Faculty News

Media sources available to discuss politics & education: Federal cuts, LGBTQ+ students & more

Hannah Fletcher — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 20:05:48 +0000

Media sources available to discuss politics & education: Federal cuts, LGBTQ+ students & more Hannah Fletcher Thu, 03/27/2025 - 14:05

Experts from the �鶹ӰԺ are available to discuss the Trump Administration’s education policies and their implications for schools and communities across the United States.

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What DOGE’s recent Department of Education cuts could mean for researchers, educators

Ichigo Takikawa — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:51:04 +0000

What DOGE’s recent Department of Education cuts could mean for researchers, educators Ichigo Takikawa Tue, 02/18/2025 - 14:51

Daniel Strain , Nicholas Goda

Recent cuts have targeted the Institute for Education Sciences, the main research arm of the Department of Education, which collects data and funds research on what works in education. Read on for insights from Derek Briggs, professor of education and director of CADRE at CU �鶹ӰԺ.

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Two CU �鶹ӰԺ professors elected to prestigious National Academy of Education

Hannah Fletcher — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 21:48:40 +0000

Two CU �鶹ӰԺ professors elected to prestigious National Academy of Education Hannah Fletcher Thu, 02/06/2025 - 14:48

Two faculty members in the CU �鶹ӰԺ School of Education, Derek Briggs and Kevin Welner, have been elected to the esteemed National Academy of Education (NAEd), the Academy announced in January.

NAEd members are elected based on outstanding scholarship or leadership related to education. Briggs and Welner join a group of just 22 national and international colleagues elected to the Academy this year.

“I am delighted that two of our CU �鶹ӰԺ colleagues have been recognized among the highest honors in education," said Fernando Rosario-Ortiz, interim dean for the School of Education.

Joe Polman, associate dean of research, added: “Drs. Briggs and Welner are leading experts in their areas of study who continue to push our understanding of the impact of educational policies and practices—from the meticulous work that Dr. Briggs uses to scrutinize methodological approaches to evaluating student growth to Dr. Welner’s creative and determined focus on bringing high-quality research to bear on closing opportunity gaps.

“We know they will be invaluable contributors to the Academy.”

Drs. Briggs and Welner are leading experts in their areas of study who continue to push our understanding of the impact of educational policies and practices -- from the meticulous work that Dr. Briggs uses to scrutinize methodological approaches to evaluating student growth to Dr. Welner’s creative and determined focus on bringing high-quality research to bear on closing opportunity gaps.” — Fernando Rosario-Ortiz

Briggs is a professor in the Research Evaluation and Methodology program, where he is also the director and founder of the Center for Assessment, Design, Research and Evaluation (CADRE). He joined the faculty at CU �鶹ӰԺ in 2003, and his research focuses on advancing methods for the sound measurement of student learning and for evaluating the effects of educational interventions on student achievement.

As a nationally renowned psychometrician, or someone who studies the measurement of students’ knowledge and abilities, and CADRE director, Briggs works with states and education leaders to provide technical advice on the design and use of large-scale student assessments. He is also an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellow and past president of the National Council on Measurement in Education.

“Prof. Derek Briggs is among the foremost leaders in the measurement field today,” said nominator Edward Haertal, professor emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, who agreed to share his perspective. “He is an enormously talented, multifaceted scholar engaging fundamental issues in measurement, identifying questionable practices and assumptions and pointing the way toward solutions...His election would add luster to our Academy.”

Welner is the director of the National Education Policy Center and is a research professor in the Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice program in the School of Education, where he has been on the faculty for 25 years. Welner has written and published extensively on opportunity gaps, educational reform, charter schools, private-school vouchers, ability grouping, school finance, and the area of interplay between education policy and the law. He is a former practicing attorney and the co-author of textbooks used in law schools and schools of education to teach education law. He is an AERA Fellow as well as a Senior Fellow of the Learning Policy Institute. He is also chair of the Board of Trustees of the Education Law Center.

“Professor Kevin Welner’s research contributions are unique in combining careful policy analysis on the use of the law in education with empirical social science analysis,” Polman added. “He is also one of the most skilled public communicators of education policy research in our field. Through their hugely influential work, he and his colleagues have literally changed misguided conversations in this country about ‘achievement gaps' into more productive efforts to identify and address educational 'opportunity gaps.’”

Briggs and Welner join four CU �鶹ӰԺ colleagues who are also members of NAEd: Rubén Donato, Margaret Eisenhart, Bill Penuel and Lorrie Shepard, who is a former NAEd president.

