News

The need for timely, responsive mental health services in school communities is growing. According to the National Alliance for Mental Health, as many as 20 percent of youth under the age of 18 will experience a mental health condition, yet only half will receive mental health services. That number is much lower for Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American students. Addressing mental health in schools can reduce the drop-out rate, lower...

Recreation and sport activities provide countless benefits for communities and people of all ages. Our new minor not only prepares students for potential careers in recreation, sports, and parks, but challenges them to think critically about issues impacting their communities. Educational inequities in the United States are often exacerbated by unequal access to quality after-school programming, as well as extracurricular and summer...

This month, we celebrated 20 years of the Smith Endowed Chair for Prevention and Education at the Arizona Inn with 80 guests. The reception captured the inspiration the Smiths imparted and the impact the Smith endowment has made in the community and for children. Lester L. and Roberta D. Smith were devoted benefactors to the UA College of Education. Formerly of Peoria, Illinois, Lester Smith was the owner of a company that manufactured...

Student teachers from the college's early childhood education program visited La Estrella Bakery to learn about one of the most celebrated traditions in Mexico: Día de los Muertos. The class was led by Franco sisters Erica and Isabel, who shared stories about growing up in the bakery. Their parents opened La Estrella in 1986. Students learned about Día de los Muertos traditions like the making of the altar and pan de muerto. In honor of their...

The 32^nd annual Teaching, Learning, & Sociocultural Studies (TLS) Graduate Student Colloquy will be held on Thursday, February 21, 2019. The colloquy is an opportunity for graduate students from across departments and programs to present research.

We welcome our keynote speaker, Angela Calabrese Barton, a professor in Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Her research is grounded in the intersections of...

Our Indigenous Teacher Education Project has received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will double the number of Native American students in the program, establish new tribal partnerships and support a new focus on STEM education. Only 6 percent of American Indians earned a bachelor's degree in science and engineering disciplines in 2014, and in 2016, only 3 percent of Native American students in Arizona met the...

Natalie Aileen Larez comes to the University of Arizona from Douglas, Arizona, a small town southeast of Tucson on the border of Mexico. With two older brothers, a younger sister, and a handful of younger cousins, she set out to pave a path as a first-generation college student. She started at the UA as a public health major but she quickly realized she wanted to make a shift while working for the College Academy for Parents . Her job there...

Together with UA school site coordinators and the Department of Disability & Psychoeducational Studies, Director of Field Experience Maggie Shafer placed 163 undergraduate student teachers for the spring 2019 semester. This includes three students at Baboquivari Unified School District, three students at Casa Blanca School in Gila River, and 14 students who are planning to student teach...

Assistant Professor of Disability & Psychoeducational Studies Desiree Vega and her doctoral student, Jaclyn N. Wolf, presented at the First Generation Southwest Symposium at Northern Arizona University in September. The presentation, College Enrollment and Persistence of First-generation Latinx Students, focused on the college-going experiences and success of first-generation Latinx college...

Hats off to Emma Mendenhall for her beautiful photo of Old Main, which was featured in a full-page layout in the recent issue of the Arizona Alumni Magazine. Not only is she our coordinator for development and alumni in the college, Emma also runs her own photography business. View more of her work here.