The American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2013 Annual Meeting (http://www.aera.net) will be held in San Francisco, California, April 27–May 1. The theme of this year’s conference is Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, Policy and Praxis.

I will participate in the following presentations next year:

• Öztürk, M. (April 2013). Knocking on the Ivory Tower: Connecting Teacher Qualifications and Preparation to Student Outcomes. Role: Discussant, Paper Session.
• Öztürk, M. & Lawton, K. (April 2013). Partnership for Enrichment: Increasing Educational Equality and Academic Success of Low-income Children. Research paper will be delivered in session: School-University Partnerships Creating Change for Educators and Learners; SIG-School/University Collaborative Research.
• Öztürk, M. (April 2013). Climate Matters: The Impact of Parent and Student Perceptions of School Climate on Student Identification with School and Student Achievement. Role: Chair, Paper Session.
• Öztürk, M. (April 2013). International Perspectives on Leadership Preparation and Development. Role: Chair, Paper Session.
• Öztürk, M. (April 2013). Improving the Quality of Instruction. Role: Chair, Roundtable Session.
• Öztürk, M. (April 2013). Educational Change. Role: Chair, Roundtable Session.

The latest issue of Economia & Lavoro has published Drs. Eugene E. Garcia and Mehmet Dali Ozturk’s research on improving education equity and quality in the United States. The issue features comparative perspectives on education systems facing the challenges of technological, organizational, and social changes in the US and Italy.

Economia & Lavoro is a highly-respected thrice-yearly review of economic policy, sociology, and industrial relations. The review is published in Italian and distributed throughout Italy and abroad.

Garcia, E.E. & Öztürk, M. (Gennaio-Aprile 2012). Istruzione negli Stati Uniti: miglioramento dell’equità e della qualità dell’istruzione.  Economia & Lavoro, n.1, 2012. pp. 25-32, Anno XLVI;  ISBN 9788843064847

Dr. Ozturk & Dr. William G. Tierney, President-Elect, AERA (2012)

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2012 Annual Meeting(http://www.aera.net) will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, April 13–17. The theme of this year’s conference is Non Satis Scire: To Know Is Not Enough.

I will participate in the following presentations this year:

• Öztürk, M. (April 2012). Games for Learning: Research Outcomes and Student Experiences. Role: Chair. Paper session sponsored by The Applied Research in Virtual Environments for Learning Special Interest Group (SIG).
• Öztürk, M. (April 2012). Building Knowledge through Transformative Practice. Role: Discussant. Panel sponsored by The Research on Evaluation Special Interest Group (SIG).
• Öztürk, M. (April 2012). Crossing Institutional Boundaries: Collaborations Between Higher Education and Other Sectors. Role: Chair. Paper session sponsored by Division J: Postsecondary Education. Section 4: Organization, Management and Leadership.
• Öztürk, M. & Garcia, E.E. (April 2012). Grantsmanship. Workshop will be conducted at the Pre-conference Professional Development session Advancing Research on Underrepresented Ethnic Populations in Education, Carlos J. Vallejo Research Track on Latinas and Latinos in Education.

Ozturk & Senge, January 27, 2012, Phoenix, AZ.

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Peter Senge of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during his visit to ASU’s Teachers College on January 27, 2012. Dr. Senge is the author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Dr. Senge is also founding chair of the SoL (Society for Organizational Learning) Council. Dr. Senge led a stimulating and informative discussion with Teachers College faculty and staff. In my conversation with him, I found his thoughts on systems thinking and schools very intriguing due to my strong interest in systems concepts in evaluation. I closely follow the American Evaluation Association’s Systems in the Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TIG), which has been focusing on these issues.

Dr. Öztürk and Dr. Finbarr C. Sloane, MLFTC Associate Professor, experience an epiphany about evaluation of complex systems in education.

