Dr. Florence Newell, professor, teacher, leader, scholar, and presenter

By Florence Newell

Highlights of Florence Newell's teaching and other professional leadership positions, publications and national presentations

For the past ten years, Florence Newell has been directly involved in many professional activities designed to result in increased academic achievement for students in the Cincinnati Public School District. The following is a brief description of some of these programs.

The Cincinnati Public District and the College of Education formed a partnership to expand the knowledge base for individuals who teach mathematics to students who are in the middle grades - a Masters plus Middle School Mathematics Certification Program. Although Dr. Newell is a literacy professor, she was named the Program Director because of her track record of implementing successful partnerships between UC and CPS. This summer, twenty-two individuals were admitted into the program.

In April, 1999, Florence Newell was named the University Facilitator of the Urban School Initiative/Jennings Foundation District/Faculty Team. The University of Cincinnati formed partnerships with Cincinnati Public Schools, Dayton Public Schools, Hamilton City Schools, and Middletown City Schools. Dr. Newell facilitated the CPS-UC Team which developed a proposal that focused on standards in practice, modeled after the Education Trust Initiative, Standards in Practice. The goal of the proposal is that all school activity is aligned and targeted at helping all students meet standards. The proposal is being implemented this fall.

In February, 1999, Florence Newell traveled with the CPS Team of teachers, administrators, and union representatives to Colorado Springs, Colorado and participated in the Panasonic Partnership Conference. The conference theme was: Making Standards Matter: Professional Development for a Standards-Driven System. Dr. Newell was chosen to represent the College of Education because of her knowledge and commitment to professional development.

Florence Newell's most recent publication, in collaboration with Dr. Linda Taylor, will be published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This book chapter describes how teachers can meet the primary mathematics standards by using multi-cultural literature. Dr. Newell and Dr. Taylor worked with the students at Project Succeed Saturday School to develop these instructional lessons and strategies.

Dr. Newell has also worked with elementary and middle students as the Director of the University of Cincinnati Summer Demonstration School. The Summer Demonstration School is a cooperative effort designed and planned together through the University of Cincinnati College of Education, College of Evening and Continuing Education, and the Cincinnati Public Schools. This summer school programs provides enrichment and remedial educational activities for Greater Cincinnati area children in the summer. Over 80 students in grades one through eight participated during the summer of 1999 at Douglass Elementary School. The unique component of the summer school program is that it is part of a teacher training program for teachers who have already earned one teaching certificate. During the summer of 1999, as part of a second certification program, nine teaching interns completed their practicum experience which is a requirement for a second teaching certificate. As director of the Demonstration School, Dr. Newell develops curriculum, manages the budget, interviews and hires master teachers, and mentors the teaching interns in the program. Dr. Newell also conducts demonstration teaching sessions for the teaching interns.

In 1995, Florence Newell was named the Program Director of the In-School Elementary Education Masters with Certification Program. This program, usually refereed to as the "IA Program," was developed to expanding the elementary school teaching force of CPS to increase the number of individuals from under-represented groups. Seventeen out of twenty of the students who began the program in 1995 and fifteen out of nineteen students who entered in 1996, earned elementary teaching certificates and are employed by the Cincinnati Public School District. Six students have already earned a Masters and four more will complete their requirements for a Masters in December.

Dr. Newell has demonstrated her commitment to the teachers in the district by presenting professional development sessions for the entire school staff at Hays Elementary School, Project Succeed Academy, Roberts Paideia Academy, and Rockdale Elementary School. Florence Newell has also provided sessions for individual teachers at the Academy of World Languages, Bond Hill, Douglass, Hughes, Losantiville, North Avondale, Project Succeed, and Windsor.

Florence Newell has been recognized for her excellence in teaching. During 1999, she was named the Educator of the Year by the Valley Area Council of P. T. A.. That same spring, she was named Educator of the Year by Blue Ash Elementary School. For twelve previous years, Florence Newell taught students who were in the first, third, or fourth grades at Blue Ash. Florence Newell also shared her classroom with numerous student teachers from 1976 through 1989.

Dr. Newell has established a national reputation. She has written several publications for classroom teachers. Dr. Newell has also published these articles:

• Newell, F.M. (1996). Effects of a Cross Age Tutoring Program on Computer Literacy Leaming of Second Grade Students. Lournal of Research on Computing in Education. 2.8 (3), 346-358.

• Newell, F. M. (1 995). @haring multi-cultural literature through storytelling. Reading Horizon, 35. (5), 422-429.

• Tanveer, S. A., & Newell, F. M. (1992). Developing Literacy in Elementary Children: An Overview. Journal of Elementary Education; 1. (2),63-77.

• National Association for Multi-cultural Educatio.,i; St. Louis, MO. and Detroit, MI
• Research Council for Diagi-tostic and Prescriptive Mathematics; Melbourne, FL
• International Reading Association; Anaheim, CA, and Orlando, FL
• Association of Teacher Educators; Detroit, MI, and Orlando, FL
• National Council of Teachers of English; Seattle, WA
• American Educational Research Association; Chicago, IL