Spring 2023Contents
NEWS
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HOMEROOM
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FEATURES
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NOTEWORTHY
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RECESS
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Letter from the Dean
Photo credit: Krista Patton Photography
Dear Alumni and Friends,
It feels surreal to be here, at the end of a journey that started almost nine years ago when my husband and I sat at our kitchen counter in Palo Alto, California, listening to Mark Knopfler’s “Sailing to Philadelphia,” as we pressed send on our emails to accept our respective positions at Penn: his in the Office of General Counsel and mine as dean of the Graduate School of Education.
With that keystroke, everything changed. I went from suburban to urban, West Coast to East Coast, professor to administrator. But there was something about the potential of Penn GSE to become the kind of professional school I believed in that drew me here. And I’m so glad we made that leap. I’ve found wonderful colleagues at both Penn GSE and the University, inspiring students and alumni, an incredible board, and a new city that I loved learning about and exploring.
As a lifelong educator—I began as a teaching assistant when I was 16 and haven’t left the classroom since—I was worried that I would miss teaching when I became dean. Little did I know that I would find similar joy and satisfaction from working with our community to build a stronger Penn GSE. Together, we’ve expanded the work of the School, both in Philadelphia and across the world. We’ve created a more cohesive community, and transformed our physical footprint by building a building that matches our grand ambitions.
Faculty Bookshelf
Published January 2023
University of Chicago Press
Sociolinguistic Diversity
Published October 2022
Routledge
Published September 2022
Routledge
Published August 2023
Routledge
Faculty Awards & Honors
News Briefs
McGraw Center Welcomes Inaugural Leader
Two New Grads Awarded Early Career Honors
“Receiving the Fulbright news was so surreal, I still can’t believe that it’s actually happening,” she said. “I feel incredibly grateful for the immense support that I’ve received both at St. Anne’s-Belfield School and through the ISTR program at Penn. I really am so very lucky.”
Policy Corner
The Headline
Commonwealth Court Rules Pennsylvania’s School Funding System Unconstitutional
The Story
This past February, Commonwealth Court Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer agreed, ruling that the petitioners had demonstrated “manifest deficiencies between low-wealth districts . . . and their more affluent counterparts.” To comply with its state constitution, she said, Pennsylvania must ensure “that every student receives a meaningful opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and civically, which requires that all students have access to a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary system of public education.”
That currently is not happening because Pennsylvania public schools only receive about a third of their funding from the Commonwealth, while the majority of a district’s funding comes from local property taxes. This creates fundamental inequality based on the wealth of a local community.
New Support for Early Childhood Education
he Suzanne McGraw Foundation has made a $5 million commitment, one of the largest ever to the School, to build on Penn GSE’s strengths in early childhood education and family studies. The funding will support student scholarships, a cross-university graduate concentration, and cross-disciplinary programming aimed at cultivating a new generation of highly skilled educators, leaders, researchers, and policymakers who are optimally positioned to serve our youngest children and those who care for them.
Photo credit: Krista Patton for Penn GSE
Homeroom
Our Alums in Their Spaces
Nimet Eren, GED’09, GRD’20
Principal, Kensington Health Sciences Academy
Nimet Eren is the award-winning principal at Kensington Health Sciences Academy, a Philadelphia community school with career programs focused on the medical field. (Students can major in health-related technology, dental assisting, sports medicine, or global leadership.)
“The most important lesson I learned at GSE is that school should be the model democracy, the model community,” Eren said, thinking back on her time at Penn GSE, where she earned her master’s in urban education and doctorate in educational leadership. “I think here at Kensington Health, we try very hard to develop a school that puts its constituents first, gives our students a voice, and teaches them that they have the ability to shape the community they live in and the world we hope to achieve one day.”
Located in North Philadelphia’s East Kensington neighborhood, the school is housed in a small, 25-year-old building. Eren often shares her office with anyone who needs the space—from teachers holding meetings to students eating lunch. “Even though I have a lot of my things here, this is everybody’s space,” she said.
