2000 - present

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Distinguished Professor (tenured)

1995- 2000

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Associate Professor (tenured)

1989-1995

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Assistant Professor

1987-1989

Eastern Illinois University

Assistant Professor

1983-87

Indiana University

Associate Instructor

1970-83

South Bend, Indiana School District

Elementary Teacher

2002

EAA/C.R. Meyer Endowed Professorship, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

2002

Friend of Education, given by Webster Stanley Elementary School, Oshkosh, Wisconsin

2001

John McN Rosebush Professorship, given by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

1995

Friend of Indian Education Award, given by the Wisconsin Indian Education Association

2006 - 2007

University of Wisconsin System PK-16 Grant Teacher Quality Initiative

“Closing the GAP: Collaboratively Taught Methods Courses,” participant

1993 - 1994

University of Wisconsin System Undergraduate Teaching Improvement Grant Program

"A Learning Community of Preservice and Inservice Teachers Study Teaching"; member of investigating team

1992 - 1993

Funded by UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity

"Teaching for Justice and Equality: The Meanings and Responses Students Construct"; principal investigator

2013-2014

Preparing Inclusive Practitioners: The Preparing Inclusive Practitioners project allowed six faculty from three different departments in the College of Education and Human Services to significantly change the third semester of the teacher education program for elementary majors. We collaborated in making connections among the content in math, science, and social studies methods courses, integrating content from ESL/bilingual education, special education, and instructional technology in the methods courses, and requiring additional teaching experiences for elementary education majors during their clinical teaching experience. The changes in professional semester three were precipitated by two factors: first, the recommendation of a College of Education and Human Services task force to revise the teacher education program, and second, the need to prepare our students to meet a new licensure requirement, the Teacher Performance Assessment (Ed TPA).

2007

Teaching Literacy in Social Studies: Substantially revise a graduate course, Elem Ed 726 Social Studies and Literacy, including an intensive study of literacy standards and best practices in teaching and assessing literacy and revise the Elem Ed 317 Teaching Social Studies PK-8 course to include appropriate literacy standards and best practices in teaching and assessing literacy within social studies for beginning teachers.

1996

Wisconsin Indian Textile Art: Study Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida, and Ojibway beadwork and ribbonwork and create the pedagogical tool of a slide presentation for teaching about Wisconsin Indian history and culture through this textile art.

1995

Stitching Hmong History: Study Hmong textile art and create the pedagogical tool of a slide presentation to teach about Hmong history and culture as reflected in paj ntaub.

1994

Children's Literature and Social Action in Social Studies: The development of the pedagogical strategy of utilizing children's literature and social action projects to help students link knowledge with social action.

2005

Extending Scholarship on Exemplary State Studies Teaching: read to increase my knowledge of recommended practices in social studies education, studies of exemplary teaching, and research on factors which support outstanding teaching and those which impede it and prepared three manuscripts for publication based on my 2002-2003 research. One manuscript was written for elementary teachers in providing suggestions for improving state history. A second manuscript concentrated on university social studies educators and school administrators and suggested ways they could support exemplary teaching. Finally, a third manuscript was a research article for an audience of other university researchers describing the research process and main findings as a contribution to the body of knowledge on exemplary social studies teaching and factors which contribute to and impede such teaching.

1996

Studying Diversity To Improve Teaching And Prepare For New Research: Read extensively in the areas of women teachers' experiences in K-12 settings and higher education, pedagogy, an ethic of care, diversity due to gender, language, social class, race, and ethnicity, multicultural education to address diversity in the classroom, and new research approaches integrating autobiographical, feminist, and action research/teacher research.

1997

Developing Multicultural Curriculum in Preparation For Studying What Children Learn From Multicultural Curriculum: Development of four to six original multicultural curriculum units which integrate social constructivist and culturally compatible pedagogy with multicultural social studies and literacy (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) content.

2012 - 2013

Do Preservice Teachers Use Recommended Practices in Clinical Experiences? The project's objectives were to: (1) Investigate which aspects of recommended social studies education practices preservice teachers applied in their clinical experience and the factors which influenced the preservice teachers to apply these recommended practices. (2) Investigate how preservice teachers modified their instructional materials, activities, and assessment methods to accommodate the diverse needs of the children in their clinical placement, including those with special learning and language needs. (3) Investigate the effects of preservice teachers’ social studies teaching on elementary students’ learning. The main findings were that a social studies methods course can influence preservice teachers’ practice if the preservice teachers understand and are committed to recommended social studies education practices advocated in the methods course, if they have opportunities to apply the ideas in their clinical experience as a result of their cooperating teacher’s encouragement or permission, and if they believe their students benefit from the recommended practices.

2002 - 2003

Studying Exemplary Elementary Teaching of Wisconsin Studies. Document exemplary teaching of Wisconsin studies and depicting how four elementary teachers from different parts of the state met the challenges to teaching state history.

1999 - 2000

Why Do Students Benefit From A Reduced Class Size Program? A collaborative effort with six teachers involved in the SAGE program at Webster Stanley Elementary School, Oshkosh, WI to document the teaching strategies, rigorous curriculum, grouping methods, assessment procedures, and family involvement activities SAGE teachers use in promoting their students’ academic achievement.

1997 - 1998

What Do Children Learn From Multicultural Curriculum? Research the effects of teaching multicultural curriculum units in a fourth grade classroom on the academic achievement and attitudes of privileged students, girls of all groups, students of color, and low socioeconomic students.