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Harter’s Outstanding PaperDr. Rod Harter,professor ofathletic training inthe Department ofHealth and HumanPerformance wasa coauthor on the2015 Outstanding Advancing EducationalPractice Manuscript in the Journal ofAthletic Training Education. The paperentitled “Interprofessional Education andPractice in Athletic Training” was selectedby the Editorial Board for excellence in itscontribution to professional education inAthletic Training. Dr. Harter and his coauthors will be recognized at the NationalAthletic Trainers’ Association (NATA)Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposiumin Baltimore, MD in June.Price Publishes BookDr. Larry R. Price,professor ofPsychometrics andStatistics in the Department of Counseling, Leadership,Adult Education, andSchool Psychology,has recently publishedhis book titled Psychometric Methods: Theory into Practice.“This book is both comprehensive andaccessible, laying the foundation for all therequisite skills needed to be both a successful consumer and producer of psychometrics.There is excellent integration of quantitativestatistics throughout, so that readers will beable not only to understand the psychometricconcepts, but also to apply their knowledge.”—Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn, PhD,Department of Eductional and Human Sciences,6University of Central FloridaDr. Martinez Wins Early Career AwardDr. Melissa Martinez, assistant professor of education and community leadership in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education, andSchool Psychology, has been named the American Educational Research Association’s(AERA) Early Career Award recipient.The award recognizes a scholar who has conducted a distinguished program of cumulative educational research in any field of educational inquiry within the first decadefollowing receipt of their doctoral degree.We sat down with Martinez to learn more about this achievement.Q: What does receiving this awardsignify for you?A: “First and foremost, I am very humbled in being the recipient of the 2016AERA Division A Early Career Award. And tobe honest, I was speechless when I was notifiedQ: How does this achievementreflect the overall work you aredoing and the overall work going on atthe College of Education?A: “I believe this achievement is reflectiveof my general work ethic, my commit-about receiving this award because previousment to teaching, research, and service, as wellrecipients are leading scholars in the field ofas my motivation to make a difference notEducational Leadership that I would have neveronly within my field, but also in my immediatethought I’d be compared to. The award is partic-community in Central Texas and at Texas State,ularly significant to me for a number of reasons.specifically. Many of my colleagues within theFor one, I feel the award is a true validation ofCollege of Education are equally engaged inthe kind of work I do as a critical scholar thatunique and meaningful work, and have also beenexamines equity and access issues along the P-20recognized in similar fashion by the Universitypipeline. My research agenda is fairly broad withor through other professional organizations.regards to educational leadership, and it is alsoAnd so I feel honored to be receiving this awardinterdisciplinary in nature. I have three strandsknowing that I am contributing to and helpingof work which relate to 1) issues of collegesustain a legacy of top-notch scholars within theaccess and readiness for students of color andCollege of Education.”underserved students, 2) equity-oriented andsocial justice leaders/leadership, and 3) theexperiences of faculty of color. And so I feelthat this award particularly provides scholars likeme that examine leadership issues both directlyand indirectly to feel embraced in a field thatcan often be considered very traditional, with aclearly defined and limited view of educationalleadership. Secondly, this award also reflects thegreat support and mentoring I’ve received alongthe way from colleagues, mentors, and friendsboth within and outside of academia. It is also atribute to all those individuals who gave of theirtime and shared their stories with me as a partof my work.”Martinez, left, receives her Early Career Award at the 2016AERA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.Dr. LindsayKipp, assistant professor inthe Department ofHealth & Human Performancereceived the Research Council 2016Research Writing Award at the Society of Health and Physical