Instant Impact – Page 3 – News from Baylor University's Moody School of Education

April 11, 2025
by Baylor Instant Impact
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SOE Graduate Students Honored

School of Education graduate student honorees l-r Beatrice Ruiz, Liz Harrelson Magill, and Maggie Bryant

Three School of Education (SOE) graduate students were honored with awards from the Baylor Graduate School. The Graduate School honored 14 students university wide with research, instruction, and dissertation awards.

Beatrice Ruiz, a PhD student in the Department of Educational Psychology received the Research Award for the Social Sciences. Candidates are judged by their description of their completed and ongoing research projects, participation in research events and conferences, presentations and publications, future research plans, and a letter of recommendation from a faculty mentor.

Maggie Bryant and Elizabeth (Liz) Harrelson Magill, both PhD students in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, were honorees for their teaching. Bryant received the award for a course she taught in fall of 2023 and Magill for a course in spring of 2024. Recipients were selected based on recommendations from their supervising faculty, letters from students in the classroom, teaching philosophy statements, and their record of participation in professional teaching development. Continue Reading →

April 9, 2025
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Baylor Senior Named Most Outstanding Clinical Teacher for SCANSUP

Caitlin Casassas holding her SCANSUP Award.

Caitlin Casassa received her award at the SCANSUP conference.

by Theo John Milton

Caitlin Casassa, a senior at Baylor School of Education, received the 2025 Most Outstanding Clinical Teacher Award from the South Central Area Network for School-University Partnerships (SCANSUP).

Casassa is teaching in a fifth-grade classroom at Woodway Elementary in Midway ISD for her senior student-teaching year. Baylor seniors spend an entire academic year as student teachers in the same classroom, enabling them to experience the full year’s cycle.

The award recognizes Casassa’s teaching skills, classroom strategies, and commitment to creating an inclusive and engaging learning environment for her students. Continue Reading →

March 6, 2025
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SOE Professors Part of Interdisciplinary Research Team for $4.71 million Grant

Dr. Erik Carter, Dr. Sarah Mire, Dr. Terrill Saxon

School of Education researchers (l-r): Dr. Erik Carter, Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities and Executive Director of the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities; Dr. Sarah Mire, associate professor; Dr. Terrill Saxon, professor and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Global Engagement

Three Baylor School of Education faculty members in the Department of Educational Psychology — Dr. Erik Carter, Dr. Sarah Mire, and Dr. Terrill Saxon — are co-investigators on an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team of researchers that will conduct a mixed-methods longitudinal study of patience. Over four years, the study will focus on what can be learned about patience from those who experience adversity, particularly for parents of adolescents. The SOE team’s research will focus specifically on families raising adolescents who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Funded by a $4.71 million grant from Templeton Religion Trust, the study is part of the Baylor Research in Growth and Human Thriving Science Center, or BRIGHTS Center, a multidisciplinary center housed in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences that catalyzes research related to the science of human flourishing.

The team is led by principal investigator Dr. Sarah Schnitker, Baylor professor of psychology, and includes Baylor’s Dr. Anne Jeffrey (philosophy and medical humanities), the three Baylor SOE faculty members, and faculty from UC Riverside, Wake Forest, and Claremont Graduate University.

Baylor SOE PhD Students in School Psychology Continue 100% Match for Internships

Baylor PhD students who have earned an APA-accredited internship

Baylor School of Education fourth-year PhD School Psychology students earned 100% APA internship placement and are pictured (l-r): Cassie Jennings, Scarlett Gardner, Kayla Trites, Bradley Davis, Madeline Pettit, Janie Contreras-Munoz.

March 3, 2025

For the fourth year in a row, 100 percent of the Baylor University School of Education’s school psychology Ph.D. students have “Matched” for pre-doctoral psychology internships accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).

The Match is run by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) and provides an orderly process to help applicants obtain positions in psychology internship programs of their choice and to help internship programs obtain applicants of their choice. The Match is highly competitive, and APA-accredited sites are the most competitive placements. Approximately 4,000 doctoral students from School, Counseling, and Clinical Psychology doctoral programs participate in Match, competing for spots at approximately 800 sites. Continue Reading →

February 21, 2025
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The Power of Storytelling in Black Culture

“The most natural thing in the world to me when talking to someone is to tell them a story. That’s how I make sense of things,” — Dr. Marquita Foster

As we celebrate Black History Month, we asked Dr. Marquita Foster, lecturer and graduate program director for Baylor SOE’s EdD in Learning & Organizational Change, to share insights from her teaching career and research. A former middle and high school English teacher, Dr. Foster has published on topics including Black feminism, cultural approaches to classroom disciplines, and storytelling in Black and indigenous traditions.

