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SUSAN JANE BRITSCH

CURRICULUM VITAEJANUARY 2006

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Personal Data

Susan Jane Britsch1414 AdamsLafayette, IN 47905(765) 742-0833

My specialty area of expertise is children’s early literacy development as multimodal communication. I work within a theoretical perspective that is both developmental and socio-semiotic, examining how children learn, how children learn about literacy, and the nature of the classroom as a learning environment. I also view my own teaching as a developmental process which is continually undergoing modification in order to better meet the needs of students. This approach is supported by the documentation below.

2. Academic Record

a. Institutions Attended

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (1992)University of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, CA 94720

Master of Arts, Linguistics (With Distinction) (1980)California State University, FresnoFresno, CA 93740

Bachelor of Arts, French (Summa Cum Laude) (1977)California State University, FresnoFresno, CA 93740

b. Academic Appointments

Associate Professor of Literacy and LanguageDepartment of Curriculum and InstructionPurdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1442(8/97 - present)

Susan Jane Britsch 2

Assistant Professor of Literacy and LanguageDepartment of Curriculum and InstructionPurdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1442(8/92 - 8/97)

Visiting Assistant ProfessorGraduate School of EducationDivision of Language, Literacy and CultureUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, CA 94720(Summer 1996)

Nursery School TeacherThe Gay Austin SchoolBerkeley, CA 94707(9/87 - 6/92)

Interim DirectorSkytown PreschoolKensington, CA(8/90)

Research AssistantComparative Dictionary of the Yuman LanguagesDepartment of LinguisticsUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, CA(9/84 - 6/85)

Teaching AssistantDepartment of FrenchUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, CA(1/81-6/81)

Assistant DirectorAmerican English InstituteCalifornia State University, FresnoFresno, CA(9/79 - 5/80)

Instructor of English as a Second LanguageAmerican English InstituteCalifornia State UniversityFresno, Fresno, CA(9/77 - 5/80)


c. Industrial, Business, and Government Positions

Curriculum Designer, Tachi as a Second Language Program, Santa Rosa Rancheria Head Start, near Lemoore, CA(9/87 - 6/88)

3. Licenses, Registrations, and Certifications

Licensed preschool teacherTitle 22, Bay Area DistrictAlameda County, CA

4. Awards and Honors

a. Certificat d’Honneur-Mention Tres Bien (Magna cum laude), Universite de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France, 1976.

b. Certificate awarded for participation in Project Head Start, Tachi as a Second Language Program, 1987-1988.

c. Purdue University, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Outstanding Teacher Award (Impact on Learners), 1995-1996.

5. Memberships in Academic, Professional, and Scholarly Societies

a. Alpha Upsilon Alpha: Honor Society of the International Reading Association.

b. The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

c. American Educational Research Association (AERA).

d. Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. (HASTI).

e. National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

f. National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research (NCTEAR).

g. Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (INTESOL).

h. Teachers and Writers Collaborative.

i. American Association of University Professors (AAUP).


j. International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA).


B. EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

In Spring 2005, I taught EDCI 362 (Literacy in the Elementary School I). This is a 6-credit course that I co-taught with Professor Font. To the extent possible, I incorporated my background in genre to class activity as well as my knowledge of second language acquisition, although this is not the primary focus of the course.

In Fall 2005 while pursing faculty study in a second discipline, I also taught EDCI 591A (L&L Instruction for Second Language Learners PreK-12). I continually redesign the EDCI 591A course packet and course experiences to continue with current approaches in the field.

Note: I had one course release for Spring 2005 because of Children’s Literacy and Science Project (CLASP) funding and one course release for Fall 2005 because of my funding for the Faculty Program of Study in a Second Discipline.

1. Courses Taught

a. EDCI 310 Literacy and the Young Child (Fall 1992, 1993, 1994; Fall 1996 – Spring 1998; Summer 1998; Fall 1998, 2000, 2001; Spring 2002; Fall 2003; Spring 2004).

b. EDCI 362 Literacy in the Elementary School I (Spring 2005).

c. EDCI 402 Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods (Fall 1992 – Fall 2000; Spring 2001; Fall 2001).

d. EDCI 466 Integrated Curriculum in the Elementary School (Fall 2002; Spring 2003).

e. EDCI 490 Individual Research and Teaching Experience (Fall 1992).

f. EDCI 500 Foundations of Literacy (Spring 1993, 1996).

g. EDCI 524 Bilingual/Bicultural Education (Fall 2004).

h. EDCI 590 Whole Language Critique (Spring 1994 with Elizabeth Alesse).

i. EDCI 590 Telecommunications and Children’s Writing (Spring 1996; Fall 1996).

j. EDCI 590 Electronic Mail Education (Fall 1997).


k. EDCI 590 Children’s Written Language Development (Fall 1998 with James McDonald).

l. EDCI 591A [now EDCI 519] Literacy and Language Instruction for Second Language Learners PreK-12 (Summer 2001; Spring 2002; Fall 2003, 2005).


m.EDCI 602 Language Arts in the Elementary School (Summer 1994, 1995).

n. EDCI 603 Reading in the Elementary School [Transition to Teaching (TTT) Program] (Fall 2004).

o. EDCI 612 Seminar in Literacy: Children’s Nonfiction Writing (Fall 1995, 1999).

p. EDCI 614 Emerging and Developing Literacy (Spring 1994, 1995, 2001, 2004).

q. CLASP Summer Institute (Summer 2002; Summer 2003).

r. CLASP Workshops (Fall 2002 – Spring 2003).

s. ED-LL 240A Language Study for Educators (Summer 1996; University of California Berkeley).

t. ED-LL 246A Teaching Linguistic and Cultural Minority Students (Summer 1996; University of California, Berkeley).

2. Courses With Administrative or Supervisory Responsibility

a. EDCI 310 Literacy and the Young Child (course coordinator); Fall 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996; Spring 1998; Fall 2000, 2001, 2002; Spring 2004.

b. EDCI 402 Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods (course coordinator); Fall 1992 – Fall 1998; Fall 2000.

c. EDCI 466 Integrated Curriculum in the Elementary School (course coordinator); Fall 2002.

d. CLASP Summer Institute and Teacher Workshops (co-course coordinator) Summer 2002; Fall 2002.

3. Contributions to Course and Curriculum Development

a. EDCI 310, EDCI 402: Use of videotape compiled during the course of my longitudinal research in the Tachi Yokuts community in Central California as an illustration of language socialization practices in diverse community settings, and as an introduction to different learning styles as they affect children entering school (1992-1993).


b. EDCI 310, 402, 500: Development of course objectives for undergraduate courses in emergent literacy, kindergarten issues and methods, and for graduate course in foundations of literacy teaching and learning (1992-1993).

c. EDCI 310, EDCI 500: Incorporation of literacy artifacts and transcripts of literacy events collected during my classroom research in children’s storytelling and emergent literacy (1992-1993).

d. EDCI 402: Incorporation of children’s literacy and artistic products into discussions of content areas of the kindergarten curriculum, as well as the relationship of the children’s activity in creating these products to my own practice as a teacher of young children (1992-1993).

e. EDCI 310: Consulted with Barbara Shutz-Gruber, professional storyteller, to develop materials and participation strategies to help teachers incorporate both children’s and teachers’ storytelling into the early childhood and elementary school curriculum (1992-1993).

f. Presentation to graduate students in EDCI 585, reporting original research on learning styles in Native American communities and the link with multicultural education for educational practitioners (Fall 1993).

g. EDCI 310, EDCI 402, EDCI 602, EDCI 614: Samples of data from my ongoing research on the role of literacy in the development of science understandings in a kindergarten classroom are used to demonstrate the development of literacy in young children over time, as well as the variation that can be seen within a single group of children (1993-1994, 1994-1995, 1996-1998).

h. Redesigned EDCI 612 (Children’s Nonfiction Writing) to guide graduate students through the functions and forms of nonfiction genres for the purpose of teaching these genres to elementary school students. I developed a course of readings to guide students from function as a concept and practice to formal concepts. I extended and helped students to make concrete these concepts through a set of participation tasks and assignments that extended and linked with course readings. These allowed the students to engage in the use of course concepts by analyzing children’s writing samples and using this information to develop nonfiction literacy curricula that they implemented in classrooms (1999). (Course rationale and materials are on file in “Contributions to Course and Curriculum Development” file.)

i. EDCI 591A: Piloted a new course entitled “Literacy and Language Instruction for English Language Learners.” The course focuses


specifically on literacy and language instruction for young children who are at the beginning or intermediate stages of English language acquisition. Designed for practicing professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, the course focuses on the research, current issues, and techniques needed to aid students in Grades K-3 (2001).

j. I co-developed a graduate level course in science and literacy for the Children’s Literacy and Science Project (CLASP Summer Institute) to enhance in-service teachers’ ability to integrate literacy into the elementary science curriculum. I helped to conceptualize four types of science journals and familiarize teachers with ways of linking these to classroom activity through my own demonstration teaching. I also instructed participants in the literacy analysis of children’s self-produced science journals, the concept of scientific literacy, and the way in which this relates to genres of writing that are particular to science as a discipline (Summer 2002).

k. Co-developed CLASP workshops for practicing teachers focusing on visual literacy in science, methods of conducting case studies to follow and assess children’s science and literacy learning, and preparation of science-literacy curriculum units based on the CLASP framework for conceptually based learning (Fall 2002).

l. EDCI 591A: Prepared course proposal for EDCI 591A (“Literacy and Language Instruction for English Language Learners”). The course was approved as a permanent addition to the L&L program. The course addresses current needs in Indiana public schools for effective ENL instruction (2003).

m.EDCI 310: Redesigned course curriculum to include a multimodal approach, showing how this broadens an emergent literacy approach. This keeps students current with new research that refocuses literacy as expression beyond the word as a representational resource. This redesign involved developing several new in-class experiences to reflect more current pedagogical perspectives (2003, 2004).

n. EDCI 524: In Fall 2004, I co-taught this course with Professor Font. Although on the books, the course had not been taught for many years. The course focuses on bilingual education (using two languages for instruction) as opposed to mainstream English Language Learning (employing only one language for instruction). I specifically designed the course material that focused on theories and issues of language learning as linked to the methods of instruction used in this approach (2004).

o. EDCI 603: In Fall 2004, I taught the first offering of this course for the Transition to Teaching Program. The course primarily enrolled


non-teachers with little background in literacy. I designed both lectures and participatory experiences for the students to directly apply theory and research to the observation of children in longitudinal case study situations that involved observation followed by instructional planning based on that observation (2004)

p. In 2004, I began work in collaboration with Professors Elster and Berns to develop a graduate program in English as a New Language in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. In 2005, I continued with my work to design a program that would grant students ENL teaching licensure; however, further development will require the involvement of another L&L faculty member with expertise in ENL. To that end, I co-chaired the Literacy & Language Education Search Committee with Professor Hopkins (2004-2005).

q. I worked on the development of an undergraduate course in English as a New Language in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in cooperation with Professor Hopkins. EDCI 370, Teaching English as a New Language, will be implemented in Fall 2006. This course will focus on the information necessary for pre-service teachers to design materials and instructional strategies for English language learners PreK – Grade 12 in the content areas (2005).


