By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

RICHLAND, Wash. – Several Washington State University faculty are the recipients of a $1.4 million grant from the to refine and expand an assessment that helps address truancy in K-12 schools.

The program, also known as WARNS, uses evidence-driven procedures to track and improve interventions with students. The program was developed in 2008 to assess students on a scale of six needs that have been linked to truancy, delinquency and/or dropping out of school: aggression-defiance, depression-anxiety, substance abuse, peer deviance, family environment and school engagement. More than 100 schools in Washington state and across the nation are now using the tool.

Paul Strand, 厙ぴ勛圖 professor of psychology, Brian French, Berry Family Distinguished professor and director of WSU���s and , Nick Lovrich, WSU Regents professor emeritus, and Bruce Austin, research associate in educational psychology and the LPRC, have worked since 2014 to evaluate and refine WARNS. With the grant, the group is also adding the following members to their team to help refine the tool: Chad Gotch and Marcus Poppen, both WSU assistant professors in education, and Mary Roduta Roberts, an associate professor of occupational therapy at the University of Alberta.

French said what makes the program so successful is its ability to hone-in on issues that lead to truancy early in a student���s educational path. Schools can develop a plan for how to address those issues and increase the student���s likelihood of being successful. He said what was made especially clear amid the COVID-19 pandemic is the need to get information to counselors regarding student issues at home and other external factors that prevent students��� current and future success.

���This grant will also allow us more space to examine its success,��� French said. ���We will also be looking into specific implications of the WARNS ��� how it is used and the success when it is in use. We want to look at the implications and gather data to know how those conversations are helping and specific instances of how that is happening. Then, we can continue to build from that information.���

Updating the assessment

Strand said the new grant will allow the team to update the instrument in a few ways. He said a variety of new issues have arisen that have impacted school attendance and performance in recent years. Examples, he said, include the prevalence of vaping and social media use.

Additionally, the team aims to improve the middle school version of the instrument to tailor it further for issues that pertain to that specific age demographic.

���The grant allows us to explore the context of student situations and how to refine WARNS to reflect that context,��� Strand said.

Identifying issues early to reduce truancy, drop-out rates

French said more than 10,000 assessments have been given through the program.

���To me, that represents 10,000 productive conversations that have occurred with kids,��� he said. ���We can look at the large numbers to help us do that, but each of those individual conversations are helping make a difference in the lives of thousands of kids each year.���

Strand said schools use the data from the assessment to develop and implement a plan for at-risk students through school community truancy boards to help prevent and/or correct student behavior.

���With the pandemic, we have seen that many counselors are struggling to stay connected and invested in kids,��� he said. ���But what we have seen with WARNS is that it has helped schools stay connected and invested in kids. The pandemic wasn���t something we could have envisioned, but it is a tool that has helped.���

For more information about WARNS, including how to implement it for individual schools or school districts, visit��

 

Media contacts:

• Paul Strand, 厙ぴ勛圖 professor of psychology, pstrand@wsu.edu
• Brian French, WSU Pullman Berry Family Distinguished professor and director of WSU���s Learning and Performance Research Center and Psychometric Laboratory, frenchb@wsu.edu
• Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖 director of marketing and communication, 509-372-7333 (office), 619-403-3617 (cell), maegan_murray@wsu.edu
• Brandon Chapman, WSU College of Education public relations/communications manager, 509-335-6850, b.chapman@wsu.edu

New grants mark 35,000 students served since 2002

By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

RICHLAND, Wash. ��� The Washington State University Tri-Cities GEAR UP program is the recipient of two $20 million grants that will support two cohorts of students in their quest to attend college and other post-secondary options.

The program, which stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, is a federally-funded program that provides academic support for students in middle school through their first year of post-secondary education. Students benefit from college readiness resources, mentorship, advising, professional development, tutoring, and more.

���The 厙ぴ勛圖 GEAR UP program has been very successful receiving new awards and preparing students for post-secondary opportunities,��� said Silvia Clark, 厙ぴ勛圖 GEAR UP One Vision Partnership director. ���I am excited to partner with the same partners we have worked with throughout the last decade and a half. We have enjoyed working with teachers and administrators to make college and post-secondary dreams become a reality for so many students.���

One of the two new grants, the One Vision Partnership grant, totals $20 million and serves 13 middle schools and 13 high schools. The schools are located in the following school districts: Evergreen, Pasco, Kiona Benton, Prosser, Mabton, Finley, Columbia, Clarkston, North Franklin, and Ephrata. The new One Vision Partnership grant marks the first time that the 厙ぴ勛圖 program will serve the Evergreen School District in Vancouver, Washington.

