The University Research Council and Office of Research presented the Outstanding Externally Funded Research Awards (OEFRA) to recognize the high quality and impact of the honorees’ sponsored research within the last three years and how their work has enhanced Fordham’s reputation—both nationally and globally.

Faculty were honored in five separate categories, and were presented awards by University Provost Stephen Freedman, Ph.D.:

Humanities: Nina Rowe, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Art History and Music in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Rowe, an expert in the art of northern Europe in the high and late Middle Ages, recently received a $4,000 grant from the American Philosophical Society and fellowships totaling $95,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies. She used the awards to fund research for her current book project, From Adam to Achilles to Alexander: World Chronicles and the Anecdotal Past in the Late Medieval City.

Interdisciplinary Research: Chun Zhang, Ph.D., Professor of Curriculum and Teaching at the Graduate School of Education 

Zhang has worked with colleagues at Columbia University and New York University to investigate workforce development in universal preschool programs in New York City. At Fordham, she has collaborated with Yi Ding, Ph.D., associate professor of school psychology, and Tiedan Huang, Ed.D., assistant professor of educational leadership, administration, and policy, to secure research funding. Her efforts have netted awards and grants totaling more than $2.8 million for studies that will impact the lives of children with special needs and their families.

Junior Faculty Research: Jordan DeVylder, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Social Service

DeVylder, who joined the Fordham faculty in 2017, has a keen interest in preventive mental health, with an emphasis on psychosis and suicide. He is currently conducting a randomized trial to test an intervention to improve detection of untreated psychosis by community social workers. The trial is being funded by a $680,000 National Institute of Mental Health grant. DeVylder also recently won an $85,000 grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Sciences: Jason Munshi-South, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biological Sciences

An expert in the burgeoning field of urban ecology, Munshi-South was awarded a $600,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation in 2015 to study the evolutionary biology of wild rats. Since then, the NSF has granted multiple sub-awards , some of which have involved bringing undergraduates from other campuses to work with him during the summer. The NSF has continued to increase this award annually; its total is expected to reach over $672,000 this year. In total, Munshi-South has received more than $1 million in grants from the NSF, the National Institute of Health, and other foundations and organizations.

Social Sciences: Yilu Zhou, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Information Systems at the Gabelli School of Business

Zhou is the first faculty member from the Gabelli School of Business to be awarded a National Science Foundation grant, for her research project, “Can You Trust Apps Age Recommendations? Inconsistent and Unreliable Maturity Ratings on Mobile Platforms.” An expert on human-computer interactions and social media mining, she received two awards totaling $245,000 from the NSF for the project.

George Hong, Ph.D., chief research officer and associate vice president for academic affairs, touted the fact that from July 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, Fordham faculty submitted 116 new grant proposals—an increase of 142 percent over the same period last year—and that faculty has received 82 awards in the past nine months.

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, commended the winners for the example they set for their students.

“I wanted to congratulate all of you for renewing the heart of the University, in a really significant way, and giving all of our students inspiration, hope, and great pride,” he said.

Organized by the Office of Research and the University Research Council and sponsored by the University Research Compliance Council and the Office of Sponsored Programs, the daylong event included a workshop devoted to compliance awareness, a forum of humanities researchers, and a keynote speech by Jennifer Saak, Ph.D., managing director of Traliance. 

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Graduate School of Education Professor Chun Zhang, Ph.D., a $1.25 million grant to train 40 early childhood special education teachers (ESCE) with skills to identify and intervene on behalf of culturally diverse children at risk.

Zhang, a professor of curriculum and education, said cultural misunderstandings can affect a child’s education very early on, particularly those with special needs. In her research, she has outlined cultural and linguistic issues in providing early intervention and early childhood special education services.

Together with project coordinator Emily Marmolejos and field experience mentor Marilyn Bisberg, Zhang secured the funding to address a chronic shortage of qualified early childhood special education teachers as well as to gain knowledge about the communities they serve. This is the third time the project has been funded within the last 8 years.

“Many teachers don’t understand the student’s cultural background and too many parents don’t understand the mainstream expectations,” said Zhang.

Compounded by language issues, Zhang said that American teachers often misdiagnose children as having learning disabilities and/or emotional disturbance, when the behavior in question actually springs from a cultural misunderstanding.  Educators need to learn to become cultural translators or brokers in helping bridge the differences and gaps, she said.

The consequence of not having properly trained ESCE teachers, said Zhang, is an underrepresentation of children in early intervention and an overrepresentation in special education, with lower expectations and outcomes for children with disabilities, especially for those from diverse backgrounds.

Zhang said one component of the training is the Addressing the School Readiness Gaps Summer Institute. This five-day Summer Institute provides an in-depth understanding of inclusive classrooms that ensure quality interactions for all young children. The institute serves Fordham’s urban community by providing a platform for the teachers to hear from variety of experts from diverse backgrounds.

“The field keeps changing and the expectations for teachers are getting higher and higher, so we keep adding elements in the curriculum,” said Zhang. “The purpose is to get teachers to meet the special education needs unique to an urban environment, and, hopefully to encourage them to stay in the city.”