Carol Lee, current NAEd president, welcomed members to the Academy in a news release, adding they will join peers in making an indelible impact on education scholarship.

“Education, broadly conceived, is foundational to preparing students across ages to navigate the complexities of our democratic experiment in governance, the increased interdependence of our modern world, productive workforce participation, and their personal development as humans,” she said.

“Our distinguished colleagues now joining the National Academy of Education bring the range of expertise and commitments needed for our field to update itself and wrestle with these complexities continuously.”

Founded in 1965, NAEd is an honorific society that “advances high quality education research and its use in policy and practice.” Members serve on expert study panels that address pressing issues in education, and they engage in professional development fellowship programs.

Two faculty members in the CU �鶹ӰԺ School of Education, Derek Briggs and Kevin Welner, have been elected to the esteemed National Academy of Education (NAEd), the Academy announced recently. NAEd members are elected based on outstanding scholarship or leadership related to education. Briggs and Welner join a group of just 22 national and international colleagues elected this year.

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Supporting rural readers and teachers

Hannah Fletcher — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 20:19:33 +0000

Supporting rural readers and teachers Hannah Fletcher Thu, 02/06/2025 - 13:19

Get to know Elizabeth Dutro, the new Bob and Judy Charles Chair of Education

Last fall, Elizabeth Dutro was appointed to the Bob and Judy Charles Endowed Chair of Education—calling it one of the greatest milestones of her career.

That’s saying a lot for Dutro, who is a nationally respected expert in humanizing literacy teaching and learning. Her scholarship has been lauded with several national awards from organizations like the National Council of Teachers of English and prominent CU �鶹ӰԺ honors like the Provost Faculty Achievement Award, �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Assembly Teaching Excellence Award and Best Should Teach Award.

Dutro, who joined the faculty in CU �鶹ӰԺ School of Education in 2005, is consistently recognized as a wonderful mentor for both students and other faculty members.

Her work explores how difficult life experiences can inform literacy instruction that centers students’ knowledge, and her partnerships with teachers include opportunities for teachers to learn together in ways that complement their daily work and relationships with students.

Over the years, I have witnessed with admiration how this chair has empowered colleagues and mentors I deeply respect and admire to advance their scholarship, foster meaningful partnerships with schools and communities, and support opportunities for doctoral students. It is truly humbling to step into this role and continue building upon their legacy.”

More recently, her project, “Designing Responsive Literacy Instruction with Rural Elementary Educators: A Professional Development Partnership” with literacy studies doctoral student Olivia Cox, aims to build sustainable, collaborative relationships with rural elementary educators, specifically in Strasburg, Colorado. The project supports teachers in professional learning that is locally grounded, continuous, and tailored to the community’s needs.

Dutro’s work in eastern Colorado provided a kismet connection between her scholarship and the passions of Bob Charles, a long-time supporter of the School of Education who endowed the only active faculty chair in the School of Education with his wife, Judy, in 2004.

Charles’s interest in supporting teachers, particularly rural educators, was inspired by his wife Judy, an education alumna who devoted her career to teaching and, later, volunteering in their children’s schools.

“I know how much Judy loved teaching—it was in her blood—and I’ve always respected the work teachers do,” Charles explained.

Charles, who splits his time between Colorado and Arizona, sees special opportunities to strengthen rural education in both states. He has heard about the rise in remote and online learning in rural areas, but he is reluctant to consider online learning as the solution.

“Nothing compares to having a teacher sit down with a student and go over the work face-to-face,” he said. “I have just always felt the rural students are not getting the education they are entitled to.”

Dutro has rural roots in southeast Colorado’s La Junta, where her maternal side of the family goes back five generations. While she did not grow up in the area, she spent many summers and holidays in La Junta making memories with her family. She notes, when she visits the area, she is not known as “Professor Dutro” but rather her mother’s daughter and one of the many Klein cousins.

“Bob Charles’s commitment to supporting education research in rural Colorado deeply resonates with me,” Dutro said. “I feel incredibly fortunate that my career brought me back to Colorado, where I and my own children have been able to spend meaningful time with our large, loving extended family.

“A few years ago, with support from the School of Education’s place-based seed grants, I achieved a long-held goal of expanding my research to a rural region of the state. Over the past three years, Olivia and I collaborated with teachers and administrators at Strasburg Elementary School on a literacy partnership, creating a rewarding and impactful project that builds on my deep ties to rural Colorado.”