4. Preparation of Instructional Materials

a. Prepared sets of course readings for EDCI 310, EDCI 402, EDCI 500, EDCI 612, EDCI 614 (Fall 1992 through Fall 1996).

b. Developed study guides and in-class participation sheets for use in EDCI 402; EDCI 310, EDCI 612, EDCI 614, EDCI 602 (Fall 1992, Spring 1993, Fall 1993, Spring 1994, Fall 1994, Spring 1995, Fall 1995).

c. Developed series of participation sheets for exploration of readings and relevant theoretical issues for EDCI 500 (Spring 1993).

d. EDCI 310: Developed child observation assignment in order to guide students through the observation, documentation, and analysis of a child-centered literacy event (Fall 1992).

e. EDCI 402: Developed curriculum file project in order to provide students with an assignment which would familiarize them with available curriculum resources for kindergarten planning. The curriculum file, a collection of activities based on a content theme, served as input for a curriculum unit project, in which students select and assemble appropriate activities into an integrated, content-based unit for the kindergarten (Fall 1992).

f. EDCI 490: Developed curriculum project centering on learning disabled children (for independent study in lieu of EDCI 402; Fall 1992).

g. EDCI 500: Developed book response assignment in order to address the needs of students from diverse teaching backgrounds, students selected one of three books which addressed literacy teaching issues and practices at different levels: kindergarten, elementary school, and high school. Students’ written response elucidated the assumptions about language that undergird the book and the insights which helped students in their own educational situations (Spring 1993).

h. EDCI 402: As part of my research in classrooms in Kokomo Center Schools Head Start Center, I developed set of transparencies which allows students to evaluate and devise effective teacher response in classroom interactions. Such responses are linked to learning goals for young children.

i. EDCI 310: Developed weekly study questions to guide students’ reading of course material and to highlight focal points. These were used in conjunction with weekly papers written in class by small groups of students as they synthesized the readings independently (Fall 1993).


j. EDCI 614: Tailored set of readings to needs of practitioners and research-oriented graduate students in the course. Developed sets of course materials including samples of children’s early literacy products and questions guiding analysis linked with course readings (Spring 1994; Spring 1995).

k. EDCI 614: Developed set of “observation notebook” assignments as a way of guiding students through child observations and parent/teacher interviews; the aim is to help students to make concrete their understandings about emergent literacy and to practice data collection techniques (Spring 1994).

l. EDCI 402: Designed a set of projects for students to prepare and present classroom activities appropriate for kindergartners, accompanied by a full lesson plan which is ready to use. Students’ assessments of these Workjobs projects indicate that these pre-service teachers “get a better grasp” of what to expect in kindergarten, and gain ideas for classroom activity, which are used in class as a springboard for discussion of appropriate cognitive, socio-emotional, physical, and expressive objectives for kindergarten (Spring 1994; Fall 1995).

m.EDCI 402: Developed 2-page handout to acquaint students with the notion of family-as-culture through exploration and questioning of a case study child (Spring 1994).

n. EDCI 602: Developed assignment for the construction of conceptually based language arts curriculum units, inviting a reexamination of the starting point for children’s language arts experiences and working with the definition of the “Whole Language” approach (Summer 1994).

o. EDCI 602: Developed a handout delineating criteria for examining classroom practice, aimed at focusing students on questions to be answered as teachers organizing language arts programs (Summer 1994).

p. EDCI 602: Developed a handout for discussion delineating scientific, literate, and artistic criteria for the assessment of child-produced science journals (Summer 1994).

q. EDCI 590: Developed graduate research project centering on a critique of the Whole Language approach to teaching (for independent study, Spring 1994)

r. EDCI 612: Developed series of assignments to focus and guide graduate students’ qualitative analysis of written data obtained


through e-mail correspondence with third grade children (Fall 1995).

s. EDCI 402: Developed sets of “What Will You Do?” participation sheets for pre-service teachers to examine real situations and possibilities for teacher response in kindergarten experiences, drawn from their own practice teaching in classrooms (Fall 1995).

t. EDCI 402: Developed two sets of guidelines for students’ observation and small-group teaching in kindergarten classrooms at Murdock School. These materials provide guidelines for students to observe children’s responses to activities, assess the effectiveness of the lesson plans they have developed (1994-1995). (See item “l” above.)

u. EDCI 402: Developed sets of guidelines along with assignment sheet for students to implement and evaluate kindergarten-level computer software purchased for EDCI, assessing the benefits and shortcomings of the software as well as its contribution to children’s learning and to the construction of curriculum units (Fall 1995).

v. EDCI 500: Developed sets of guidelines for analysis of student writing using e-mail, correlated with samples of third-graders’ e-mail samples (collected via my research on telecommunications and children’s writing) for use in seminar analysis of children’s writing in this genre (1996).

w. EDCI 310: Developed class handouts and in-class activities to help students investigate the structure and teaching of nonfiction writing as part of a literacy program for young children (1997-1998).

x. EDCI 310: Developed child observation assignments to help students assess one child’s literacy learning and develop a subsequent literacy learning experience for the child based on that assessment. These were integrated with two lesson plan assignments based on adapting literacy activities from Bear’s Words Their Way for appropriate use with the student’s observed child (1998).

y. EDCI 310: Designed tasks in which students document the writing and reading activities and strategies used over the course of four months by the two focal children in Solsken (1993; see Fall 1998 course packet). Students use an assessment rubric to derive a “score” for both children using a single set of criteria derived from the Solsken article and from the background of “tools” they have accumulated through readings and in-class activities over the course of the semester (1998).


z. EDCI 310: To explore the structure of nonfiction genres, my students use a set of research data I collected for my work with child-produced science journals. Using the criteria presented by Green (1992) and by Moss, Leone & Dipillo (1997; see Fall 1998 course packet), they examine the materials to decide whether the produced writing corresponds to an appropriate structure for the children’s science task. To help my students acquire this knowledge, I provide additional self-developed information sheets about the structure and characteristics of both fiction and nonfiction. I use lecture, discussion, analysis of my research data to prepare students design and assess the literacy tasks they complete with their own focal children (1998).

aa. EDCI 310: Constructed materials for two tasks focusing on (a) oral language use by a child (from my research data) and (b) a child’s drawing, two forms that students often discount when observing, designing, and assessing children’s literacy (1998).

bb. EDCI 310: Redesigned course reading packet to include items on nonfiction literacy and second language learning and omit issues no longer current in the field. (In publications file; Fall 2003).

cc. EDCI 310: Expanded the nonfiction literacy component I had designed for EDCI 310 in Fall 1998 by acquainting students with the text structures and lexical features of nonfiction genres as identified by a number of teachers and researchers (e.g., Derewianka, Green, Harvey, Martin) as well as standard work on patterns of exposition in writing. My materials then included samples of children’s writing and a chart on which students identified genre characteristics that might be developing in the samples, specified which characteristics these were, and identified ways of helping the child to add to the literacy product, keeping genre characteristics in mind (Fall 2000).

dd. EDCI 310: Expanded nonfiction literacy component to include construction of a unit that integrated content areas. We began with nonfiction books for young children that each student had selected. We evaluated these according to the genre characteristics discussed in item “bb” above and formulated focus questions and contributing questions for an inquiry unit. On a chart I distributed, students identified the language focus (genre) for each activity and the discussion points for teaching this genre based on course readings (Fall 2000).

ee. EDCI 402: Developed a set of participation sheets to help students diagnose various situations involving play in a kindergarten room and devise appropriate strategies to enhance the children’s learning through this play. These handouts were based on


Vygotsky’s theories about play as well as Winnicott’s views about the nature of play. Although these were presented in lecture, the students applied these ideas to descriptions of play situations that would occur in a kindergarten (Spring 2000).

ff. EDCI 402: Developed a checklist for developmental and child-centered science theme planning. This draws on my research in science writing and provides a science component that is not emphasized in current science methods courses. Students studied two examples of science units for kindergartners from two different sources and carried out the activities for one of these themselves in an experiential classroom activity. They then compared the units using criteria specified on the checklist. This highlighted the types of learning that occur and do not occur in science activities that are often taken as standard for young children (Spring 2000).

gg. EDCI 591A: Developed set of three ESL materials/policy evaluation assignments for which students used course readings to critique commonly available classroom materials as well as current policy regarding English language learners in the schools (2001).

hh. EDCI 591A: Developed two in-class participation activities to help students assess ESL teaching techniques in two different ways. Students first discussed different language tasks based on course readings and class discussion addressing the effects of context embeddedness and cognitive requirements on language acquisition. To follow up, students used course readings and lecture to critique the effectiveness of materials recommended in teacher resources and by researchers in ESL and bilingual education. They applied course content to evaluate teaching practices that (a) would be highly context-reduced for children from different cultural groups and that (b) follow effective practices for teaching NES, LEP, and FEP students (2001).

ii. EDCI 591A: Developed in-class participation activity to help students compile a longitudinal assessment of the written language development of a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) child using an individual assessment profile. The assessment was used to critique current research suggesting that English language learners may develop print skills in many of the same ways that first language learners do (2001).

jj. EDCI 591A: Designed course packet to acquaint students with current and classic research, theory, and practice regarding ESL practice. (In publications file, Fall 2003).

kk. EDCI 466: Developed two TIP assignments that engaged Block V students in interaction with children based on book talks. This


interaction enabled students to access children’s thinking and understanding and to broaden the children’s questioning strategies (Fall 2002).

ll. EDCI 591A: Developed in-class exercises to help students construct language objectives for science activities designed for English Language Learners at the Limited English Proficiency level. This is in keeping with the current focus in the field on the need for teacher knowledge of English syntax (Fall 2005).

5. Experimentation in Teaching Methods and Techniques

a. EDCI 500: Constructed, in collaboration with the students, a set of course objectives in order to better address the needs of diverse groups of students who are preparing for different roles as educational participants. Course readings were prepared on this basis, in accordance with the course description of providing a theoretical introduction to literacy teaching and learning. In-class participation exercises, as well as individual course projects, allow students to construct an understanding of theoretical points, based on their experience and knowledge, which students then fit into current theoretical perspectives (Spring 1993).

b. EDCI 402: Constructed, in collaboration with the pre-service teachers in the course, a set of course objectives which would address the needs, concerns, and gaps which they wished to fill in their own preparation for the role of kindergarten teacher. Assignment of course readings, content of course lectures, and tasks of in-class participation sheets tailored to address these needs within the framework of the course as addressing kindergarten methods (Spring 1993).Assessing the course as a whole, I complement the inclusion and discussion of students’ needs with a teacher-structured approach which assures students that their overall preparation for teaching kindergarten is being met through meeting the needs of both student and teacher agendas.

c. EDCI 402: Developed an integrated curriculum unit for the kindergarten level centered on the theme: “Apples.” In order to illustrate the concept of the integrated curriculum in an active way, the students in EDCI 402 participated in the unit themselves, completing the activities as if they were the students in the kindergarten (Fall 1992).

d. EDCI 402: Developed kindergarten unit focusing on magnets to allow students to observe and experience construction and participation in a thematically related science unit (Fall 1993).


e. EDCI 310: Developed a structure for cooperative learning in which the students worked in self-selected groups to construct weekly papers synthesizing the course readings by discussing their views of the most significant points from those readings for each group. These group papers worked in tandem with lectures and discussions about the course material.Assessing the course as a whole, students found the small group setting useful for discussing what they felt were the most relevant facts and for exploring teaching strategies. I will limit somewhat the use of the group papers in the future and focus, in a complementary fashion, teaching strategies which will make use of the readings for students who have had less exposure to classrooms. For those students whose model of university education has consisted primarily of presentations of knowledge by the professor, I will accompany my use of small group discussion with myself as facilitator with continued use of short lectures which highlight salient content points and with discussion of student priorities (Fall 1993).

f. EDCI 402: I have oriented the course around a directionality which proceeds from concrete to abstract; that is, by modeling kindergarten-appropriate activities myself and by incorporating student presentations of activities, I have been able to then relate practice to theory, or teaching approaches and teaching issues which students will face when they enter kindergarten classrooms as student teachers and teachers. Through a combination of discussion, modeling, reading, and the students’ own carrying out of kindergarten activities themselves in small groups, I have been able to tack back and forth between practical ideas, teaching strategies, and larger issues of teaching (e.g., diversity, didacticism, curriculum design) in a way that students can relate to their own experience, to their own needs for “what to do Monday morning” (Spring 1994).

g. Drawing from my writing about teacher stance, I have developed a series of presentations of kindergarten-level activities which address issues of teacher response, activity design, developmental appropriateness, cultural appropriateness. Some of these activities have involved EDCI 402 students in activity participation from the point of view of the kindergarten child. This has allowed my students to observe my own responses to the types of questions and problems kindergartners will themselves present. This helps my students to question and experience effective activity guidance.

h. EDCI 310: Developed discussion group process and assignment in which alternating discussion leaders prepared weekly handouts and led the students in small-group critical examination of the weekly readings. This adaptation was made in response to student feedback, and thus enabled students to critically examine


the course readings, on a regular basis, using constructive, self-designed activity that engaged them in the critical examination of the course readings. The course procedure, as distributed to students, may be found in my file under the heading “EDCI 310” (Fall 1994).