The office’s closet is filled with books and props from her years as a high school English teacher at nearby Olney High School—including the pool noodles her students used to act out Shakespearean sword fights. The minifridge is stocked with red cans of Coke. And the shelves are full of photos and mementos of her students and community. She shared a few with us.
A View from Campus
NEW BEGINNINGS
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
WINNER’S CIRCLE
A Legacy of Leadership
ine years ago, on September 19, 2014, the Penn GSE community came together to celebrate the School’s Centennial, reflecting on how far it had come from its initial 97 students, three faculty members, and nine courses. The kickoff for what would be a yearlong 100th birthday party featured the requisite cake, balloons, and music. But it also included one very important attendee: Pam Grossman, a scholar of teacher education from Stanford University’s School of Education who was soon to become Penn GSE’s newest dean.
Grossman, who began her career as a high school English teacher, had never planned to be a dean—in fact, she had previously turned down other offers so she could continue teaching and advising doctoral students at Stanford. But she felt a pull to lead Penn GSE, compelled by its unique partnerships with the School District of Philadelphia and the potential to make a real, tangible impact.
“It was a big leap for us, particularly because I’m from the Bay Area and had never spent time in Philadelphia, so there was a lot of learning to be done,” Dean Grossman said. “But if you care about urban education, which I do, it really helps to be in a city.”
In Their Own Words
The Grossman Legacy
John L. Jackson Jr.
Incoming University Provost
Associate Professor
Sarah Schneider Kavanagh
Wendy McCulley, WG’91, GED’16
Alumni Leadership Board Member
Wendy McCulley, WG’91, GED’16
Alumni Leadership Board Member
Faces of Philanthropy
Samara Cohen, C’93, W’93
Following a mantra of “progress and purpose,” Penn GSE’s newest board member is inspired to support others on a journey of lifelong learning.
eachers have shaped Samara Cohen’s life in profound ways. Educators run in her family: both her sister and aunt are teachers. An “incredible” high school calculus teacher nurtured her love of math. And a Tufts economics professor introduced her to the discipline that put her on her path to a career in finance.
“I think a constant thread in my life has been the transformative power of great teachers,” said Cohen, who transferred to Penn her sophomore year and graduated with a dual degree in theater and economics from the College and Wharton. “When students ask me what they should study in college, I always tell them to find the best teachers first.”
Progress and purpose—and leadership
“I hope to be a part of progressing the mission of GSE,” she said. “Progress and purpose are my dual mantras, and GSE very much has a story of creating a culture [of both].”
Katharine O. Strunk
Named Dean of Penn’s Graduate School of Education
enn GSE will welcome Katharine O. Strunk as its new dean on July 1, 2023. Strunk, an award-winning mixed methods scholar, holds the Clifford E. Erickson Distinguished Chair in Education at Michigan State University, where she is a professor of education policy and economics. She is the inaugural director of Michigan State’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC), the strategic research partner to the Michigan Department of Education. She is an expert on teacher labor markets, school and district improvement and accountability policies, and efforts to boost student achievement.
Strunk is the past president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP). Prior to joining Michigan State, she served from 2009 to 2017 on the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education and Sol Price School of Public Policy. She began her career at the University of California at Davis School of Education from 2007 to 2009.
Educating for a Sustainable Future
s part of her master’s in higher education studies at Penn GSE, Thammika Songkaeo, GED’14, researched why—or if—faculty get siloed in how they teach about sustainability. Her findings? What gets results in academia may not be what gets solutions in “the real world.”
“The professors said, ‘You only get tenure if you specialize,’” said the Singapore resident of her independent research conducted with Penn GSE Professor and Board of Advisors Chair of Education Matt Hartley.
“That answer made me realize how deep-rooted a lot of the hurdles were,” Songkaeo said. “It gave me that sense of rebellion. If this is the system, whatever I do in the future is going to make sure it cracks down on silos.”
Goal accomplished. Songkaeo is founder and director of the production company Two Glasses, which she started in 2021 to tackle climate change in broad, multidisciplinary ways. At its heart is education—a “critical agent,” as the United Nations noted at last year’s Transforming Education Summit, to sway attitudes, change behaviors, and help the public make more informed decisions.
