Benjamin Reese, Jr., chief diversity officer and vice president of the Office for Institutional Equity at Duke University, will speak to University of Mississippi faculty, staff and students during a special event to discuss the role of implicit bias in people’s everyday lives on Thursday, Oct. 6.

The event is free and open to the public and will take place at the UM Student Union ballroom from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Reese will also do a special session with students within the UM School of Education on Friday, Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. at the Jackson Avenue Center.

“I think everyone is familiar with explicit biases—the conscious behaviors that are discriminatory,” explained Reese, a clinical psychologist with more than four decades of experience. “However, implicit biases refer to the ways in which we behave, or make decisions, that we are not aware of. We may think our decisions are fair and equitable, but there is still a subconscious bias.”

Implicit bias is a judgment and/or behavior that is rooted deep in subconscious attitudes and/or beliefs. Implicit biases can be either positive or negative toward a specific group with certain characteristics such as age, appearance, race, sexuality or weight.

Benjamin Reese, Jr. , Psy.D.

“We want people to be aware that we all have biases,” said Nichelle Robinson, UM School of Education diversity officer, who coordinated the event. “It’s once we are aware of these that we can begin to work to change these behaviors.”

During the event, Reese will define implicit bias and share steps that individuals can use to identify and decrease these subconscious judgments.

He will also discuss free implicit association tests that can help individuals identify their own implicit biases. One example is Project Implicit hosted by Harvard University.

“I think it’s important to walk away (from this discussion) with an understanding of how bias develops within us,” Reese said. “There is some compelling research that suggests all of the ways that implicit biases operate and I will give some examples.”

For close to 40 years, Reese has consulted both public and private institutions on organizational change, conflict resolution, race relations, diversity and more.

The event is sponsored by UM’s: School of Education, Center for Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Engagement, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Office of Multicultural Affairs.

By A. Abernathy

Clark speaks to UM students at the Oxford Conference Center.

Ron Clark, a celebrated educator, author and founder of the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, met with SOE seniors and education mentors from UM’s World Class Teaching Program (WCTP) on Monday, Sept. 19 at a special event at the Oxford Conference Center.

During the event, Clark, who has worked in critical-needs schools in North Carolina and New York City and is a former Disney Teacher of the Year, shared a series of anecdotes from his career which included the educator’s “55 Rules” for being successful as a teacher.

“Children need to see that you will go above and beyond for them,” he told the group. “If they see that you care, they will let you teach them and let you discipline them.” [Read More…]

From 911 dispatcher to Oxford school teacher

By Liz McCormick

By 6:45 each morning, SOE alumna Danielle Little arrives at the Oxford Learning Center to prepare for morning lessons. The Horn Lake native is in her second year of teaching at the center and received the honor of being the Oxford School District’s 2016 First Year Teacher of the Year last spring—she was chosen out of eight first-year teachers across the district.

These days, Little’s daily schedule is jam-packed with a combination of teaching, grading and studying for graduate courses as she works toward a master’s degree. But three years ago, Little’s life looked very different. The Oxford teacher worked her way through college while also holding down a job as a 911 dispatcher. At the time, Little regularly worked through the night and then commuted more than an hour to Oxford for weekday classes.

“It sounds crazy, but I worked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.,” Little explained. “I had class in Oxford at 8 a.m., so I would get off work, drive straight here and take a 45-minute nap in my car to get me through the morning. I had a 4.0 (my first) semester.”

Little set high expectations for herself as a student, and now she sets high expectations for her students in the classroom. Her caring and energetic demeanor motivates her students, who in turn motivate each other to do better—and so far, they have risen to the occasion.

“I go to bed thinking about the week ahead of me,” she said. “While I’m asleep, I think of lesson plans. I wake up thinking of things I can do for my kids to learn.”

At the Oxford Learning Center, Little teaches an accelerated program for students who have failed sixth-grade math. The Step Up Program hired Little immediately after she graduated in 2015 with her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Little works with these students to get them ready to proceed to the eighth-grade by combining a version of sixth and seventh-grade math in one year.

