UO faculty honored for their work in Connected Lane County

Three members of the UO faculty who have worked to prepare Lane County students for successful school transitions were acknowledged at a special event organized by Connected Lane County on Oct. 8.

The event, titled “Get Connected: Successful Students & Thriving Communities,”  boasted speakers from around the state, including Nancy Golden, Oregon’s chief education officer; Mary Spilde, president of Lane Community College; Greg Rikhoff, a UO assistant vice president; Colt Gill, superintendent of the Bethel school district; and several others.

The three UO faculty and staff members were honored with the Bridge Builder Award,  given to those who have created innovative projects that aid Lane County students in their educational transitions, such as preschool to kindergarten or high school to college or career.

Dev Sinha, a professor of mathematics at the UO, was honored with the award for his work surrounding the Common Core curriculum and his creation of the Lane Ignite the Core program. Sinha was selected for the Bridge Builder Award because of his commitment to training local K-12 teachers on the value of the Common Core.

Katherine Pears, a research scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center and courtesy research associate in the UO’s psychology department, was acknowledged for her creation of the preventative intervention program Kids in Transition to School. Her program aims to enhance the transition experiences of students who are at high risk for school difficulties. Currently, 120 children and their parents participate in the program.

Jonathan Jacobs, director of enrollment management research at the UO, was honored as a leader of a team of six researchers who developed Connected Lane County’s Longitudinal Assessment and Research Dataset. The dataset combines information on all Lane County students and their academic achievements in order to more directly correlate success in the classroom and smooth transitions in education.

The dataset, which took more than two years to complete, is seen by the Oregon Education Investment Board as a model for the state.

Connected Lane County’s efforts are part of the landmark 40-40-20 goal set by  the state Legislature in 2011. The goal is that by 2025, 40 percent of Oregonians will have a two-year associate’s degree, 40 percent will have a four-year bachelor’s degree or higher and 20 percent will have a high school diploma or the equivalent.

—By Nathaniel Brown, Public Affairs Communications intern