Studying the Academy
from Within
amani White-Lewis, who joined the Penn GSE faculty last summer, studies racial inequality in academic careers. He focuses his research on higher education, examining hiring, retention, and tenure for faculty of color and asking questions about why the sector, which claims to want racial diversity in its professoriate, has been so slow to change.
His dissertation, “The Facade of Fit and Preponderance of Power in Faculty Search Processes: Facilitators and Inhibitors of Diversity,” was showered with honors from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Educational Research Association, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, and the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education.
His current research includes a National Science Foundation–supported study on how tenure reviewers weigh candidates’ diversity, equity, and inclusion work, as well as a series of studies that uses data from Harvard’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education to interrogate trends in faculty retention.
Alumni Notes
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Alumni Bookshelf
denotes alumni authors whose latest book is featured below.
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Penn Affiliations
At Penn, all alumni have an affiliation, or series of letters and numbers, following their name to indicate their degree, school, and year of graduation. A master’s degree from Penn GSE is represented as GED and an education doctorate as GRD. A philosophy doctorate from any school at Penn is represented as GR. An undergraduate degree offered by the School of Education until 1961 is represented as ED. The two numbers following the letters represent the year in which that degree was completed.
- John McArdle, G’97, GED’98, GRD’14, associate professor at Salem State University, was awarded a Fulbright grant to go to Kosovo in October, where he assessed academic programs and developed recommendations for program accreditation at University Isa Boletini in Mitrovica.
- Shawn McCaney, GED’97, executive director at the William Penn Foundation, was invited to give this spring’s commencement address at the Temple University College of Liberal Arts.
- Lisa Morenoff, GED’98, is in her second year as a special education case manager for the lower school at Capital City Public Charter School. She develops high-quality IEPs for students in preK–fourth grade and helps train special education teachers who work directly with students.
- Christine Kerlin Nasserghodsi, GED’97, is the founder of education consulting firm Verdant. She has been asked to serve as the division director for education improvement overseeing school improvement across 250-plus charter and private K–12 and early childhood institutions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
- Denise Raimondo, CGS’92, GED’94, is a consulting partner at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, working in global medical affairs for oncology.
- John Roche, D’92, GED’92, writes: “Always grateful for the opportunity to achieve my master’s at Penn GSE while earning my dental degree. It has been a source of pride and motivation to give back to the academic side of orthodontics.”
- Susan O’Malley Stephan, GED’97, teaches AP Spanish and serves as the world language department chair at Oxford Academy, a public school for grades 7–12 in Anaheim Union High School District. This past year, she served as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) chair, guiding the faculty and staff in the self-study accreditation process. She co-authored the ethnic studies course, “Spanish III Latinx Studies,” which will be offered at her school next year. She serves as an advisor to the school’s international club, mentor for the school’s robotics team, and coach for the junior high track team.
- Laura Zaharakis, GED’92, has been a school counselor in the Allentown School District for almost 20 years, working to create a data-driven program. She led the school to earn the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) designation in 2020. She and her husband created SCUTA, the widely used and comprehensive School Counselor Use of Time Analysis tool. She is earning a Pennsylvania Department of Education certificate in supervision of school guidance services through Millersville University.
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2000s
Antoinette Brown, GED’05, started a new position as assistant dean of administration and strategic initiatives for the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in February.
- Theodore Burnes, GED’01, a professor at the University of Southern California, recently published Essential Clinical Care for Sex Workers: A Sex-Positive Handbook for Mental Health Practitioners (North Atlantic Press).
- Toni Gordon, GED’10, transitioned from diversity, equity, and inclusion work into advancement. She is now assistant director of alumni engagement at Bowling Green State University, cultivating relationships with alumni and other constituents.
- Aman Goyal, GED’13, LPS’20, was recently promoted to director for alumni relations and Penn traditions in the Development and Alumni Relations division at the University, supporting the experience of recent graduates.
- Deanna Handy, GED’12, is a youth services coordinator at the Salvation Army and self-published her first wellness journal, Walking into Your Purpose: A Handy Wellness Journal, now available on Amazon. This summer, she will be coordinating a therapeutic summer enrichment program for youth, ages 5–17, in one of Philadelphia’s largest emergency shelters.