Dr. Mehmet Dali Öztürk, Assistant Dean and Assistant Research Professor attended the School Reform and School Leadership Conference, November 3 & 4, 2011, Phoenix, AZ. The meeting was hosted by the ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College to facilitate collaboration and share the latest research in order to transform Arizona’s schools and communities. The conference provided a great opportunity for school leaders, education professionals and faculty experts to promote partnerships and share excellence in teaching, learning and leadership that impact preK-16 education. Plenary speakers included Dr. James Paul Gee, ASU Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies and Dr. Taffy Raphael, Professor of Literacy Education, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Facultad de Ciencias de la Educacion--Universidad de Granada

A research paper by Dr. Mehmet Dali Öztürk, Assistant Dean and
Assistant Research Professor and Dr. Eugene E. Garcia, Emeritus Professor of Education at MLF Teachers College has been accepted for publication by The International Journal of the
Humanities.

The paper titled Education Partnerships: From Research to Practice was initially presented at the Ninth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, which was held at the Universidad de Granada, Campus La Cartuja, Granada, Spain from 8 to 11 June 2011. The conference addressed a range of critically important themes in the various fields that make up the humanities today. The Humanities Conference is held annually in different locations around the world. For further information on this annual meeting, please visit their web site at http://2011.thehumanities.com/

Golcuk, Bolu TURKEY

Dr. Mehmet Dali Öztürk, Assistant Dean and Assistant Research Professor in Policy and Evaluation, Dr. Michael Kelley and Dr. Cory Hansen, senior faculty in Early Childhood Education, within Teachers College recently returned from a research trip to Turkey. The primary purpose of the visit was to have the ASU team explore the opportunity to establish a partnership with Abant İzzet Baysal University (AIBU) and the Preschool Education Application and Research Centre (PEARC) in Bolu, Turkey.

Their visit to the PEARC was of interest to the local media in Bolu. Koroglu TV’s coverage is available here: http://www.bolukoroglu.com/habergoster.php?id=16376

In addition to the TV coverage, other media outlets in Turkey also picked up/covered their visit to Bolu. Examples of these news items include:
http://bbv.org.tr/vakiftan_haberler.htm

http://www.koroglugazetesi.com/habergoster.php?id=2631

http://www.anadoluhaber.net/arizona-state-universitesi-nden-aibu-ye-ziyaret-h118329.html

http://www.haberx.com/Default.aspx?p=17&n=10766977&fn=1

From left to right: Dr. Juna Snow, University of California, Berkeley; Dr. Jennifer Greene, AEA President-Elect (1/10 - 12/12), and Dr. Öztürk

On November 8-14, ASU Office of the Vice President for Education Partnerships (VPEP) team members Dr. Mehmet Dali Öztürk, Associate Vice President, Research & Evaluation, and Kerry Lawton, Senior Research Specialist, attended the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) Annual Meeting held in San Antonio. The theme for this year’s meeting was Evaluation Quality. Dr. Öztürk is currently active in several AEA Topical Interest Groups (TIGs). In addition, the VPEP team delivered the following presentation:

Öztürk, M., Garbarini, B. & Lawton, K. (2010). Evaluation of Summer Enrichment Programs as a Gateway for Low Income Students to Experience and Choose College. Paper presented at the 2010 American Evaluation Association (AEA) Annual Conference, Evaluation Quality, November 8-14, 2010, San Antonio, Texas.

Based on the strength of this paper’s proposal, the College Access Programs TIG also invited the VPEP team to contribute to AEA365, the association’s online platform for evaluators to highlight their experiences and communicate tips and resources to other evaluators. The VPEP team’s submission is available at this url: http://aea365.org/blog/?p=1251

The mission of the AEA is to improve evaluation practices and methods, increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession, and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. For further information on the American Evaluation Association, please visit their web site at http://www.eval.org/

At the invitation of the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TIG), ASU Office of the Vice President for Education Partnerships (VPEP) team members Dr. Mehmet Dali Öztürk, Associate Vice President, Research & Evaluation, and Kerry Lawton, Senior Research Specialist, contributed to AEA365, the association’s online platform for evaluators to highlight their experiences and communicate tips and resources to other evaluators. Their submission, titled “Using Systems Thinking to Evaluate Education Partnerships,” is available at this url: http://aea365.org/blog/?p=1970

The American Evaluation Association’s mission is to improve evaluation practices and methods, increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession, and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. For further information, please visit AEA’s web site at http://www.eval.org/