i. EDCI 310: In response to feedback received from students, I modified the previous course design to include the students’ construction of buddy journals in which they were asked to write about course readings in terms of their application to their own experience/thinking about the teaching and learning of literacy by young children. Buddies responded in writing to each others’ entries in order to reflect on others’ opinions and experiences. The course procedure, as distributed to students, may be found in my file under the heading “EDCI 310.” This permitted students to relate course readings to their own experience and needs (Fall 1994).

j. EDCI 612: I originated a collaborative project linking the graduate students in a variable-topic seminar that I have focused on children’s writing using telecommunications with a third-grade teacher and his students in Fairfield, California. Each of my students corresponds with a cohort of 4 third graders via electronic mail. In class, we take a research perspective, focusing our discussion and work on the analysis of our own and the children’s correspondence and on the teaching of writing using telecommunications (Fall 1995).

k. EDCI 590: Literacy and Language graduate students and I will continue the electronic mail project (previous item “j”) through EDCI 590, working to develop a publishable article on the basis of our collected data (Spring 1996).

l. EDCI 402: Developed a series of two classroom visitations for students to observe and practice teach in kindergarten classrooms at Murdock School. I observe the EDCI 402 students at the school and provide them with written feedback as well as a “debriefing” immediately after their teaching experience to relate methods of teacher response to learning, classroom management, and lesson planning (1995-1997).

m.Expanded collaboration with local kindergarten teachers for EDCI 402 (Teaching Kindergarten) to include Mrs. Pam Richert of Battle Ground Elementary for classroom visitation. Mrs. Richert and I collaboratively designed a beginning classroom observation assignment for EDCI 402 students to better initiate a progression of three classroom visitations, culminating with small-group practice teaching by EDCI 402 students (1997).


n. Revised course syllabi for EDCI 310 and EDCI 402 to conduct course on a conceptually organized basis in lieu of a schedule-driven course to better meet students’ needs for the understanding of course foci (1998).

o. Developed weekly in-class demonstrations through which EDCI 310 students collaboratively constructed responses with me to children’s e-mail writing as part of my work with teachers in Fairfield, California, and Lake Forest, Illinois. This integrated my research and work with practitioners with my undergraduate teaching (1997).


p. Developed in-class activity for EDCI 402 students to expand math component of kindergarten methods. Students role play the kindergartners in a morning’s worth of math activities that reinforce patterning, sorting and classifying, and graphing (1998).

q. EDCI 402: Developed an in-class experience in which students engage in various play activities themselves. I set these up as stations in our classroom with all of the materials presented as they would be in a kindergarten classroom. Students engage in the activities, which variously emphasize cognitive, physical, socio-emotional, and expressive learning. Students then identify the specific learning outcomes in each developmental stream for each activity (Fall and Spring 2000).

r. EDCI 310: Designed and implemented a “Neighborhood Walk” experience, based on the Piagetian principles that underlie the High/Scope cognitively oriented curriculum for young children. In this experience, I took my students outdoors and led them in a walk around the campus. To link the activity to literacy, I asked my students to point out examples of literacy in the environment as we walked around. As they pointed out signs, posters, numerals, print on mailboxes, and so on, I took photos of these items. I also conducted the walk in order to emphasize directionality, spatial relations, places, and permanent objects that marked the way. My students then identified the key concepts children could take from such an introductory experience, the literacy outcomes, and they designed follow-up activities involving the photos, their own drawings, the print samples we saw, relevant trade books. I taught them how to formulate this information into a conceptually based inquiry unit, designed related activities for different classroom participant structures, and evaluated the unit in terms of teacher goals, links to children’s daily lives, uses of literacy, diversity of literary genres used, and uses for reading and writing. I supplemented this activity with brief lectures supplying relevant theory (Fall 2000).

s. EDCI 591A: Designed a series of participatory experiences to acquaint students with Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE). I conduct these experiences entirely in French in order to help students experience authentic language learning experiences. These experiences and instructional techniques are then examined from the point of view of the teacher (Spring 2003).

t. EDCI 614: I redesigned this course to engage graduate students in understanding literacy as a multimodal, socio-semiotic process. My own book, Beyond Stories, was used for the course in addition to several other texts and a course packet that I designed. In addition, I developed several experiences to acquaint the students


with this perspective. This allowed students to explore semiotic theory in relation to theories of literacy development based on their own creation of multimodal signs. For example, the design of road signs that mixed a familiar context with topics suggesting personal expression introduced Peirce’s notions of icon, index, and symbol, further pursued through course reading. Students then applied these conceptual understandings to the observation and analysis of a focal child’s creation of signs over time in two observations, followed by two activity experiences designed by each graduate student. This helped students to view literacy not as an absolute set of skills to be transmitted by a teacher and absorbed by a learner, but as a capacity that helps children to engage with the world, to make sense of the world, and to make the world reflect the people they are (2004).

u. EDCI 591A: Incorporated a focus on teacher knowledge of English grammar. This involved not only close work with constructing language objectives for lessons but also weekly student presentations designed to engage course participants in the use of specific points of English syntax. This is in keeping with the current focus in the field on the need for teacher knowledge of English syntax (Fall 2005).

6. Special Activities Which Have Contributed to Teaching Effectiveness

a. Presentation to meeting of Lafayette School Corporation kindergarten teachers, followed by series of classroom visits in order to observe children and conference with teachers about the needs and priorities of kindergartens in this area. As an education professional who is new to Indiana, I used these opportunities to familiarize myself with kindergarten practice and teachers’ view of the needs of pre-service teachers (Fall 1992).

b. Collaboration with Mrs. Donna Segrist, kindergarten teacher at Happy Hollow Elementary School, in the design of kindergarten science activities combined with the use of journals. My ongoing observations of Mrs. Segrist’s kindergarten have helped me to communicate the overall process and content of a kindergarten classroom in very concrete ways to my students in EDCI 402 (i.e., Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods; Spring 1994; Fall 1994; Spring 1995).

c. A set of observations and a formative evaluation of the kindergarten classrooms at Klondike Elementary have helped me to identify new issues of concern to kindergarten teachers in this area — issues I can then address in EDCI 402. I hope to develop these relationships with teachers in the future in terms of


classroom assistance opportunities for students in EDCI 402 (Spring 1994).

d. Work with 2-6 year-olds in a program oriented to Jewish content at the Sons of Abraham Shul has enabled me to place myself in the position of my students once again as I function as a teacher acquainting myself with children, with content, and with the effective practice of teaching skills I wish to keep “polished.” This teaching has helped me to transfer my skills and my concerns as a teacher of young children to my adult students at Purdue (Spring 1994; Fall 1994; Spring 1995).

e. EDCI 402: My participation in the Multicultural Education Across the Elementary Education Professional Curriculum Project (i.e., Global Initiatives Project) enabled me to develop classroom materials and a classroom strategy for presenting the notion of “culture” to my students in connection with its effect on teacher evaluations of kindergarten children. I successfully implemented this with the class, linking the notion of culturally appropriate education with that of developmentally appropriate education for young children (Spring 1994).

f. Began collaboration with the kindergarten teachers at Murdock School as a Professional Development School in order to provide a field experience component for my course in Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods (EDCI 402; 1994-1995; 1995-1996).

g. Participated in classroom teaching in Mrs. Karen Fridlin’s kindergarten at Murdock School to incorporate journals into science activities. I taught the small-group science journal activity as a demonstration, followed by collaborative teaching with Mrs. Fridlin. This kept my skills honed and in touch with the learning of my students (EDCI 402; Fall 1995).

h. Participated in continuing e-mail dialogue with Mr. Ron Berkson, third-grade teacher in Fairfield, California, to collaboratively carry out a “teaching” e-mail correspondence with his students and to conduct a teacher-researcher dialogue to theory, based on course readings for EDCI 612, and day-to-day classroom practice. In this way, the collaboration enabled me to “teach” third graders via e-mail, and to engage in faculty development with their teacher (EDCI 612; Fall 1995).

i. EDCI 590: Collaborated with graduate students engaged in research on children’s e-mail writing (continued from EDCI 612) in preparing a research report of project findings for publication (Spring 1996).


j. EDCI 590: Collaborated with SOE graduate students in preparing proposal to present findings of project on children’s e-mail writing at 1996 Fall conference of NCTE (Spring 1996).

k. EDCI 402: Observation of kindergarten math component at Cumberland Elementary School to enhance mathematics component of my kindergarten methods course (1998).

l. EDCI 402: Followed up two Fall 1999 students as they engaged in their kindergarten student teaching experiences. Observed Renee Whitwer at Rossville Elementary School and Sonya Renfro at Cumberland Elementary School and provided guidance (Spring 2000).

m.On an individual basis, worked weekly with an at-risk child at Cumberland Elementary School who required literacy instruction in addition to the regular activity in this kindergarten and then first-grade class. (Letters in confidential file; 1999-2000).

7. Summer Institutes and Other Programs Attended

a. Corn Island Storytelling Festival, Louisville, KY, 1992.

b. The Governor’s Conference on Early Childhood, Purdue University, 1999.

c. Annual Conference of Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Indianapolis, IN, 2001.

8. Recognition Received From Students and Other Impact on Students(copies in confidential file)

a. Letter from Carolyn Walker (doctoral student) recognizing ongoing collaboration on journal article focusing on former teachers as researchers.

b. Letter from Juan Lewis (graduate student and fourth-grade teacher) recognizing contribution of EDCI 500 (Spring 1993) to his own classroom practice:“Dr. Britsch has influenced my attitudes toward literacy and has provided me with a wealth of empirical research which I have taken back to my classroom. This course is materializing into one that I will gladly suggest to fellow practicing teachers.”


c. Letter from Anne Sexton (graduate student and teacher of hearing-impaired children) recognizing contribution of EDCI 500 to her thought about educational theory and practice:“My thanks to you for choreographing a stimulating and thought-provoking class. As I said in one of our sessions, more questions have unfolded than have been answered.”

d. Letter from Amy Arnold EDCI 310, EDCI 402:“. . . thank you for being a wonderful teacher, you motivate me to do my best work. You are a great model for my future.”

e. Letter from Jean McCoy (graduate student, kindergarten teacher), EDCI 614, Spring 1994:“. . . I had a very successful semester with Dr. Britsch. She has an excellent background dealing with young children and how they develop literacy. Since taking her class, I am now using many of the ideas I learned during the course. She has changed my style of teaching to young children. I feel that I have profited greatly from taking Dr. Britsch’s class on literacy.”

f. Letter from Molly Banwart, EDCI 310, EDCI 402, Fall 1994:“She [Dr. Britsch] has challenged me to go beyond my usual efforts which has enabled me to gain valuable knowledge and experience. I have already applied some of this knowledge to my EDCI 307 class, as I tutored a first grade boy in reading. The rest of the experiences I will take with me to apply as a student teacher in both kindergarten and second grade next semester . . . She has provided me with suggestions and opportunities which make me feel confident as a teacher.”

g. Letter from Christina Bymaster, EDCI 310, Fall 1994:“This course was very helpful in the development of my understanding of the literacy development in children, as well as an opportunity to explore and define what methods of instruction I will use in my future classroom . . . During this semester, Professor Britsch has encouraged my development as a professional teaching by providing group discussion. These discussions required us to make decisions about the classroom which drew on the professional knowledge we have attained in all of our education courses. I felt this course was very helpful in preparing me for the teaching profession.”

h. Letter from Priya Mathew Johnson (doctoral student; EDCI 612; EDCI 614; EDCI 590), Fall 1995:“One of Dr. Britsch’s greatest attributes as a teacher-mentor is that she is a positive role model for what graduate students in education


should strive toward, namely: knowledge of content and theory, mastery of methodology, consistent interaction with the children to whom the theory is applied, an openness to new approaches and ideas, and a concern for her students and their work. Dr. Britsch treats her graduate students as colleagues from whom she can learn as well as students she can teach.”

