Introducing UTK ERO: Your Bridge to Education Excellence

October 24, 2023 by jhall152

By Karina Beltran

The Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department (ELPS) within the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS) is proud to announce the launch of the Education Research & Opportunity Center (UTK ERO). UTK ERO represents the merger of The Center for Education Leadership, The Postsecondary Education Research Center, and the College Access and Persistence Services Outreach Center. UTK ERO builds on the long tradition of excellence established by these prior CEHSS efforts with a renewed passion and enhanced capacity for producing high-quality research, delivering high-impact outreach, and improving policy and practice in education. 

The mission of UTK ERO is to produce high-quality research, conduct high-impact outreach, and promote effective policies and practices that increase educational success and opportunity. 

High Quality Research  

Our research spans the entire education spectrum, from early childhood to adult education, addressing critical issues in education policy and practice. At UTK ERO, we hold our research to the highest standards, making sure it is: 

1. Relevant: We understand the importance of timely, pertinent research. Our work focuses on critical educational issues, and we strive to deliver research that matters when it’s needed most.
2. Rigorous: Trust is paramount. All our research undergoes a rigorous internal and external review process to ensure methodological soundness, responsible data management, and freedom from errors or biases.
3. Actionable: We bridge the gap between academic concepts and real-world impact by providing concrete action steps for policymakers, school leaders, and educators.
4. Accessible: We believe in making knowledge accessible to all. Our research findings are disseminated through a variety of channels, including social media, website blog posts, podcasts, and practitioner-oriented venues. We present results in graphical, text, audio, and video formats.

High Impact Outreach  

As a land-grant university, the University of Tennessee takes pride in enhancing economic, social, and professional opportunities for all Tennesseans. UTK ERO manages five U.S. Department of Education TRiO outreach and student services programs, all designed to increase college access and success for first-generation, low-income students in East Tennessee and surrounding rural areas.  

Our outreach programs are guided by these core values: 

1. Service: Our main priority and passion are to increase access to and success within postsecondary education for students from disadvantaged and historically underrepresented groups. Every student, every opportunity.
2. Stewardship: We are committed to managing public resources and funds with the utmost responsibility, transparency, and fiscal integrity. We aim to create a safe, positive, and fair environment for our employees and the students we serve.
3. Community: Our connection with the communities we serve is central to our success. We value engagement with and support of these communities, maintaining regular and effective contact with our project partners to provide comprehensive, community-specific support for students and communities.

Stay Connected 

For more information, please visit the UTK ERO website at ero.utk.edu. There you can follow UTK ERO on social media, receive news and updates related to our research and outreach, and follow our blog!  

Website: ero.utk.edu 

Social Media Platforms 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utk_ero/ 

Meta: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Education-Research-Opportunity-Center/100090028087658/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/education-research-and-opportunity-center/about/ 

X: https://twitter.com/utk_ero  

White Recognized for Early Career Contributions by University Council for Educational Administrators

October 18, 2023 by jhall152

Courtesy of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (October 17, 2023)

Rachel White is passionate about issues of power, voice, and inclusion in education policy making and  implementation. Her research focuses on whose voices are heard in policy spaces, and how decisions made by political and educational leaders at the school, district, and state level impact both teachers’ and students’ educational experiences.

Now, White has received a prestigious accolade in her young career, the Jack A. Culbterson Award from the University Council for Education Administration (UCEA). Named for the organization’s long-serving director, the Culbertson Award is presented yearly to an outstanding junior educational leadership professor to recognize their significant contributions to the field of educational leadership. Eligible nominees must be professors with 6 years or fewer, serving in a UCEA affiliated university.

“It’s a great honor to be selected as a recipient of the Jack A. Culbertson Award,” said White. “I’m grateful for the incredible mentors and colleagues across the nation who contributed to my nomination. It’s truly a privilege to be in this position where I’m empowered to be curious, push boundaries, listen to the voices of kids and educators, and build on my experience as a former school board member and high school cross country and track & field coach to attempt to build a body of work that can positively impact K-12 public school systems, leaders, educators, kids—and, ultimately, our democracy.”

White is an assistant professor in the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS). She joined CEHHS in 2022.

Nominees for the Culbertson Award are selected from their outstanding contributions to innovation, originality, potential impact, and more in their early body of academic work. In fact, White has been published in numerous journals, including Educational Administration Quarterly, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Leadership & Policy in Schools, Journal of School Leadership, Teachers College Record, and Kappan.