Those connections and opportunities have provided fertile ground for Dutro to understand the teacher-partners she works with in Strasburg, a town of around 2,500 people. Through the responsive literacy projects, Dutro and Cox engage with local teachers who act as “knowledgeable collaborators” working through professional development that integrates equity-focused literacy practices and the Science of Reading, an approach to teaching reading that is required in state policy aiming to improve reading achievement for young learners.

Dutro and Cox’s goal is to collaborate with school partners to enact instructional changes mandated by policy in ways that amplify teachers as knowledgeable experts and center children’s identities and strengths as literacy learners.

The five-year Bob and Judy Charles Chair appointment will support Dutro in deepening her work in rural Colorado and supporting education students with similar interests.

Dutro notes she is truly honored by the chair appointment, and the fact that she follows in the footsteps of other outstanding education scholars, including Margaret Eisenhart, Kathy Escamilla, and Ruben Donato.

“Over the years, I have witnessed with admiration how this chair has empowered colleagues and mentors I deeply respect and admire to advance their scholarship, foster meaningful partnerships with schools and communities, and support opportunities for doctoral students” she said. “It is truly humbling to step into this role and continue building upon their legacy.”

Elizabeth Dutro has been appointed to the Bob and Judy Charles Endowed Chair of Education— calling it one of the greatest milestones of her career. That’s saying a lot for Dutro, a nationally respected expert in humanizing literacy teaching and learning. Dutro’s work in rural Colorado provided a kismet connection between her scholarship and the passions of Bob Charles, who endowed the faculty chair with his wife and alumna, Judy Charles.

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Amanda Haertling Thein named incoming dean of the School of Education

Hannah Fletcher — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 17:20:55 +0000

Amanda Haertling Thein named incoming dean of the School of Education Hannah Fletcher Fri, 01/17/2025 - 10:20

Provost Russell Moore announced his appointment of Amanda Haertling Thein as dean of the School of Education, effective July 1, adding: "Dr. Thein has the leadership acumen, commitment and vision for launching the upward trajectory of the School of Education in a time when research in education and education policy, and the preparation of the next generation of educators, couldn’t be more critical."

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The Conversation: What would it mean if President-elect Trump dismantled the US Department of Education?

Hannah Fletcher — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:19:35 +0000

The Conversation: What would it mean if President-elect Trump dismantled the US Department of Education? Hannah Fletcher Thu, 11/21/2024 - 14:19

Donald Trump stated during his comeback campaign that he’d dismantle the education department if elected. CU �鶹ӰԺ education policy expert Kevin Welner weighs in on the past and potential future of the Department of Education in this piece in The Conversation.

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Best Should Teach Ceremony on May 2 to honor outstanding educators

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 21:15:03 +0000

Best Should Teach Ceremony on May 2 to honor outstanding educators Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/30/2024 - 15:15

The �鶹ӰԺ 2024 Best Should Teach Lecture and Awards Ceremony will celebrate excellence in education by recognizing outstanding CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty members, K-12 teachers and graduate student instructors with Best Should Teach Awards on May 2 at 6 p.m. in the University Memorial Center Glenn Miller Ballroom.

Free and open to the public, the event will feature Kevin Gannon, director of the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence and professor of history at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. Gannon will deliver his keynote "Is It Time to Change Your Mind?" on how might we (re)connect with our agency, and use it to anchor our practices in an ethic of hope.

Kevin Gannon is the author of Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto (West Virginia University Press, 2020), and his writing has also appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vox, CNN, and The Washington Post. In 2016, he appeared in the Oscar-nominated documentary 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay. He is currently co-editing a volume of essays on campuses in crisis, as well as writing a book on “Zombie Ideas” in higher education.

The event, co-hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning, School of Education, and College of Arts and Sciences, will honor five CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty members, three K-12 teachers from the School of Education’s partner school districts and lead graduate teachers in the Graduate Teacher Program with Best Should Teach Gold and Silver Awards.

The 2023-2024 Best Should Teach Gold Award Recipients include:

Nabilah Carlon, Chemistry
Alex Dietrich, Lockheed Martin Engineering Management Program
Deena Gumina, School of Education
Eyal Rivlin, Hebrew Language
Annjeanette Wiese, Humanities

Teacher honorees from partner school districts include:

Lori Hattendorf, �鶹ӰԺ Valley School District
Karen Mancusi, St. Vrain School District
Vickie Salazar, Adams 12 Five Star Schools

The Best Should Teach awardees were selected for their embodiment of the beliefs, behaviors, and skills of exemplary teachers. The call for nominations for CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty also include nominations from students from all colleges and schools across campus.