i. Letter from Mary Hardaway-Seifert (teacher education student; EDCI 612; EDCI 590); Fall 1995:“There are many ways in which Dr. Britsch’s regard for her students and the profession of teaching is evident. Most outstanding is the care with which she crafts each and every class meeting. Fully prepared, and expecting no less from her students, she can fully engage a group of students in stimulating explorations of theory and careful examinations of current practice. She has shared with us some of the most stimulating ideas and classrooms within our community and introduced us to truly masterful teachers.”

j. Received Purdue University, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Award for Outstanding Teaching (Impact on Learners; 1995-1996).

k. Nominated by Departmental Awards Committee for School of Education Faculty Teaching Award (Fall 1995).

l. Dilys Schoorman, a former doctoral student and member of the Year 2 research team for my e-mail project, developed her own similar program as a faculty member at Florida Atlantic University. She modeled her program on my project and presented her findings at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, citing Britsch and Berkson (1997) as a source (2000).

m.Email from Kristin Gaffney (undergraduate teacher education student; EDCI 402); Spring 2000:“I know that this sounds crazy and you probably don’t ever get e-mails like this, but I just want you to know that I really enjoy everything that we do in class. I subbed in Mrs. X’s kindergarten at XX the other day, and so many things that we do and learn in class were helpful.”


n. Letter from Tonya Thompson (undergraduate Child Development and Family Studies student; EDCI 310); Spring 2000:“I just wanted to thank you for providing me with such an incredible experience this semester. I have learned so much from your class about guiding children’s literacy development and about the nature of teaching itself. I sincerely appreciate the individual time and attention that you were so willing to give. You have taught me how to be a ‘responsive teacher’ not only through class material but through your own example as an excellent teacher. It is through teachers like you that I become much, much more motivated and inspired to do the work I was called to do.”

o. Email from Amber Ma (Master’s degree student in Elementary Education; EDCI 614); Spring 2001:“Your course is a lot of work but you really do make us think. I am debating some changes that I could make in the classroom schedule so that I could spend more time with (and observing) the children. I know that if it weren’t for you and the course, I wouldn’t have given as much thought to what I do everyday and I wouldn’t be thinking constantly of how to make things better. I just wanted to say thanks.”

p. Email from Martha Michieka (EDCI 591A student); Summer 2001:“I hope I will enjoy my [fall] classes as much as I did in our 591A class. You are a great teacher, Susan. By the way, it is part of my summer story. I have been telling people about the class I took in the summer and I will continue doing so. I think it is very practical and worth taking.”

q. Nomination for Outstanding Teaching Award (Name Withheld); Fall 2003:“I have always believed that teaching should address the multiple literacies and multimodalities students possess, and that students should be able to express their knowledge in this manner, also. Susan has helped me further develop this belief through the assistantship opportunities she has provided and the modeling she has done as an advisor and course instructor. Through her support, I have a new drive to learn more about teaching through multiple literacies and multimodal expressions of knowledge, and will continue to research this teaching concept inside and outside of my scheduled graduate classes at Purdue.” (See “Teaching Evaluations” file, 2002-2003.)

9. Other Evidence of Teaching Excellence


In my classes, I implement and test a variety of teaching methods, approaches, and materials. Some of these approaches have worked and some have not. My goal, however, is to foster continued improvement in my teaching as measured by the Center for Instructional Services (CIS) and the Purdue Instructor and Course Evaluation Service (PICES) Instructor and Course Appraisal in order to meet the needs of students. All PICES Appraisals can be found in my publications file, marked “Teaching Evaluations” (yellow folder).


CIS Core Items (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree):CO1 = My instructor motivates me to do my best work.CO2 = My instructor explains difficult material clearly.CO3 = Course assignments are interesting and stimulating.CO4 = Overall, this course is among the best I have ever taken.CO5 = Overall, this instructor is among the best teachers I have known.PICES Core Items:CO1 = Overall, I would rate this course as (5 = excellent, 1= very poor).CO2 = Overall, I would rate this instructor as (5 = excellent, 1= very poor).

a. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 310, Literacy and the Young Child

Semester N CO1 CO2 CO3 CO4 CO5Fall 1992 19 3.8 3.7 3.2 2.9 3.1Fall 1993 29 3.0 3.3 2.7 2.2 2.9Fall 1994 25 4.5 4.1 4.0 3.8 4.0Fall 1996 29 3.9 4.0 3.6 3.1 3.3Spring 1997 24 4.6 4.1 4.3 4.1 4.3Fall 1997 17 4.7 4.6 4.8 4.4 4.3Spring 1998 29 4.6 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.7Summer 1998 14 4.6 4.7 4.5 4.6 4.6Fall 1998 28 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.5 4.7

PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 310, Literacy and the Young Child

Semester N CO1 CO2Fall 2000 25 4.5 4.5Fall 2001 26 4.7 4.6Spring 2002 23 4.2 4.3Fall 2003 4 4.5 4.5Spring 2004 3 4.3 4.8

b. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 362, Literacy in the Elementary School I

Semester N CO1 CO2Spring 2005 20 4.0 3.1


c. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 402, Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods

Semester N CO1 CO2 CO3 CO4 CO5Fall 1992 18 4.1 4.0 4.0 3.3 3.8Spring 1993 24 2.5 3.0 2.3 2.3 2.3Fall 1993 25 3.5 3.6 3.6 2.7 3.2Spring 1994 21 4.2 4.1 4.2 4.1 4.2Fall 1994 29 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.5Spring 1995 24 4.3 4.4 4.6 4.2 4.2Fall 1995 26 3.8 4.1 4.0 3.9 3.8Spring 1996 20 4.5 4.6 4.4 4.6 4.8Fall 1996 14 4.8 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.6Spring 1997 15 4.8 4.3 4.4 4.7 4.7Fall 1997 22 4.2 3.9 3.9 3.6 3.6Spring 1998 14 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.2 3.8Fall 1998 22 3.7 3.7 3.8 3.7 3.4Fall 1999 20 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.2 4.2Spring 2000 (1)

20 4.5 4.2 4.4 4.4 4.3

Spring 2000 (2)

21 4.8 4.5 4.6 4.4 4.2

PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 402, Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods

Semester N CO1 CO2Fall 2000 14 4.0 3.7Spring 2001 21 4.2 3.7Fall 2001 22 4.3 4.1

d. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 466, Integrated Curriculum in the Elementary School

Semester N CO1 CO2Fall 2002 22 3.3 3.5Spring 2003 17 2.8 3.3

e. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 500, Foundations of Literacy

Semester N CO1 CO2 CO3 CO4 CO5Spring 1993 16 4.2 3.8 4.0 3.6 3.9Spring 1996 7 4.9 4.6 4.8 4.8 4.8

f. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 524, Bilingual/Bicultural Education

Semester N CO1 CO2Fall 2004 8 4.0 4.3


g. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 602, Language Arts in the Elementary School

Semester N CO1 CO2 CO3 CO4 CO5Summer 1994 9 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 5.0Summer 1995 8 4.9 4.7 4.7 4.1 4.5

h. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 603, Reading in the Elementary School

Semester N CO1 CO2Fall 2004 6 3.0 3.5

i. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 612, Seminar in Literacy: Children’s Nonfiction Writing

Semester N CO1 CO2 CO3 CO4 CO5Fall 1995 6 4.9 4.3 4.8 4.8 4.5Fall 1999 6 4.5 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.2

j. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 614, Emerging and Developing Literacy

Semester N CO1 CO2 CO3 CO4 CO5Spring 1994 10 4.9 4.5 4.3 4.2 4.8Spring 1995 8 4.7 3.9 4.2 4.0 4.1

PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 614, Emerging and Developing Literacy

Semester N CO1 CO2Spring 2001 6 4.9 4.9Spring 2004 6 4.0 4.5

k. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 590, Telecommunications and Children’ Writing/Electronic Mail Education

Semester N CO1 CO2 CO3 CO4 CO5Spring 1996 4 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0Fall 1996 5 5.0 4.9 5.0 4.9 5.0Spring 1997 4 5.0 4.8 5.0 4.8 5.0

l. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Core Items, EDCI 591A, Literacy and Language Instruction for English Language Learners

Semester N CO1 CO2Summer 2001 11 4.3 4.7Spring 2002 9 4.9 4.8Fall 2003 8 4.6 4.2Fall 2005 7 4.7 4.7


m.Children’s Literacy and Science Project (CLASP) Summer Institute, Summer 2002

Items (Activities/Experiences) N Mean(0 Low, 5 High)

Pendulums: What is inquiry 18 4.8Emergent literacy and genre 18 4.4Sink-n-float: children’s science ideas 18 4.9Text features of child’s science text 18 4.5Exploratory journals (sugars) 18 4.9Exploratory journals (stream tables) 18 4.9Literacy analysis of exploratory journals

18 4.1

Science analysis of exploratory journals

18 4.3

Experimental journals (dissolving) 18 4.7Experimental journals (stream tables) 18 4.9Literacy analysis of experimental journals

18 4.4

Science analysis of experimental journals

18 4.6

Field journals 18 4.7Descriptive/narrative journals 18 4.6Literacy analysis of field/descriptive journals

18 4.2

Science analysis of field/descriptive journals

18 4.3

Science genres v non-science genres 18 4.7Critique of kit-based journals 18 4.7Reflection on scientific literacy and journals

18 4.6

Intro to CLASP unit format 18 4.7CLASP unit development 18 4.6Poster session 18 4.6Overall summer institute instructional quality

18 4.8

Overall summer institute quality 18 4.9

n. Children’s Literacy and Science Project (CLASP) Fall Workshops, Fall 2002

Items (Activities/Experiences) N Mean(0 Low, 5 High)

Introduction to case study 18 4.0Case study practice 18 4.3Overview child survey and unit revisions

18 4.4

Introduction to visual literacy 18 3.9Visual literacy in science 18 4.1Video: What is visual literacy 18 4.7Visual literacy and children’s science journals

18 4.0

Overall instructional ratings for fall 18 4.3


workshops

o. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 310, Literacy and the Young Child

Item Fa92 Fa93 Fa94017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 4.4 4.1 4.6041 Good use of examples and

illustrations4.3 4.1 4.7

043 Builds understanding of concepts/principles

— — 4.7

090 Material pertinent to professional training

4.0 3.9 4.6

092 Can apply course information/skills

4.0 — —

112 Opportunity to learn from other students

— 3.8 4.5

197 I have put much effort into this course

4.0 — —

Item Fa96 Sp97 Fa97017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 4.5 5.0 4.8041 Good use of examples and



4.1 4.6 4.7


— 4.8 —


4.5 — —


4.3 4.4 4.7

Item Sp98 Su98 Fa98017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 4.9 4.8 4.9041 Good use of examples and



4.8 4.8 4.9

191 I am satisfied with my accomplishments

4.6 4.6 4.7


4.6 4.7 4.8

PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 310, Literacy and the Young Child

Item Fa00 Fa01 Sp02 Fa03 Sp04028 Builds understanding of

concepts/principles4.7 4.8 4.5 4.8 4.3

032 Good use of examples and illustrations

4.7 4.8 4.5 5.0 4.8

059 Up-to-date with developments in the field

4.7 4.7 4.5 4.5 —


429 I put much effort into this course 4.6 4.7 4.4 — 5.0453 Class helps me see other points of

view4.4 — — 4.8 —

p. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 362, Literacy in the Elementary School I

Item Sp05028 Builds understanding of

concepts/principles4.3


3.3


4.1


4.2

429 I put much effort into this course 4.9

q. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 402, Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods

Item Fa92 Sp93 Fa93 Sp94017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 4.5 3.9 4.2 4.8041 Good use of examples and

illustrations4.5 — 4.1 4.5

044 Instructor helpful when problems 4.5 3.7 — —069 Questions or comments are

respected4.8 3.9 — —


4.5 3.5 3.7 4.8


4.5 3.5 4.0 4.8


— — — 4.5


— — — 4.5


4.5 4.1 — —



illustrations4.8 4.8 4.4 4.8


4.6 4.6 4.3 4.5


4.9 4.8 4.4 4.9


4.9 4.8 4.3 4.8




4.9 4.9 4.6 4.9


4.8 4.9 4.3 4.8


4.6 4.7 — 4.6

Item Fa98 Fa99 Sp00 1

Sp00 2

017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 4.4 4.9 4.9 4.9041 Good use of examples and



