Members of the TCU College of Education are participating in community initiatives that support education. Additionally, a senior early childhood education major is now a published author.

Dean Mary Martin Patton was asked by the Miles Foundation to serve as a sector advocate for The Raising of Fort Worth, a community engagement group that champions early childhood (birth to age five) development efforts and opportunities in the Fort Worth community. TCU works closely with the Foundation and its CEO, who also serves on TCU’s College of Education board.

Additional TCU faculty and staff have joined the effort, including:

Dr. Casey Call–Institute of Child Development

Dr. Don Jackson–Political Science (emeritus)

Dr. David Jenkins–Social Work and Family Therapy

Dr. Kathleen Kyzar–Early Childhood/Early Intervention

Dr. Ray Pfieffer–Business Accounting

Dr. Debbie Rhea–Liink Project

Dr. Frank Thomas–Counseling/Family Therapy

Dr. Marilyn Tolbert–Starpoint/KinderFrogs

“The Miles Foundation is an innovative organization and I am thrilled to join my colleagues to improve the quality of early childhood education and services locally,” said Patton. “The Foundation is a longtime supporter of the Liink Project at TCU, directed by Dr. Debbie Rhea, that demonstrates the important connection between physical activity and learning.”

Dr. Marla McGhee, associate professor of educational leadership, is a newly elected member the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision. This consortium of professors meets around the nation for discussion, projections and coordination in the improvement of theory and practice for instructional supervisors. Members share resources and research that can be utilized in graduate courses and programs of study—a benefit for TCU students preparing to become instructional leaders.

And Alexis Keable ’16, credits her professors as the inspiration behind her book, The Howard Gardner Zoo, a picture book that helps students think about how to use their unique talents in the classroom. Based on Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory to promote intelligence awareness in children and the adults in their lives, the book includes an accompanying lesson plan to help teachers recognize intellect outside of standardized testing methods.