The other grant, known as the Harvest of Hope, totals $23 million and will serve 14 middle schools and 12 high schools. The schools are located in the following school districts: College Place, Dayton, Kennewick, Moses Lake, Othello, Prescott, Soap Lake, Touchet, Walla Walla and Warden.

For students like Maria Yepez Perez, an undocumented student and the first in her family to attend college, the GEAR UP program provided opportunities to further her future that she never could have imagined.

���GEAR UP not only set me up for success for college, but I was able to grow as a leader, thanks to this program,��� she said. ���Within the program, I was able to take on leadership roles, which helped me increase speaking in public and be a resource for my community. The staff at GEAR UP were not only our mentors setting us up to apply for colleges and universities, but were also our support system as many of us came from different backgrounds.���

Michelle Parvinen, director of the Harvest of Hope 厙ぴ勛圖 GEAR UP cohort, said working in the GEAR UP program is incredibly rewarding.

���Upon learning what I do for work, people say, ���Oh, you have a feel good job,������ she said. ���I do. Education is the great equalizer. It is also about opening students��� eyes to opportunities beyond what they see in their community and helping them figure out how they can get there.���

Achieving what was initially perceived as impossible

Yepez Perez came to the United States with her family from Mexico at the age of 9 years old. She said she knew the United States had more opportunities, especially for education, but she had never heard the terms ���bachelor���s degree,��� ���master���s degree��� ���doctorate,��� or ���juris doctorate��� before. She didn���t know that college was an option.

But bound and determined to get the most of her education, she learned English and excelled in school. In middle school, she connected with GEAR UP, which opened many doors, even as an undocumented student.

���When I first heard about college and universities through GEAR UP, I thought that path was not for me due to my immigration status,��� she said. ���As I continued to attend meetings, I realized college was for me and I belonged, regardless of my immigration status. It would not be easy, but it was not impossible.���

Rafael De Leon Vela, who currently oversees the Pasco high school sites for GEAR UP, said for many students that would be the first in their family to attend college, and especially for undocumented students, it can be scary to leave home to live and learn miles away. Yepez Perez was no exception. But he was able to work directly with Yepez Perez and her parents to develop plans that would make college obtainable and help break some of the perceived barriers.

���Maria was a young and rising scholar with aspirations to attend WSU,��� he said. ���Her parents were unsure, but she was capable. I worked them into her plans, sharing resources, introducing them to former students from their neighborhood that attend Chiawana High School, as well as educating them on how to pay for it all ��� This student went on to earn scholarships, College Assistance Migrant Program dollars and was undocumented. Huge.���

Yepez Perez not only went on to be successful in college, she also returned the favor of working with the 厙ぴ勛圖 GEAR UP program to help provide support for students just like her. She served as a tutor for GEAR UP���s summer programming.

Yepez Perez recently graduated with her bachelor���s degree from WSU and is now applying to law schools.

���As advice to high school students, be involved in programs like GEAR UP,��� she said. ���Stay that extra hour after school and join conversations. Even if there is not a seat at the table, bring your own. You will be surprised at the thousands of opportunities that could cross your path. These programs are a privilege to have in high schools. Not every school has a program like GEAR UP.���

Track record of success, even in times of COVID-19

Since its beginnings in 2002, and with the addition of the two new grants, the 厙ぴ勛圖 GEAR UP program will have served more than 35,000 students.

Services provided through the program range from direct college advising and mentorship, to tutoring and support for academic courses, to extracurricular programming like summer camps, to help with the financial aid application process and other vital supports for college. The program also offers resources and support for parents of students who aim to attend college.

Amid COVID-19, the program has had to switch many of their methods online, providing access to college readiness supports and strategies through Zoom and other virtual platforms.

���Our site managers are amazingly innovative,��� Parvinen said. ���They have come up with some great strategies to provide virtual resources and support. They have set up their own Google classrooms and participate virtually in classrooms to provide additional support for the teachers and students.���

Connections with the schools make it possible

Of the 20 school districts that GEAR UP currently serves, dozens of school site managers work directly with the local schools and teachers to provide college ready resources, financial aid support, and others that help make college not only possible, but also so that students become champions of their own success.

���Being able to be a part of students��� growth and making those connections beyond the classroom and surface level to establish a relationship where students become successful is the most rewarding,��� said Ryan Engel, a GEAR UP site manager at Kamiakin High School.