Feb. 21, 2015

Faculty Guest Blog
by Dr. Marquita Foster

To say that storytelling in Black culture is just rooted in the oral tradition dismisses its historical contributions to liberation, its legitimization of oppositional knowledge, and its enduring instructions for resistance and survival. Storytelling is the universe in which we live, a whole other world fancied for the simplicity of its design and lauded for the nature of its complexity. The story is a primary vehicle of sharing lived experiences from individual to individual, household to household, generation to generation — to inspire, warn, engage, entertain. Continue Reading →

February 3, 2025
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Two Baylor SOE PhD Graduates Garner Accolades from SSMA

Photo of Dr. Melissa Donham (left) SSMA Dissertation Award and Dr. Ryann Shelton (right), SSMA Early Career Scholar Award

Feb. 3, 2025

Two Baylor School of Education graduates were honored by the School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA) at its fall conference. Dr. Ryann Shelton (PhD ’20) received the SSMA Early Career Scholar Award, and Dr. Melissa Donham (MA ’19, PhD ’23) received the Dissertation Award. Continue Reading →

December 9, 2024
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Dr. Suzanne Nesmith Receives Statewide Honor

Dec. 9, 2024

By Theodora John Milton

Dr. Suzanne Nesmith, Baylor School of Education associate professor and a leader in science and engineering education, has been recognized with the ADoT Distinguished Service Award for her exceptional contributions to teacher preparation at the university level. ADoT, the Associate and Assistant Deans and Directors of Texas, presents only one yearly award, chosen by a selection committee that reviews numerous packets submitted by nominators who must be employed by a Texas university-based educator-preparation program or a Texas P-12 school. The prestigious award honors former or current associate and assistant deans or directors who have significantly impacted the field of teacher preparation. The award was presented this fall at the statewide meeting of the Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education (CSOTTE). Continue Reading →

November 25, 2024
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Dr. Kelly Johnston Shares Tips for Literacy as a Family

Dr. Kelly Johnston

Nov. 25, 2024

Families can build reading, writing, and communication skills through simple daily routines and shared moments, says Dr. Kelly Johnston, associate professor in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum & Instruction. And what better time to focus on fostering a love for reading and learning than a long holiday weekend that caps off Family Literacy Month (November)? Dr. Johnston offers eight simple ways to integrate literacy into family life (some of them may surprise you) and a helpful list of online resources.

“By blending literacy into the rhythms of everyday life, families can foster an environment where children not only build essential skills but also develop a lifelong love of learning,” Johnston said.

Read the full story on the BAYLOR MEDIA WEBSITE.

November 18, 2024
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Baylor SOE Researchers Working on EPA Grant to Advance Food Security and Climate Resilience Initiatives

Drs. Stephanie BOddie, Joshua King, and Kevin Magill

Nov. 18, 2024

Baylor University has been awarded a nearly $1 million grant from the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program (CCGP) to drive transformative local initiatives aimed at bolstering food security, advancing sustainable agriculture, and enhancing climate resilience in Waco’s underserved communities. The $938,141 grant is part of a larger $17.9 million EPA Community Change grant awarded to local Waco nonprofits and the City of Waco.

The Baylor project is led by co-principal investigators Stephanie Boddie, Ph.D., associate professor of Church and Community Ministries in the School of Social Work, who also has a faculty appointment in the School of Education; Joshua King, Ph.D., professor of English and director of Environmental Humanities Minor; and Kevin Magill, Ph.D., associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the School of Education. Boddie and Magill will oversee the expansion of education programs and gardening projects in underserved communities across the city through local schools and faith-based organizations.

Read about the full scope of the grant on the BAYLOR MEDIA WEBSITE.

October 28, 2024
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Dr. Jeffrey Petersen Delves into Collegiate Athletic Budgets with Baylor’s Centennial Professor Award for Research

Dr. Jeffrey Petersen used his Centennial Professor Award to travel to the University of Notre Dame, which houses the world’s largest collection of sport documents including printed media guides for NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball and football.

Oct. 28, 2024

Dr. Jeffrey Petersen, professor of sport management and program director of the MSEd in Sport Management, received the 2024 Centennial Professor Award for summer research projects and focused his project on the finances of collegiate sports through research at Notre Dame University.

The Centennial Professor Award, created by the Baylor Class of 1945, annually honors two tenured faculty members with a $5,000 Centennial Faculty Development award for research projects that facilitate their development and contribute to the academic life of the University. These projects often include travel for study or research, the development of innovative teaching materials, or other professional development activities.

Dr. Petersen and graduate student Rachel Hickey at the University of Notre Dame

Dr. Petersen and graduate student Rachel Hickey on the Notre Dame campus.

Petersen and sport management graduate student Rachel Hickey dug into the archives at Notre Dame, which houses the world’s largest collection of sport documents including printed media guides for NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball and football. Using historical staffing levels as a proxy for athletic budget levels, their research will provide insights into the evolving landscape of NCAA sport management and operations.

The study, titled “Projecting the Future of NCAA Athletics: A Historical Analysis of Team and Athletic Department Staffing,” will analyze team and administrative staffing structures through a longitudinal analysis of media guides from the advent of television coverage in the 1950s to the present, seeking to identify shifts in support staff roles and contextualize these changes within larger societal and economic trends. Petersen also intends to project future trends based on the changing financial situation in college athletics. Continue Reading →