The late, lifelong educator Lindley Stiles and his wife Marguerite Stiles established the Best Should Teach Initiative in 1996 to celebrate excellence in teaching, and Stiles’ inspiring motto is inscribed on the Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Building:

“To those who come, I leave the flame! Hold it as high as you can reach. If a better world is your aim, all must agree: The Best Should Teach.”

The CU �鶹ӰԺ 2024 Best Should Teach Lecture and Awards Ceremony will celebrate excellence in education by recognizing outstanding CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty members, K-12 teachers and graduate student instructors with Best Should Teach Awards on May 2 at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public, the ceremony will feature Professor Kevin Gannon and his keynote lecture, "Is It Time to Change Your Mind?"

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Your CU �鶹ӰԺ Guide to AERA 2024

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 18:55:35 +0000

Your CU �鶹ӰԺ Guide to AERA 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/25/2024 - 12:55

Each year, the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting represents the world's largest gathering of education researchers and is a showcase for groundbreaking, innovative research. We are looking forward to the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting that will take place in Philadelphia, PA, April 11-14.

Our faculty, students and alumni will be busy presenting, learning, and exchanging ideas. Use this guide to follow and support CU �鶹ӰԺ researchers and their work. This year, we have CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty, students and alumni featured in over 80 sessions!

See the full CU �鶹ӰԺ AERA guide

AERA Key Sessions

Presidential Session:
Bilingual Special Education for the 21st Century: Reimagining the Future

Sat, April 13, 9:35-11:05 a.m. ET; Pennsylvania Convention Center, Level 200, Room 201A
Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching in Bilingual Inclusive Classrooms
Authors: Vanessa Santiago Schwarz and Elizabeth Silva Diaz

Spotlight on Philadelphia and the Region:
Weight of the Crown: Anti-Essentialist Futures for Black Girls’ Identity Construction

Fri, April 12, 7:45-9:15 a.m. ET; Pennsylvania Convention Center, Level 200, Room 201B
I’m Not Your Superwoman: Ethnographies of Softness, Silence, and Healing for Black Girls
Author: Alexis Hunter

Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence:
Critical Sociotechnical Perspectives on Young People Using, Experiencing, and Making Sense of AI

Thu, April 11, 2:30-4:00 p.m. ET; Pennsylvania Convention Center, Level 200, Exhibit Hall B
Chair: José Lizárraga

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Kevin Welner in The Conversation: Property tax breaks to businesses draining school budgets

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 05:56:05 +0000

Kevin Welner in The Conversation: Property tax breaks to businesses draining school budgets Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/21/2024 - 22:56

An estimated 95% of U.S. cities provide economic development tax incentives to woo corporate investors, taking billions away from schools. A new three-month investigation by CU �鶹ӰԺ's Kevin Welner and colleagues in The Conversation shows how that cash drain is not equally shared by schools in the same communities, often hurting the poorest students the most.

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Get to know Interim Dean Fernando Rosario-Ortiz

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 23:54:45 +0000

Get to know Interim Dean Fernando Rosario-Ortiz Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/20/2024 - 16:54

Fernando Rosario-Ortiz has always appreciated the teachers and mentors who have led him down his twisting journey to academia. Now, that journey has landed him in the role of interim dean of the CU �鶹ӰԺ School of Education after, once again, colleagues pointed him toward the role.

A series of mentors nudged Rosario-Ortiz toward chemistry, then environmental engineering, and eventually, academia. He is passionate about university teaching and research, and he has enjoyed leadership roles exploring complex issues in higher education.

Provost Russell Moore named Rosario-Ortiz as the interim dean in November 2023, and the dean appointment began Jan. 1. Dean Rosario-Ortiz’s chief priority over his 18-month tenure is preparing the school and its practices, policies, and budget for the next dean following a national search. Rosario-Ortiz’s multidimensional administrative positions and his respect for the School of Education’s nationally recognized scholarship have positioned him to make a difference.

Learn more about Rosario-Ortiz, what led him to this role, his goals, and how he spends his time when he is, finally, off the clock in this Q&A.

Tell us a little more about you and your passions?

I am a very straightforward person. I love what I do, and I love research and teaching. I appreciate the mission of the university as an educator and researcher. Colorado is a great place to do research and we have great people here. The administrative side of my work is new. This is my fourth leadership opportunity in seven years. I like the aspect of serving the community. Those are some of the things that drive me and why I come here everyday.