Zhang, a professor of curriculum and education, said cultural misunderstandings can effect a child’s education very early on, particularly those with special needs. In her research, she has outlined cultural and linguistic issues in providing early intervention and early childhood special education services. She secured the funding to address a chronic shortage of qualified early childhood special education teachers as well as to gain knowledge about the communities they serve.

“Many teachers don’t understand the student’s cultural background and too many parents don’t understand the mainstream expectations,” said Chun.

Compounded by language issues, Chun said that American teachers often misdiagnose children as having learning disabilities and/or emotional disturbance, when the behavior in question actually springs from a cultural misunderstanding.  Educators need to learn to become cultural translators or brokers in helping bridge the differences and gaps, she said.

The consequence of not having properly trained ESCE teachers, said Chun, is an underrepresentation of children in early intervention and an overrepresentation in special education, with lower expectations and outcomes for children with disabilities, especially for those from diverse backgrounds.

Zhang said one component of the training is the Addressing the School Readiness Gaps Summer Institute. This five-day Summer Institute provides an in-depth understanding of inclusive classrooms that ensure quality interactions for all young children. The institute serves Fordham’s urban community by providing a platform for the teachers to hear from variety of experts from diverse backgrounds.

“The field keeps changing and the expectations for teachers are getting higher and higher, so we keep adding elements in the curriculum,” said Zhang. “The purpose is to get teachers to meet the special education needs unique to an urban environment, and, hopefully to encourage them to stay in the city.”

Zhang, a professor of curriculum and education at the Graduate School of Education, said cultural misunderstandings can effect a child’s education very early on, particularly those with special needs.

“Many teachers don’t understand the student’s cultural background and too many parents don’t understand the mainstream expectations,” Zhang said from Macao, China, where she is on a Fulbright scholarship.

Through her research, Zhang attempts to understand the cultural and linguistic issues in providing early intervention and early childhood special education services. The book, which she co-edits with Carlos R. McCray, Ph.D. and Su-Je Cho, Ph.D, is called Using Positive Behavioral Supports for Promoting School Success from Early Childhood to High School for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students: Practice and Policies (Peter Lang, May 2013).

Compounded by language issues, Zhang said that American teachers lacking knowledge about the communities they serve often misdiagnose children as having learning disabilities and/or emotional disturbance, when the behavior in question actually springs from a cultural misunderstanding. Educators need to learn to become cultural translators or brokers in helping bridge the differences and gaps, she said.
Zhang seeks to bridge that gap between a family’s culture and the professional relationship with teachers. Various cultural differences often require distinct approaches. For example, understanding familismo, a Latino custom to involve extended family members in decision-making, should prompt teachers to reach out to grandparents, aunts, and uncles in addition to the parents.

Zhang has been weaving multicultural competencies into her research and teacher training that prepare early educators to address school readiness and challenging behaviors. She has secured funding from the U.S. Department of Education to address a chronic shortage of qualified early childhood special education teachers (ESCE). The funding will provide some 75 teachers with skills to identify students in need and intervene (or, perhaps more importantly, not to misdiagnose and mis-serve) on behalf of those children at risk (i.e., culturally diverse students, students in poverty).

The consequence of not having properly trained ESCE teachers, writes Zhang, is an underrepresentation of children in early intervention and an overrepresentation in special education, with lower expectations and outcomes for children with disabilities, especially for those from diverse backgrounds.

Zhang’s work in China expands on research that she began in the early 2000s and builds on her more recent U.S. research. She will be presenting a comparison of U.S. and Chinese perspectives on special education at the 8th Annual Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Hong Kong in early March.

In Macao, she is studying the implementation of groundbreaking programs in China. The country is just beginning to design inclusive services for young children with disabilities. Zhang and other scholars are exploring how U.S. methods might be implemented; once again, cultural differences come into focus, as the Chinese definition of disabilities differs greatly from that of the West.

“In the U.S. we include developmental delay, mild disability, learning disabilities, social, emotional, vision, and hearing disabilities,” said Zhang. “In China, it’s vision, hearing, and intellect.”

Compounding the problem, many Chinese families view a child with a disability as a source of shame—a notion that the Chinese government is trying to abate. Zhang said that Chinese celebrities have begun following the government agenda in order to push the issue to the forefront. But while certain laws are in place to provide the children with services, there’s little money behind them to give the laws teeth.

“It is mostly privately organized,” she said.

While Zhang and other scholars point to the various methods that have worked in the United States, she is careful to point out that that there are many things that haven’t worked. In particular she cites the layers of bureaucracy required to overly assess and monitor teachers and children—a cumbersome component that drains resources from developing and implementing new effective practices and programs.

Whether in the Bronx or Hong Kong, Zhang said she would like to see children with disabilities integrated into classes with the general population. She argues that it’s not just helpful to children with special needs, but it also teaches the rest of the children something more important than just the ABCs.

“Other children will learn so much from understanding and supporting kids who have special needs,” she said. “It’s a kind of soft character development. They become more nurturing and sensitive, [and]if they’re not in that kind of environment they don’t learn it.”

Indeed Zhang, who didn’t start her career researching special education, said the work has transformed her into “a more thoughtful and companionate person.”