Engel remembers working with a student who wanted to attend Columbia Basin College. The student was on-track to qualify for a College Bound Scholarship and attend CBC, but then realized he was missing a credit of geometry that he needed in order to graduate. Engel quickly got him connected with a GEAR UP geometry tutor, who was able to help him successfully complete his packet for geometry on-time for him to walk.

���So many people impact our work on a daily basis with students, from the main office at 厙ぴ勛圖, to tutors who are generally college students, to our teachers and our administrators,��� Engel said. ���All of these people work on all levels to allow GEAR UP within their school districts to really create something that is unique and special for all students and families to really take advantage.���

Jennifer Reyes, a GEAR UP site manager of Warden High School in Warden, Washington, said working with GEAR UP has led to many meaningful relationships with students and staff at her school and always leads to something new and exciting. She said she is elated about the future of the 厙ぴ勛圖 GEAR UP program.

���I am truly lucky to be able to work and connect with so many students with different backgrounds,��� she said. ���I am excited for all that is to come.���

For more information about GEAR UP and college pathway opportunities through 厙ぴ勛圖, visit tricities.wsu.edu/outreach.

By C. Brandon Chapman, College of Education

As the novel coronavirus has required a heavy reliance on technology and access to online learning, educators at Washington State University Tri-Cities are encouraging K-12 students and their families to head the other direction, with a new series of low-tech teaching tips.

Each tip is printed on a flyer that also bears the message: ���The little moments that make a big impact.��� The flyers are designed as a quick resource for families in their role as educators to their homebound children.

Even the delivery mechanism is low-tech: school lunches. The flyers are given to local schools that then have the option of handing them out with the school lunch program.

These teaching tips include things like how to ask better questions of your child to elicit more meaningful conversation.

���The big idea of ���ask, don���t tell��� reminds me, every day, to ask questions about my son���s thinking,��� said John Mancinelli, executive director of Educational Outreach and Partnerships at 厙ぴ勛圖. ���During our talks, it was clear that my son was less eager to hear what I thought as much as he wanted to share his thoughts.���

One flyer, meant for grades K-3, is called ���wonderings��� and encourages kids and families to just take a walk around the neighborhood or local park, having the child choose 4-5 small items from the natural world, such as rocks, plants, flowers, etc. After the walk, the child can look at each item carefully and come up with things that they ���wonder about��� with each. They then try to come up with answers.

���Through this activity, the child and family are modeling true science: asking questions and finding answers,��� said Judy Morrison, associate professor of science education.

Another flyer for grades 3-5, focuses on the moon and its path, having kids draw the moon and other objects, such as a roof or light post. The child does this every night at the same time, and after 3-4 nights of the activity, they use the following night to draw where they predict the moon will be, based on past observations. Then they see how closely they were able to predict. Once again, science modeling.

���There���s a lot more to education right now than simply logging in, seeing what online assignments are required, then doing them,��� Morrison said.

It���s also a matter of equity, since currently, there is often an assumption that all students have access to the internet and the technology used to watch video lessons. 厙ぴ勛圖 faculty said they hope to remind people that learning isn���t limited to technology.

As an example, Morrison said that many of the helpful tips and tricks for learning are based on materials and activities commonly found at home.�� It can also be as simple as parents finding a quiet place in the house to study or do homework.

���We know that not every child has that option; not every learning environment is the same��� she said. ���But we need to recognize that we often unintentionally assume that all children have those same benefits.���

Even when households have all the benefits of technology, Mancinelli said it���s not always realistic to expect that things will work smoothly. There can easily be technical and logistical issues.

���Some families have four or more people online at one time, making access to technology and the internet difficult,��� he said. ���Then, when you consider families that don���t have the technology or the internet, the problem is compounded. These teaching tips are meant to address the problems of the new learning environment.���

At this point, Mancinelli said there���s no way of knowing how many flyers have been distributed. It���s just too early to know. But he said that all contacts thus far have been supportive, which isn���t surprising based on current relationships.

���Our faculty are always highly engaged with the regional school districts, teachers, and the general public,��� he said. ���Many serve on district and parent committees and offer their professional services regularly.���

Each teaching tip flyer has photos and names of all faculty members in 厙ぴ勛圖��� College of Education. And for good cause.

���Our pictures remind folks that we are here and a resource,��� Mancinelli said, ���and since we have our names on Teaching Tips, they can connect names and faces.���

In addition to school lunches, all the tips��.

