Media mentions: Associate dean discusses online learning; Professor says high-stakes testing is a dire education crisis; Student teacher discusses impact on studies
Associate dean discusses online learning during COVID-19
Most Georgia K-12 public school classrooms shifted to online learning in March due to the coronavirus. As a result, college education programs have had to form alternative plans to help teaching candidates finish their training.
Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett, associate dean for academic programs, says UGA’s candidates gain a lot of experience in the field. Some programs, she says, place students in classrooms for four semesters. Still, there’s a chance some candidates could run into challenges due to the pandemic, depending on the district or school they’ve been placed in.
“The vast majority of our candidates… are supporting public school teachers, counselors, and leaders in their work in those online environments,” said Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett, who is also a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. “In some other cases, schools have modified their instruction significantly, so our students can no longer participate in some of those online spaces. In those particular cases, we’re using things like case studies and simulations and videotapes and other types of discussion boards to approximate the student-teaching experience and other clinical internship experience.”
Read the full story on WABE’s website.
Professor says high-stakes testing is a dire education crisis
Stephanie Jones, a professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, says doubling down on diagnostics and aggressive remediation will benefit no one except testing corporations, technology companies, and publishing houses who sell products to diagnose, remediate, and evaluate every stride in a fictional data-led race to nowhere.
“This is critical for all of us—parents, community members, educators, leaders—to remember in this moment because we are hearing more crisis language about students ‘falling behind’ during the pandemic school closures,” Jones said. “But this particular crisis is only possible in a world of high-stakes testing.”
Read the full story on AJC’s website.
UGA student teacher quoted in CNN article
Bryce Ballew (BSED ’20), a senior studying special education, was among those unable to complete his state special education exam before everything closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he expects to receive a provisional certificate, not taking the exam and being without his certificate has left him in limbo.
“Some of those questions still remain,” Ballew said. “What exactly do I need to do for a new state if I transfer because all these state requirements are getting changed because of this virus.”