“I read the issues, did the research, had contact with the families, and shared these issues and research with my students” she said. “I’ve probably become a better parent, educator, and person because of it.”

Presented March 30 in Douglaston, Queens, the event drew more than 200 teachers and administrators.

“There’s an increasing understanding of the importance of early childhood education as foundational to the growth and development of the student,” said Patricia Kelly-Stiles, Ed.D., associate director for the center and a co-organizer of the event. “The diocese was most grateful that members of the GSE community were wiling to share their insights and expertise with early childhood educators.”

Kathleen Cashin, Ed.D., a clinical professor at GSE and a member of the New York State Board of Regents, gave the keynote address, “Healthy Growth of the Young Child.” In it, she emphasized the importance of helping children develop key qualities that will equip them for healthy, productive lives. She also noted how early childhood educators can nurture these qualities in children early on.

Several members of the GSE faculty and staff also presented at the event. Workshops were offered by Vincent Alfonso, Ph.D., a professor and former associate dean for academic affairs; Marilyn Bisberg, adjunct professor in GSE; Joseph Porzio, a team associate for GSE’s Partnership Support Organization; and Chun Zhang, Ph.D., a professor in GSE’s division of Curriculum and Teaching.

“Part of our work here at the University is to support the educational activities in the non-public school community, whether it be in a leadership capacity or in other areas,” Kelly-Stiles said. “[Here] we were able to share research and information on topics that were of particular interest to the early childhood educators in the Brooklyn Diocese.”

The Graduate School of Education (GSE) was a major sponsor of the two-day conference that brought together thinkers, practitioners and more than 10,000 educators at the New York Hilton in Manhattan.

Meyers discussed his highly acclaimed young adult novels, such as Monster (HarperCollins, 1999), winner of the 2000 Coretta Scott King Author Award, andLockdown (Amistad, 2010). He read an excerpt fromKick (HarperTeen, 2011), which he co-wrote with teenage author Ross Workman.

“Teachers tell me kids are reluctant to read books, yet they will read my books,” he said. “I think it’s because I’ve given them a voice. I went to Stuyvesant High School and dropped out twice. I couldn’t tell teachers what was going on in my life—that my mother was an alcoholic and my family was dysfunctional.”

Myers, who speaks frequently at youth prisons, said that his books resonate with inmates.

“A young prisoner once told me that he has felt the way my characters have felt,” he said.

Growing up in Harlem, Myers said, all he was given to read were works by British writers.

“When I began writing as a child, I’d write ‘Ode to a Fire Hydrant.’ There was something there, but it wasn’t me,” he said, adding that the lack of diversity in literature forced him to reject a lot of himself in his early years.

“I didn’t want to be black or a Harlemite anymore because those things weren’t found in the books I was given to read,” he said. “But when I read James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues, it’s as if it gave me permission to write about black life. I knew I enjoyed writing, but I couldn’t write about my own life before then.”

Chun Zhang, Ph.D, was among a handful of Fordham faculty and administrators to present workshops at the two-day event. Photo by Bruce Gilbert

Myers said he knew he had connected with readers when he gave a talk at a school and a young African-American girl was adamant that he wrote a character wrong.

“She kept saying [the character]wouldn’t do that and I said, ‘I’m onto something here,’” he said.

Myers was blunt about the responsibility of adults in urban areas to push education in general and literacy in particular.

“Education is real freedom,” he said. “We need people publicly addressing this, saying, ‘Not only should you do this; you must do this. This is your future.’”

The Celebration of Teaching and Learning was hosted by public television stations Thirteen/WNET and WLIW 21, among other supporters. Headline speakers included Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, Mehmet Oz, M.D., host of the “Dr. Oz Show” and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Several members of the GSE faculty and administration presented workshops, including:

• Vincent C. Alfonso, Ph.D., professor and associate dean of GSE, on “Assessment of Young Children: Special Considerations for Diverse and Underserved Populations;”

• Carlos R. McRay, Ed.D., associate professor, on “Cultural Collision and Collusion: Reflections on Hip-Hop Culture, Values and Schools;”

• Anita Batisti, Ph.D., associate dean and director of GSE’s Center for Educational Partnerships; Marge Struk, network leader for Fordham’s Partnership Support Organization (PSO); and Joseph Porzio, project associate for PSO, on “What We Should Teach and Why: The Common Core Standards;”

• Amelio D’Onofrio, Ph.D., clinical professor and director of the Psychological Services Institute on “Learning to Love the Bully: Breaking the Cycle of Violence,” and

• Chun Zhang, Ph.D., professor, on “Documenting the Impact of Teacher Candidates’ on Student Behavior and Learning.”

Though he no longer lives in Harlem, Myers said he visits the ever-evolving neighborhood at least once a month.

“People moving into the million-dollar brownstones [in Harlem]are not connecting with that kid whose father is in Green Haven [Correctional Facility] and whose mother on welfare,” he said.

“The Kennedys gave physical fitness a shot in the arm. You’d see pictures of them throwing around a football. We need someone—an Obama, anyone—saying to the kids in these communities, ‘Put a book in your hand,’” Myers said.