UMBC Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/20268

The Sherman Center is a multidisciplinary center established with a generous gift from the George and Betsy Sherman Family Foundation. Through applied research, professional and leadership development, and partnerships with schools, families, and communities, it seeks to build a strong foundation for learning among young children in Baltimore City and develop best early education practices for urban schools.

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Action Research at Educare: Shifting Focus to the Learner for the 21st Century
(The International Academic Forum, 2020-09-15) Vandarakis, Anthony; Farmer, Frederick; Wood, Elizabeth
A new small-school, Educare or Edu2 (pronounced edu-car-ai; from the Latin word meaning "to draw out") opened its doors in Montreal, Canada, in September 2019. Edu2 has launched an innovative educational environment to address the challenges of preparing students to live meaningful and fulfilling lives in the 21st century. In order to achieve that, Edu2 has engaged in the challenging work of rethinking how schools should organize and what constitutes worthwhile knowledge. Edu2 sees the need for school to foster a supportive community, promote a healthy and happy learning environment, advance digital and traditional literacies, and view learner-generated knowledge as essential. The Action Research at Educare: Shifting Focus to the Learner for the 21st Century research team is led by professor Elizabeth Wood. We are investigating, in partnership with the founder-educators of Edu2, the extent to which the school’s vision has materialized. An ongoing focus of the partnership research is community building, educational technology, and student-centered pedagogy: Edu2 is committed to these core tenets while meeting the global academic standards of the Quebec Education Program (QEP). Our research team is committed to chronicling Edu2’s first year of operation through the (voices) experiences of all community members - teachers, students, parents, and researchers. This presentation will explore the experiences of both students and teachers as they engage with the various opportunities, challenges and feelings of belonging to this unique community during the initial year.
International Service Learning 3.0: Using Technology to Improve Outcomes and Sustainability
(World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2020) Vandarakis, Anthony
Today’s International Service Learning practices require an update: modern technologies, fresh educational frameworks, and a new operating system to accountably prosper. This paper describes a model of International Service Learning (ISL), which combines current technological hardware, electronic platforms, and asynchronous communications that are grounded in inclusive pedagogy. This model builds on the work around collaborative field trip learning, extending the reach to international partnerships across continents. Mobile technology, 21st century skills and summitbasecamp modeling intersect to support novel forms of learning that tread lightly on fragile natural ecosystems, affirm local reciprocal partnership in projects, and protect traveling participants from common yet avoidable cultural pitfalls.
Disparate Pathways: Understanding Racial Disparities in Teaching
(Annenberg Institute, 2024-04) Blazar, David; Anthenelli, Max; Gao, Wenjing; Goings, Ramon; Gershenson, Seth
Mounting evidence supporting the advantages of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways. Following four cohorts of Maryland public high-school students over 12 years reveals several insights. Early barriers require timely interventions, aiding students of color in achieving educational milestones that are prerequisites for teacher candidacy (high school graduation, college enrollment). While alternative pathways that bypass traditional undergraduate teacher preparation may help, current approaches still show persistent racial disparities. Data simulations underscore the need for race-conscious policies specifically targeting or differentially benefiting students of color, as race-neutral strategies have minimal impact. Ultimately, multiple raceconscious policy solutions addressing various educational milestones must demonstrate significant effects—approximately 30% increases—to reshape the teacher workforce to align with student body demographics.
The Educational and Labor Market Impacts of Maryland’s Grow-Your-Own Teacher Recruitment Program
(Urban Institute, 2024-07-12) Blazar, David; Gershenson, Seth; Goings, Ramon
Pathways into the CTE Teaching Profession: A Descriptive Analysis of Degrees, Licenses, and Race in Maryland
(Annenberg Institute, 2024-06) Blazar, David; Song, Danett; Goings, Ramon; Plasman, Jay; Gottfried, Michael
Despite substantial interest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses in U.S. high schools— and associated scholarship on this topic—very little is known about characteristics of CTE teachers who are a critical resource for program implementation and expansion. Using eight years of statewide data from Maryland, we document key facts about the CTE teacher workforce and pathways into the profession. First, a sizable share (17%) of CTE teachers enter the profession with a high school diploma or associate’s degree, aligned to state policy that allows Professional and Technical Educationcertified teachers to substitute years of professional experience for higher degrees. Relatedly, CTE teachers are substantially more likely than non-CTE teachers to enter the profession through an “alternative” path that bypasses traditional undergraduate teacher education (54% versus 30%). Finally, there is a larger share of Black teachers in CTE versus out of CTE (25% versus 16%), leading to greater opportunities for teacher-student race matching. We hypothesize that these patterns are related: decreased barriers to entry into the CTE teaching profession may support more Black individuals to become CTE teachers.