Why the School of Education, right? When I was first approached about the opportunity to serve the education community, I was very excited with the prospect of supporting the community. I knew many of the people at our school, and I was quite conscious of the talent that’s here, the ways we support students, and the school’s outstanding national reputation. It seemed like a good opportunity for me to bring my energy, enthusiasm, positivity and optimism and to try to build a bridge to the next phase of the school’s trajectory.

You are passionate about CU �鶹ӰԺ and your faculty role, but what initially led you to university teaching and research?

I come from a small town in Puerto Rico. As most kids from rural areas, you may not have a lot of examples of professional careers around you. A lot of my family members are teachers. I always thought ‘How cool?’ You get to teach and educate people, and more importantly, you get to open minds, hearts and lives to opportunities. I always thought that was interesting.

My first inclination in college was to become a doctor, as I had limited exposure to other professions such as engineering. I was so unsure about what the world had to offer that I essentially listened to a professor who told me to change my major to chemistry, so I did.

Then made it to California for graduate school in chemistry, and then on to the Environmental Science and Engineering Program at UCLA. As part of this program, I ended up working in a drinking water treatment facility in Las Vegas, where I began to be interested in the field of environmental engineering. Then I joined CU �鶹ӰԺ in 2008, as professor of environmental engineering. I always wanted to teach. I never thought I had the skill to teach at the primary or secondary level, so I gravitated toward college level. Teaching is important to me. I'm sad that I don't get to do it right now, but I'll come back to it.

What was it about teaching that lured you into higher education?

I'm here because of teachers and professors. I think there's a lot of me that is essentially paying it forward. I would not be here without some really good mentoring and the opportunity to attend these institutions and continue forward. I didn't grow up in a setting where I became an engineer because half my family are engineers. I always appreciate how education creates opportunities and how it opens people up to different things. I wanted to do some of that.

To this day, a lot of what I’ve been thinking around the equity lens is essentially how talent is equally distributed and opportunities are not. How do we make sure that we look for the best talent, bring those talented people to our community, and offer them the tools to grow? Ultimately we're better because of it.

You sort of “fell into” chemistry, then environmental engineering, and now various leadership roles. Walk us through those roles and what you have learned from them?

In 2016, after I returned from sabbatical, I started to get this itch, “what else?” I'd been working very hard on building my own skill set and my research, and I was ready to explore everything else this university has to offer. There was an opportunity for me to be involved in the accreditation of my program, and I took it thinking “let’s just see how this feels.” Accreditation, I am fairly certain, is a very intense process in just about every discipline. It was a lot of work and stressful, but at the end, once we successfully went through it, I remember thinking “oh that was kind of fun.” I liked that it allowed me to take a close look at our program and see how we're better serving the students and the community as a whole. I like that organizational aspect, and I like complex problems around education.

When I was first approached about the opportunity to serve the education community, I was very excited with the prospect of supporting the community. I knew many of the people at our school, and I was quite conscious of the talent that’s here, the ways we support students, and the school’s outstanding national reputation. It seemed like a good opportunity for me to bring my energy, enthusiasm, positivity and optimism and to try to build a bridge to the next phase of the school’s trajectory."

My next step was associate director for the Environmental Engineering program, essentially running the graduate part. Then I became a director of my program, where I had all kinds of plans about maximizing the impact, creating opportunities for collaboration, and creating big initiatives. Then within six months, COVID-19 happened, so a lot of the exciting things I wanted to do got put on hold. At that time the priorities shifted to “how do we take care of each other, how do we take care of our students, and how do we continue?” It was a difficult situation for me, like everyone else. It was also very rewarding to work through that and to try to be there for people. We did a lot of things to improve the situation.

I was looking forward to going back to all the great plans I had for Environmental Engineering, but I was approached about the faculty advancement associate dean position for the College of Engineering and Applied Science. There, my focus was on processes and the support structure the faculty needed to succeed. We worked on improvements to faculty search processes, and we revised our processes for reappointment, promotion, and tenure. We worked with six units and the college to rewrite everything we did, and we started developing updated processes for teaching faculty. Within two years, I was approached about this role in the School of Education, so now I'm here.

It sounds like you make things happen as a leader. What drew you to the dean role and the School of Education?

I knew some of the people here, and I knew that a lot of good things were happening here. Like others, I was a spectator to some of the changes happening in the school. I found out I was suggested (as an interim dean candidate) by people in different settings. Even if I had a few reservations initially, I think that there's a vote of confidence from the people who suggested me. I have worked on a number of campus initiatives, like Academic Futures and for BFA Academic Affairs, so I knew a lot of the faculty in the school.

