Richard Ambrose, Ph.D
Associate Professorrambrose@kent.edu
404 White Hall
Area: TLC , CI
Richard P. Ambrose is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching, Leadership and Curriculum Studies. He received his undergraduate degree in Sociology from Springfield College, his master's in Elementary Education and Ph.D. in Teacher Education/Early Childhood Education from Syracuse University. He is a former National Teacher Corps Intern and has taught in Project Headstart, kindergarten and first grade. Scholarly interests include teacher education, urban education, university-school collaboration, teacher socialization/professional identity and young children's social/moral considerations in classroom teaching practices.
Nancy Barbour, Ph.D
Associate Deannbarbour@kent.edu
409 White Hall
Area: OAA - TLC, CI
I have been a member of the Kent State University community since 1985. My educational preparation began with my B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972, followed by a M.Ed. in Early Childhood from Wichita State University in 1978, and a PhD. in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University in 1985. Prior to coming to Kent State University, I held a number of different service-related and teaching positions: social worker for a welfare department, inner-city preschool teacher, Head Start teacher, child care vocational education teacher, and college instructor. Until 2004, I served as an Early Childhood faculty member. I now serve as Associate Dean for Administrative Affairs and Graduate Education. I have responsibility for managing our continuous improvement activities (i.e., accreditation and accountability) and overseeing graduate programs, policies, and procedures. My scholarly interests and publications have focused on parent-child relationships (particularly adolescent mothers and their children), authentic assessment of young children, and early childhood professional development, particularly in relation to laboratory school programs. I serve the National Association for the Education of Young Children as a reviewer of programs and developer of early childhood teacher standards. I also serve on the Board of Examiners for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
Wendy Bedrosian, Ph.D
Assistant Professorwbedrosi@kent.edu
401 White Hall
Area: TLC
I have been teaching and working on program improvement with the Early Childhood faculty at Kent State for more than ten years. I also serve as the Field Experience Coordinator for the program. Courses taught at Kent include our child development course, guidance of primary-school children, the ECED survey course, and leading the student teaching seminar for teacher candidates in preschool settings. I feel that it is critical for future teachers to understand how the brain develops as it impacts wellness, behavior, and learning. It is my hope that our teachers will move into their careers with the knowledge and skills to apply contemporary brain research in their teaching practice. My research interests include teacher decision making, student teacher development & mentoring, and making teaching/learning visible to the families of young children. I earned my BA in Languages & Literature from Bard College, M.Ed. in Early Childhood Development & Intervention from the University of Pittsburgh, and Ph.D. in Special Education and Early Childhood from Kent State University. Previous professional experiences include: toddler and preschool teaching in family-centered hospital-based, center-based, and home-based service agencies; early intervention program development; staff training/supervision for families of newborns in drug withdrawal in New York City; special education coordination for Maricopa County Health & Human Services' Head Start delegate; developmental consultant/team leader with Child Protective Services.
Carol Bersani, M.S.
Associate Professorcbersani@kent.edu
CDC / 404 White Hall
Area: TLC - CDC
Carol serves as pedagogical coordinator and director of the laboratory school. Her particular interest is in how teacher study groups impact student learning, teacher professional development and organizational change. Recent publications have focused on the function of child development laboratory schools for professional development and ways of engaging parents as partners with teachers in the education of young children. She serves on the editorial board of the journal, Innovations in Early Education. Teaching areas include play, organizational development, and preschool education
Genevieve Davis, Ph.D
Associate Professorgdavis@kent.edu
404 White Hall
Area: TLC , CI
My academic work has always been driven by my interest and enjoyment in mathematics. I received a B.A. in Mathematics and Education from Bethany College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut where I studied Child Development, Mathematics, and Special Education. Before KSU, I taught Mathematics at Annhurst College in Connecticut and middle school in New Jersey, Connecticut and the Netherlands. I began my tenure track position at KSU in 1989 and in 1993-1994 I took a leave to teach sixth grade and consult in mathematics at the International School of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. During that year, I was a contributing writer of the International Schools' Curriculum Project in Mathematics - which was the precursor to the Mathematics Primary Years Programme International Baccalaureate (IB-PYP). I have traveled to China, South Africa, and Russia visiting universities and schools to study international approaches to education and research. I have also collaborated with educators in Istanbul, Turkey and Oxford, England. My research interests are focused on mathematics education and the professional development of pre-service and in-service teachers; and how mathematical concepts are constructed. Currently (2006-2009) I am a Co-PI with Dr. Trish Koontz on a Math Science Partnership (MSP) Ohio Math Academy Program (OMAP) Grant with grades 3-6 teachers. I have also recently completed a book with Dr. J. David Keller, Teaching Science and Mathematics in a Child's World (2009).
