Dr. Sandra Maxedon
Angelo State University’s Teacher Education Department has been honored by the Texas-based Quest for
Quality program for its joint initiative with the San Angelo Independent School District (SAISD) that
involves ASU students in the local Head Start/Early Head Start program.
The initiative in field-based placements for students enrolled in ASU’s Applied Child Development
course was launched during the 2012-13 school year and is led by Dr. Sandra Maxedon, Assistant
Professor of Early Childhood Education. Quest for Quality cited the ASU program as an Exemplary
Example of Field-Based Instructional Practice. Only five programs in Texas received that designation for
the 2013 spring semester. During the first year of the program, ASU students in Maxedon’s Applied Child
Development class participated in classes at SAISD’s Rio Vista Head Start campus. Changing the
previous operational venue of kindergarten through third-grade classrooms to Head Start/Early Head Start
put a spotlight on younger children in a structured, research-based setting, Maxedon said. “While each
collaboration partner had slightly different motivations for the innovation, the outcome is an exciting
blend of new learning experiences for students, assistant teachers, lead teachers, parents, administrators
and university faculty,” Maxedon said.
Because of the success of the ASU initiative, the program has been expanded for the 2013-14 school year
to include all three SAISD Head Start/Early Head Start campuses. The federally funded Head Start/Early
Head Start program is for children from infant to age 5 from low income families.
The Quest for Quality program, based in The Woodlands, is designed to highlight exceptional quality in
university-based teacher preparation in Texas. The Center for Research, Evaluation and Advancement of
Teacher Education (CREATE) and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board collaborate on the
program that is funded through a grant from the Sid W. Richardon Foundation to the College for All
Texans Foundation. The program, which has 61 member universities, also has honored four ASU
graduates as “Exceptional Teacher Candidates” since its inception in 2012.
For more information on the ASU program, call Dr. Maxedon at 325-486-6956. More information on the
Quest for Quality program can be found online at
Article Courtesy of ASU Communications and Marketing
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Faculty and Students Receive
Quest for Quality Awards
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