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02-17-2010, 09:31 AM #1
CA-UCR Chancellor to meet with Latino education coalition
UCR Chancellor Timothy White to meet with Latino education coalition
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10:32 PM PST on Tuesday, February 16, 2010
By DAVID OLSON
Members of an Inland Latino coalition will meet with UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy White next month to ask him to appoint a new education-school dean who will make the needs of English language learners and ethnic minority students a priority.
Graduate School of Education Dean Steven Bossert announced last month that he is leaving his post July 1 to return to teaching at the school.
The school has been the target of intense criticism for several years that its program does not focus enough on research to reduce the gap between the academic performance of Latino -- especially English-learning -- students and white and Asian pupils.
Critics also say the university does not work closely enough with Inland elementary, middle and high schools, and community colleges, to improve the education of Latino students. A majority of students in Inland public schools are Latino, and nearly a quarter are English learners.
Coalition member Dennis Lopez said the new dean should have an extensive history of scholarship on educational equity and English-learner issues, because a dean shapes a school's priorities.
Provost Dallas Rabenstein, who with White will appoint first an interim and then a permanent dean, said in a statement that Bossert's departure is unrelated to the controversy over Latino-education issues.
"During his tenure as dean, much was done to deal with the diversity issues," Rabenstein said.
After criticism that all 20 full-time professors in the school were white, Bossert in 2008 appointed four ethnic minority faculty members. Bossert said at the time that he had planned to hire minority faculty before the criticism surfaced. An Asian assistant professor was hired last year.
Bossert also created a master's program in equity and diversity, although he has not acceded to one of the coalition's key requests: the establishment of a center on educational equity and English-language learning within the school.
Associate Dean George Marcoulides said the school has always had courses that address the achievement gap and English-learning methods and has long worked with Inland public schools on those issues.
He pointed to a $1 million grant the school received last year to study ways to reduce the achievement gap in math and science education. Teachers in Moreno Valley and San Bernardino schools are participating in the research and new strategies will be implemented in those schools. Marcoulides is the study's research director.
"This symbolizes a lot of what we do," he said. "This is the latest example but we have numerous examples. We share many of the same goals (as the coalition). Apparently we need to do a better job of informing people what is going on at the school."
Lopez said the school has made progress in the last few years. He was pleased with the appointments of ethnic-minority assistant professors but said some of the hires should have been of senior-level minority faculty.
He said there still is not enough of a focus on achievement-gap and English-learner issues and not enough links with Inland schools. The creation of a center to address those matters would ensure a long-term commitment and attract scholars, students and grant money, Lopez said.
Reach David Olson at dolson@PE.com
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02-17-2010, 09:49 AM #2Members of an Inland Latino coalition will meet with UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy White next month to ask him to appoint a new education-school dean who will make the needs of English language learners and ethnic minority students a priority."A Nation of sheep will beget a government of Wolves" -Edward R. Murrow
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