The First Annual Student Discipline Conference at UL Lafayette
Effective and Equitable Strategies for Classroom Management: What Works and What Doesn’t
Friday, March 11, 2016
Learn from leading thinkers and innovators in the classroom management and student discipline community.
Classroom management has always been a challenge, and educators continually search for the best way to maintain orderly learning environments and to dispense student discipline in a way that is fair, equitable, effective, and humane. Nationally recognized experts will present the latest research on classroom management and student discipline; and Louisiana speakers will put this issue in a local context.
We hope you will choose to participate in this innovative conference!
Keynote Speakers
Russell Skiba, University of Indiana, will speak on You Can't Fix What You Don¹t Look At: Acknowledging Race in Addressing Racial Discipline Disparities
Russell J. Skiba, Ph.D. is Professor in Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University. He has worked with schools across the country, directed numerous federal and state research grants, and published extensively in the areas of school violence, school discipline and classroom management, and equity in education. He was a member and the lead author of the American Psychological Association's Task Force on Zero Tolerance. His work has been cited in numerous national media sources, including USA Today, Time Magazine,the Wall Street Journal, and Nightline, and he has testified before the United States Civil Rights Commission and both Houses of Congress on issues of school discipline and school violence. He was awarded the Push for Excellence Award by the Rainbow Coalition/Operation PUSH for his work on African American disproportionality in school suspension.
Elizabeth Gershoff, University of Texas, will speak on School corporal punishment: Why it does not work and why other methods are more effective
Elizabeth Gershoff is a developmental psychologist who studies how parenting generally and discipline in particular affect children’s development. She is interested in how parenting affects children differently within contexts of poverty and low income, neighborhoods, schools, and culture. She is also interested in associations between children’s exposures to various forms of violence (from parents, communities, and terrorism) and their mental health and risk behaviors. Dr. Gershoff is PI on an NICHD grant examining the dynamic effects of income and material hardship on parents and children over time. She is Co-Investigator on a CDC-funded project examining the long-term effectiveness of a school-based violence prevention program, and co-investigator on an NIMH-funded project identifying the developmental outcomes for children with comorbid depression and conduct disorder. Her research combines longitudinal and hierarchical methods for understanding the dynamic and multilayered contexts of children's lives. Her recently published work has appeared in: Child Development; Developmental Psychology; Psychology, Public Policy, and Law; Applied Developmental Science; and Psychological Bulletin.
Richard Fossey, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will speak on The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves: Corporal punishment in the public schools is on the decline all across the South and especially in urban school districts
Dr. Richard Fossey is the Paul Burdin Endowed Professor of Education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has supervised seven dissertation studies on corporal punishment in Southern public schools, including studies on school-based corporal punishment in Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida. Research findings from some of these dissertations has been published as commentaries in Teachers College Record Online. Professor Fossey received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and his doctorate in education policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He also researches in the field of American Catholic history and is Editor of Catholic Southwest, A Journal of History and Culture.
Karen Burstein, PhD serves as Executive Director of the Picard Center and as the Loyd J. Rockhold Endowed Chair of Early Childhood.
Karen Burstein, PhD is the Executive Director and Senior Scientist at the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning and the Rockhold Endowed Professor of Early Childhood at University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is a passionate advocate for equity in access to health and education for young children and their families. Her work nationally has included establishing and evaluating early childhood centers of excellence that promote school readiness and self-determination for under-resourced children families with special emphasis in rural American Indian communities.
Bertha Myers, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will speak on A, B. C, Discipline in the Classroom: The Principal’s Perspective
Bertha Myers joined the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as a full time instructor after 33 years in the public school system. She has served as assistant principal and principal of middle schools transforming both from junior highs to true middle schools. Her interests in middle level education lead to an opportunity to develop online professional development modules for Northwestern State University. These modules were used throughout the state of Louisiana to facilitate the training of teachers in the middle school concept. In addition to teaching at the University, she also works as a consultant for Iberia Parish where she trains and supports teachers in co-teaching strategies in the inclusive classroom.
