Dr. Renee Calhoon
Director, UCA Mashburn Center for Learning
Reflecting on my first year as Director of the UCA Mashburn Center for Learning (MCL), I am incredibly grateful. This year has been both energizing and humbling as I’ve stepped into a role that allows me to serve alongside incredible educators who share a deep commitment to teacher and student success.
One of the most meaningful changes this year has been revising the MCL’s mission to explicitly include partnerships as a central strategy for achieving our goals. This inclusion reflects the MCL’s current work and belief that collaboration is essential to meaningful, lasting impact.
Coming from a background in sports and coaching, I’ve always believed in the power of a team. Success on the basketball court or in education is rarely the result of a single individual. It’s about coming together, building on each person’s strengths, and working together in synergy toward a common goal. A strong team shares a purpose and vision that is built on trust.
That’s what we read in the stories and updates shared in this newsletter. Each article represents an educational partnership among individuals, schools, districts, and organizations working together to support educators and empower students. Whether it’s a new initiative, a research collaboration, or professional learning, the theme is clear: TEAM, Together Everyone Achieves More.
Thank you for being part of the UCA Mashburn Center for Learning’s work and for being part of a network of educational influencers and game changers for teacher and student success. I look forward to the year ahead with excitement and appreciation for each of you, who are committed to championing the UCA Mission Center for Learning's mission and moving it forward together.
Becky McIver
State Improvement Plan Coordinator
Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative
The partnership with the UCA Mashburn Center for Learning (MCL) plays a vital role in advancing the goals of our State Improvement Plan, particularly in improving outcomes for students with disabilities. This collaboration focuses on building educator capacity through high-quality professional learning, embedded coaching, and the use of evidence-based instructional practices.
Educators are supported in aligning tiered systems of support and implementing strategies that meet the needs of all learners. This sustained, strategic partnership exemplifies how collaboration can transform instructional practices and positively impact student achievement. We are grateful for the MCL’s expertise and continued support in helping schools develop systems that promote meaningful access to high-quality instruction.
Natalie Gosdin
Special Education Supervisor
Searcy Public Schools
The Searcy School District had an incredibly positive experience partnering with the UCA Mashburn Center through their co-teaching professional development and coaching follow-up support. From the beginning, the team at the Mashburn Center brought a level of expertise, clarity, and practical insight that truly transformed the way our educators approached co-teaching. Their training sessions were engaging, relevant, and immediately applicable—equipping our teachers with concrete strategies to improve collaboration and better meet the diverse needs of all students.
Our staff consistently shared how impactful the professional development was, calling it a “game changer” for their classrooms. The focus on true collaboration between co-teachers helped create more cohesive, inclusive, and effective instructional environments. Teachers walked away with new ways to plan together, share responsibilities, and build on each other's strengths. More importantly, they saw results—students became more engaged, more supported, and more successful.
What made this initiative truly sustainable and powerful was the coaching provided by the Mashburn Center. The ongoing, job-embedded support allowed our teachers to continue refining their practice beyond the initial training. The coaching sessions provided a safe space for reflection, problem-solving, and growth. Coaches were encouraging, insightful, and always ready with practical suggestions tailored to each classroom’s unique context. This consistent follow-up ensured that the professional development was not just a one-time event, but a lasting investment in instructional improvement.
The partnership with the Mashburn Center has been instrumental in strengthening co-teaching across the district. Our educators feel more confident, better prepared, and more united in their efforts. We are grateful for their support and look forward to continued collaboration.
Watson Chapel School District
Ora Reynolds and Willie Gulley, Instructional Specialists
Ebony McLaurin, Elementary Teacher
Coach Christopher and Sherita Thomas, Jr. High Teachers
Implementing the SIM (Strategic Instruction Model) in our schools provides a clear, research-based framework that aligns instruction, assessment, and intervention. Our teachers utilized the FRAMING Routine to help students identify learning targets and connect them to main ideas and essential details. This graphic organizer served as a visual aid, allowing students to organize information systematically by breaking down complex historical content into manageable segments, enabling students to better grasp and retain information.