4.4 4.8 — —


4.3 4.8 4.9 4.8


3.8 4.3 — —


— — 4.7 4.8

PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 402, Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods

Item Fa00 Sp01 Fa01032 Good use of examples and



4.5 4.8 4.9

045 Worthwhile in terms of career objectives

— 4.8 4.8


4.6 4.8 4.9


4.3 — —

r. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 466, Integrated Curriculum in the Elementary School


Item Fa02 Sp03028 Builds understanding of

concepts/principles3.7 3.1


3.9 3.4

045 Worthwhile in terms of career objectives

3.5 —

429 I put much effort into this course 4.1 —453 Class helps me see other points of

view3.2 —


s. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 500, Foundations of Literacy

Item Sp93 Sp96017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 4.9 4.8032 Course effectively challenged me

to think— 4.9


— 4.8

069 Questions or comments are respected

4.7 —


4.0 —

097 Relationship to my education is apparent

4.1 —

099 Course gives background for further study

— 4.8

110 One real strength is classroom discussion

— 4.8


4.7 4.9

t. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 524, Bilingual/Bicultural Education

Item Fa04028 Builds understanding of


043 Skills and techniques applicable to career

4.2

447 Learned new ways to think about issues

4.1

455 Understanding of different backgrounds

4.0

u. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 602, Language Arts in the Elementary School

Item Su94 Su95017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 5.0 5.0041 Good use of examples and

illustrations— 4.9


4.9 4.9


4.9 5.0


4.9 5.0


4.9 5.0

v. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 603, Reading in the Elementary School


Item Fa04028 Builds understanding of



3.8


3.3


3.8


w. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 612, Seminar in Literacy: Children’s Nonfiction Writing

Item Fa95 Fa99017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 5.0 5.0032 Course effectively challenged me

to think— 4.9

033 Class helped me see other points of view

4.8 4.5


— 4.5


— 4.9


4.9 —


4.3 —


4.9 —

x. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 614, Emerging and Developing Literacy

Item Sp94 Sp95017 Instructor displays enthusiasm 5.0 5.0041 Good use of examples and

illustrations— 4.9


4.8 4.0


5.0 —


4.9 4.5


4.9 4.5

PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 614, Emerging and Developing Literacy

Item Sp01 Sp04028 Builds understanding of

concepts/principles4.8 4.5


4.9 4.5

162 Instructor challenges me to think 5.0 4.9447 Learned new ways to think about

issues4.8 4.5

489 Course helps me evaluate what I read

4.8 —

y. CIS Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 590, Telecommunications and Children’s Writing/Electronic Mail Education


Item Sp96 Fa96 Sp97024 Course has been intellectually

fulfilling5.0 5.0 5.0

025 My instructor has stimulated my thinking

5.0 5.0 —

032 Course effectively challenged me to think

5.0 5.0 5.0

091 Course contributes to professional growth

— — 5.0

098 Practical application of subject is apparent

— — 4.8


4.8 5.0 5.0


4.8 5.0 4.8


— — 5.0


z. PICES Instructor and Course Appraisal Other Items, EDCI 591A, Literacy and Language Instruction for Second Language Learners PreK-12

Item Su01 Sp02 Fa03 Fa05028 Builds understanding of

concepts/principles4.4 5.0 4.5 4.6


4.6 4.9 4.5 4.6

060 Relates materials to real life situations

4.6 4.8 — 4.8


4.7 — 4.9 4.6

455 Understanding of different backgrounds

4.1 4.9 4.3 4.5

C. EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP, AND/OR CREATIVE ENDEAVOR

The central aim of my research is comprehension of the ways in which children engage in discourse by using their own selection of communicative resources. This work instantiates my longstanding view of communication as a process that need not center on verbal resources alone. Instead, it involves a multiplicity of modes of resources selected by children as originators and participants in communicative situations, many of which they design themselves. Additionally, in the current society, an educational process that focuses on the verbal elements of communication alone is only minimally serviceable to students, and will not help them to become involved in the world as users and originators of knowledge. Innovating this kind of educational experience requires an understanding of the relationship between child and sign, which is the underlying aim of my research.

My work involves a synthesis in that I draw on various fields to examine, analyze, and represent the nature of children’s socio-semiotic activity in discourse (i.e., my background in linguistics, child development, literacy development, and early education). To combine visual communication with the analysis of children’s multimodal discourse, a background in principles of visual communication is necessary. To this end, I participated in the Provost’s Faculty Program of Study in a Second Discipline throughout Fall 2005 (continuing into Spring 2006). This allowed me to further develop my focus on the visual analysis and representation of children’s use of verbal, visual, and actional elements to structure and shape their discourses. In 2005, I was also Co-Principal Investigator of the Children’s Literacy and Science Project (CLASP) with Professor Shepardson. In this capacity, I continued with CLASP data analysis and co-authored an invited chapter on children’s science


journals to be published by Erlbaum as well as an article with Kathryn Heise that was accepted for publication in Science and Children.

Overall focus: comprehension, analysis, and representation of the ways in which children and teachers engage in discourse using a range of multimodal communicative resources.

Articles Published

In 2005, I published two extensive single-authored research publications in international journals. These pieces underwent revision in 2005, were reviewed again, and were then published in hard copy.

First, my piece titled “The Multimodal Mediation of Power in the Discourses of Preschool Story Designers” was published in TEXT. The article is an elaboration of my 2003 presentation in London. Published by Walter de Gruyter in Berlin, TEXT has an acceptance rate of approximately 25%. (Upon inquiry, I was told that de Gruyter keeps circulation information confidential.) TEXT is in its silver jubilee edition in 2005. The journal aims to establish itself as an internationally recognized forum for interdisciplinary research on all aspects of discourse. The overarching goal of the journal is to offer a “truly” interdisciplinary perspective on the significant role of language and communication in the societal context. The referees’ responses to my article for TEXT cited the value of the piece to other researchers as well as its originality. These documents are available in my publications file for this article; some excerpts follow:

The manuscript shows a sophisticated conceptual approach to issues of discourse and interaction, extending our sense of the nature of narrative as a tool of mediation.These are extremely interesting and in many respects (especially as developed in combination) original theoretical perspectives that should be quite stimulating to other researchers.This is a very rich, well-presented and confidently-argued paper. The author draws on an exciting mix of bodies of research, and portrays interactive complexity with great analytical delicacy and skill.

Second, I revised and published in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy my article titled “‘But What Did They Learn?’: Clearing Third Spaces in Virtual Dialogues with Children.” This is an extension of my 2004 presentation for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Assembly for Research. The Journal of Early Childhood Literacy emphasizes papers researching issues related to the nature, function, and use of literacy in early childhood. The Journal of Early Childhood Literacy is both a forum for debate about the topic of early childhood


literacy and a resource for those working in the field. This journal has an acceptance rate of approximately 18%. The reviews of this article, too, are included in my publications file; some excerpts:

I have a sense that this is a very important paper that theorises quite complex facets of electronic dialogue between children and adults.The findings are quite fascinating and offer food for thought for other researchers and for literacy educators.In my opinion the subject area is absolutely spot on with the aims and orientations of the journal. The paper does offer originality in various respects including regarding practice, theory and hence by implication potential policy. It is well grounded in clearly discussed theoretical positions and paradigms. Reading about the research procedures is immensely satisfactory; I especially admire the integrity with which this is done and the willingness to share problematical issues and events during the process of research. For me indeed the figure/ground formulation works well in the processual evaluations. Conclusions are appropriate.I feel privileged to be an early reader of this excellent study.This strong article offers a different way of looking at adult-child digital exchanges over time.

In Press

I co-authored and revised one major interdisciplinary article with Professor Shepardson, which is in press for publication in Journal of Research in Science Teaching (i.e., “Zones of Interaction: Granting Differential Levels of Privilege”). This piece proposes a discourse model for elementary science classrooms that encompasses talk, materials, knowledge, engagement, and power.

I co-authored an article with Kathryn Heise, a CLASP research assistant, focusing on the multimodal responses to science activity by special needs children. In 2005, this piece was accepted for publication in Science and Children, to be published in 2006. Both pieces were part of my collaborative work for CLASP.

In Review

I wrote one single-author invited book chapter on child language development for New & Cochran’s Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia to be published by Greenwood Publishing Group. This chapter is currently undergoing review.


In Process

I am currently co-authoring one invited book chapter proposal on science-literacy teaching with Professor Shepardson for a contracted book to be published by Lawrence Erlbaum. This chapter, “Multimodal Engagement in Science and Literacy Learning: The CLASP Approach,” takes a multimodal perspective to describe our work in CLASP a professional development project that aimed to expand elementary school teachers’ design and implementation of science-literacy learning. The chapter evaluates the impact of the CLASP model on the teachers’ design and implementation of multimodal instruction that integrated journaling into classroom science experience.

Presentations

In 2005, I gave three national presentations disseminating my work combining discourse analysis with visual communication. My presentations at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Montréal and for the National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research in Columbus, Ohio, focused on my approach to the visual analysis of child-teacher discourse. Additionally, as part of my study in a second discipline, I became a member of the International Visual Literacy Association and presented a paper at the association’s 2005 annual meeting (“A Visual Model for Discourse Analysis”). The presentation offered a visual model for the analysis of multimodal discourse, suggesting neither a transcript nor direct reportage but a set of analytic graphics that identified the key elements as well as the structural components of the interactions comprising the represented discourses.


1. Published Papers (* represents primary authorship)

a. Refereed Articles in National and International Journals

1. Britsch, S. (1984). Conditionals and hypotheticals in Tachi Yokuts. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, Papers in Linguistics, 4, 45-63. (Draws on my work in the Tachi-Yokuts language.)

2. Britsch-Devany, S. (1988). The collaborative development of a language renewal program for preschoolers. Human Organization, 47(4), 297-302. (Draws on my work in language renewal and the development of a teaching program.)

3. Britsch, S. (1989). The contribution of the preschool to a Native American community. Language Arts, 66(1), 52-57. (Draws on my work in language renewal and the development of a culturally appropriate preschool program.)

4. Britsch, S. (1992). Child study and observation. In L. R. Williams & D. Pronin Fromberg (Eds.), Encyclopedia of early childhood education (pp. 267-268). New York: Garland Publishing. (Draws on my research in preschool settings.)

5. Britsch, S. J. (1995). The researcher as teacher: Constructing one’s place in the story events of preschoolers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(3), 297-309. (Draws on my research in teacher-research and in preschool children’s storytelling.)

6. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (1996). When dinosaurs roamed: Hypermedia and the learning of mathematics and science. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 15(1/2), 7-18. (Draws on my research in children’s uses of telecommunications for nonfiction writing.)

7. Britsch, S. J.*, & Berkson, R. (1997). “I am that … kid tha acts weird:” Developing e-mail education in a third-grade classroom. Teaching Education, 8(2), 97-104. (Draws on my work in uses of telecommunications for children’s nonfiction writing development.)

8. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (1997). Children’s science journals: Tools for teaching, learning, and assessing. Science and Children, 34(5), 13-17, 46-47. (Contributes to my work linking nonfiction literacy with science learning.)

9. Britsch, S. J.*, & Meier, D. R. (1999). Building a literacy community: The role of literacy and social practice in early


childhood programs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 26(4), 209-215. (Draws on my work in the development of preschool storytelling and literacy.)


10. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (2000). Analyzing children’s science journals: What can students’ science journals tell us about what they are learning? Science and Children, 38(3), 29-33. [Cited in Abruscato, J. (2004). Teaching children science: A discovery approach. Pearson Publishing. See publications file.]

11. Britsch, S. J. (2001a). Emergent environmental literacy in the nonnarrative compositions of kindergarten children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 28(3), 153-159. (Builds on my work on children’s nonfiction literacy.) [See requests for copies in publications file.]

12. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (2001a). The role of children’s journals in elementary school science activities. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(1), 43-69.