When I was approached, it took me like 20 minutes to realize that I wanted to do it. I was excited for a lot of reasons. I knew enough of the people here, and to some extent, I thought I could make a difference by supporting the great work happening here and working through leadership transitions together.

What are your priorities as dean?

Overall, I am mindful that there are certain decisions that the next permanent dean should make. My top priority is to transition the school to this next person. As much as I think we should do some deep thinking about where we’re going—and I include myself in that—I think the process of updating our strategic vision should fall on the next person.

Having said that, we cannot sit around for the next 17 months. I'm hoping to tackle opportunities that are universal—meaning good things that are going to be welcomed by the next person. What can we do around that? We can continue to work on the budget. We can have some considerations about growth and how we handle growth. We can further invest in research and research opportunities. We can think about how to potentially reorganize certain aspects of the overall operation knowing that ultimately all of those things will be useful to the permanent dean and for the here and now. Overall, I am very excited to be leading this school.

What do you look forward to learning from education students, faculty, staff, and alumni?

I know that the school is impactful, and I would like to have a much better idea of how impactful it is. I know that there are challenges in education— bilingual education when it comes to the arrivals of migrants, economic differences in education attainment, recovery after COVID-19, for example. How do we use AI for new educational enterprises? How do we support the state in economic development by providing support to the school districts? How do we support marginalized communities internationally? There’s a lot to look forward to.

For the folks who don’t know you yet, tell us about your non-work passions. What does a "perfect" Saturday off the clock look like?

I would start with a nice long walk whether that's just walking around the neighborhood or a hike with my wife followed by a nice breakfast. Then probably another type of physical activity in the afternoon like a bicycle ride or another hike, followed by a nice meal. And throw in some music in the middle. (Editor’s note: his choice of music is hard rock!)

Is there anything else you want us to know?

I am excited to be here, and I appreciate the warm reception from faculty, students and staff. I am looking forward to getting to know more students, alumni, supporters and partners of the School of Education, and I hope you all know I am open to your ideas and suggestions.

Rock on, and welcome, Dean Fernando Rosario-Ortiz!

As the new interim dean, Fernando Rosario-Ortiz came to the CU �鶹ӰԺ School of Education with respect for the school's nationally recognized scholarship and teaching. Learn more about Dean Rosario-Ortiz, what led him to this role, his priorities as dean and how he spends his time when he is, finally, off the clock in this Q&A.

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Faculty News

Media sources available to discuss politics & education: Federal cuts, LGBTQ+ students & more

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What DOGE’s recent Department of Education cuts could mean for researchers, educators

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Two CU �鶹ӰԺ professors elected to prestigious National Academy of Education

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Supporting rural readers and teachers

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Amanda Haertling Thein named incoming dean of the School of Education

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The Conversation: What would it mean if President-elect Trump dismantled the US Department of Education?

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Best Should Teach Ceremony on May 2 to honor outstanding educators

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Your CU �鶹ӰԺ Guide to AERA 2024

AERA Key Sessions

Presidential Session: Bilingual Special Education for the 21st Century: Reimagining the Future

Spotlight on Philadelphia and the Region: Weight of the Crown: Anti-Essentialist Futures for Black Girls’ Identity Construction

Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence: Critical Sociotechnical Perspectives on Young People Using, Experiencing, and Making Sense of AI

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Kevin Welner in The Conversation: Property tax breaks to businesses draining school budgets

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Get to know Interim Dean Fernando Rosario-Ortiz

Tell us a little more about you and your passions?

You are passionate about CU �鶹ӰԺ and your faculty role, but what initially led you to university teaching and research?

What was it about teaching that lured you into higher education?

You sort of “fell into” chemistry, then environmental engineering, and now various leadership roles. Walk us through those roles and what you have learned from them?

It sounds like you make things happen as a leader. What drew you to the dean role and the School of Education?

What are your priorities as dean?

What do you look forward to learning from education students, faculty, staff, and alumni?

For the folks who don’t know you yet, tell us about your non-work passions. What does a "perfect" Saturday off the clock look like?

Is there anything else you want us to know?

Rock on, and welcome, Dean Fernando Rosario-Ortiz!

Off

Presidential Session:
Bilingual Special Education for the 21st Century: Reimagining the Future

Spotlight on Philadelphia and the Region:
Weight of the Crown: Anti-Essentialist Futures for Black Girls’ Identity Construction

Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence:
Critical Sociotechnical Perspectives on Young People Using, Experiencing, and Making Sense of AI