Educational Policy
                              and Leadership Studies

• Coincidence Connects
• Online Program Brings Career Goals Closer
• Professor Offers Opinion on Pay-for-Grades

Coincidence Connects

Jon Teig and Dean Susan Lagos Lavenz

Associate Dean Susan Lagos Lavenz has had a unique opportunity to watch one student grow from a nonverbal toddler to a proud Hawkeye. Lagos Lavenz was principal at Grant Early Childhood Center in Cedar Rapids when Jon Teig came to the school as a toddler. She assisted in his transition to his neighborhood elementary school, and then again to middle school where she was his principal again at the Johnson School of the Arts.

Now 22, Teig is a student in the College’s REACH program, which helps students with cognitive and learning disabilities earn a program certificate and prepare for an independent life. “It’s come full circle,” she said. When Lagos Lavenz discovered Teig had been accepted into the REACH program, she visited him in his classroom to welcome him to the College.

“He looked up and said, “Mrs. L., are you the principal here, too?’” she said. Lagos Lavenz witnessed Teig’s positive contributions in his earlier schools through his musical abilities and enthusiasm. “What he brought to the general education classroom improved education for everyone. I’m certain he’s doing the same thing here,” she said.

Teig has an internship with the UI baseball team, and describes himself like many college students. “I attend classes; I do activities; I keep my grades up,” he said. “I’m here to be a Hawkeye.” He was also happy to see Lagos Lavenz at his new school. “I really like her, so it was nice to see her,” he said. “I was so surprised.”

Online Program Brings Career Goals Closer Marcus Haack teaches educational administration courses both online and in real time. Joe Carter wanted to get into administration in his district, but living in Emmetsburg, an Iowa town he describes as “way out in the middle of nowhere,” made pursuing a graduate degree difficult. Carter, then a middle school social studies teacher, a coach, and a father, said attending a program that required him to travel to campus was out of the question. He was thrilled to discover the Educational Administration master’s degree and principal licensure program, which is offered completely online as well as on campus. “It has provided a tremendous opportunity for me, one that I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish otherwise,” he said. Associate Professor Carolyn Wanat said Carter is exactly the type of student her program hoped to reach with its online offering. “There are many areas of the state where teachers are encouraged to go into leadership but aren’t able to reach any program,” Wanat said. Carter is nearly finished with his Ed. Admin. master’s degree and his principal licensure. The graduate-level training has already produced results for him: he is now the dean of students and activities director in Emmetsburg. The M.A. and licensure programs have been offered through Distance Learning since spring of 2006. Students who choose to attend through Distance Learning attend their courses online and in real time, so they’re able to interact with their classmates who are taking the course on campus.       Wanat said the online program has been growing. During the first semester, she had about two students per course who attended via the web. This spring, 10 out of 16 students in one of her courses attend online. “It’s been wonderful to see so many interested, dedicated educators take advantage of this program,” Wanat said, adding that students are coming from as far as Pittsburgh and even South America. Marcus Haack, a clinical associate professor and program coordinator, said he’s enjoyed working with a new group of diverse students and watching the program grow. “It’s been an effective venue to get our program out there,” he said.

Professor Offers Opinion on Pay-for-Grades

Associate Professor Christine McCarthy discussed “pay for grades” proposals as a guest panelist on the television show “Ethical Perspectives on the News” last fall. The show, which airs every Sunday on KCRG, the Cedar Rapids-based ABC affiliate, covers a different topic each week.

Christine McCarthy

McCarthy was joined on the panel by Richard Whitehead, superintendent of the College Community School District, and Dick Socwell, a psychologist in Cedar Rapids. Along with moderator Charlotte Fallon, the group discussed “pay for grades” experiments that have been done across the country. “The idea is that students would receive cash payment for doing well,” McCarthy explained. “I feel the proposals are a bad idea because this kind of a program doesn’t serve the right purposes.”

Often the ’motivational’ rewards end up going to students who are already doing well—students already capable of achieving high grades.  “In contrast, children who are failing or doing poorly in school are too often facing significant objective obstacles to success in school, obstacles that derived from broad-scale political decisions and socio-economic  factors,” McCarthy said. “The existence of such obstacles constitutes a societal problem to be addressed, and these obstacles are obscured by programs whose aim is merely to increase the level of individual student motivation.”

McCarthy, who teaches philosophy of education, said it is good to know that educational policy discussions can be shared with the community at large. ”These kinds of conversations are valuable,” she said.