13. Britsch, S. J. (2004). “Riddle me this, riddle me that”: Genre as counterscript and the multiple spaces of dialogue. Language Arts, 81(3), 214-222.

14. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (2004). The art of reviewing science journals. Science and Children, 42(3), 43-45.

15. Britsch, S. J. (2005). “But what did they learn?”: Clearing third spaces in virtual dialogues with children. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 5(2), 99-130. [Referees’ comments in publications file.]

16. Britsch, S. J. (2005). The multimodal mediation of power in the discourses of preschool story designers. TEXT: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse, 25(3), 305-340. [Referees’ comments in publications file.]

17. Britsch, S. J.*, & Heise, K. A. (2006). One mode is not for all: Interpreting how special needs students communicate science knowledge. Science and Children, 43(4), 26-29.

18. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (in press). Zones of interaction: Differential access to elementary science discourse. Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

2. All Other Publications

a. Books

1. Britsch, S. J. (2002). Beyond stories: Young children’s nonfiction composition. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education. (See peer


reviews and letters in publications file.) [Reviewed in Language Arts, 2004, 81(3), 246-247.]


b. Book Chapters

1. Britsch, S. (1994a). The koywiy story. In V. Golla & E. Hamp (Series Eds.) & G. Gamble (Vol. Ed.), Native American texts series: Yokuts texts (pp. 37-45). Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter. (Links to my textual research in the Tachi Yokuts Native American community.)

2. Britsch, S. J. (1994b). The contribution of the preschool to a Native American community. In A. H. Dyson & C. Genishi (Eds.), The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community (pp. 199-205). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. (Reprinted from Language Arts, 1989, 66(1), 52-57.) (Draws on my work in language renewal and the development of a culturally appropriate preschool program.)

3. Britsch, S. J. (2001b). Assessment for emergent science literacy in classrooms for young children. In D. P. Shepardson (Ed.), Assessment in science: A guide to professional development and classroom practice (pp. 101-117). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. (Builds on my work on children’s nonfiction literacy.)

4. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (2001b). Tools for assessing and teaching science in elementary and middle school. In D. P. Shepardson (Ed.), Assessment in science: A guide to professional development and classroom practice (pp. 119-147). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. (Builds on my work on children’s nonfiction literacy.)

5. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (2003). Analyzing children’s science journals. In National Science Teachers Association (Ed.), Mixing it up: Integrated, interdisciplinary, intriguing science in the elementary classroom (pp. 52-59). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. (Reprinted from Science and Children, 2000, 38(3), 29-33.)

c. Occasional Papers

1. Wong Fillmore, L., & Britsch, S.* (1988). Early education for children from linguistic and cultural minority families. Early Education Task Force of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Alexandria, VA: NASBE. (Available from NASBE, 1012 Cameron St., Alexandria, VA.) (Draws on my work in the Tachi community and in styles of learning as culturally appropriate.)

d. Reports


1. Meier, D. R.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (1997). Building a literacy community: The role of literacy and social practice in early childhood program reform. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 411 056)

2. Britsch, S. J. (2000). E-mail dialogues with third-grade writers: Redefining the curricular-interpersonal balance. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 443 397) (Addresses my work on children’s nonfiction literacy.)

3. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (2000). Young children’s representations of earth materials on the science journal page. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 439 945)

4. Britsch, S. J. (2001). Riddle me this, riddle me that: Email dialogues with third-grade writers. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 452 554) (Addresses my work on children’s nonfiction literacy.)

e. Book Reviews

1. Britsch, S. (1979). [Review of the book English structure in focus]. Language Learning: A Journal of Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 209-214. (Draws on my early work in language teaching.)

f. Unrefereed Articles in National Publications

1. Britsch, S. (1993). Experience and literacy. Instructor, 103, 47-49. (Draws on my work in early childhood storytelling and literacy development.)

g. Others

1. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* Children’s literacy and science project (CLASP). Available on Purdue University, School of Education Web site: http://clasp.soe.purdue.edu.

3. Works in Process of Being Published

a. Books

1. Shepardson, D. P.*, & Britsch, S. J.* (proposal in review). The multimodality of children’s science journaling: Visual and verbal scientific literacy. NSTA Press.

b. Book Chapters


1. Britsch, S. J. (submitted by invitation). Language development. For R. S. New & M. Cochran (Eds.), Early childhood education: An international encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.


2. Britsch, S. J.*, & Shepardson, D. P.* (in preparation; submitted by invitation). Multimodal science and literacy: A CLASP approach to helping teachers meet their goals of integrating literacy and science. For V. Akerson (Ed.) (contracted book), Interdisciplinary language arts and science instruction in elementary classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

c. Articles

1. Britsch, S. J. (in preparation). Toward a visual model for multimodal discourse analysis. For Information Design Journal.

4. Invited Lectures Presented

a. International Meetings

1. Britsch, S. (1993). The role of the teacher-researcher in the story events of preschoolers. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta, GA.

2. Britsch, S. (1994). Constructing personal theories of developmentally appropriate practice: Teacher response in two Head Start classrooms. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

3. Britsch, S.*, & Shepardson, D.* (1994). The role of literacy in the construction of scientific understanding: The use of journals in elementary classrooms. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

4. Britsch, S. (1995). The power politics of preschoolers’ storytelling: The use of “emergent literacy devices” in the original narratives of young children. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

5. Britsch, S.*, & Shepardson, D.* (1995). The role of journals in children’s construction of scientific understandings. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

6. Britsch, S. J. (1996). The inner dialogue: Developing our voices as teachers. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.

7. Britsch, S. J.*, & Shepardson, D. P.* (1996). Science journals: Tools for the construction of understanding. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.


8. Britsch, S. J.* (1997a). Children’s uses of science journals in the context of classroom social interactions. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

9. Britsch, S. J. (1997b). Developing children’s writing through telecommunications: A school-university partnership. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

10. Meier, D.*, & Britsch, S. J. (1997). The role of literacy and social practice in early childhood program reform. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

11. Britsch, S. J. (2000). E-mail dialogues with third-grade writers: Redefining the curricular-interpersonal balance. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

12. Britsch, S. J. (2001). Riddle me this, riddle me that: Email dialogues with third-grade writers. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.

13. Britsch, S. J. (2002). A definition of self-scaffolding in teacher education programs enrolling homogenous populations. Symposium presentation. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

14. Britsch, S. J. (2003). Activity versus understanding: Teacher conceptions of scientific literacy. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

15. Britsch, S. J., & Shepardson, D. P. (2003). Scientific literacy through journaling: A professional development project in the elementary classroom. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

16. Britsch, S. J. (2003). Verbal and visual power in the narratives of preschool composers OR image is everything when you’re the baby. The Tenth International Literacy and Education Research Network Conference on Learning, London, UK.

17. Britsch, S. J. (2004). More than words: Multimodal mediation in the peer discourse of very young children. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.

18. Britsch, S. J. (2005). The visual analysis of child discourse. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montréal, Canada.


19. Britsch, S. J. (2005). A visual model for child discourse. Annual Meeting of the International Association of Visual Literacy, Orlando, FL.

20. Britsch, S. J. (proposal accepted). Affordances of visual modeling for the analysis of multimodal discourse. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

b. National Meetings

1. Britsch, S. (1986). Developing a language renewal program for preschoolers: What a linguist can do. Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Reno, NV.

2. Britsch, S. (1988). Collaboration and the Head Start curriculum: Building a native language revival program in the preschool. Annual Conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Anaheim, CA.

3. Britsch, S.*, & Caroff, S. (1993). Implicit learning and teaching in two Head Start classrooms. Third Interdisciplinary Conference on Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education: Theory, Research and Practice, Ann Arbor, MI.

4. Britsch, S. J. (1994). Response to experience in the kindergarten classroom: Science journals as structuration. Fourth Interdisciplinary Conference on Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education: Theory, Research and Practice, Durham, NH.

5. Britsch, S. (1995). Narrative stance and social power in the original stories of young children. 85th Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, San Diego, CA.

6. Britsch, S. J. (1996). Journal writing as science learning in elementary school classrooms. Spring Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English, Boston, MA.

7. Britsch, S. J.*, Berkson, R., Mathew, P., & Helm-Hill, R. (1996). Developing electronic mail education: A school-university collaboration. 1996 Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, Chicago, IL.

8. Britsch, S. J. (1997). Narrative exchanges: The construction of stories through electronic mail dialogues. Spring Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English, Charlotte, NC.


9. May, J.*, Britsch, S. J., Isaacs, K., & Lewis, J. (1997). Audience and response: New technologies are fostering interactive communities. Spring Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English, Charlotte, NC.

10. Shepardson, D., & Britsch, S. J. (1997). Children’s science journals. National Science Teachers Association Convention, New Orleans, LA.

11. Britsch, S. J. (1998). Computer communication for writing development in an elementary school classroom: Limitations and possibilities. 1998 National Council of Teachers of English Research Strand, Nashville, TN.

12. Britsch, S. J. (1999). E-mail in the elementary curriculum. Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, Denver, CO.

13. Britsch, S. J. (2000). Computer connections from the heart: Learning to write using technology. Spring Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English, New York, NY. (An audience of 60 attended this presentation.)

14. Shepardson, D. P., & Britsch, S. J. (2000). Young children’s representations of earth materials on the science journal page. 2000 Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, New Orleans, LA.

15. Britsch, S. J. (2001). The emergent environmental literacy of kindergarten children. Spring Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English, Birmingham, AL.

16. Shepardson, D. P., & Britsch, S. J. (2001). Zones of interaction: Different levels of privilege. 2001 Annual Conference of the National Association of Science Teachers, St. Louis, MO.

17. Britsch, S. J. (2004). “But what did they learn?”: Real dialogue in virtual discourse. National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research, Berkeley, CA.

18. Britsch, S. J. (2004). “It doesn’t have pages”: Young children’s multimodal text design. Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, Indianapolis, IN.

19. Britsch, S. J. (2005). Missing the multimodal opportunity: A visual analysis of classroom science discourse. National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research, Columbus, OH.


20. Britsch, S. J. (proposal accepted). The visual analysis of multimodal classroom discourse. Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, Nashville, TN.

c. Regional Meetings

1. Britsch, S. (1983). Aspects of aspect in Tachi Yokuts. The Hokan-Penutian Workshop, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA.

2. Britsch, S. (1985). Various “reality” particles in Tachi Yokuts. The Hokan-Penutian Workshop, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA.

3. Britsch, S. (1986). Designing a language renewal program for preschoolers. Annual Conference of the Arizona Association for Bilingual Education, Tucson, AZ.

4. Britsch, S. (1994). Implementing culturally appropriate practice in the Head Start classroom: Two models of teaching. Annual Conference of the Midwest Association for the Education of Young Children, Peoria, IL.

5. Britsch, S., Shepardson, D., Segrist, D., & Johnson, S. (1995). Journal writing to learn science: How and why? 25th Anniversary Convention of the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Indianapolis, IN.

6. Britsch, S. J. (1996). Using journals in kindergarten and the primary grades. Spring Conference of the Indianapolis Area Association for the Education of Young Children, Indianapolis, IN.

7. Britsch, S. J. (1997). The uses of e-mail in the elementary school classroom. West Lafayette Sagamore Lions Club, West Lafayette, IN.

8. Britsch, S. J.*, Berkson, R., Helm-Hill, R., Mathew Johnson, P. (Speakers). (1997). Developing electronic mail education. WBAA Radio, West Lafayette, IN.

9. Britsch, S. J., & Shepardson, D. (2003). Link literacy with science through journaling. Convention of the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Indianapolis, IN.

d. Other Educational Institutions

1. Britsch, S. (1988). The role of spontaneous literacy events in the social lives of 3-year-olds. Conference cosponsored by the


Harold E. Jones Child Study Center and the University of California, Berkeley.

2. Britsch, S. (1994). Character negotiation in the story worlds of preschoolers OR image is everything when you’re the baby. Warner Graduate School of Education, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.

3. Britsch, S. J. (2000). “I cannot see how the elephant came”: Learning to write by barely using technology. Stern College, Yeshiva University, New York, NY.

4. Britsch, S. J. (2001a). The emergence of science literacy in young children. Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY.