While White has appeared in several academic publications, she also contributes to a number of well-received stories in general media as well, including Education Week, The Conversation and Ed Surge. She also takes strides to make her research findings accessible to broader audiences using easy-to-easy-to-understand infographics.

Recently, she was named to a United States Department of Education Advisory Committee to provide advice and recommendations concerning the educational needs in the Appalachian region and how those needs can be most effectively addressed. Her committee will submit a report in six months to U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona.

“It’s not lost on me that there has never been a day where I have woken up and was not excited to do this work,” said White. “This award pushes me to not let up and only fuels my passion to engage in rigorous, robust, and—most importantly—policy- and practice-relevant scholarship and outreach. As I reflect on prior award winners and the ways they have transformed the field of educational leadership, I’m humbled to be a part of that community.”

Through its eight departments and 12 centers, the UT Knoxville College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences enhances the quality of life for all through research, outreach, and practice. Find out more at cehhs.utk.edu

Civil Rights Leader Inspires Project Excellence Students

October 12, 2023 by jhall152

Courtesy of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (October 12, 2023)

Kelchen Nationally Recognized for Research in Higher Education Policy

October 12, 2023 by jhall152

Courtesy of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (October 4, 2023)

Robert Kelchen has a highly regarded national reputation for insights into higher education policy. Reporters from the New York Times, Politico, Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed, regularly seek out his expertise when covering current trends in the higher education landscape. In fact, Kelchen conducts around 200 interviews with reporters yearly and was named a 2023 Top-200 in Public Influencer by Education Week. He has a knack for taking  complex issues in higher education and making them accessible to a broader audience.

Now, Kelchen has been recognized by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) for his research on higher education finance, accountability policies and practices, and student financial aid. ASHE’s Council on Public Policy in Higher Education has selected Kelchen for its Excellence in Public Policy Higher Education Award.

According to the ASHE website, “This award recognizes excellence in work at the nexus of academic scholarship and policy practice. This award focuses on research and/or practice in the policy field that advances the public policy discourse in higher education and/or evidenced-based public policies and equity-focused public policy.”

“It’s great that ASHE has recognized Robert’s significant policy work,” said Ellen McIntyre, CEHHS Dean. “He is known nationally, of course, but has already made an impact here in Tennessee.  Everyone I meet in higher education praises his work.”

Kelchen serves as head of the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This award from ASHE is just one of many accolades Kelchen has received in his career.

“I’m thrilled to be receiving this award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education,” said Kelchen. “The goal of my work is to help people make informed decisions about higher education, and I’m grateful that I have been able to talk with so many policymakers, journalists, and institutional leaders during my career. It makes my work fun to do!”

Kelchen will receive the award in November at the 2023 ASHE Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Through its eight departments and 12 centers, the UT Knoxville College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences enhances the quality of life for all through research, outreach, and practice. Find out more at cehhs.utk.edu

 

Hill and Battle Enhancing CEHHS’ Community Engagement

October 12, 2023 by jhall152

Courtesy of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (September 20, 2023)

Pair Selected for Leadership Knoxville Class of 2024

Two members of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS) will participate in the 2024 class of Leadership Knoxville. Kimberly Hill and Tomma Battle will represent CEHHS and work to provide solutions to community issues, expand community connections, and hone their leadership skills.

Hill, a Knoxville native, serves as the CEHHS Community Engagement Coordinator; Program Director for Project Excellence; and is a lecturer in the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. During her time with CEHHS, Hill has increased the college’s community outreach efforts and has made significant positive impacts among Knoxville’s young people through her leadership in Project Excellence.

Hill is involved in several community outreach organizations including Board Chair of Gennisi Charitable Birth Services, Inc., City of Knoxville Mayor’s Roundtable,  volunteer with Empower Knox Special Projects for the City of Knoxville, Task Force Member on the Ford Next Generation for Planning Knox County Schools, and CEHHS Community Advisory at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

“I am thrilled and honored to have been selected to participate in Leadership Knoxville. This program offers a unique and valuable opportunity to actively engage with the community and establish meaningful relationships with a diverse group of leaders. These connections will be instrumental in fostering effective collaboration with community partners,” said Hill.

Battle, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, is the Program Coordinator for Relationship Builders at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She works with various community organizations and churches to fulfill our mission to be a replicable model for how to best provide evidence-based tools and training for improving couple and family relationships. Relationship Builders is committed to providing affordable evidenced-based resources to make couple and family relationships as strong, stable, and healthy as possible.

