CMU Off-Campus Success Stories
Education Takes this Grad across the Globe
Marie Gagliardi is not one to sit on the
sidelines and watch others work to better their schools. Marie prefers to
take the proactive approach and works almost tirelessly to better the school
where she teaches and helps co-workers to do the same.
Marie, who graduated from CMU in 2003 with a Master of Arts degree in
Education with an Instructional concentration returned to CMU a few years
later and graduated in 2006 with a Specialist in Education degree.
“My experience as a CMU student was special,” Marie said. “Classes were all
held locally. I was 51 when I started my master’s program, and I was 56 when
I started work on my specialist degree. My instructors were fabulous. They
brought to the classes a wealth of knowledge and experiences that are needed
in higher education. CMU administrators worked very hard to develop the
program for the educators in Georgia and I am very appreciative of it.”
Marie currently teaches math in the DeKalb County School system in Decatur,
Georgia. She is an early intervention prevention specialist, working with
high risk elementary school students. She is also the only teacher support
specialist at her school and mentors seven new teachers to the school
system. She said five of those seven teachers are novice teachers.
Marie also works on the school’s design team, which supports school
administrators and is intended to assist in the development of curriculum,
testing and morale of the school.
“This year the team had to re-write the school’s strategic plan – a part of
the school’s accreditation. I was very busy with scientifically based
research I had to procure to support our curriculum,” Marie said.
In April 2005, Marie was invited to participate in the People to People
Ambassador Program as a delegate to the US-China Educators Exchange
conference in Beijing, China. The program is based out of Spokane,
Washington, and includes 500 educators from every level in education – from
pre-kindergarten through higher education.
“I was so excited to take this opportunity,” Marie said. “We are a global
society and as educators, we need to know that we are not alone in our
profession. The trip included a two-day conference with the Chinese
delegation of teachers, principals from elementary, middle and high schools
as well as the Chinese Minister of Education, who spoke on basic education
in China and the U.S. and their challenges.”
While in Beijing, the group visited an elementary school and middle school.
“When we visited the two schools, we were treated with so much care and
hospitality,” Marie noted. “At each school we sat through a math lesson –
which was approximately 30 to 40 minutes long. Technology is very prevalent
and textbooks are very rare.”
Marie noted the children in China were very self-disciplined.
“But they are still children,” Marie said. “They laugh, are curious and can
get into mischief. In China there are the very poor and the wealthy and very
little in between. The children receive a basic education from the Chinese
government and it is up to them to succeed. If they do not they must learn a
skill and go to work – if they can find it.”
Marie added that the schools they visited had dormitories that had space for
more then 400 children. The children would spend the week at school and go
home on Friday.
The Georgia Department of Education recently invited Marie to participate in
their content review of the Criterion-Referenced Competency, which is part
of the state’s testing system. She also developed a math program for her
called the Word Problem of the Day. A monthly calendar of problem solving is
created and each morning the problems are read aloud to students. Students
solve the problems, the solutions are submitted and a daily winner is
chosen. Winning students receive an incentive prize from the principal.
CMU’s adult-friendly courses and compressed terms allowed Marie to fit both
her MA degree in Education and Specialist in Education degree into her busy
life.
“The programs are great – they really cater to working adults and understand
all of what that encompasses,” Marie said.
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