Educators(SHAPE) America National Convention on April 7 at the annual C.H.McCloy Research Lecture. Dr. Kippis co-author on the paper “Assessingimpact of physical activity-based youthdevelopment programs: Validation ofthe life skills transfer survey (LSTS),”which was the top paper in volume85 of the Research Quarterly of Exerciseand Sport (RQES). The award identifies outstanding contributions ofscholarship from papers published ineach volume of RQES. RQES is theflagship journal in the field of kinesiology/exercise science.Dr. CherylFulton,assistant professorin the Departmentof Counseling,Leadership, Adult Education, andSchool Psychology, received the 2015Outstanding Counselor Educator ofthe Year Award from the NationalAssociation of Counselor Educatorsand Supervisors. Her article, co-authored with Craig S. Cashwell, isentitled “Mindfulness-Based Awareness and Compassion: Predictors ofCounselor Empathy and Anxiety.” Itwas published in the journal Counselorand Education and Supervision.Revathi Balakrishnan, the TexasElementary Teacher of the Year,paid it forward on April 2 by deliveringa special guest presentation to KappaDelta Pi members regarding her journey to teacher leadership.Sargent Lecturer KnudsonDr. Duane Knudson, chair of theDepartment of Healthand Human Performance, gave the 35thAnnual Dudley AllenSargent Lecture to theNational Association for Kinesiology in HigherEducation January 8, 2016 at the NationalAssociation for Kinesiology in Higher Education’s (NAKHE) Annual Conference in SanDiego, CA. Dr. Knudson presented “MentoringExcellence in the Kinesiology Academy,” whichProfessors Nathan Bond and JessicaLigon hosted a six-hour teacher leadership workshop for 40 members ofKDP at the Texas State Round RockCampus. The purpose of the workshop was to teach leadership to the attendees and help them to identify waysthey could serve as teacher leaders intheir schools.In attendance were students fromvarious Central Texas universitiesincluding, Austin Community College,Texas A&M University, the Universityof Mary Hardin-Baylor, the Universityof Texas at Austin, the University ofTexas at San Antonio, Western Governors University, , and of course TexasState University.Arlene Harborth, AdvisorI in the College ofEducation AdvisingCenter, published anarticle in the Journalof Developmental Education’s Fall 2015issue. It is entitled “The DevelopingRole of Student Advisors: An Interview with Charlie Nutt.” Make sure tocheck it out!will be published in an upcoming issue of thejournal Quest.The Sargent Lecture and Award honors amale scholar in the field and is named after Dr.Sargent—an outstanding scholar in physicaleducation/kinesiology who founded the Hemenway Gymnasium at Harvard University.Grads Learn FundingDr. Waneen Spirduso, professor emeritusin the Department of Kinesiology andHealth Education at the University of Texasat Austin and published author, visited TexasState on March 2 to speak with graduatestudents enrolled in the DevelopmentalEducation graduate program. Dr. Spirdusoshared her experience in developing bothfunding and research proposals and providedadvice and pointers to the students in theclass. Dr. Michelle Janysek, grant director inThe Education Institute, teaches the grantsdevelopment and management course whereDr. Spirduso was invited to lecture.7

Rising StarsAAC: There’s a Dog inMy ClassroomThe College of Education is pleasedto announce the opening of theAnimal-Assisted Counseling Academy.The Animal-Assisted Counseling(AAC) Academy is a professional trainingprogram that promotes the human-animalbond through the study and practice of animal-assisted counseling and play therapy.The AAC Academy offers a series ofintensive workshops for graduate studentsand professionals to earn introductoryand advanced training in animal-assistedcounseling and play therapy.To enroll in the Animal-Assisted Counseling Academy, you must be a currentgraduate student or have earned aMaster’s degree in a mental health orAAC-related field, such as counseling,social work, school psychology, child life,recreation therapy, or nursing.Participants can earn up to 120 hoursof CEUs and play therapy training. If youwould like to enroll in the Animal-AssistedCounseling Academy or learn more aboutit, check out the AAC Academy website at:www.playtherapy.clas.txstate.edu/aacaMRising StarsStudent Veteran Finds Hopein Horsesary Ballengee is a secondyear graduate student in theTherapeutic Recreation program anda United States Army veteran fromthe Vietnam Era with special interestsin therapeutic horseback riding. Herlove