Battle has lived in Knoxville for 15 years and has been active in numerous community organizations, volunteering with Knox County Schools on the Committee for Accelerating Student Learning and the Disparities in Education Outcomes Task Force; with Johnson University on the Greater Knoxville Advisory Board; with the Department of Children’s Services on the Community Advisory Board; and currently serves as Board Chair for Canvas Can Do Miracles.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to share with an array of area community leaders in learning how to be more effective in serving the needs of our community, celebrating the richness of Knoxville, and being a participant in keeping Knoxville moving into a viable and vibrant city, said Battle.

Leadership Knoxville began in 1984 has served numerous community leaders ranging from business to education and non-profits to religious institutions. Participants in the 10-month learning experience follow a curriculum based on servant leadership principles and leave prepared to serve more effectively in leadership roles across the Knoxville area. According to the Leadership Knoxville website, the organization’s mission is to build a stronger Knoxville by developing people and groups, leading to a greater community.

Through hands-on experiences, participants fully explore local government, education, economic development, and the arts. A skill building program; Leadership Knoxville’s Flagship program offers class members the opportunity to further develop and enhance their personal leadership skills while learning more about the community, our history, opportunities, and challenges.

Hill, who has an excellent track record in building relationships between UT and the community, feels that her time with Leadership Knoxville will not only be transformative for her, but will help CEHHS better achieve the college’s community outreach goals.

“By leveraging these relationships, I am confident that we can create initiatives that bring mutual benefits to the community, our college, and the university,” said. Hill “I am excited to gain valuable insights into the needs and priorities of the community, which will enable us to strategically align our college’s initiatives and programs with the goals of the community. This experience will undoubtedly be transformative, and I am eagerly looking forward to an exciting year ahead in this program.”

CEHHS Welcomes New Distinguished Community Lecturer

October 12, 2023 by jhall152

Courtesy of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (September 20, 2023)

White Appointed to U.S. Department of Education Advisory Committee

October 12, 2023 by jhall152

Courtesy of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (August 25, 2023)

Biddix to Receive Award From National Panhellenic Conference

October 12, 2023 by jhall152

Courtesy of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (August 24, 2023)

J. Patrick Biddix, Jimmy and Ileen Cheek Endowed Professor of Higher Education, will receive the 2023 Interfraternal Partner Award from the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), October 19-21 in Dallas. The award recognizes an individual who played an important role in the conference’s advancement over the past two years.

Biddix’s recognition comes from his most recent research focused on measuring belonging and well-being among college sorority members. According to NPC, his work has had a direct impact on NPC and its member organizations as they work to improve the sorority experience for today’s students.

“Dr. Biddix has been a true partner to NPC during the past several years,” said NPC Chief Executive Officer Dani Weatherford “His insights, based on academically-sound research with collegiate sorority women, have given us the ability to see the impact the sorority experience is making on current collegiate women and compare the findings to larger subsets of students.”

In September 2022,  Biddix was named the first-ever Jimmy and Ileen Cheek Endowed Professor in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences (CEHHS). He serves as a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS). Among his scholarly achievements, he has written or edited 10 books in the past 8 years, two of which are standard texts in the field of student affairs. He is considered the national expert on fraternities and sororities and currently is engaged in a multi-institution, interdisciplinary project to address mental health issues, alcohol misuse, and hazing. He has worked on several state-sponsored grants to study Tennessee Promise and currently works with the Division of Student Success and the Office of Diversity and Engagement at UT on numerous impactful projects related to student success.

Through its eight departments and 12 centers, the UT Knoxville College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences enhances the quality of life for all through research, outreach, and practice. Find out more at cehhs.utk.edu

School Superintendent Turnover is Increasing and Gender Gaps are Barely Budging

October 12, 2023 by jhall152

By Rachel White, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (May 16, 2023)

Reprinted from The Conversation

Public school superintendents are having a moment, and for many of them, the moment is neither super nor what they intended.

During the last several years, tense school board meetings where superintendents were fired erupted in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia.

Contributing to this tension are politically divisive issues that many school superintendents have had to navigate over the last three years, including the teaching of race, book bans and providing access to athletics and bathrooms for students who identify as transgender.