Ramona Freeman, Ph.D
Assistant Professorrfreema1@kent.edu
Salem Campus
Area: TLC
Dr. Freeman received her Ph.D. from the University of Akron in Curricular and Instructional Studies. After having taught at the elementary level in Florida and Ohio, she owned and operated an academically focused child care program while serving as editor of a family child care newsletter for the Northeast Ohio Provider's network. She has taught courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, and co-authored a grant from The Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children. She has been appointed to the editorial review committee for ScholarlyPartnershipsEdu, and has presented at numerous state and national conferences. Dr. Freeman has contributed to several journals, including: The Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, The International Journal of Learning, Early Childhood Education Journal, Young Children, and Early Childhood News. Topics of research and interest: -quality in informal educare programs -professional development in family child care -socio-cultural practices in preschool and the primary years -authentic classroom pedagogy -professional development partnerships with early childhood teacher mentors and pre-service teachers.
Jennifer James, Ph.D
Assistant Professor404 White Hall
Area: TLC
Dr. James completed her doctoral work in teacher education at the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2006. Her dissertation, Care in the Lives of Women Teachers, explored the complex relationship between gender identity and constructs of teaching as they inform pedagogical decision making in early childhood classrooms. Dr. James teaches the social studies methods course for the early childhood education program, and has particular interests in the relationship between democratic and historical thinking, and the development of critically-minded, active citizens concerned with social justice. She continues to think about issues of teacher identity development as they are related to individual biography and the socio-cultural, political contexts in which teachers live and work. She is currently involved in a variety of projects through which she is exploring the relationship between how teachers come to understand their roles and responsibilities as social studies educators and how those understandings play out in their daily interactions with young people. Dr. James believes there is a critical relationship between theory and practice that requires listening to and learning from teachers in order to develop scholarship that meaningfully contributes to conversations of teaching and learning.
Janice Kroeger, Ph.D
Associate Professorjkroege1@kent.edu
401 White Hall
Area: TLC , ECED
I began my teaching career as a specialist in early education in a university lab school setting, with both bachelor degrees and a master's degree in child development and family studies. Having taught in community colleges, early childhood lab schools, and public school settings I pursued doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and earned a PHD in Curriculum and Instruction in 2003. My research and teaching interests are focused on issues of power and identity in home, school, and community partnerships, early years teacher development, early childhood policies and practices, and qualitative research methodologies. I have researched in and written scholarly work about social action, agency, culture and cultural and identity change in diverse communities as well as the impact of pre service teacher's work on ECED classrooms. I find the intersections of social justice work, activism, school formation and the formation of schooled subjects (students) fascinating. In 2003, my doctoral dissertation, Chronicles of Diversity, Identity, and Change received an award, Outstanding Dissertation from the special interest group Early Education and Child Development from AERA. My published work has or will appear in such journals as The Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, the Journal of Educational Change and The Urban Review, and I've contributed to or co-authored works in English Education, The American Educational Review Journal, and Early Childhood Research and Practice, and Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood.
Martha Lash, Ph.D
Associate Professormlash@kent.edu
404 White Hall
Area: TLC , CI
I began my career as a psychiatric social worker after earning my bachelor's degree in sociology from West Liberty State College, WV. A geographical move to South Texas provided opportunity for a pivotal career move into the field of education where I have remained, served, and taught in various roles: director/teacher in an early childhood education program, executive director for drop-out prevention and school-community partnership programs, and liaison for school (pre-school through higher education), business, and community initiatives. Upon moving to Indiana, I returned to directing and teaching in early childhood programs, including as the director of the Indiana University Campus Children's Center. I earned my M.Ed. and Ph. D. degrees in Curriculum Studies with an Early Childhood Emphasis from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1996 and 2004 respectively. In 2003 I joined the Kent State University faculty with program affiliations in Early Childhood Education (ECED) and Curriculum and Instruction (C & I). My research interests include early childhood education teachers' beliefs and practices; young children's social development and forming of community, especially during the transition period from preschool to public school; and issues of professionalism and quality in early childhood care and education issues on a national and international basis.