for horeseback riding is gainingto Texas I became involved with theVeteran portion of the therapeutichorseback riding at ROCK, V.E.T.S,and Mustang Mentors,” Ballengeeshared. “I was in pilot programsat each facility/organization. Themustang program allowed me toBallengee recognition.In November, Ballengee receivedthe 2015 P.A.T.H. (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) International Equine Servicesfor Heroes Equestrian award. PATHInternational recognizes individualsand equines that symbolize their celebration of ability, optimism, diversityand a shared love of equines. Mostrecently, she was awarded a medalfor working with and teaching 10 vet-gentle (train, break) a wild mustanguntouched by humans and thatexperience saved my life. I was ableto learn trust and hope when I wasgiven that mustang to keep. He hasgiven me the focus and strength tomove forward and find within methe resources to help other veteransespecially those with no voice. I havefound working with horses, and allforms of ability and disability, fits mylife purpose now at age 63. I haveerans and 10 wild mustangs in a twomonth program.Ballengee will be staying busy thissummer working with eight women through her personally createdVeteran Woman Only therapeutichorseback riding program at ROCK inGeorgetown.Meshing the worlds of therapeuticrecreation and equestrianism hasproven to be a life saver for Ballengee: “Three years ago when I movedrenewed hope and can see the futurefor myself and others as I study andattend classes at Texas State University.”Katherine Ledbetter-Cho, a recent graduate from the Special Education Autism and Applied Behavior Analysisprogram, was awarded the Graduate Student Research Poster Award by the Texas Association of BehaviorAnalysis during their annual conference in March. Her research project was titled “Research Project: Behavioral Skills Training to Improve the Abduction-Prevention Skills of Children with Autism.” Additionally, the paperwas accepted for publication with the following citation: Ledbetter-Cho, K., Lang, R., Davenport, K., Moore,M., Lee, A., O’Reilly, M., Watkins, L., & Falcomata, T. (accepted 2015). Behavioral skills training to improve theabduction-prevention skills of children with autism. Behavior Analysis in Practice. Congrats Katherine!Santa Rosa County School District named Gulf Breeze High School math teacher Stephanie Duffy as itsTeacher of the Year. Duffy is a Texas State University graduate who has taught math at Gulf Breeze Highfor 20 years. Duffy is the school district nominee for the Florida Department of Education – Macy’s Teacher ofthe Year. The state teacher of the year will be selected in May and will be the Florida candidate for NationalTeacher of the Year, which will be announced in January 2017.Michelle Cardenas from Hillcrest Elementary (Del Valle ISD), was among one of the five Central Texas-areaeducator finalists named for the 2016 H-E-B Excellence in Education Award. Cardenas is up for the category in Leadership Elementary. In May, she will compete in San Antonio on a statewide level for the grandprize of 10,000 for herself and a 10,000 grant for her school. Cardenas received her bachelor of sciencedegree through the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and her master’s degree through the TeacherFellow’s program. We wish her all of the best of luck!Six graduate students from the Department of Curriculum &Instruction presented their in-class research at the InternationalSociety for the Social Studies 2016 Annual Conference on February 25.Early Childhood through Sixth Grade program students Melinda Barth, AmandaBrown, Kinsey Perry, Krista Reitz, Abigail Williams, and Fourth through EighthGrade program student Kacy Weldon presented their research for a panelentitled “When Children Talk: Pre-service Elementary Social Studies TeachersExploring Critical Issues through Children’s Eyes.” The International Societyfor the Social Studies draws research and practitioner-based presentations from a global scholarly community of about 250 peoplerepresenting the United States, Turkey, Portugal, Pakistan, Australia, China, and numerous other countries.

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are preparing to become the best in their fields. Just look at some of the "Rising Star" news we have from our alumni. This is due to the wonderful faculty and staff at the College of Education. Without them, we would not be able to continue achieving excellence among our peers or engaging our students to further their careers.