Within this tense environment, a recent study found that nearly 40% of superintendents reported being threatened or feeling threatened on the job. And, 63% of superintendents reported feeling worried about their mental health and well-being over the past two years.

But while superintendents are feeling the heat, policymakers are unable to accurately determine the impact of pressure on superintendent well-being, performance and willingness to stay on the job.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Education does not collect such data on superintendents, and a nationally comprehensive, annually updated superintendent database has never existed.

As an education researcher who studies superintendents, I decided to create the data set myself by collecting data, one district at a time.

New insights into superintendent turnover

Since 2019, my research team has dedicated as many as 400 hours each year to collect the names of superintendents of nearly all traditional public school districts in the United States.

And for a newly published research study in the academic journal Educational Researcher, I conducted a comprehensive, national analysis of superintendent turnover in over 12,500 public school districts since 2019.

My analyses revealed an increase in turnover of nearly 3 percentage points – from 14.2% between 2019-20 and 2020-21 to 17.1% between 2021-22 and 2022-23. More than one out of every three states (37%) had a turnover rate greater than 20% between the last two school years.

A superintendent change occurred at least one time in 35% of districts nationwide, and 6% of districts experienced two or more turnover events.

Though we are unable to determine the exact cause, my research also shows that districts serving larger proportions of students of color were significantly more likely to experience superintendent turnover.

This finding is especially troubling given that frequent churn of leadership can disrupt a school district’s stability and culture, ultimately impacting students’ academic performance.

The role of gender

Superintendent turnover rates vary tremendously across states and districts.

Town and suburban districts were significantly more likely to experience superintendent turnover than urban and rural districts. New research suggests that contentious politics may contribute to superintendent fatigue.

 

Sixty-five percent of suburban superintendents, for instance, agreed or strongly agreed that school board meetings have become more contentious, compared to 55% of urban superintendents and 47% of rural superintendents.

My research also revealed that superintendent turnover rates for men increased at nearly twice the rate of that for women.

The turnover rate for men jumped 3.2 percentage points, from 13.8% to 17.0%, while the increase for women was 1.8 percentage points, from 15.3% to 17.1%.

Though the jump in turnover rate for men could have narrowed the superintendent gender gap, the gap barely budged. Among districts that experienced turnover, very few hired a new superintendent who was a different gender than their prior superintendent.

As it is currently, the ratio between male and female superintendents nationally is 3-to-1. In some states, that ratio is as large as 8-to-1.

There are also differences in the characteristics of districts where superintendent jobs turned over.

Among districts led by men, those that experienced turnover had significantly larger proportions of students receiving free or reduced price lunches, students of color and students classified as English language learners

Women-led districts that experienced turnover had significantly smaller proportions of students classified as English language learners and students receiving free or reduced-price lunches.

 

Moreover, districts that experienced superintendent turnover involving either a man or woman with larger proportions of white students were consistently more likely to hire a man to be their next leader.

Why superintendent data matters

This research only begins to fill an expansive void in our basic understanding of American superintendency.

Currently, the most commonly referenced data or reports on superintendents come from the American Association of School Administrators; the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research institution; and the ILO Group, a women-owned national education strategy and policy firm.

These sources do provide valuable insight into the superintendency.

For example, ILO Group’s analyses show that half of the nation’s largest 500 districts have experienced superintendent turnover since March 2020.

Based on a survey of 222 district leaders, the RAND Corporation found that 13% of superintendents planned to leave their position after the 2020-21 school year.

Yet, each of these sources is quite restricted in what it can reveal about superintendent turnover due to low response rates, small samples and respondent anonymity that does not allow superintendents to be linked to districts.

Additionally, the RAND surveys asked about superintendents’ intentions to leave their current position, a measure known to be largely inaccurate for determining actual turnover.

Due to the limitations of existing data, divergent claims have emerged of both “projected normal turnover rates” and a “mass exodus” of superintendents.

Some states are making an effort to support the collection and analysis of data on superintendents. However, states often make it incredibly challenging for researchers, for example, by charging a substantial fee for data access – in some cases as much as $10,000 a year.

Having this data would provide a timely, comprehensive picture of the superintendency – not just a brief snapshot of a few superintendents at a point in time. Moreover, national, longitudinal superintendent data would allow for deeper examination of the contributors to and consequences of superintendent turnover.

If ensuring some teachers and students are not disproportionately at risk of undesirable superintendent churn, sustained support for and efforts to collect and analyze national longitudinal superintendent data must be prioritized.