Marietta's Education majors benefit from Communities of Practice session
Marietta, Ohio (04/18/2023) — About 40 Education majors from Marietta College spent time this week alongside local educators to learn about the best practices in the education of children.
"We are working with a group of in-service teachers - teachers who are currently teaching - as well as pre-service teachers - people who will be teachers in the future - and we are trying to help them understand what are some of the most essential components for when they are providing reading and math tutoring," said Dr. Sarah Powell, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Though this professional development aims mostly at children who are struggling, the methods are also effective for all students.
Special Education/Early Childhood Development (SEED) major Kristin Schofield '24 (Marietta, Ohio) worked at a table with fellow MC Education majors during the professional development session, which was held in Andrews Hall's Great Room.
"It's really nice to have this opportunity where we can talk to different teachers who are in the classroom now and other students at Marietta College to help build on what we're seeing now and what other people are seeing in the classroom today, so then we can use it in our future classrooms. Next year will be my year to be more involved in the classroom, so it's helpful to have this training now and get more experience under my belt before that happens," Schofield said.
The Ohio Deans Compact selected several sites in Ohio to host these in-person Communities of Practice sessions; Marietta was selected because of the Education Department's work with literacy and the Science of Reading, as well as having the Dual Education degrees, according to Dr. Raven Cromwell, Assistant Professor of Education and literacy expert.
"We're really excited to be able to bring this to our students and have them interact - not just with each other and not just with Marietta College faculty - but also people from different colleges and universities and people from the Department of Education," Cromwell said.
Dr. David Brobeck, Research Associate with the University of Cincinnati Systems Development and Improvement Center, worked in school districts early in his career that didn't have money problems before he was the superintendent of a financially strapped district in the northern crest of Appalachia. He saw the contrast between children living in poor urban areas and poor rural areas as opposed to more financially stable areas, with regard to access to quality literacy initiatives.
"Why shouldn't you be able to learn how to read well? Supporting what's going on here makes sense to me because Marietta College is an influencer in an area where it's needed," Brobeck said. " When something big is done, it's generally going to take place at the center of the state. We looked at small colleges that were regional and also were leaders in the Science of Reading. So strategically, we asked Marietta College, Walsh (University), Mount St. Joseph (University), and (the University of) Findlay because they've all committed to doing the Science of Reading, and we thought it would be nice that there would be something that wasn't always in the middle of the state. These four institutions made the commitment to Science of Reading, they're doing good things, and they're showing the effects and the advantages of teaching kids how to read effectively."
Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major.
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