Sandra Pech, M.S.
Instructorspech@kent.edu
412 White Hall
Area: TLC
Following graduation from Heidelberg College in 1983 my educational career began with 10 years of teaching in the Alliance City Schools, Alliance, Ohio. During those ten years, I had the opportunity to teach second graders through fifth graders in various combinations. In 1987 I received my Masters Degree in Elementary Education from Akron University. The arrival of our first child and my husbands work related transfer to North Carolina in 1994 lead to my involvement with infants through 5 year olds in a preschool setting where I was the director of a Mothers Morning Out program. After returning to Ohio in 1999, I taught at the preschool level for two years and later was invited to become a supervisor for Kent State Universitys Early Childhood Education program where I facilitated college students who were completing their student teaching at the pre-k and primary levels. Following six years of supervising, I decided to pursue a Ph.D in Curriculum and Instruction in order to return to the classroom as an educator. I was a graduate assistant for one and a half years and am currently a full time non-tenure-track instructor in the field of early childhood education. I am in the process of writing my dissertation with a completion goal set for the summer of 2009. My research is a case study that focuses on how one teacher supports the social and emotional atmosphere in the classroom. I am interested in the importance of these interactions at the primary level as students transition from the preschool environment to the academic life of the elementary school.
Kristine Pytash
Instructorkpytash@kent.edu
412 White Hall
Area: TLC
I received my B.A. in English Literature and an M.Ed. in Secondary Education from John Carroll University. I taught high school English in Texas before pursuing a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Kent State University. I was a graduate assistant and am currently a full time non-tenure-track instructor. I am in the process of writing my dissertation. My research focuses on the literacy practices of adolescents attending alternative schools. I also have a special interest in dropout prevention and content area literacy.
Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D
Professortrasinsk@kent.edu
401 White Hall
Area: TLC
Timothy Rasinski is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University. He has written over 200 articles and has authored, co-authored or edited over 50 books or curriculum programs on reading education. He is author of the best selling book on reading fluency entitled The Fluent Reader, published by Scholastic, and co-author of the award winning fluency program called Fluency First, published by the Wright Group. His scholarly interests include reading fluency and word study, reading in the elementary and middle grades, and readers who struggle. His research on reading has been cited by the National Reading Panel and has been published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Reading Psychology, and the Journal of Educational Research. Tim is currently writing the fluency chapter for Volume IV of the Handbook of Reading Research. Tim recently served a three year term on the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association and from 1992 to 1999 he was co-editor of The Reading Teacher, the world's most widely read journal of literacy education. He has also served as co-editor of the Journal of Literacy Research. Rasinski is past-president of the College Reading Association and he has won the A. B. Herr and Laureate Awards from the College Reading Association for his scholarly contributions to literacy education. Prior to coming to Kent State Tim taught literacy education at the University of Georgia. He taught for several years as an elementary and middle school classroom and Title I teacher in Nebraska.
Julia Stoll, M.A.
Instructorjastoll@kent.edu
CDC / 404 White Hall
Area: TLC
After receiving my Bachelor of Science degree in Education from BGSU in 1993, I taught preschool and kindergarten and then served as a director for a child care center in the Cleveland area. I obtained my Master of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education from KSU in 2000 and I am currently pursuing a doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction at KSU. I currently teach three courses a semester for the Early Childhood Program in the areas of preschool education, mathematics and science. I also work at the Child Development Center on campus as one of the Co-Coordinators for the Children's Program where I mainly oversee the billing for families and participate in ongoing faculty research initiatives. My research interest is in the area of teacher education and early mathematics and science teaching and learning.
Tsung-Hui Tu, Ph.D
Associate Professorttu@kent.edu
Salem Campus
Area: TLC
I joined the Kent State University faculty at Salem campus in January 2002. I earned a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies and concentration in Child Development from University of Alabama. I received my M.S. and Ph. D. from Iowa State University in Human Development and Family Studies with specialization in Early Childhood Education. I am the Director of Early Childhood Education Technology Program at Salem Campus. The courses that I have taught include introduction to early childhood services, infant/toddler curriculum and services, preschool curriculum, program organization and parent involvement, and student teaching seminar. I also supervise student teachers in various field placements. I strongly value teacher reflection as a critical means of teacher preparation and my research and teaching interests focus on preschool science, preschool teacher-child verbal interactions, teacher preparation, and student teaching.
