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Faculty & Staff Spotlight

The Faculty & Staff Spotlight web page serves to highlight notable accomplishments by UNLV College of Education Faculty & Staff.

	Mona Alvarez, Practicum Supervisor Office of Field Experiences As the supervisor of practicum students and student teachers for the elementary, middle and high school at Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, I help students transition from being a student into being an effective and successful teacher. In addition, I help UNLV students implement the outlined teaching practices of the university. By providing in-service training on integrating technology into the given school curriculum, applying Robert Marzano's "Nine Essential Teaching Strategies," Bloom's "Higher Order Thinking Strategies," and community and school involvement, students get to practice and fine tune their teaching skills. On a weekly basis, I meet and work directly with Mr. Meyers (COO) and their Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) Coordinator in the development and implementation of effective teaching practices throughout the Academy with our students I conference weekly with each student, which allows me to advise them on their specific teaching need and discuss strategies that will help them meet the needs of their given class. In addition, we discuss lesson planning , assessment, resources, and the plethora of materials available to teachers. Helping students recognize their strengths and develop in specific areas, not only allows me to indulge my passion of teaching, but gives me the great opportunity to open the door to teaching for our students.
	Professor Larry Ashley, Counselor Education Professor Larry Ashley has been named the 2007 Mel Schulstad Professional of the Year by the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors. The award is in recognition of outstanding and sustained contributions to the advancement of the addiction counseling profession. Read more about NAADAC and the upcoming annual conference at: http://naadac.org/
	Professor Kent Crippen, Curriculum & Instruction Kent Crippen is an Associate Professor of Science Education and Technology, Associate Editor of the Journal of Science Education and Technology, and serves as Associate Director of UNLV's Center for Science and Mathematics Education. His leadership at UNLV has produced multiple collaborative grant proposals, research projects, and graduate programs between the colleges of science and education. He is an editorial review board member for numerous journals in the field and serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Science Education and Technology. Dr. Crippen's research involves the design and implementation of Web-based learning systems with a focus on cognitive scaffolds to support self-regulated learning. His interests include the improvement of teaching and learning strategies for general chemistry and in-service science teacher professional development.
	Connie Dye, Administrative Assistant III, Educational Leadership Congratulations to the UNLV March 2008 Classified Employee of the Month: Connie Dye from the Department of Educational Leadership in the College of Education.
	Professor Kyle Higgins, Special Education Kyle Higgins is a professor of special education. For the last 14 years she has coordinated three cooperative programs with the Clark County School District designed to help alleviate the shortage of special education teachers. The three programs (Cohort, ARL, and STEP) have produced 788 new special educators in the areas of generalist Resource Room, autism, early childhood special education, and mental retardation. The programs have an 86% retention rate of graduates in the school district. Dr. Higgins also serves as coordinator for the undergraduate and graduate Generalist Programs in the department as well as teaches courses in the areas of multicultural and diversity issues, special education technology, and grant writing. In the area of research, Dr. Higgins just recently completed work on two federally funded projects: Project SET (an OSEP Steppingstones of Technology Project) and Project ENHANCE (a FIPSE Project). Her current interests include the construction of appropriate formative and summative software evaluations for use by special educators and parents, alternative route to licensure programs, and the use of technology as an instructional intervention for students with disabilities.
	Professor Eunsook Hong, Educational Psychology Eunsook Hong is professor of the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She received her undergraduate degree in Korea and had been elementary school teacher for about 9 years. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Technology from the University of Southern California in 1990. Her areas of research interest include identification and instructional application of mental models, problem solving, giftedness and creativity in children and adolescents, homework, and psychometric issues. She teaches mainly the following course in the department of Educational Pscyhology: Multiple Regression (EPY 732), Multivariate Statistics (EPY 733), Latent Variable Models: Factor Analyses and SEM (EPY 734).
	Professor Paul Jones, Educational Psychology Paul Jones, chair of the Educational Psychology department, was recently elected to Fellow status in the National Academy of Neuropsychology, recognized for scientific contributions, excellence in teaching and clinical practice, and professional leadership in clinical neuropsychology. Dr. Jones is a professor in educational psychology who joined the UNLV faculty in 1987. He has published more than 70 articles in refereed professional journals. He authored a text for school counselors on use of the diagnostic and statistical manual, is co-editor of a text for practicing counselors and therapists on enhancing clinical skills that was published in 2003, and co-authored a text on research methods in 2005. His current research interests include the use of the Internet to deliver counseling and assessment services, applications of single-case design/statistical analysis, and computer-assisted neuropsychological testing with particular attention to adaptations for persons with visual disability.