Increasing Access to Multicultural Books in Early Childhood Classroom Libraries: An Evaluation of the Diverse Books Project
(Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities, 2024-12-20) Godwin, Karrie E.; Kumaravelan, Praveen; Aquino, Ana Katrina; Baker, Linda; Mata-McMahon, Jennifer
This work evaluates the Diverse Books Project, a program of the Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities, through the analysis of archival data on teachers� program participation and anticipated use of the program resources (Study 1). We also gathered retrospective data on teachers� perception of the program抯 utility (Study 2) to help inform future iterations of the program and to provide guidance to other institutions or schools that aim to create similar programming. The Diverse Books Project was designed to provide teachers with access to multicultural children抯 books for their classroom libraries. The program delivered over 1,700 copies of books to more than 100 teachers. The data suggest teachers perceived important benefits from the program for both themselves and their students. Recommendations are provided for future program iterations and lessons learned are offered for institutions who aim to create similar community-school partnerships.
Virtual Instruction in Elementary School Classrooms during the COVID-19 Pandemic
(2023-05-28) Kaur, Freya; Sonnenschein, Susan; Godwin, Karrie E.
Brain Breaks: Teacher Usage And Child Preference
(University of California, 2024) Kumaravelan, Praveen; Leroux, Audrey; Godwin, Karrie E.
Brain breaks are often used during lessons to replenish childrens’ attention, but children may respond differently to the variety of brain breaks they are offered. Therefore, two studies were conducted to identify both teachers’ current use of brain breaks (Study 1) as well as the types of brain breaks children prefer (Study 2). Study 1 consisted of a survey of K-2 teachers (N = 796) across the United States regarding the implementation and types of brain breaks commonly used in their classrooms. The three most common break types reported by teachers were physical activity breaks, videos, and dancing. Study 2 consisted of a forced choice task in which elementary- and middle-school students were asked to pick between two instantiations of six different break types: cognitive engagement breaks, mindfulness exercises, physical activity breaks, nature videos, coloring, and mind wandering. For each break type, children were asked to pick the instantiation they preferred as well as the one they believed would help them focus. Children were then asked to rank the six breaks they selected from most to least preferred and most to least beneficial for focusing. Data collection is ongoing (N = 53). Preliminary results revealed children were more likely to rank cognitive engagement breaks as their most preferred break type. Analyses within break type revealed that students preferred mazes over pattern blocks as a cognitive engagement break, color jump over calisthenics for physical activity breaks, videos of forest scenery over cows grazing for a nature video break, mandala coloring over abstract coloring as a coloring break, and viewing a poster of a starry sky over an abstract poster as a mind wandering break.
Comparing generating predictions with retrieval practice as learning strategies for primary school children
(2024-02-23) Carvalho, Paulo; Godwin, Karrie E.
This eye tracking study examines the learning benefits of two common active learning approaches ? generating predictions and retrieval ? for young children. Both generating predictions and retrieval practice are active learning approaches that involve generating responses and then being provided with the correct information or retrieving previously provided correct information. Participants included 90 children (mean age: 7 years; Female = 46, Male = 42). Parents reported children?s race and ethnicity as follows: 2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 5% African American, 74% Caucasian, 3% other, and 6% identified as two or more categories; demographics largely reflective of the county where the data was collected, but nevertheless the generalizability of these findings to more diverse populations may be limited. In this study, young children learned facts about insects (e.g., ?insects are hard on the outside?) while we measured their attention to the lesson using eye tracking technology. Then their knowledge was assessed on an immediate test. All children were presented with the same materials but the presentation order was modified based on condition assignment. In the generating predictions condition, children saw examples of animals and were asked if an animal was an insect or they saw animals and were asked to identify which one was the insect, followed by the correct response. In the retrieve condition, the presentation order was reversed such that children first saw the correct response and then were asked if the animal was an insect or which of two examples was an insect. Results suggest that although retrieval practice results in overall better learning outcomes, generating predictions increased children's attention to the materials (d = 1.92), and among children who were able to maintain attention, learning outcomes were equal among the two conditions.
Attending to what’s important: what heat maps may reveal about attention, inhibitory control, and fraction arithmetic performance
(Frontiers, 2023-11-01) Godwin, Karrie E.; Thompson, Clarissa A.; Kaur, Freya; Iwai, Yuika; Fitzsimmons, Charles J.; Taber, Jennifer M.
Math proficiency is an important predictor of educational attainment and life success. However, developing mathematical competency is challenging, and some content (e.g., fractions) can be enigmatic. Numerous factors are suspected to influence math performance, including strategy knowledge, attention, and executive functions. In two online studies, we investigated the relationship between adults’ fraction arithmetic performance, confidence judgments, inhibitory control (a component of executive functions), and attention to strategy-relevant fraction components. We explored the utility of heat maps (based on mouse clicks) to measure adults’ attention to strategy-relevant fraction arithmetic components (operationalized according to each mathematical operation). In Study 1, attending to strategy-relevant fraction components was correlated with inhibitory control, but this finding did not replicate in Study 2. Across both studies, inhibitory control and attention to strategy-relevant fraction components were correlated with arithmetic accuracy. Intraindividual variability in participants’ attention to strategy-relevant fraction components was also found. Our findings suggest that heat map questions may be a viable alternative to assess participants’ attention during fraction tasks and that attention to specific fraction-arithmetic problem features is related to problem-solving accuracy.
