Delaware Teacher Among Those Honored by White House

Publication: University of Delaware College of Education & Public Policy
Date: January 12, 2010

Summary: Jo Anne Pryor Deshon, Delaware Writing Project teacher-consultant, was among a select group of elementary school teachers awarded the 2008 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Excerpt from Article

Deshon said, "I've always felt that my best professional development has been through the University of Delaware—my master's and doctoral work as well as programs like the Delaware Writing Project and the Democracy Project. One of the recurring questions we were asked during the week was 'What has to change [in education]?' Consistently, one of the answers was 'professional development,' in terms of the importance of content knowledge and creating time for teachers to discuss pedagogy with colleagues. The University of Delaware has been a great resource for me in this regard."

Both Broden and Magaha lauded the experiential opportunities they had as education undergraduates.

Broden said that she has learned in talking with other teachers that very few had received the hands-on classroom experience that UD offered her. "For the entire four years at Delaware I was placed in classrooms where I got experience teaching children," she said.

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Read Four education alumnae are White House guests on the University of Delaware College of Education & Public Policy website.