Jayne Beilke earned her doctorate in history of education from Indiana University-Bloomington. She also holds master of arts (English) and master of science (reading) degrees from Indiana University-Bloomington. Her undergraduate study in English was completed at Defiance College (Ohio).

She currently serves as professor and chairperson of the Department of Educational Studies. Previously, she was a teacher and administrator at the Indiana Vocational Technical College in Columbus, Indiana. Her teaching experiences include high school, community college, and university classrooms. Dr. Beilke was the staff coordinator for the Tech Prep initiative in Indiana for three years, working for both the Indiana Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Development.

Her research interests include black education, manual labor boarding schools in the Ohio Valley, and critical multicultural education. She is researching an inter-institutional partnership between Stillman College (a private black college in Alabama) and Indiana University that took place during the pre-Civil Rights era. Her dissertation was a study of the Julius Rosenwald Fund Fellowship Program that awarded grants to southern African Americans, which allowed them to attend prestigious graduate and professional schools during the period 1928-1948. During the Jim Crow era, few black institutions offered work beyond the undergraduate program and blacks were not allowed to enroll in white institutions in the South.

Joel A. Bryan is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He received a bachelor of science in physics with secondary teacher certification in both physics and mathematics in 1986 from Angelo State University (San Angelo, Texas), and a master of arts in teaching (M.A.T.) in science education from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1994.

He taught all levels of high school physics (Pre-AP, AP, conceptual) and a variety of mathematics courses for 13 years before beginning doctoral work in curriculum and instruction (science education major) at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He completed his Ph.D. in 2003.

From 2001 until 2007, Dr. Bryan designed and taught a conceptual physics course for preservice middle school teachers at Texas A&M and was project director of four externally funded professional development grants that served inservice elementary/middle school science teachers and secondary physics teachers.

He left Texas A&M to start his present position as a physics educator at Ball State University in the fall of 2007. He currently teaches a conceptual physics course for preservice K-5 teachers and courses in the department’s graduate programs in science and physics education.

His research interests include all aspects of physics teaching and learning, with particular interest in applications of technology, novice learner problem solving, guided and unguided inquiry techniques, and alternative conceptions.

Annette Ricks Leitze is a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Ball State University. Dr. Leitze has almost 28 years of combined experience teaching mathematics in Grades 7 through college. She received a bachelor of science in mathematics education from Western Illinois University. Following several years of middle and high school teaching, she attended graduate school at Indiana University where she received a master of arts in mathematics and a doctor of philosophy in mathematics education.

After the completion of her doctorate, Dr. Leitze took an assistant professor position at Ball State University in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. She is currently in her 17th year at Ball State and holds rank of full professor. At Ball State, she teaches undergraduate and graduate mathematics and mathematics education courses for Grades K-12 teachers. Since 1999, she has directed the elementary school portion of Ball State’s award-winning Urban Semester Program that prepares preservice teachers for urban teaching. Recently, Dr. Leitze became the graduate advisor for mathematics education.

Her research interests have always included teaching via problem solving and the integration of problem solving into the curriculum. For the past several years her research interests also have focused on factors affecting the preparation, hiring, and retention of successful urban teachers.

Winnie Mucherah is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. She received both her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. Both degrees are in human development. She earned her bachelor of education from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr. Mucherah has been teaching at Ball State University for nine years. She teaches developmental psychology courses (child psychology, adolescent development, and life-span development).

Her research interests are classroom climate and academic performance, reading motivation, and self-concept and academic achievement. She is currently conducting cross-cultural studies in classroom climate, goal structures, self-concept, and academic performance in adolescents.

Gilbert Park is an assistant professor of social foundations and multicultural education at the Department of Educational Studies. Since 2007, he's been teaching Introduction to Multicultural Education, Social Foundations of Education, and Multicultural & Multiethnic Education in American Schools at Ball State University. Previously, he taught Gender & Education and School & Society at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a lecturer. He recently graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned the degrees of doctor of philosophy & master of arts in the Department of Educational Policy Studies.

Areas of interests are in the issues regarding school experiences of students of color with a focus on Asian Americans, potential of multicultural education as a tool for advancing social justice, the Americanization process of immigrants, and the role of schooling in these areas. Most recent research deals with the Americanization process of recent immigrants from Korea in an urban public high school.

Cathy J. Siebert is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies and the liaison for the Anderson Professional Development School partnership. She holds a doctor of philosophy in curriculum, teaching, and educational policy, a master’s in English education for the secondary teacher and a bachelor’s in English education, all from Michigan State University.

She has been teaching for twenty-one years in high school, community college, and university contexts. Dr. Siebert’s primary teaching responsibilities at Ball State University are teaching in the middle/junior high school and high school sequence. She also teaches classroom management, instructional strategies, children’s literature, and graduate-level curriculum classes.

Her research interests include university/school collaborations (specifically professional development schools), preservice teacher education, inservice teacher professional development, and mentoring. Dr. Siebert is currently completing a three-year elected term on the Board of the National Association of Professional Development Schools.

Sunnie Lee Watson is an assistant professor of educational technology in the Department of Educational Studies at Ball State University. Dr. Watson completed her dual major doctorate in instructional systems technology and educational leadership and policy studies with a focus on international and comparative education at Indiana University. She also earned her master of science degree in instructional systems technology from Indiana University. Her bachelor of arts in educational technology is from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea.

Dr. Watson has taught at the elementary, high school, and college levels for over 10 years. She has also worked in human resources development for Fortune 100 companies and developed educational software for P-16 students.

She teaches and pursues research on technology policies and leadership for disadvantaged students and critical-systemic school change in promoting equity for diverse learners. She is interested in the creation of customized learning environments appropriate for the proper development of all students, especially those originating from disadvantaged populations.