Three Reich College of Education faculty members have been selected as Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies award recipients:
- Darrell Morris: Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award
- David Koppenhaver: 100 Scholars Research Award
- Brooke Hardin: Ronald and Kathie Zigli Research Award & Graduate Student Service Award
Award recipients will be honored at the Graduate School Awards Ceremony.
- Date: Thursday, April 13, 2017
- Time: 5:00 pm
- Location: Plemmons Student Union, Parkway Ballroom
Please join us in congratulating these deserving colleagues.
Darrell Morris
Dr. Darrell Morris, a professor in the Department of Reading Education and Special Education and director of the Anderson Reading Clinic, has been awarded the Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies 2016-2017 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award. As recipient of the award, Morris will receive up to $1,000 for research.
Morris has directed the Anderson Reading Clinic for the past 28 years. He regularly teaches reading methods courses and clinical practicums to graduate students both on and off campus. He plans to use the award monies to help fund a videotaping project of reading tutoring which, after editing, can be used by Reading Program faculty in their on- and off-campus courses.
Morris was hired by the Reich College of Education in 1989. He received his Ed.D. in Reading Education from the University of Virginia, his M.A. in Psychology from University of Richmond, and his B.A. from Randolph-Macon College. His research interests lie in the areas of beginning reading, reading diagnosis, and instructional interventions.
David Koppenhaver
Dr. David Koppenhaver, a professor in the Department of Reading Education and Special Education, has been awarded the Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies 2016-2017 100 Scholars Research Award for his project titled "Developing a Technology-Assisted Model Communication and Literacy Intervention Program for Students with Significant Disabilities." As recipient of the award, Koppenhaver will receive up to $1,000 for research.
Koppenhaver's initial study involved the development of an emergent literacy instructional program for five children, ages 5-10, with significant disabilities including autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and multiple disabilities. He plans to use the funds to further this study, namely on assistive technologies the children can use to access reading, writing, and communication.
Koppenhaver was hired by the Reich College of Education in 2004. He received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and M.Ed. in Reading and Language Arts from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his B.A. from the College of Wooster. He holds NC teaching certification in Reading K-12, Middle Grades Language Arts (Grades 6-9), Intermediate (Grades 4-6), and Elementary Education (Grades K-6). His research focuses on literacy in children with significant disabilities including autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, complex communication needs, and multiple disabilities. In 1990 he co-founded the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at UNC and in 2002 was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Queensland in Australia.
Brooke Hardin
Hardin, an instructor in the Departments of Reading Education and Special Education and Curriculum and Instruction as well as a current doctoral student in the Educational Leadership program, has been awarded the Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies 2016-2017 Ronald and Kathie Zigli Research Award. As recipient of the award, Hardin will receive $500 for research.
Hardin plans to use the funds to continue her dissertation research. She said, "I am honored to receive the Zigli Research Award as it makes it possible for me to visit the research sites more frequently, utilize more innovative teaching strategies, and offer more substantial material supports to the participants."
Her research examines how two graduate students in the Masters in Reading Education Program appropriate and implement methods, tools, and concepts they have learned in advanced writing instruction coursework in their own teaching of writing in public school classrooms. It involves weekly visits to two different research sites and the purchase of professional texts and instructional materials for the participants.
The study holds significant implications for the field of literacy as well as that of teacher education, especially course design and the structure of professional development opportunities.
Hardin was hired by the Reich College of Education in 2014. She received her M.A. in Reading Education from Appalachian State University, and her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include writing development and instruction for intermediate and middle grades students, teaching and learning through technology and new literacies, literacy professional development and teacher education, and interdisciplinary approaches to reading, writing, and the utilization of Children's Literature.
Hardin is also the recipient of the Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies 2016-2017 Graduate Student Service Award. She was selected based on her service record and will receive an additional $500 in funding.
Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies
