Distance education hardly new at UNL, and CEHS has been at the center of it since the turn of the century.

At the start, distance education had a more literal meaning. Teachers College faculty traveled Nebraska  to Study Centers where they helped teachers gain credentials, high school students complete college courses, and Civilian Conservation men meet toward degrees.

Before long, Teachers College was pioneering research in educational applications of motion pictures and, eventually, television. Again, Nebraska residents were the prime beneficiaries: in the before Sputnik entered orbit, Teachers College was reaching 42 high schools throughout the state, providing instruction in 16 academic subjects.

Distance education continues to change, though not the mission.

This fall, the department of Educational Administration received regional recognition from the University Continuing Education Association. Laureen Greenwood (EEO) along with department faculty and students, coordinated video-conferencing solutions for doctoral defenses. Candidates were spared the time and expense required to visit Lincoln in person.

CEHS faculty and staff successfully model the use of techology for their students. In 2009, student teacher Colleen McBride, along with her two cooperating teachers, was awarded a National Teacher Award by Time Warner for her work using multimedia tools with Lincoln 3rd grade students.

CEHS remains committed to making education accessible to Nebraskan's who cannot travel to Lincoln. The college continues to forge new methods, with new tools, to provide educational opportunities at a distance.

The Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery has reopened its doors after closing for a renovation over the summer.

Power and Pragmatism: Beyond the Little Black Dress, the Gallery's current exhibit, has drawn large numbers of returning patrons and first-time visitors.

The exhibit includes 48 garments spanning more than one hundred years, including a lace dress from the late 1860’s and a sweater from Japanese deconstructionist designer Rei Kawakubo.

Michael James, department chair of Textiles, Clothing, and Design, reflects in his blog, Loose Threads, the appeal of the exhibit:

The collection of black garments, including but not limited to the “little black dress,” conveys several messages on the subject of dress and adornment. They represent the practical, conservative nature of Nebraska dress in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and they supply evidence of the refined cut and sculptural quality of black dress in relation to the body. Limiting the selection to black allows the viewer to read the depth and richness of the fabrics as well as focus on the wide range of surface treatments used on the garments. These include beadwork, appliqué and tunnel stitching. As conservative as many of the items are, functioning for work, exercise and mourning, they nevertheless embody a feeling of authority and sophistication. Styling spans more than a hundred years and reveals the different attitudes toward dress at various periods in our social history.

Power and Pragmatism is open to the public until November 6. For hours, please visit the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery Web site.

Marianne Fons, co-editor in chief of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine and co-host of the public television series of the same name, will speak on "Why We Quilt" on November 14, 2009 at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, NE. The proceeds from the lecture and following reception and trunk show will benefit the museum.

Fons will share her experiences as a quilter and quilting teacher as well as her research into why millions of people, now and in the past, have loved to quilt. Her lecture is illustrated with a wide range of quilt images from the past and present, including some of her own prize-winning quilts. Following the lecture a limited-seating reception will be held at the museum. Marianne will show some of her quilts and comment on the exhibition "American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940".

Tickets are on sale now. Lecture-only admission is $22 for museum members, $25 for non-members. Combination lecture and reception tickets are $50 for members and $60 for non-members.

EARLY REGISTRATION RECOMMENDED Call 402-472-6549 to reserve a seat, or print and mail the registration form below.

With the reauthorization of IDEIA in 2004, LEAs now have available an alternative set of assessment procedures that can be used in the identification of students with learning weaknesses and specific
learning disabilities termed Response to Intervention (RTI). Linked to a preventative model of service delivery, the promises of RTI are the early detection of students at-risk for developing problems in the basic academic skill areas and the remediation of such problems before developing into specific forms of learning disabilities. While much is known regarding the individual procedures used within an RTI model
(e.g., screening, progress monitoring, etc.) little published research exists regarding the overall effectiveness of an RTI approach. This talk will present program evaluation longitudinal findings of a tiered RTI model on identification rates of students in need of assistance including the long-term sustainability of these findings.