Dear Members of the TC Community,It is with great pleasure that I share the appointment of Dr. Colby Tofel-Grehl as TC’s new Vice Dean for Teacher Education and School & Community Partnerships, and Associate Professor of Science Education, effective January 1, 2025. In her role as Vice Dean, Colby will provide vision and collaborative leadership for our teacher preparation programs, strengthen and create college-school partnerships, advance educational innovation and research in the field of teacher education. An experienced and outstanding academic scholar and leader in the teacher education field, Colby will be joining TC from the School of Teacher Education & Leadership at Utah State University, where she was Associate Professor of Science Education. Her research interests include investigating the structures, systems and practices that foster inequities across STEM learning environments, and designing teacher professional learning and curriculum development to help facilitate the success of historically underrepresented rural youth within STEM environments.Colby is also the founder and director of the CHAOS (Culture, History, and Art Originating in STEM) Learning Lab, a group committed to engaging teachers to integrate Social Studies, Equity and Civics education with STEM. With her background in teaching kindergarten, elementary school and high school oceanography, many of her projects center on assisting K-12 teachers to bring new technology into the classrooms and illuminating K-12 student interests in STEM. Colby’s funded grants exceed $26 million of which she was principal investigator of more than $20 million, including a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant and a U.S. Department of Education GEAR-UP grant. Her research and scholarship have been acknowledged through various awards as well, including: the 2019 Award for Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology from Division D of the American Educational Research Association; the 2020 Early Career Science Teacher Educator of the Year Award from the Association for Science Teacher Educators; and the NSF Exemplar Project Award. She is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles, including: Data science for equity: Using data science to shift narratives and empower communities; ESTITCH: Elementary STEM Teaching Integrating Technology Holistically; and Awesome Electronics Projects for Kids. She is also the co-editor of the Journal of Science Teacher Education.Colby received her B.A. in Anthropology, Archaeology and Primatology from Fordham University and her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia.Among the many attributes that make Colby the right person at the right time for TC are her track record in leading innovative research-practice partnerships, national reputation and extensive network in teacher education, the equity agenda she centers in all her work and her collaborative approach to change. I want to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Celia Oyler for her exceptional commitment and contributions to the College as Vice Dean for Teacher Education for the past two years. Joining the College as an Assistant Professor in 1997, Celia is the co-founder and professor in the Elementary and Secondary Inclusive Teacher Education Programs, which have received national attention, including being profiled as an exemplary by a Blue-Ribbon Panel testifying to the U.S. Congress in May 2011. As Vice Dean, Celia has provided collaborative, strategic leadership and advocacy for teacher education practice, policy and research at the College. She partnered with stakeholders across the College to enhance the vision and raise funds for teacher education. Teachers College and the field have been transformed by Celia’s pioneering thought leadership. She is also the co-author of a forthcoming book, Be the Architect of Your Inclusive Classroom: Building Communities for Learning, to be published in February 2025. I will add that Celia has been a leading voice nationally and in New York teacher education, always putting the needs of children and families from marginalized communities first.Additionally, I want to thank all the members of the search committee, especially to the chair Felicia Mensah, Chair of the Mathematics, Science, and Technology Department and Professor of Science and Education, for their thoughtful work as part of this successful search process.Please join me in warmly welcoming Dr. Colby Tofel-Grehl to Teachers College.Sincerely,
KerryAnn O’MearaProvost and Dean of the CollegeProfessor of Higher EducationTeachers College, Columbia Universityshe/her/hers
Published Friday, Nov 1, 2024