Kerri Prejean, Ed.D., LPC, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will speak on Drilling Into the Data in Mississippi & Texas: The relationship between corporal punishment and race, student achievement & rural environments
Kerri received both her bachelor and master’s degrees in education and counseling from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas and most recently her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Kerri has worked in education for the past 15 years under several "hats" including elementary school teacher, team leader, ELA curriculum chair, RtI coach, intervention specialist, Tribes TLC teacher trainer and coach, and school counselor. Kerri is passionate about education and more specifically the children that are reached. She would like to continue research on the production of highly effective teachers and students as well as positive and safe learning environments. She is very excited to be back in her hometown in her current position as an Upward Bound counselor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she continues to share her passion and dedication to education.
Ronald J. Dore’, Ed.S., University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will speak on A, B, C, Discipline in the Classroom: The Principal’s Perspective.
Ronald joined the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as adjunct instructor in 2009 and full time instructor in 2011. He was a French and English teacher for 16 years and an administrator for 22 years, totaling 38 years in public education. He chairs the Educational Foundations and Leadership 106 department and teaches four classes comprised of freshmen and sophomore prospective teachers. The EDFL 106 committee was instrumental in organizing and redesigning the field experience format. Ronald also serves as safety coordinator for his department and is involved in various UL activities: UL Scholarship Committee, Selective Admissions Committee, LERA, UL’s Tech Prep Support Services presenter and mentor, UL Commencement Committee member and co-chaired the COE Field Experience Handbook Revision Committee. He is an annual speaker at three high schools in his parish to update students on UL’s curriculum offerings. Ronald’s passion is to positively influence young minds to provide the best teachers in today’s challenging classrooms.
Nancy Autin, Ph.D., University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will speak on A, B, C, Discipline in the Classroom: The Principal’s Perspective.
Dr. Nancy P. Autin is an assistant professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Educational Foundations and Leadership. Dr. Autin earned her Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in mathematics. Prior to teaching at the university, Dr. Autin served in various capacities in K-12 education: Principal, Academic Assistant Principal, Supervisor of Instruction, Mathematics Department Chair, and classroom teacher. Dr. Autin has taught high school mathematics courses at all levels, from Algebra I to Advanced Placement Calculus. As a school administrator, Dr. Autin initiated programs to help both teachers and students achieve maximal success. She conducted numerous workshops for teachers including cooperative learning strategies, transitioning to high school mathematics, homework strategies, improving performance on standardized tests, and designing classroom assessments. She serves on several committees including Faculty Senate, Student Evaluation of Instruction, Academic Planning, Masters in Educational Leadership, Grade Appeals, College of Education Honors Program and College of Education Commencement Committee. Dr. Autin serves as Lead Evaluator for schools seeking accreditation through AdvancED. She chairs a non-profit education foundation and volunteers as a math tutor for high school and college students.
Twyla Williams-Damond, Ed.D., University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Phoenix and Grand Canyon University, will speak on Drilling Into the Data in Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas: The relationship between corporal punishment and race, student achievement and rural environments.
Twyla received both her Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership is also from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Currently, Dr. Williams-Damond leads Premier Educational Research and Consulting Company as the Chief Executive Officer. The innovative company was developed in response to a market demand and fulfills it by offering data-driven educational consultation services utilizing business principles as its foundation. Her clients range from graduate students to executive professionals and academic organizations. The company message is a simple one- Positively Effecting Student Outcomes. In addition, Dr. Williams-Damond serves as a motivational speaker, is a published journal author, professor, researcher, and professional dissertation chair. She has presented keynote speeches, workshops, and seminars in Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Kentucky on subject matter centered on the injustices experienced by children in public schools.
Jessie Broussard, Ed.D., University of Louisiana, will speak on Drilling Into the Data in Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas: The relationship between corporal punishment and race, student achievement and rural environments.
Jessie received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She received her Masters of Business Administration-Technology from the University of Phoenix at Lafayette. Her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The higher education platform is where she continues to expand and strengthen her passion and dedication toward advocating for the underserved / underrepresented population. Currently, Dr. Broussard is the Project Coordinator for Student Support Services Veterans Program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Dr. Broussard is also a published journal author.