OC professor selected for seminar
Philip Patterson, a communications professor at Oklahoma Christian University, was among 50 people selected to attend a National Institutes of Health seminar June 24 through Saturday in Bethesda, Md.
The purpose of the seminar was to evaluate the status of media reporting on medical research.
“This course highlights best practices in presenting useful medical knowledge that effectively meets public needs,” Patterson said in a news release. “My reason to be there is to study the ethical component of health reporting.”
Patterson wrote the textbook, “Media Ethics: Issues and Cases,” with Lee Wilkins of the University of Missouri.
Tim Henley
OCCC to host oil and gas workshop
Oklahoma City Community College will host a workshop titled “Land and the Law for NonLandsmen” from 9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 14 on its campus, 7777 S May Ave.
During the workshop, participants will learn about oil and gas laws, lease clauses, lease negotiations and mineral ownership.
The cost to attend is $299. For more information, go to www.occc.edu/corporatelearning or call 682-7562.
Tim Henley
Sandy Garrett’s Column
Summer break is in full swing and students likely have indulged in sleeping in and spending hours playing with friends.
That is wonderful. Summer vacations should be full of fun. However, they don’t have to mean a break from learning. In fact, they shouldn’t mean a break from learning.
Countless studies continue to show that children experience learning loss during the summer months, particularly students in low-income homes.
On average, all students lose about two months in math skills over the summer months. While upper and middle income students gain in reading skills during this time, lower income students experience a loss according to a study by Dr. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
A recent report from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, “The Learning
Season: The Untapped Power of Summer to Advance Student Achievement” shows that nonacademic experiences during the summer can support success during the school year, including higher grades and test scores.
Families can prevent a “summer brain drain” and help children enrich their learning skills during the summer by heeding a few low-cost suggestions adapted from the Center for Summer Learning:
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Take family educational trips. These can be visits to parks, historicalor children’s museums, zoos and nature centers.
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Practice math daily by measuring items around the house or yard.Children can add and subtract items at the grocery store and cooking (with adult supervision) is a good way to learn fractions.
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Do good deeds together. Children learn better and “act out” less whenthey engage in activities that aid in their social emotional development, such as community service, maybe planting trees or cleaning up a park.
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Enroll children in summer programs offered by local schools, recreationcenters, universities or community-based organizations.
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Keep a schedule. Continuing daily routines will provide structure andlimits. This will provide a balance and keep young minds engaged.
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Get outside and play. Intense physical activity and exercise contributeto healthy development and release pent up energy.
Also, providing plenty of reading material in the home and finding quality educational activities online are helpful to preventing summer brain drain.
Whatever you have planned, don’t forget to make the most out of the time you have together as a family. Here’s to plenty of fun and learning this summer!
OBU offering free hot dogs before RedHawks game
Oklahoma Baptist University International Graduate School in Oklahoma City will offer free hot dogs and snacks before two Oklahoma City RedHawks games this month.
The food will be offered from 4 to 7 p.m. June 19 before the game against the Nashville Sounds and from 4 to 7 p.m. June 26 before the RedHawks take on the Round Rock Express.
The graduate school is at 111 N Harrison. School representatives will offer discounted game tickets for $10, and a free shuttle to AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
Visitors also can take a tour of the Oklahoma City campus and learn about the graduate program.
Tim Henley
Sandy Garrett’s Column
Oklahoma soon will raise the bar on state-mandated tests for elementary reading and mathematics.
The State Board of Education – a constitutional body of seven members chaired by the State Superintendent – has directed Oklahoma’s student testing company for Grades 3-8 to lead an effort resulting in higher expectations of students.This month, Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) of Minneapolis, Minn., will convene panels of reading and math educators, business and civic leaders, and representatives from higher education. DRC will facilitate committee work to raise the bar on what students must do to be proficient on the Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests.
The original development of Grade 3-8 tests was both in state law and in the federal No Child Left Behind Act, however the tests were phased in between 2001 and 2006. Proficiency rates for some tests were set years before other tests were even required, such as the 6th and 7th grade tests. We have begun to see an “outlier” effect on some of the tests, especially with the 4th and 5th grades.
Thus,it is critical that we now align the test benchmarks, or cut scores, to provide consistency across the board on what it means to be “proficient” at each grade level on state tests. Committees also will consider how to better align Oklahoma tests with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Including open-ended questions on Oklahoma tests, to make them more like NAEP is costly and we have not received an appropriation for this to date.
In recent years, the Board has focused on directing the development of rigorous, high-stakes, end-of-instruction (EOI) exams in Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Biology, U.S. History, English II and English III, as required by the Achieving Classroom Excellence Act (ACE).
The EOI tests are part of the state’s new graduation requirements, established in the ACE Act. Beginning with the freshmen class of this past school year (2008-09), students must pass four of the seven EOI tests to earn a high school diploma.
Now that the EOI tests are operational and it appears proficiency benchmarks are sufficiently high, it is time to redirect our efforts to making certain that math and reading exams in Grades 3-8 have equal rigor to our high school exams and are appropriately aligned.
Setting higher math and reading expectations is critical to Oklahoma students being nationally and internationally competitive.
Recommendations for raising the bar on these tests will likely come to the State Board of Education for consideration in July.
We welcome this important opportunity to move Oklahoma forward.
OCCC appoints new board regent
Gov. Brad Henry and Oklahoma City Community College officials appointed Teresa Moisant to the college’s board of regents.
Moisant is president of Moisant Promotional Products, a company she created in 1990. The company has been recognized three times by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce as one of the fastest growing businesses.
Moisant previously served as advertising director for Target, training director for TG&Y and district manager for Revlon.
Tim Henley
Cowboy cologne, Sooner scent?
A company called Masik is marketing collegiate colognes which reflect a school’s signature scents. So far fragrances are available for Penn State, University of North Carolina and Louisiana State, but more are in development.
The scents are inspired by such things as school colors, campus landmarks and fight songs. For example:
LSU for Women opens with Juicy Plum and Golden Bourbon, symbolizing the time honored school colors of Purple and Gold, according to masik.com
What ideas do you have for OU and OSU scents? Elements could include the OSU hog barn, OU’s sweaty athletes, or the waft of pepperoni pizza and cheese fries.
– Susan Simpson
OCU creates mililtary student organization
Officials at Oklahoma City University created a military student organization aimed at helping military personnel afford a college education.
Military Affinity Group is open to all active military personnel and veterans.
“It’s more than just a social group where military students can share ideas about their college experience,” founder Derek Gordon said in a news release. “The main component is the financial aspect.”
The group’s focus is to find donors for an endowment fund to help students get an education at OCU after serving their country, Gordon said.
For more information, call 208-5347.
Conference will feature church leaders
Oklahoma City University will host a joint conference Aug. 8 with the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference on campus in the St. Paul School of Theology.
During the conference, American Indian church leaders will share ideas about how the United Methodist Seminary can meet its educational goals.
For more information, call (800) 633-7242
OCCC to host film institute
Oklahoma City Community College will host the Oklahoma Film Institute beginning Thursday in the college’s visual and performing arts center.
Various sessions will take place through July 23.
Participants will learn cinema production, film directing, art directing, lighting, makeup, editing and writing. The cost to attend is $450. To enroll, call 682-7847.
