston-Clear Lake School of Education professors conducted their own social experiment that ended with positive results when they invited students in two classes to use Facebook, the popular social medium, as part of their class discussion assignments.

Margie Garcia and Elaine Hendrix, assistant professors of reading, decided to experiment with the modern communication technology that has swept the globe hoping to engage their students in livelier discussions than with traditional academic online discussion boards. Hendrix taught a reading and writing class at UH-Clear Lake Pearland Campus and Massey Ranch Elementary School in Pearland Independent School District, while Garcia taught a reading in content subject class at UH-Clear Lake...

Special conference for teachers held   Area educators can learn more about reaching the needs of English language learners in the classroom as University of Houston-Clear Lake’s School of Education presents “Collaborating to Meet the Needs of English Language Learners,” a two-day conference May 6 – 7, at the UH-Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, 77058.

Friday’s program will focus on English language learners and pedagogy, while Saturday will address the mental health side of helping English language learners. Both days will include a continental breakfast, breakout sessions, speakers and a reception on Friday evening. Scheduled keynote speakers are leaders in their field including Sharon Reyes, Andrea Bermúdez, Carmen Tafolla, Patricia Arredondo and Hugh Crethar.

Reyes, who will serve as the Friday morning keynote speaker, holds a doctorate in curriculum design from University of Illinois at Chicago with a specialization in multicultural and bilingual education. She is the program director for DiversityLearningK12, a consulting and professional development group specializing in the education of English language learners. She has co-authored two books on the subject.

UH-Clear Lake Early Childhood program reflects a changing industry    Students enrolled in the University of Houston-Clear Lake Bachelor of Applied Science in Interdisciplinary Studies’ Early Childhood Education program are the faces of a changing child care industry.

"Twenty years ago it was day care,” says UH-Clear Lake student Patricia Pogue. “There’s been a whole change from that. Now you see early childhood development centers – even the focus in the name is totally different.”

Early child education – birth to 5 years – once considered babysitting is now recognized as a crucial time for learning foundational knowledge, skills and behaviors that are necessary before beginning kindergarten and first grade to help ensure long term educational success. In the last decade studies have repeatedly shown that children, under the guidance of a teacher with a four-year degree emphasizing early childhood, are better prepared for the classroom. As a result federal and national standards for the industry are beginning to reflect this change calling for more teachers to have degrees...

UH-Clear Lake School of Education receives ExxonMobil Baytown grant     University of Houston-Clear Lake School of Education received a $7,500 grant for scholarships from ExxonMobil Baytown in support of its Baytown Area Education Recruitment and Retention program, one of the university’s four Success Through Education Programs.

A “grow-your-own-teacher” program, the Success Through Education Programs provide scholarships, specialized instruction, academic guidance, mentoring, and other support services to high school, community college, and university students. Its goals include providing first-generation students an opportunity to obtain a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification....

UHCL doctoral program announces Higher Ed specialization   University of Houston-Clear Lake’s School of Education announced that its Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership degree program now includes a specialization in Higher Education.

“We’ve received requests since launching our doctoral program to include classes with this special emphasis,” explains Program Area Chair for Educational Leadership and Professor of Educational Leadership Larry Kajs...

UHCL teams with Texas Regional Collaboratives     Becoming a better science teacher helped Clear Creek Independent School District’s Hyde Elementary teacher Audrey Soto’s class become better science students. The 16-year teacher saw her school’s science scores soar from acceptable to exemplary after she began attending workshops offered through the University of Houston-Clear Lake School of Education together with the Environmental Institute of Houston in collaboration with the Texas Regional Collaboratives, a statewide network of partnerships between institutions of higher education, school districts, business partners and the Texas Education Agency

“We weren’t teaching things in the right way,” Soto explains. “We weren’t utilizing our science lab the way we should have been.” ...

UH-Clear Lake team develops tool for identifying effective teachers   Twenty years of human resources experience and eight years as a school superintendent taught University of Houston-Clear Lake School of Education Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Gary Schumacher that when it comes to hiring teachers, most school principals believe they know how to do it and that they are very good at it. But Schumacher, a former principal himself, says most have had no training in how to hire effective teachers...

UH-Clear Lake School of Education 2010 Outstanding Students named    University of Houston-Clear Lake graduate student Sara Konesheck and undergraduate Amanda Funesti were named the recipients of the prestigious Dr. Patricia Potter Wilson School of Education Outstanding Graduate and Undergraduate Student Scholarships. Winners are chosen based on their academic achievements and demonstrated leadership capabilities.

Konesheck, currently employed as a fourth-grade teacher at Clear Creek Independent School District’s Greene Elementary, will complete a Master of Science in Educational Management with Principal Certification next May...