Second Annual Montessori Educators Master of Education Scholarship

William Howard Taft University announces Jeffrey Whitehead of Lehi, Utah as the 2nd Annual Montessori Scholarship Award Winner. With 12 years of Montessori experience, Mr. Whitehead’s passion and knowledge for the Montessori methods is astounding.

Mr. Whitehead is currently the owner and administrator of Montessori at Riverton which he opened with his wife over 10 years ago.

As a teacher, Jeff uses a hands on approach with his students, where he strives to provide equality and independence among his students. As an administrator, he spreads knowledge about the Montessori methods by holding training at his school to develop new Montessori educators and provide continuous education for Montessori veterans. His views on education help shape the success of his students’ academic future as well as the growth of his school.

William Howard Taft University is thrilled to offer this scholarship to such an outstanding educator and is delighted to have him in our Master of Education Program.

William Howard Taft University Announces the Appointment of Business School Dean

Jerome Alley, President of William Howard Taft University, announced that Dr. David Lady has been appointed Dean of the W. Edwards Deming School of Business.

Dr. Lady earned a Doctor of Business Administration with a concentration in Management and Technology and Engineering degree from Northcentral University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Dr. Lady was a founder of the American Institute for Management Sciences and was past president of Aspen University. His academic research interests focus on business innovation, technology based economic game theory, and new product development.

Alley commented “I am confident that David’s enthusiasm, experience and academic background will have a significant positive impact, and I welcome the opportunity to work together to advance Taft’s School of Business. ”

Taft University on the Jeopardy Show

Much to our surprise, this question was included on the March 3, 2011 competition.

Watch the Clip.

School Board Members Encourage Congress to Find Collaborative Solutions to Education Challenges

David L. Boyd, President of The Taft University System and a member of the Orange County Board of Education, joined more than 800 school board leaders to ask Congress to support public school students as they consider the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) this year.

Mr. Boyd was in Washington, D.C. to take part in the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) 38th annual Federal Relations Network Conference, held February 6-8, 2011. He is a member of NSBA’s Federal Relations Network, a national grassroots legislative effort that urges members of Congress to make K-12 education a top priority.

Not surprisingly, school funding remains a major concern for local districts. School board leaders are requesting that Congress help insure that public education is adequately funded and discontinue the practice of passing education legislation without providing the necessary funding for local implementation. Boyd commented, “These so-called unfunded mandates can be budget killers at the local level.”

In addition, Boyd noted that some members of Congress are pushing for alternatives to local school governance. Boyd believes that, except in rare circumstances, that schools are best governed and students best served by governance from their local communities.

United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, addressed the Conference on February 7th, promising school board members that he will do everything in his power to ensure that ESEA is reauthorized by the next school year and the current law’s escalating and sometimes unfair sanctions will be replaced with supports and rewards for excellent schools. But Boyd noted that to the frustration of many school board members, he declined to address what actions, if any, he would take to remove sanctions if reauthorization does not get passed in time for the new school year.

Taft Scholarship Winner Presents Research

Middletown kindergarten teacher, and Taft University 2009 Doctor of Education Scholarship winner Danielle Lowe spent some time in Belize earlier this month at the Belizean International Symposium of Educators, presenting her research on early reading and using books in therapy to help kids cope with crisis.

Read the full article here at the Times Herald-Record online.

Read more about Danielle Lowe.

Taft Doctor of Education Graduate Interview

Taft University Alumn and school superintendent Louise Bennicoff-Nan, talks with The School Administrator about her experiences as she earned her Ed.D. degree at a distance. The following excerpts are from the September 2010 issue of The School Administrator magazine, published by the American Association of School Administrators.

I chose distance education for my doctoral program because at the time I was a single parent of a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old. Some of my friends in school administration were enrolled in a program meeting Friday nights and Saturdays every other weekend at a university in San Francisco, and they encouraged me to join them, but I could not see myself allowing two teenagers to be home alone and left to their own devices overnight.

I made the right choice, because during my participation in an alternative graduate program, they grew into successful young adults. I set the expectation for college-level work in my home, which they successfully followed. Now 26 and 28, both are well-educated professionals, and I am grateful that distance learning gave me the opportunity to meet my academic goals while continuing to be a good parent.

While I missed the interaction of classmates during my graduate courses, the advantage of having so much reading, independent research and writing in each course was apparent when it was time to do my dissertation, which I opted to do on computer-adaptive testing. I was well-prepared. I found my preparation to stand in stark contrast to the experiences of numerous colleagues, who went through traditional doctoral programs and then were unprepared or unmotivated to do a dissertation and thus never completed their degrees.

I had a chance to participate in a full doctoral experience, including the comprehensive exam, a traditional dissertation and the defense in front of a committee. While my program was academically strong, my instructors’ practical experience left me well-suited to be successful in the superintendency, which I attained in just over a year after completing my degree.

Read the full article here: http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=16376.