5. Britsch, S. J. (2001b). “My dirt fractured”: Emergent science literacy in the kindergarten. New York University, New York, NY.


e. Purdue University Presentations

1. Britsch, S. (1992). Child-created story genres in the preschool. Early Literacy Special Interest Group, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University.

2. Britsch, S. (1994). “You’re not in MY story!” The power politics of preschoolers’ story events. Research Seminar Series, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University.

3. Britsch, S. J. (1995a). Celebrate early! (Preschool and kindergarten). Celebrating Literacy Conference, Purdue University.

4. Britsch, S. J. (1995b). Science journals in the kindergarten: Issues behind the methods. Research Seminar Series, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University.

5. Britsch, S. J. (2001). Culturally appropriate ESL teaching practices and educational equity. Presentation in EDCI 285 (Multicultural Education), taught by Professor Rochelle Brock, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University.

6. Britsch, S. J. (2002). ESL strategies for the K-12 classroom. Presentation for Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society in Education, Purdue University.

7. Britsch, S. J. (2004). English language learning and teacher education. Dean’s School Advisory Committee, School of Education, Purdue University.

5. Evidence of Involvement in the Graduate Research Program of the Department

a. Committee Chairperson

1. Chandra Elskens, master’s student in Education, Purdue University.

2. Amy Sturgeon, master’s student in Education, Purdue University.

3. Joan McGrath, education specialist student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

4. Karen Hubbard Michael, doctoral student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.


5. Lenora de la Luna, doctoral student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

6. Olivia Rothenberger, master’s student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

7. Cindy McDonald, master’s student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

8. Kathy Heise, master’s student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

9. Dana Abramson, master’s student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

10. Ying Zhang, doctoral student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

11. Shih-Yu Chang, doctoral student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

b. Committee Member

1. Carolyn Walker, doctoral candidate in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

2. Mary Grioffen, master’s student in Education, Purdue University.

3. Lisa Reisner, MATEE student, Purdue University.

4. Sara Thomas, master’s student in Education, Purdue University.

5. Dilia Escalante, doctoral student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

6. Linda Thompson, doctoral student in Educational Administration, Purdue University.

7. Vivienne Palaiologos, doctoral student in Foreign Languages and Literatures, Purdue University.

8. Emily Boerger, master’s student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

9. Xiaoning Chen, doctoral student in Literacy and Language Education, Purdue University.

10. John Storm, doctoral student in Foreign Languages and Literatures, Purdue University.


c. Collaborative Work With Graduate Students

1. Susan Caroff, master’s student, assisted me in classroom research for the Head Start Transition Demonstration Project in the Kokomo-Center Schools (1993). Ms. Caroff also collaborated with me in developing a conference presentation reporting our results (i.e., Third Interdisciplinary Conference on Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education: Theory, Research and Practice).

2. Rebecca Helm-Hill, doctoral student in Literacy and Language. Ms. Helm-Hill and I collaborated to write a proposal for a year-long PRF Grant for the study of literacy development and affect in young children (Fall 1995).

3. Rebecca Helm-Hill, Priya Mathew, and Beth Alesse, Literacy and Language doctoral students, and Mary Hardaway, School of Education teacher-in-training, and I continued the development of a written dialogue project with third graders via electronic mail to develop a publishable research report (1995).

4. Elizabeth Alesse, Priya Mathew, Rebecca Helm-Hill, Mary Hardaway have collaborated in the development and submission of a proposal with Mr. Ron Berkson and myself to present the findings of our electronic mail project with Mr. Berkson’s third-grade class at the 1996 NCTE Convention (1996).

5. Karen Hubbard Michael, doctoral student in Literacy and Language, and I collaborated to write a proposal for a year-long PRF Grant for the study of literacy development and affect in young children (1997).

6. James McDonald, doctoral student in Science Education , and I collaborated with Professor Shepardson to carry out action research in a local school and analyze the obtained data (1998).

7. Collaborative work with Priya Mathew-Johnson and Rebecca Helm-Hill (C&I graduate students) and with Mr. Ron Berkson (third-grade teacher) to produce a publishable manuscript regarding the e-mail project with Mr. Berkson’s third-grade class. The article is not yet accepted for publication (1998-2000).

8. Collaborative work with Kathy Heise (M.S. student) in organizing and presenting CLASP workshops, classroom observations, and project newsletter (2002).

9. Collaborative work with Kathy Heise (M.S. student) on an article published in Science and Children, “One Mode Is Not for All:


Interpreting How Special Needs Students Communicate Science Knowledge” (2005).

6. Research, Grants, and Support

a. Field work in descriptive linguistics for the Tachi Yokuts language, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, $3000; 1979-1983.

b. Linguistic field work in the Tachi Yokuts language, American Philosophical Society, Phillips Fund Grant, $1100; 1984.

c. Tachi as a Second Language Program, Santa Rosa Rancheria, $25,000; 1987-1988. [Grant awarded by Department of Health and Human Services to Inter-Tribal Council of California; I served as head curriculum designer/principal investigator.]

d. University of California Club Fellowship for Dissertations in Literacy, $1500; 1991-1992.

e. Head Start Transition Demonstration Project in the Kokomo-Center Schools. Project director: Dr. Youli Mantzicopoulos, Department of Educational Studies, Purdue University. I worked in collaboration with Dr. Mantzicopoulos to establish a qualitative component as a supplement to the above assessment of the transition of non-Head Start children into the schools, $20,000; 1993.

f. Purdue Research Foundation Summer Faculty Grant: “Not in my story!”: The social game of literacy acquisition among preschoolers, $5000; awarded for Summer 1993.

g. Undergraduate Research Trainee Grant: The role of literacy in the construction of scientific understanding: The use of journals in elementary school classrooms, $500; awarded for 1993-1994 academic year.

h. Undergraduate Research Trainee Grant: The role of journals in the construction of scientific understanding in elementary classrooms, $500; awarded for 1994-1995 academic year.

i. Undergraduate Research Trainee Grant: The role of journals in the construction of scientific understanding in elementary classrooms, $500; awarded for 1995-1996 academic year.

j. Library Scholars Grant: The development of elementary school children’s writing, using telecommunications to provide a context for e-mail dialogues, $200; awarded for 1995-1996.


k. Toyota USA Foundation Grant: Children’s literacy and science project (CLASP). Grant received in collaboration with Professor Shepardson, Elementary Science Education. This was one of over 500 proposals submitted to Toyota USA; the site visit conducted with Professors Britsch and Shepardson by Toyota was one of only eight to ten that Toyota held with competition finalists, $160,000; 2002-2004.

l. Faculty Program of Study in a Second Discipline: Received for study in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, $8,5000; awarded in 2004 for Fall 2005.

7. Current Research Interests and Other Projects in Process

a. As a result of my work in visual communications (Fall 2005), Professor Rick Paul and I are exploring opportunities for future research that will extend the theoretical framework I have developed this semester to an application phase involving more sophisticated software. This will involve seeking external funding in order to tailor the software in such a way that my method can be adapted to a more dynamic representation via DVD or website as opposed to the static context of the page alone.

b. I am preparing a proposal for a Digital Content Development Grant that would involve art education students in using my model for the visual analysis/assessment of classroom discourse. The technical portion of this work would be carried out in collaboration with Rick Paul.

c. I am redesigning my approach to teaching EDCI 526 (Language Study for Educators) in order to implement my model for the visual analysis of classroom discourse into the approach students will take to analyzing classroom discourse.

d. I will continue to audit the second portion of Design Computing (A&D 229) through Spring 2006 in order to become competent with additional software. Finally, I will audit A&D 255 (Art Appreciation) in Spring 2006 in order to focus specifically on art criticism and writing about art.

8. Evidence of Interdisciplinary Activity

a. Faculty Program of Study in a Second Discipline (Fall 2005)

The role of visual communications is central in helping me to visually associate the elements and structure of interactions that comprise discourses. I was awarded funding for the Provost’s


Faculty Program of Study in a Second Discipline. My activity for this faculty study took place in visual communications in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts throughout Fall 2005: I audited A&D 105 (Design 1): My work in this course familiarized

me with the basics of two-dimensional design concepts and processes. The course gave practice in using elements of design such as line, shape, value, and color to create visual relationships within a composition. The course enabled me to gain practice and develop a more sophisticated use of design elements using both computer software (i.e., Freehand) and more traditional tools and materials (e.g., ink and brush, ink marker, paint, collage).

I audited A&D 228 (Visual Communications Design Computing): developed my familiarity and competence with professional design software such as InDesign CS2 and Illustrator CS2. The content of this course was also directly applied to the design of the PowerPoint for my October IVLA presentation.

I audited A&D 318 (Fundamentals of Interactive Media Design): focus on color communication.

Collaborative Work. I worked with Professor Rick Paul, Chair of Visual and Performing Arts, and with Petrônio Bendito, Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. This work helped me to move forward with the design of visual representations that work in concert with my theoretical perspective. My approach facilitates the process of deconstructing an interaction and reconstructing it as evocative of the patterns of a wider discourse. Because it is now possible to elucidate a typology of the discourses available to an individual, applications for use of this approach by both researchers in linguistics, visual communications, and education as well as by teachers are the next step.

Presentations. I presented a paper at the annual conference of the International Visual Literacy Association in Orlando, Florida, in October 2005 titled, “A Visual Model for Discourse Analysis.” A paper presentation elaborating this focus has also been accepted by the Special Interest Group on Semiotics for the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association in Spring 2006.

Publication. The approach I have been able to develop through this study reflects a synthesis that can be applied to the visual modeling of discourse in general. An article for submission to Information Design Journal is in process.

9. Other Evidence of National Activity


a. Guest reviewer for The Reading Teacher, 1992.

b. Round table chair: 42nd Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, San Antonio, TX, 1992.

c. Reviewer for Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1992-1995.

d. Proposal reviewer for National Reading Conference, 1993.

e. Book reviewer for Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1994.

f. Nominated as School of Education candidate for national competition for Cornell University’s “Promising Scholar” program, 1996.

g. Reviewer for Electronic Journal of Literacy Through Science, 2000-2005.

h. Book reviewer for Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2004-2005.

D. EXCELLENCE IN CONTINUING EDUCATION AND/OR SERVICE

In 2005, I made central service contributions to the department in terms of initiatives in English as a New Language: (a) designing a graduate program in English as a New Language, (b) designing an undergraduate course in Teaching English as a New Language, and (c) co-chairing the Literacy and Language Education Search Committee with the aim of adding another faculty member with expertise in second language acquisition.

1. In-Service Workshops

a. In-service presentation to Reading Recovery Teacher Leaders-in-Training, integrating oral language acquisition with reading development, October 1993.

b. Presentation linking culturally appropriate and developmentally appropriate practice to teaching strategies for elementary methods courses, faculty in-service session, Multicultural Education Across the Elementary Education Professional Curriculum (Global Initiatives Project), November 1993.

c. Incorporating children’s original storytelling into preschool curricula, Lafayette Head Start, Lafayette, IN, 1994.


d. In-service presentation to Reading Recovery Teachers, linking the role of language development and emergent literacy with Reading Recovery, May 1994.

e. Workshop presented for the Hoosier Study Council, linking the role of emergent literacy principles with the process of textbook adoption, April 1994.

f. Curriculum design in collaboration with Mr. Ron Berkson, third-grade teacher at K. I. Jones School in Fairfield, CA, to link science with writing, April-June 1995.

g. Workshop presented for the kindergarten and primary grade teachers at Murdock Elementary School in Lafayette, IN, orienting teachers to the use of children’s journal-writing, October 1995.

h. Conducted workshop for Murdock Elementary School faculty in Lafayette, IN, on reading and language arts assessment techniques, February 1999.

i. Series of three workshops for the entire teaching staff of Glen Acres Elementary School in Lafayette, IN, focusing on teaching English as a second language to elementary school children, May, August, and September 2001.

j. In-service presentation for child care center staff at Burgett’s Child Care Center, West Lafayette, IN, on working with children who are non-speakers of English, 2001.

k. In-service workshops for middle school and secondary school teachers working with English language learners in the Twin Lakes School Corporation, January 2004 and April 2004.

