Instant Impact | News from Baylor School of Education

May 6, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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Dr. Nick Werse Honored by Baylor [05/06/2022]

Dr. Nick Werse received Outstanding Staff Award from Baylor President Dr. Linda Livingstone on April 12.

Baylor University honored the School of Education’s Dr. Nick Werse with an Outstanding Staff Award this spring in a presentation at Truett Seminary. Werse is director of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction’s Ed.D. Writing Center, which serves hundreds of students in the SOE’s online Ed.D. in Learning and Organizational Change (EdD-LOC). The center offers comprehensive support, including writing development support, writing webinars, writing resources for faculty, course development recommendations, dissertation formatting support, and individualized student writing consultations via Zoom, employing a staff of seven including Werse. During the fall of 2021, the EdD Writing Center provided feedback on over 950 documents, which included more than 480 writing consultations, and written feedback to guide the development of more than 470 dissertation chapters.

Werse holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Baylor, graduating in 2018, and a 2012 M.Div. from Truett Theological Seminary in Biblical and Theological Studies. He earned his B.A. from Palm Beach Atlantic University. He published a book on Old Testament prophets in 2019 and has another in the works on the prophets in the age of ecological crisis, and he is competent in eight research languages. Continue Reading →

April 21, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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SOE and Campus Living & Learning Expand Partnership [04/21/2022]

Dawson Hall, along with adjacent Allen Hall, will be the new home of an expanded Living-Learning Center, a partnership of SOE and Campus Living & Learning.

The Baylor School of Education (SOE) and Campus Living & Learning (CLL) have announced an expansion of their partnership in providing residential academic initiatives to Baylor students. The SOE’s Impact Living-Learning Center (LLC) and the LEAD LLC will join forces to form the IMPACT & LEAD LLC, which will be located in Allen and Dawson residence halls. Student residents will participate in renaming the LLC during the 2022-23 academic year.

The SOE’s Impact LLC started in 2015 in South Russell Residence Hall, near the school’s home in Marrs McLean Science Building, and has always served both education majors and other students. The LEAD LLC, launched in 2004, is also multi-disciplinary and all of its residents take a leadership course taught by the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership through its leadership minor program. This new partnership will strengthen the academic bond between the LLC students and the SOE. Continue Reading →

April 21, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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Dr. Mar Magnusen Receives Research Award [04/21/2022]

Dr. Marshall Magnusen, associate professor of sport management in the Department of Educational Leadership, received the Research Fellow Award from the Applied Sport Management Association (ASMA). ASMA is a scholarly organization that aims to builds research partnerships scholars studying sport — both faculty and students — and practitioners working in the sport industry. The award recognizes “scholars who have demonstrated a commitment to ASMA and its vision, as well as distinction in sport management research and scholarly contributions to the conference and the official journal, the Journal of Applied Sport Management. Continue Reading →

April 14, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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Doctoral Student Receives Teaching Award

Nate Scholten received the Baylor Outstanding Graduate Student Instruction Award for Social Sciences.

By Kourtney David

Nate Scholten, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum and Teaching in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum & Instruction, received the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award in recognition of his excellence as a teacher and student.

Scholten was recognized for teaching Secondary Social Studies Practicum in the fall 2021 semester. The course is for junior-level students, called Teaching Associates (TAs), who are studying to become history teachers. He emphasizes the importance of connecting with students in the classroom and making civics an important aspect of education. Continue Reading →

February 11, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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Love Lessons [02/12/2022]

These newlyweds could say they met online. Or they could say they met in college. Both would be true, but not quite the whole picture!

Chris and Dayna Lund both graduated from Baylor in December of 2021 as part of Cohort Two in the School of Education’s EdD in Learning and Organizational Change (EDD-LOC), an online program. They met in January of 2019 during their first online class, taught by Dr. Jessica Meehan.

“The professors encouraged us to reach out to other students and to ‘find your people’ to help you through the program,” Chris said. “They said you’ll need that kind of camaraderie, because it’s going to get challenging.”

But professors never expected this kind of camaraderie. Dr. Meehan said, “I knew our program was going to impact lives. I never expected that it would impact lives outside of education and career trajectories.” Continue Reading →

February 9, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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School of Education Professor Dr. Perry Glanzer and Baylor Colleague Receive $2.7 Grant from John Templeton Foundation [02/09/2022]

Baylor University researchers will examine virtue formation in higher education moral communities, both secular and faith-based, with a $2.7 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The project, “The Role of Meta-identity in Developing Moral Communities Within Higher Education,” is co-led by Perry Glanzer, Ph.D., professor of educational foundations and resident scholar with Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, in partnership with colleagues from Baylor, the University of Notre Dame, Wheaton College, the Oxford Pastorate, Loyola Marymount University and the Anselm House Christian study center.

Over a two-year period, researchers will conduct longitudinal studies of students at three religiously affiliated institutions, five centers or institutes for Christian study that promote spiritual formation and community for college students, and the five secular universities whose students those Christian study centers serve. Institutes or centers for Christian study are organizations and facilities adjacent to campuses that serve students in a shared religious context to think and live as Christians, students and citizens.