- Sonya Somerville Harrison, GRD’12, will become head of school at the School at Columbia University on July 1. She has spent 30 years as an educator, most recently as assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia.
- Mark Heath, GED’16, recently made the pivot from classroom teaching to working as a consultant for the national nonprofit Education Resource Strategies. He supports school and district leaders in organizing their resources to expand equitable access to—and success through—college and career pathways in high schools. He has also contributed to a series of guidebooks for school and district leaders on leveraging Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for more strategic schedules, staffing, and spending.
- Stephan Heuer, GED’13, will become dean of students at Frankford Friends School this fall, after years of being a third-grade lead teacher there.
- Peter Horn, GRD’14, on his “Point of Learning” podcast, recently interviewed author and educator Jonathan Kozol about Kozol’s forthcoming book, Batter Down the Walls.
- Nicole Johnson, GED’16, is the capital campaign director at South Chicago charter school EPIC Academy, working to fund a $22 million transformation of the single-site charter school into an institution that spurs economic and community development.
- Xinyi (Cindy) Liang, GED’18, is the assistant to associate vice president at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, coordinating the smooth running of five colleges (soon to be seven) in the rapidly developing university.
- Tianyu Liu, GED’19, an English instructor at the Affiliated International High School of Shenzhen University, is proud to have her first class of students graduate this summer.
- Hang Qin, GED’18,, successfully organized the TEDxSanya 2023 Standard Event with his team on April 15. More: penng.se/tedxsanya
5 Ways
Teachers can integrate ChatGPT into the classroom
hatGPT is one of the most advanced machine learning and language processing models. It can read and understand text in context and respond in a human-like way—from writing essays to solving problem sets—leading to the question on everyone’s mind: How will this change education?
But education is about more than just the correct answers or perfect essays, says Betty Chandy, GED’05, GRD’13, director of online learning for Catalyst, Penn GSE’s center for innovation. Education is acquiring knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. It is the process that matters more than the product. “Calculators did not make math redundant, and the internet did not make schools obsolete,” she said. “AI will create opportunities that were unimaginable a year ago.”
Chandy, who runs the Virtual Online Teaching (VOLT) and the Experiences in Applied Computational Thinking (EXACT) certificate programs at Penn GSE, started her career as a high school teacher and instructional coach, then moved into research exploring the impact of professional development on teachers’ pedagogical practices. Her research interests include the design of learning environments, online learning, technology in classrooms, and teacher development. Below are five of Chandy’s ideas for integrating ChatGPT into the classroom:
Board of Advisors
Douglas R. Korn, W’84, Chair
Jeffrey S. McKibben, W’93, Vice Chair
Deborah L. Ancona, C’76, GED’77
Olumoroti G. Balogun, GRD’20
Brett H. Barth, W’93
Allison J. Blitzer, C’91
Harlan B. Cherniak, W’01
Jolley Bruce Christman, GED’71, GR’87
Samara E. Cohen, C’93, W’93
Beth S. Ertel, W’88, WG’92
Evan S. Feinberg, W’09
Jeffrey L. Goldberg, W’83, WG’89
Patricia Grant, GED’01, GRD’04
Joel M. Greenblatt, W’79, WG’80
John Henry
Andrew H. Jacobson, WG’93
Gustave K. Lipman, W’94
Gregory A. Milken, C’95
Andrea J. Pollack, C’83, L’87, GED’17
David N. Roberts, W’84
Francisco J. Rodriguez, W’93
Molly P. Rouse-Terlevich, C’90, GED’00
Michael J. Sorrell, GRD’15
Navin M. Valrani, W’93, GED’18, GED’22, GRD’23
Steven M. Wagshal, W’94
Pam Grossman
Dean
Laura Tepper
Publisher
Rebecca Raber
Editor
Editorial Board:
Sylvia Davis, C’20
Jane L. Lindahl, GED’18
Jennifer Moore
Kat Stein
Xuan Wang
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