By Maegan Murray, WSU��Tri���Cities

RICHLAND, Wash. ��� In light of the ���Stay Home, Stay Healthy��� order by Gov. Jay Inslee, as well as K-12 schools not returning to in-person learning throughout the state, Washington State University Tri-Cities launched a new website dedicated to educational children���s activities and a new reading program where kids virtually read along with 厙ぴ勛圖 faculty and can earn WSU prizes.

啦堯梗泭website��features a variety of do-it-at-home activities ranging from those that pertain to WSU and Coug spirit, such as creating your own Butch T. Cougar mask, to science experiments and other fun activities using supplies that most families likely already have and use in their home.

Additionally, through the new ���Super Coug Readers��� program in partnership with The Children���s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia, children can watch videos of 厙ぴ勛圖 faculty reading their favorite books. Children can also earn prizes for completing a Super Coug Readers reading calendar and/or completing a ���Super Coug Readers Bingo��� challenge.

The project is being led by the 厙ぴ勛圖 community engagement team in partnership with the 厙ぴ勛圖 College of Education and The Children���s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia.

���As a public university, we saw an opportunity to provide children and their families with fun and educational activities that are safe and readily available to complete in their own homes, especially during this unusual time,��� said Jaime Heppler, 厙ぴ勛圖 executive director of advancement and community engagement. ���Many parents, such as myself, are looking for engaging activities for their kids. This new website and reading program provide activities that foster learning and curiosity. We are excited to offer this as a resource for our regional families.���

Benefits of reading aloud with your kids

Elizabeth Barnes, executive director of The Children���s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia, said children who read for at least 20 minutes per day score in the 90^th��percentile in standardized tests, are successful in school, are more likely to graduate from college and become successful in life.

���The skills and knowledge you gain from reading or being read to from birth are astronomical,��� she said. ���This is a very natural partnership for The Children���s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia and 厙ぴ勛圖, as both organizations are trying to better the community through education.���

Barnes said children reading along with 厙ぴ勛圖 faculty presents a great way for children to be exposed to different educational opportunities and careers that are available in the regional Tri-Cities community.

���What kind of impact could an engineering professor have on a young girl and her parents if they were to hear ���Rosie Revere, Engineer,��� for the first time?��� she said. ���What kind of connections to the real world could this have on a family that may never have contemplated a life for their daughter in the sciences?���

Reading with industry experts ��� 厙ぴ勛圖 faculty

Sara Sorensen Petersen, a 厙ぴ勛圖 clinical assistant professor of education and board member with the Children���s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia, said she and her fellow faculty members are excited to provide educational opportunities for regional students to learn from faculty members in a range of fields and from a range of backgrounds and cultures.

���Speaking as a mom and an educator, it is great for kids to see others than mom and dad reading, as well as see professionals in their communities and learn a bit more about what they do,��� she said. ���We have female science professors, for example, that could inspire young girls to think about a career in the sciences. It���s just a great tie-in and presents a great opportunity for our local families.���

A free resource for families

The new Cougar Family Fun website��is available for free and accessible to the public.

Additionally, The Children���s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia is supplying 厙ぴ勛圖 with an assortment of children���s books that will be given out at the 厙ぴ勛圖 Cougar Cupboard sponsored by Lamb Weston food pantry, in addition to food pick-up locations in Pasco and Kennewick for 厙ぴ勛圖 students and their families.����on pick-up locations and how to donate can be found online.

 

Media Contacts:

Jaime Heppler, 厙ぴ勛圖 executive director of advancement and community engagement, 509-372-7207, jaime.heppler@wsu.edu

Sara Sorensen Petersen, 厙ぴ勛圖 clinical assistant professor of education, 509-372-7395, sarapetersen@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖 public relations/communication coordinator, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

RICHLAND, Wash. ��� Educators are invited to attend a workshop on how to develop and foster positive learning environments for diverse students on April 5 at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

During the workshop, titled ���Disrupting Deficit Narratives Through Equity-Minded Practice,��� participants will have an opportunity to:

• Reflect on how the educator mindset affects perceptions and shapes institutional culture
• Assess campus climate and understand conditions needed to foster a positive learning environment for diverse students
• Practice AVID culturally-responsible strategies, which can be used in the curriculum and co-curriculum to support all students

The workshop is put on by AVID for Higher Education, which provides professional learning opportunities and wrap-around support intended to positively affect students��� persistence and completion in college.

The workshop costs $150 and includes lunch and the book ���AVID for Higher Education Engagement Practices for Teaching and Learning.��� Individuals can register to attend by visiting .