Teaching and Learning during a Global Pandemic: Perspectives from Elementary School Teachers and Parents
(MDPI, 2023-04-21) Godwin, Karrie E.; Kaur, Freya; Sonnenschein, Susan
COVID-19 has had a major impact on education, with many children attending school online for more than a year. To understand the implications of online learning for U.S. teachers (Study 1; N = 49) and families (Study 2; N = 189) of elementary school students, we administered a survey in spring 2021, about one year into the pandemic. Participants answered questions about the instructional modality and format, challenges managing instruction, and children’s attention and learning. Comparing virtual to in-person instruction (pre-COVID-19) showed: (1) teachers reported the quantity of virtual instruction was less than in-person instruction and children were more off-task; (2) parents reported greater stress managing virtual instruction with fewer than half the children completing online lessons independently; and (3) parents reported that children exhibited mild-frustration during both virtual and in-person instruction, but children enjoyed learning in-person more. Understanding teachers’ and families’ experiences with virtual instruction will help elucidate potential factors contributing to pandemic-related learning losses, enabling more targeted support.
Singing the Same Song: Engaging Families in Read Two Impress Plus
(Wiley, 2022-05-04) Nash, Kindel; Michael, Joshua; Mata-McMahon, Jennifer; Lee, Jiyoon; Ackerman, Kris'tina
Read Two Impress Plus (R2I+) is a fluency-building routine involving students and a more experienced reader in an echo reading process using culturally and linguistically authentic texts. R2I+ was offered as a partnership-centered, culturally and linguistically affirming family engagement to improve the literacy proficiency of students, aged 7–12, at two urban schools in the Mid-Atlantic. Results of this mixed methods study indicate that the family literacy routine had a positive impact on the participating students' reading fluency. In addition, the engagement had a positive influence on the way family members engaged with their children in reading and literacy practices at home.
Promoting Kindergarten Readiness During Remote Learning Through CommunityBased Family Literacy Sessions
(IGI Global, 2022) Rochester, Shana; Mata-McMahon, Jennifer
The purpose of this chapter is to describe a series of community-based family literacy sessions and the responsive strategies used to modify the sessions for remote instruction to meet the needs of caregivers of young children (birth to age 3). Situated within a two-generation approach to family engagement, the sessions were implemented through a family-school-community partnership with a university-based early learning research center, early learning centers in two urban Title I schools, and a public library. Session attendees included a sample of 44 racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse families. In addition to describing the family literacy program, the chapter highlights the ways in which family literacy sessions can positively influence the home literacy environment of families who participate in sessions regularly. The chapter concludes with recommendations for facilitators aiming to work collaboratively with community partners and families to develop mutually beneficial family literacy initiatives.
UMBC’s Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities is transforming early childhood education in Maryland
(UMBC News, 2020-10-27) Duque, Catalina Sofia Dansberger
BU Wheelock Partners with Dr. Shana E. Rochester for the Diverse Books Project 2.0
(Boston University, Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, 2021-05-24)
Learning Through Reflection: A Graduate Student’s Story of Reciprocity
(Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan, 2017-10-05) Rochester, Shana E.
Interrogating Allyship in Cross-Race Doctoral Advising Relationships
(Medium, 2021-02-24) Rochester, Shana E.; Duke, Nell K.
After the Grade: A Guide to Publishing a Scholarly Paper in a Peer-Reviewed Journal
(International Honor Society in Psychology, 2013) Blankson, A. Nayena; Rochester, Shana E.
The purpose of this guide is to help students publish their papers in a peer-reviewed journal. It was written by an undergraduate student in the process of submitting a manuscript for publication and contains helpful tips and steps to make the process as smooth as possible. The guide is broken into sections that attempt to help the student turn an undergraduate paper into a competitive manuscript for publication.
Integrating Service-Learning into Developmental Science Courses
(SRCD, 2013-04) Blankson, A. Nayena; Rochester, Shana E.
Reading Relationships: The Power of Parents
(ASCD, 2015-08-27) Roberts, K. L.; Rochester, Shana E.
When it comes to early literacy learning, the quality and quantity of home and school interactions are crucial. Effective home literacy experiences improve outcomes related to reading and listening comprehension and vocabulary (Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002), as does access to quality early childhood (Barnett, 2008) and elementary educational programs. Literacy practices at school and home have a synergistic and complementary relationship—teachers have specialized knowledge of curricula, cognition and learning, and instructional techniques; parents have intimate knowledge of their children's interests, background knowledge, and (typically) more opportunities to practice literacy skills one on one. When the two work harmoniously, children reap the most benefits. However, forging these relationships can be difficult, particularly when parents are intimidated or overwhelmed by the idea of "teaching" at home (Green, Walker, Hoover-Dempsey, & Sandler, 2007). Many parents are eager to work with their children at home but are unsure of how to best do so (Drummond & Stipek, 2004). Although many teachers simply ask parents to work on school tasks (i.e., homework) at home, we suggest highlighting opportunities and providing tips for literacy learning within everyday family interactions. This can foster authentic learning experiences and position parents as partners in their children's literacy learning and success. Below we give examples of ways in which parents can infuse literacy into three common family activities, each of which aligns with the Common Core State Standards for English language arts and builds skills central to reading success (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008; National Reading Panel, 2002).

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