2. Conducting Studies and Investigations Needed to Support Educational Programs

a. Head Start Transition Demonstration Project in the Kokomo-Center Schools. I worked as a co-principal investigator with Dr. Youli Mantzicopoulos, and carried out a qualitative component to the above project as an outreach activity to document and support the experience of Head Start children as they make the transition into the schools.


b. Service at Klondike Elementary School (a Professional Development School) to identify factors in the kindergarten program to deal with an increasingly diverse student population.

c. Worked with classroom teachers at Happy Hollow Elementary School to modify structure of existing science and literacy components of curriculum (1993-1994; 1994-1995).

d. Consulted with the kindergarten teachers at Klondike Elementary School, conducted classroom observations, and collaborated with the teachers in designing and carrying out innovative classroom science experiences which incorporate literacy activity (Spring 1994).

e. Began a collaboration with teachers at Murdock School (a PDS school) to evaluate and enhance the use of literacy in the science program, currently in the kindergarten (1994-1995).

f. Classroom participation with kindergarten teachers and children at Murdock School to incorporate science journals into the curriculum (1995).

g. Developed collaboration with Mr. Ron Berkson, third-grade teacher at K. I. Jones School, Fairfield, CA to integrate the use of telecommunications into the literacy curriculum of his classroom (1995-1997).

h. Conducted classroom observation in Mrs. Pam Richert’s kindergarten at Battle Ground Elementary School to remain informed about teaching practices and develop the presentation of these practices to EDCI 402 students (1997-1998).

i. Conducted classroom observation in Mrs. Sharon Murray’s kindergarten at Cumberland Elementary School to develop mathematics teaching component of EDCI 402 (1998).

j. Observed Ms. Angela Mosier, a former teacher education student, who is currently employed at Edgelea Elementary School as a kindergarten teacher. Ms. Mosier works with an afternoon program addressing the needs of non-English-speaking kindergartners. Worked with the children in the classroom and advised Ms. Mosier in regard to appropriate ESL teaching methods for young children (2001).

k. Observed Ms. Olivia Rothenberger, a former student from EDCI 591A (“Literacy and Language Instruction for English Language Learners”), at Kyger Elementary School in Frankfort, Indiana. Approximately 60% of the students at Kyger School are Hispanic. Worked with the children in the classroom and advised


Ms. Rothenberger in regard to ESL teaching methods for upper-grade students (2001).


3. Translating Research Information Into Practice

a. Developed curriculum documents used by educators to integrate linguistic data into Tachi as a Second Language educational program, Santa Rosa Rancheria, near Lemoore, CA, 1988.1. Britsch, S., Cuara, J., Contreras, L., Ignacio, R., & Sisco, I. (1988).

Tachi as a second language: Curriculum materials for language lessons. Santa Rosa Rancheria, CA: Santa Rosa Head Start.

2. Britsch, S., Cuara, J., Contreras, L., Ignacio, R., & Sisco, I. (1988). Tachi as a second language: Story manual. Santa Rosa Rancheria, CA: Santa Rosa Head Start.

3. Britsch, S., Cuara, J., Contreras, L., Ignacio, R., & Sisco, I. (1988). Tachi as a second language: Teaching guide. Santa Rosa Rancheria, CA: Santa Rosa Head Start.

b. Completed formative evaluation of classrooms as qualitative component to the Head Start Transition Demonstration Project in the Kokomo-Center Schools.1. Britsch, S. J. (1993). Enrichment for teaching and learning in the

Head Start classroom: Implications for kindergarten readiness (Final Report). Kokomo, IN: Kokomo-Center Schools.

c. Assisted in grant writing with Purdue faculty and Murdock Elementary School education professionals as member of Goals 2000 Grant-Writing Committee: Preservice Education Subgrant (Spring-Summer 1995).

d. Collaborative work with Mr. Kurt Kurtzhals, a former Purdue student and now second-grade teacher at Lake Forest Elementary School, Lake Forest, IL: Based on my e-mail research project, I initiated a writing program with Mr. Kurtzhals’s class to provide the children with an opportunity to correspond with me via e-mail for writing enhancement (1997-1998).

4. Student Counseling and Advisement Service

a. Denise Atkinson, post-baccalaureate student in Curriculum and Instruction; I helped the student construct an individualized program which would meet the needs of a non-traditional student.

b. Jeanne Heil-Chapdelaine, Elementary Education certification student.

c. Mark Seals, doctoral student in Science Education.

d. Donna Stewart, non-degree student in Elementary Education.


e. Amber Ma, master’s student in Curriculum and Instruction.

5. University or Departmental Administrative Service

a. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Teacher Education Ad Hoc Committee on Multicultural Education, 1992-1993, 1993-1994. Co-developed, with Professor Wanda Fox, the initial syllabus for newly-adopted course, EDCI 385 (i.e., Teaching in a Pluralistic World).

b. Project participant: Multicultural Education Across the Elementary Education Professional Curriculum (Global Initiatives Project), 1993. I identified resources, for the project, which faculty members could use to infuse a multicultural approach into their course instruction.

c. Elementary Teacher Education Committee (1992-2000).

d. Elected to Steering Committee of the School of Education, Grievance Committee (1993).

e. Served as Convener for the Literacy and Language Graduate Admission Review Panel, Department of Curriculum and Instruction (1993-1994; 1994-1995; 1995-1996).

f. Served as reviewer for Elementary Teacher Education Graduate Admission Review Panel, Department of Curriculum and Instruction (1995-1996).

g. Member of Grade Appeals Committee of the School of Education (1993-1994, 1999-2000).

h. Elected Chair of Grade Appeals Committee of the School of Education (1994-1995). Coordinated effective resolution of 6 grade appeals.

i. Faculty coordinator for Literacy and Language Graduate Student Group (1993-1994).

j. Served as a member of the School of Education Educational Policy Committee (1994-1997).

k. Served as member of Joint Task Force Working Group #4, The Study of Teaching and Learning (Fall 1994).

l. Member of Elementary Teacher Education Program Area.


m.Member of School of Education Grievance Committee (Fall 1995 – Fall 1998).

n. Developed Kindergarten Endorsement Selection Criteria in cooperation with Dr. Elster and Dr. Cox, proposed for students electing to pursue the Kindergarten Endorsement in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (Fall 1995).

o. Chaired committee to implement proposed selection criteria for students electing to pursue the Kindergarten Endorsement in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (1996-1997).

p. Member of University Minorities Advisory Committee (1995-1998).

q. Convener for the Elementary Teacher Education Panel Review Team for admission to the Elementary Teacher Education Master’s Degree Program (1996-1998).

r. Member of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Literacy and Language Search Committee (1996-1997).

s. Proposal reviewer for Global Initiative Faculty Grants, Office of International Programs, Purdue University (1997).

t. Member of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Affairs Committee (1997-2000). (Active in development of guidelines for merit review and in initiation of plans for the enhancement of faculty mentoring.)

u. Chair of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Affairs Committee (1999-2000). Co-chair with Professor Kamberelis (Spring 2000).

v. Member of School of Education International Education Committee (1997-2000).

w. Member of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Leadership Council (1999-2000).

x. Served on Literacy and Language Program Area subcommittee to develop graduate competencies in Literacy and Language (2000).

y. Served on Graduate Committee subcommittee to develop graduate competencies for generalist master’s degree (2000).

z. Member of Block V design team (2000). For the Block V course proposal, I researched the available videos as well as print materials available to address issues of classroom management/discipline in regard to young children


(e.g., kindergarten). I also wrote the sections of the course proposal dealing with child developmental issues. I devised a TIP assignment in which classrooms at three developmental levels would be observed. This became the TIP assignment entitled “developmental observations.” I also contributed in the initial meetings to the view that the course content should be more than a menu of theories and should include issues of diversity and how they intersect with discipline and management, issues involved in working with parents and families, and the importance of developmental level in management strategies.

aa. Member of School of Education Awards Committee (2000-2001).

bb. Chair of School of Education Awards Committee (2001-2003).


cc. Convener of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Literacy and Language Faculty (2001-2002).

dd. Member of School of Education Block Council (2001-2002).

ee. Member of Elementary Teacher Education Search Committee (2001).

ff. Chaired committee to review the implementation feasibility of Block VI of the teacher education program (Summer 2001). Conducted committee meetings and prepared extensive committee report of recommendations, including revised set of assignments and rubrics, student teacher observation evaluation documents, presented to C&I faculty in August 2001.

gg. Member of School of Education Curriculum Committee (2003-2004).

hh. Member of Department of Educational Studies Strategic Hire Search Committee (2003-2004).

ii. Member of School of Education Faculty Affairs Committee (2003-2005).

jj. Co-Chair of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Literacy and Language Education Search Committee (2005-2006).

kk. Member of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Primary Committee (2005-2006).

6. Public and/or Governmental Service Activities

a. Published editorial in connection with local university-community dialogue concerning the role of basic skills in early childhood education:Britsch, S. (1992, August 28). Two views show same concern [Guest column]. Journal and Courier, p. A8.

b. Advisory Council member, Hoosier Family Policy Summit II, 1993.

c. Source Book Sub-Committee member, Hoosier Family Policy Summit II, 1993.

d. Hoosier Study Council participant, 1994.

e. Advisory committee member, Fourth Interdisciplinary Conference: Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education: Theory, Research and Practice, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 1994.


f. Served as a member of the Indiana Bilingual/Bicultural Teacher Licensure Proposal Committee. Comprising members of the Indiana Department of Education and faculty from universities around the state, the committee developed a proposal to add Bilingual/Bicultural Education as a strand under English as a New Language in the Licensure Framework. As a result, the Indiana Professional Standards Board (IPSB) approved this recommendation in September 2002. (See letter in confidential file.) 2002.

g. Co-represented the School of Education at the Lafayette Vision 20/20 Education Roundtable in regard to English as a New Language efforts in Tippecanoe County, 2004.

7. Consulting Activities Which Are Professionally Related

a. Freelance consultant/language specialist, Santa Rosa Rancheria, near Lemoore, CA (1983-1987).

b. Volunteer classroom aide, The Gay Austin School, Berkeley, CA (1987).

c. Consultant to Educational Testing Service for NTE Early Childhood Examination (1992).

d. Consultant to Kokomo-Center Schools on formative evaluation of Head Start Program (1993).

e. Consultant to Harcourt Brace College Publishers for book review of emergent literacy text (1994).

f. Consulted with kindergarten classroom teacher in order to assess literacy development of non-English-speaking student (1992).

g. Consulted with head teacher at Sons of Abraham preschool program to enhance the use of stories and storytelling in the early childhood program (1993).

h. Consulted and taught cooperatively with Mrs. Cyrelle Simon, head teacher at Sons of Abraham preschool program, to develop and implement teaching techniques for young children and to assess and design a course of action which will provide for the cognitive, social, and affective needs of a group of young children (1994-1995, 1995-1996).

i. Consulted with kindergarten teachers at Murdock School (PDS) to assess the use of literacy and child-constructed journals in the


design of the science program in the kindergarten. This collaboration will be ongoing throughout 1994-1996.

j. Consulted with Mrs. Donna Segrist, kindergarten teacher at Happy Hollow School, about the overall development and progress of individual children in the kindergarten (1994-1995).

k. Consulted with Murdock School education professionals to develop criteria for Performance-Based Assessment for the school (1996).

l. Advised Dr. Kay Bannon, United College of Gordon and Barrington, and Native American directors from the Cherokee Language Program at Cherokee Central School about curriculum development for the community’s Cherokee language renewal project (1995-2000).

m.Through article published in Instructor, an internationally distributed publication with a circulation of approximately 600,000 readers, gained national attention for Purdue University School of Education. Response included requests from students to enroll at Purdue in order to pursue work in emergent literacy with me. (See letter in confidential file.)

n. Consulted with Dr. Lois Haueisen, Cumberland Elementary School kindergarten teacher, in regard to the redesign of curricular and management techniques for a kindergarten group including an unusually wide developmental range of several children with special needs. By implementing these procedures, Dr. Haueisen and her Purdue student teacher successfully met the children’s cognitive and socio-emotional needs (2000).

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