	Professor Monica Lounsbery, Sports Education Leadership Dr. Lounsbery is an Associate Professor and serves as Chair of the Department of Sports Education Leadership. Dr. Lounsbery's area of expertise is in physical education teacher education. Her research is concerned with the health and physical activity of school age children. Recent research efforts have examined physical activity opportunities for Nevada K-12 students during the school day. Other work has focused on the development and examination of school-based health intervention and how physical education may function as effective physical inactivity prevention/intervention. Dr. Lounsbery advocates for increased physical activity opportunities for school-age children and has provided testimony for various sub-committees of the Nevada and Utah state legislatures. She has served as Chair of the Public and Legislative Affairs Committee of the American Alliance for Health Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and Co-Chair of the Nevada Action for Healthy Kids State Team.
	Professor Cecilia Maldonado-Daniels, Educational Leadership Dr. Cecilia Maldonado-Daniels is the Workforce Education and Development program coordinator. She comes to UNLV from Penn State University with a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development with an emphasis in Training and Human Resource Development.
	Professor Victor McGuire, Curriculum & Instruction J. Victor McGuire, PhD, is a 25-year veteran of the education field. As an alumnus of the international Fulbright-Hayes Schol-arship organization, Dr. McGuire uses his global educational experience to inspire and motivate the next generation of teachers. Recently, he founded the National Associa-tion for Beginning Teachers (beginning teachers.org), which offers service and sup-port to preservice and beginning teachers. He has authored and published a variety of practitioner-based educational books and is the editor of Inspire, a magazine for beginning teachers. Currently, Dr. McGuire is on the faculty in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. If you are interested in having a conversation about teaching with Dr. McGuire, please visit www.teachingconversations.com.
	Professor Thomas McKenzie, Sports Education Leadership Dr. Thomas McKenzie is a visiting professor in the Department of Sports Education Leadership. He is Emeritus Professor of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at San Diego State University. He has authored and co-authored over 130 scientific papers and chapters, developed numerous assessments and curricular materials, and presented over 350 papers at state, national and international conferences. Dr. McKenzie has been a major investigator on nine multidisciplinary research projects supported by the National Institutes of Health. He is currently Co-principal investigator on two obesity prevention programs and a study of parks and recreation centers in Los Angeles. Dr. McKenzie's expertise in designing and assessing physical activity programs is recognized world-wide. He has been the recipient of multiple national awards and recognitions for his work. Most recently, Dr. McKenzie was appointed to the Science Board of the President's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports.
	Professor Susan Miller, Special Education Dr. Miller serves as Doctoral Coordinator for the Ed.D. and Ph.D. Programs in Special Education. In this role, she, along with her colleagues, are committed to providing the best possible educational experiences to current and future leaders within the profession. Dr. Miller teaches courses related to instructional methodology and leadership within the Department of Special Education. Her current research interests include mathematics interventions and learning strategy instruction. She serves as a Professional Developer for the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and has held several leadership positions within the Council for Exceptional Children Division for Learning Disabilities. Prior to joining the UNLV faculty, Dr. Miller's professional experiences included vocational counseling, program administration, and teaching school-aged students with and without disabilities at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
	Professor Ralph Reynolds, Educational Psychology Dr. Ralph Reynolds has been selected to be a recipient of Clark County School District's Excellence in Education Hall of Fame award. This award permanently recognizes those individuals, departments, programs, schools, and community agencies that have made extraordinary contributions to education in our community.
	Professor Gregory Schraw, Educational Psychology Gregory Schraw is a professor of educational psychology who joined the UNLV faculty in 2000. He received a Ph.D. in educational psychology and M. S. in applied statistics from the University of Utah. He taught in the learning and measurement programs at the University of Nebraska for 11 years. He serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Educational Psychology, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, and Educational Psychology Review. Dr. Schraw has published extensively in the areas of metacognition, situational interest, and beliefs and cognition. He has authored three books and is the recipient of two distinguished teaching awards from the University of Nebraska.
	Nicole Smith, M.S., Sports Education Leadership Nicole Smith, and instructor in the Department of Sports Education Leadership, was named Vice-Chair of the Statewide Council on the Nevada State Program for Fitness and Wellness. The Council serves as advisement to the legislature and the governor. Nicole was also appointed as a voting member of a legislative sub-committee on the regulation of personal trainers in the state of Nevada.
	Professor Doris Watson, Sports Education Leadership Dr. Doris Watson, an Associate Professor in the Department of Sports Education Leadership, was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Teaching Responsibility Through Physical Activity Alliance. The Alliance is based on widespread consensus that sport and physical activity, unlike other areas, have the advantage of being domains generally valued by youth and at the base of self-esteem formation and peer acceptance. Therefore, a holistic developmental approach in this area has greater educational value than most other areas, especially for youth who live in underserved communities. The Advisory Board includes professionals at universities of different states and youth development practitioners.
	Professor Martha Young, Curriculum & Instruction Dr. Martha Young is a professor of teacher and language education who joined the UNLV faculty in 1986. She is a professor of secondary teacher education and former Associate Dean of the College of Education. Project KNOTtT, lead by Program Director Dr. Martha Young, provides alternative routes to licensure for to prepare 15 "high needs" teachers.

 

Note: If you would like to submit information on faculty/staff to be considered for publication on this page, please email Assistant Dean Dr. Greg Levitt (levitt@unlv.nevada.edu).