Workshop presenters

Robin Withers, an AVID program specialist for teaching and learning, has more than 35 years of experience in education spanning from elementary to higher education, and from student success and multicultural services to school administration. Withers earned a bachelor���s of science in secondary education from Chadron State College in Nebraska, as well as a master���s in special education with an emphasis in severe affective, and an education specialist degree with acknowledgements in educational leadership and policy studies, both at the University of Denver.

Yvonne Ortiz, an AVID program manager, has more than 23 years of higher education experience in both the public and private college and university settings featuring a range of demographics. She has worked with universities and colleges of varying sizes at predominantly white, historically African American, urban, secular and religiously-affiliated institutions. She received her bachelor���s in urban studies from New York University and a master of education degree in educational administration from Rutgers University. Prior to joining AVID, Ortiz served as the dean of student affairs at Houston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, and as assistant dean for campus life at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

By Maegan Murray

RICHLAND, Wash. ��� Jonah Firestone, an education professor at Washington State University Tri-Cities, knows that technology is the future of education, which is why he is researching the use of virtual and augmented reality as tools for not only the general classroom, but specifically with special education in the kindergarten through 12th-grade setting.

���With regular video games, you���re looking at a flat screen,��� he said. ���But with virtual reality, you wear a head set and you can look all around. It���s a 360-degree view up and down and you can see this complete world around you. As kids get more used to using this type of technology and as the price goes down, schools are going to start adopting these because you can now send an entire classroom on a field trip to The Louvre without leaving the classroom.���

Firestone said for subjects like science and history, teachers rely on textbook and stationary images to give students a picture of what they���re talking about as it is expensive to take students to laboratories and settings that are referenced in those lessons. With virtual and augmented reality, however, teachers can bring those settings and projects to the students in the virtual sphere.

���We can use this technology to put children and adults into complete virtual worlds where they can be a cell in the human body, or students can do experiments in physics and chemistry that they couldn���t normally safely do in the classroom setting,��� he said. ���You can then repeat those over and over again.���

Overcoming learning disabilities

Firestone said virtual and augmented reality have different purposes, but both can be applied as additional tools in the classroom, which could help students who struggle with traditional learning methods.

���We used to talk about this thing called learning theories where certain people were characterized as different types of learners, but that���s not really true,��� he said. ���We all learn in a variety of different ways. But with the more modes in which we learn, whether it be oral, visual or tactile, the more we���re readily going to learn.���

Some students may have problems processing information that is given to them orally, or students may have visual disabilities where they have difficulty processing static information like documents with lots of text, he said. Students also may have issues holding their attention for an extended period of time.

���So what virtual and augmented reality do is reinforce learning in ways that helps from a variety of different vectors,��� he said. ���And realistically, strategies used in special education are good practices for any education setting. We can translate what we learn about these tools into the general classroom setting, as well.���

With virtual reality, students wear a head set where it provides them with a complete 360-degree view of a setting or project that the students can interact with. With augmented reality, students use a device like a tablet or a headset where the device projects an image into the real-world setting. Firestone said a good example of augmented reality is Pokemon Go, where the image of a Pokemon is projected through a screen into the real world.

���We���ve all taken classes where we���ve aced the class, but we have no idea what we���ve learned,��� he said. ���What we want to accomplish with virtual and augmented reality is a more organic method of learning. This organic method of learning is accomplished through learning by doing.���

Research results so far

Firestone worked with Don McMahon on the WSU Pullman campus to run a study with special education students at the college level who studied bones and skeletons using augmented reality with the help of iPad Minis. They compared what the students learned and absorbed with augmented reality to what they learned and observed from textbooks and the team got great results.

Firestone is now taking that research a step further by applying the same tools to kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms.

���College kids are great, but I am very much interested in how these technologies can be applied to the k-12 setting,��� he said. ���What we���re currently doing is taking this same process and we���re modifying it for fifth-graders. Then, we���re going to modify it for middle school and high school.���

Firestone said he is using augmented reality to supplement different school lessons, including science where students observe and learn about the human body.

���Imagine looking at a picture of a femur, but with augmented reality, not only do you see a picture of a femur, but it has a voice that defines it for you and then shows you where it is on the human body,��� he said.

Firestone is also looking into using virtual reality to immerse the kindergarten through 12th-grade students in an underwater experience called ���The Blue.���

���It���s an underwater application where you see whales and you���re in a reef,��� he said. ���I���m then comparing that to the same information that the students glean from a text.���

Firestone said he���s had great results with the technology so far and that blending the virtual experiences with what students are presented with in a textbook is a winning combination.

���There is no one magic solution for learning, but the more things we can put together, the more kids are going to end up learning,��� he said.