This course is designed to help prospective and current teachers create and maintain caring, respectful classroom communities in which learners feel safe, valued, cared for, valued, and empowered. The course includes a strong emphasis on developing knowledge about the culture and backgrounds of children and families in order to establish positive interactions within the classroom community. The course addresses the challenges and opportunities in creating community in the increasingly diverse student populations in US schools. We will consider what it means to be culturally responsive in order to establish a classroom in which all students can succeed academically and socially.

Educators with any experience level will develop the skills and mindset to find and use technology tools that can enhance student learning. Assignments and online discussions focus on foundational educational technology topics, including ethical and social justice considerations, best practices, and national technology standards. Assignments are completed using each week's tech tool category, such as presentations, image/video editing, and website creation. Participants will curate educational technology tools that fit their preferences and needs. This class will include the focus on facilitating remote learning.

Students will become familiar with key concepts and principles of critical theory, critical pedagogy, and social justice education so that they may use this body of work to inform their teaching, leadership, and scholarship. We will examine the role of a) schools in providing equity of educational access and outcomes, b) teacher agency to change unjust conditions, and c) micro experiences within schools and the macro layers of context (i.e., history, politics economics, culture).

An applied statistics course that covers introductory level approaches to examining quantitative information. Students spend about half of class time in the computer lab analyzing real data from the behavioral and social sciences. An emphasis is placed on the role of statistics in making empirically-based policy decisions.