In a new article published in The Conversation, School of Public Policy Assistant Professor F. Chris Curran shares his latest research that reveals significant achievement gaps in science for students as soon as kindergarten.

The study, which Curran worked on with Ann Kellogg, a public policy Ph.D. student, examined data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), a national study conducted by the federal government that uses data from science achievement tests that assessed concepts in physical, life and environmental science, and scientific inquiry.

“Our study revealed large gaps in science achievement in kindergarten between white students and racial or ethnic minorities. And, where science gaps existed, we found that they were generally larger than the gaps in reading or mathematics achievement. However, we did not find significant gaps by gender,” Curran wrote in the article titled “Science achievement gaps start early – in kindergarten.”

Curran, whose research areas of focus include education policy and early childhood education, notes in the article that the results of the study point to the need for increased attention to inequities in science achievement.

“I believe, for example, that teachers and school leaders should look for opportunities to incorporate science concepts into reading and math lessons,” writes Curran. “Looking beyond the classroom setting, the findings of our work and that of others suggest the need to provide support to informal science learning opportunities. Visiting museums, interacting with nature and exploring novel tools all represent ways in which parents and caregivers can support early science inquiry.”

Read the full article in The Conversation, and view additional coverage below.

In kindergarten, there is no STEM gender gap (Education Week) 
Science achievement gaps start early, in kindergarten (San Francisco Chronicle) 

Image: Chris Curran presents talk at UMBC about his research. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

This article, by Max Cole, originally appeared here. 

On August 27, 2016, Sonora Review published Abby Dockter's review of Professor Piotr Gwiazda's latest collection of poetry, Aspects of Strangers. Here Dockter writes that:

Aspects of Strangers styles itself an ethnography: a series of cultural observations that have been cut, dried, and gathered into poems. A true anthropologist would not have been able to resist fleshing them out into a treatise—context, you know—but the speaker in these poems is more interested in blank space. There is a fresh, field-notes quality preserved in these records, and somehow his cherry-picked observations gradually suggest the beauty and complexity of what’s under description. Poems are for moments, and Gwiazda provides a gorgeous rush of them.

As Dockter reminds us, Gwiazda’s words provide us access to a side of the world worth exploring more and more. We are excited with every poem about the journey he encourages us to take. To read the full review, please visit https://sonorareview.com/2016/08/27/a-review-of-piotr-gwiazdas-aspects-of-strangers/#more-8998.

Baltimore Magazine recently released its “Best of 2016” edition, which highlighted leaders in arts and culture from across the city over the past year. Lia Purpura, Writer in Residence in UMBC’s Department of English, was named Baltimore’s top poet.

The magazine states: “In It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful, her latest collection published this year, Purpura impressively delivers poignant insight into our existence without pomp and circumstance. Her verses are little gems with short stanzas and an absence of flowery language, but that doesn’t make them any less profound. Instead, Purpura . . . proves how meaningful simplicity can be.”

Purpura has also been awarded a Pushcart Prize for her essay “Scream, or, Never Minding,” which was originally published in The Georgia Review. Also receiving recognition last month was Purpura’s poem “Resolution,” which was featured on The Academy of American Poets website as the national “Poem-a-Day” on August 8.

Lia Purpura’s work frequently appears in The New Yorker, Orion, The Paris Review, Best American Essays, The Iowa Review, and other national journals. Among her numerous honors are a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts and Fulbright Fellowships, and four Pushcart prizes. Her collection of essays, On Looking was a finalist for the National Books Critics Award. 

We offer our congratulations to our Writer in Residence, Lia Purpura, for this outstanding recognition of her work.

The CAHSS Dean’s Research Fund (CDRF) provides a biannual (proposals due Oct 1 and Apr 1) competitive funding opportunity for up to $5,000 to support the research endeavors of CAHSS tenured and tenure-track faculty and lecturers. Funds will support developing or established scholarly and creative projects. Faculty on visiting or short-term appointments are not eligible to apply. Awarded funds will be available through the end of the fiscal year following the award year. After completion of the grant term, awardees must provide evidence of work produced and a short report describing how funds were spent and how any equipment purchased has been designated for continued College use.

Items that are eligible for CDRF funding include: travel, equipment, supplies, books, research participant costs, undergraduate or graduate student support, and other items necessary for research endeavors. No faculty salary support or course releases may be funded through this initiative. Funds supporting this initiative are provided by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

Applications will be reviewed by the CAHSS Research Advisory Committee, which will make recommendations to the Dean. Proposals will be judged on: the quality of the proposed project, feasibility of the work, and how the project will benefit from CDRF assistance.

Limit one application per faculty member per funding cycle. Limit one award per faculty per two years.

Link for application materials: http://cahss.umbc.edu/cahss-deans-research-fund/ 

Information from CAHSS Dean's Office

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• Georgia Institute of Technology, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
• Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government
• IE University, School of International Relations
• Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
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• Stockholm School of Economics
• Syracuse University, The Maxwell School
• Texas A&M University, Bush School of Government & Public Service
• Tufts University, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
• University of California San Diego, School of Global Policy and Strategy
• University of Denver, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
• University of Maryland, School of Public Policy
• University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
• University of Minnesota, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs
• University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public And International Affairs
• University of Southern California, Master of Public Diplomacy
• University of St. Gallen, Master of Arts in International Affairs and Governance
• University of Washington, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
• Yale University, Jackson Institute for Global Affairs