READ MORE AT BAYLOR MEDIA . . .

January 14, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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Impact Newsletter Online [01/14/2021]

The newest issue of Baylor Impact newsletter (Fall 2021) is now online. If you are an SOE graduate and did not receive a newsletter in the mail, please let us know by emailing BaylorImpact@baylor.edu. To make sure you don’t miss any future communications, you can also update your information online at this link: Update Your Information

This Impact issue features the work of faculty, students, and alumni who are making a difference.

The cover story, Talent Discovery, shares exciting news about the new Baylor TIP (Talent Identification Program), launching THIS YEAR! If you’re a teacher with high-ability students or the parent of such a student, be sure to connect with Baylor TIP for information. All the contact info is included in the story (scroll to the bottom).
Once again, a Baylor senior was honored as the Texas Clinical Teacher of the Year. Read all about Alex Ronnenberg’s award and her continued career at Hillcrest PDS.
Our annual update includes program news on the rapid growth of graduate programs and the post-graduation success rate of our BSEd graduates. And you can meet our newest faculty members here.
If you’re an educator who is overly stressed, you might want to learn how Dr. Bradley Carpenter is addressing this issue and join the weekly mindfulness online gathering.
Our alumni profile shares the work of PhD graduate Rebecca Tipton DeClue, who is a school psychologist.
And don’t miss meeting the inspirational couple Kim and Ken Wiseman, who are giving to the SOE to encourage Christians to stay in education.

January 13, 2022
by Baylor Instant Impact
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BCSL Offers “Culture of Joy” Workshop for Educators [01/13/2021]

Baylor Center for School Leaders (BCSL) is hosting an afternoon workshop, combined with a Baylor men’s basketball ticket, for teachers, principals, superintendents, and other school or district leaders. The workshop, titled “Leading a Culture of Joy,’ will be Tuesday, Jan. 25, from 1-5 p.m., and the registration deadline is Monday, Jan. 17. The event is $45 per person, and schools are encouraged to bring teams of educators to attend. Registration is online here: REGISTER

Dr. Matt Thomas, director of the center, said the workshop is focused on learning how to foster a system of effective and broad-based leadership within schools.

“The range of challenges in today’s schools means that a school leader cannot possibly meet the demands on their own, even if they are distributing tasks,” he said. “Leaders need to harness the collective expertise of a diverse range of people to tackle the myriad challenges.” Continue Reading →

December 29, 2021
by Baylor Instant Impact
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Baylor SOE Alumna Wins 2021 Book Accolades [12/29/2021]

Photo of Dr. Mary Landon Darden by The Wacoan

Baylor School of Education graduate Dr. Mary Landon Darden, MSEd ’91, EdD ’06, has won a national award for her book Entrepreneuring the Future of Higher Education: Radical Transformation in Times of Profound Change, published earlier in 2021 by the American Council on Education and Rowman & Littlefield. Darden’s book was named by the American Book Fest as “Best Education/Academic Book of 2021.”

American Book Fest is in its 19^th year of delivering the “Best Book Awards,” covering numerous categories of books from mainstream and independent publishers.

Entrepreneuring the Future of Higher Education was also honored by Book Authority, which provides book recommendations from thought leaders and experts, rated as #36 on its list of “58 Best University Books of All Time.”

Entrepreneuring the Future of Higher Education addresses the financial considerations — even before COVID-19 — that were forcing the closing of increasing numbers of American colleges and universities, especially independent ones. Darden argues that higher education leaders must embrace an entrepreneurial spirit to face the challenges of the 21^st century, rather than relying of what she terms the “wobbly two-legged stool that supports virtually every American school — tuition and endowment.” Her goal is to provide institutional leaders with a “nuts and bolts” guide and tools to move on from merely surviving and into thriving.

Darden describes herself as a “higher education futurist.” She received her doctorate in higher education administration from Baylor in 2006 through the Department of Educational Leadership (then the Department of Educational Administration). Continue Reading →

December 8, 2021
by Baylor Instant Impact
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Learning in Real Time [12/08/2021]

After each classroom session during “clinical rounds,” Dr. Neil Shanks (right) and secondary education students paused for in a brief review before heading to the next class for observations.

Secondary teacher-education majors in the Baylor School of Education’s (SOE) undergraduate program enjoyed a new field experience on Professional Development School (PDS) campuses this fall. It was the first semester that students went through the full immersion into a new course component, “instructional rounds,” on school campuses.

Dr. Madelon McCall, clinical associate professor and coordinator of the secondary education program, said the SOE’s program is modeled on clinical rounds for medical students.

D. Madelon McCall prepares students for their clinical rounds.

“It is similar to medical rounds in that students learn about the content, go observe it in practice, and then come back together and spend time debriefing with their professor,” McCall said. “Our students also write a reflection on their observations to discuss what they learned during the rounds.”

The rounds are embedded in an academic course at the junior level and give students the opportunity to observe patterns in classroom environments, student-teacher relationships, and instructional and classroom management strategies. Continue Reading →