“When I interviewed Danielle for this job, I was very impressed by her ability to motivate others and I knew that would be a crucial piece in leading this program,” said Oxford Learning Center principal Kathy Howington. “The students take Ms. Little very seriously because they know that she cares for them and wants them to do their best. They’re a community and they’re closely bonded.”

Little’s motivation to help students succeed stems from her own negative experience with math in middle school. After partaking in her high school’s childcare program, Little knew she wanted to change lives as an educator.

“I decided I wanted to get my degree in education so that I could go back to middle schools and help kids with math who just absolutely hate it,” said Little. “Once you’re in 6^th or 7^th grade, if you don’t have the basics then you’ve lost all interest—you don’t want to do math, everybody hates math, no one likes math class.”

For her students, Little is a calm, steady voice during difficult times in an accelerated math class, but she is no stranger to that role.

“I ended up landing the job as a 911 dispatcher because of my calm voice,” Little said. “When you answer 911, you have to have a calm voice and demeanor that people are going to listen to and respect during an emergency.”

While working as a full-time teacher, Little is also pursuing a master’s degree in special education at the SOE.

“I’m getting my master’s in special education because it’s going to help me with this program even more,” she said. “I have special education children in my classroom and this degree will give me a better understanding of what these kids need.”

The successful teacher and avid Pokémon Go player plans to stay with the Step Up Program for several years. Little hopes to eventually move into an administrative role with the program.

“I would love to be the program coordinator in the future,” she said. “That way I can work more on curriculum development, continuing the success of this program.”

It’s almost syllabus week and we want to celebrate with our first-ever Instagram contest! The School of Education is giving away Amazon gift cards to three lucky winners with the best “back to school” photos. Take a selfie or gather with your best friends during the first week of class (Aug. 22-26).

Here’s how to enter:

1. Take a photo: Capture your back to school picture at the SOE
2. Upload it: Share the photo to your Instagram
3. Follow and Tag: Follow and tag @OleMissEdSchool
4. Vote: Comment to vote for your favorite finalist on the SOE Instagram

The contest will begin Monday, August 22, and end on Friday. The next week, four finalists will be chosen by faculty and staff and featured on the SOE Instagram for voting starting on Monday, August 29. The top three photos with the most votes win Amazon gift cards.

• 1^st place = $100 Amazon gift card
• 2^nd place = $50 Amazon gift card
• 3^rd place = $25 Amazon gift card

Be sure to check the SOE Facebook and Instagram for contest updates!

If you can’t wait for fall, you’re not alone! Faculty and students are returning to the Ole Miss campus and there is much to be excited about at the UM School of Education (SOE). More than ever, we are seeing measurable growth across our school in terms of our programs, fund-raising, enrollment and more. Here are a handful of ways the SOE is growing.

• The Ed.D. Boom: For the first time, there will be more than 100 Ed.D. students enrolled at UM this fall. In the last two years, the SOE has launched three “Hybrid” Ed.D. programs that combine online and face-to-face learning for education professionals. Programs in higher education, K-12 educational leadership and secondary mathematics education can be completed in three years.
• METP Expands: With the largest cohort to date (30 students from 9 states), the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program now has an average incoming ACT score of 29.7. The most valuable teacher education scholarship in the nation, METP offers four years of tuition, room and board, study abroad and much more! For the first time, METP will now accept elementary education majors!
• Annual Giving Growth: In the past 12 months, the SOE has seen the most philanthropic support in its 113-year history. With pledged commitments ranging from $25 to $250,000, the SOE is now home to new endowments such as the Bob Depro Education Excellence Scholarship Endowment for Social Studies Majors, which will help social studies teachers pay tuition for graduate school!
• Online M.Ed. for Pre-K Educators: The SOE is proud to induct its first cohort of educators into UM’s new online M.Ed. in early childhood education. The degree is offered 100 percent online and is the only master’s degree of its kind offered in Mississippi. Graduates will qualify to receive license endorsements from the Mississippi Department of Education.
• Savvy Stats for Freshmen: Incoming freshmen are sharper than ever at UM and the SOE is no exception! The average incoming ACT score for education majors has risen a full point in the past year to 25.5. Today, the SOE is home to nearly 1,000 UM undergraduates.

By A. M. Abernathy