Teachers have found that the FRAMING Routine boosted writing skills, helped students to plan clear paragraphs and essays, and guided them in the process of including all necessary parts such as: topic sentence, supporting details, and conclusion. Use of the FRAMING Routine showed a 12% increase in the six-grade overall class average compared to a previous assessment of the same standard without the routine.
Teachers implemented the Vocabulary LINCing Routine to deepen students' understanding of key terms. After introducing and implementing the Vocabulary LINCing Routine, teachers noticed a difference in student comprehension. Students became more engaged with their vocabulary because they had a fun and memorable way to break down each word. Students enjoy creating silly LINCing stories and drawing pictures to help visualize the meaning. This strategy has also helped students use context clues more effectively, as they began connecting their LINCing stories to how words are used in real texts. Overall, the Vocabulary LINCing Routine helped improve students’ comprehension and writing and built their confidence in using new words.
We’ve seen measurable improvements; test scores have risen, classroom behavior has improved, and teachers feel more confident and collaborative. Our students, especially those who were struggling, are now more engaged and showing growth across subjects. As we continue to use both the Framing Routine and Vocabulary LINCing Routine, teachers believe students will continue to increase their learning and improve their assessment scores.
Joe T. Robinson Middle School
Catherine Ziller, General Educator
Victoria Pendergrass, Special Educator
Partnering with the University of Central Arkansas’ Mashburn Center for Learning gave all of our co-teaching teams at Robinson Middle School the opportunity to be pushed to try different co-teaching models. We were given the support we needed to understand the different models, which made us much more comfortable with implementing. Our MCL Coaches were able to talk us through the research behind each of the co-teaching models so that we had a better idea about which ones were worth implementing as soon as we could to best serve our students. My co-teacher, Ms. Pendergrass, and I decided to focus primarily on station teaching, since it has been proven to garner great results for all students in the classroom, especially students with IEPs. We used stations to teach new vocabulary to the students, and we were able to provide them with digital and hands-on activities to work on this vocab acquisition. The first time we implemented the station teaching model, we learned how to improve on it. When the Coaches from the MCL came back, they were able to watch us both facilitate learning for our students. Our instructional coach even noted on our walkthrough feedback that someone walking in would not be able to tell who the general education and Special Education teacher were because we were working so well in tandem. Our students also loved the choice and flexibility of the stations. Overall, I am grateful for the support and feedback that we were able to receive thanks to the UCA MCL! –Ms. Ziller
To reiterate Ms. Ziller- the research we were presented with from the wonderful UCA representatives, about which co teaching models were most productive, helped guide our planning for the Spring semester. I was happy to be able to use some of my UDL background in the differentiation of our stations. I was so impressed by the materials that UCA provided for us- folders and outlined activities to do in our PD, instead of being left to decide on our own whether to take notes or not during another repetitive presentation. Our workshops were productive and a lot of our ELA teams' questions were asked and answered. Our principal and others have commented on how well Ms. Ziller and I have grown as a co teaching team over the past school year, and I do believe our work with the MCL coaches gave us more of the background information, practices, and examples to be able to perform more effectively as that team. We still use one teach- one assist when appropriate, but we have also made smaller changes, such as Ziller orally presenting notes as I'm writing them on the board. We share more of the disciplinary roles now than before, as we are more comfortable with each other's classroom management standards and what is/ is not acceptable. I feel as if we are aligned in our efforts to help students be successful in answering higher level questions themselves, even with the use of prompting for some. And extreme prompting for others. Overall, we are thankful to our partners from UCA and I hope to participate in workshops with them during the 2025-2026 school year. --Ms. Pendergrass
Lisa Huffmaster
Educational Specialist
State Personnel Development Grant
Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative
I have had the privilege of working closely with the Mashburn Center for Learning to deepen my expertise in SIM. Through the Center’s structured training, coaching, and mentoring process, I have become a certified SIM Specialist, equipped to model, support, and sustain the implementation of SIM routines in partnership with Arkansas school districts.
Thanks to Dr. Calhoon, Dr. Kohler, and the partnership with teachers, I have earned my SIM Specialist Badge in the Vocabulary LINCing Routine, a Content Enhancement Routine that helps students connect new vocabulary with prior knowledge through visual imagery, linguistic cues, and mnemonic strategies. Under the guidance of the Mashburn Center for Learning, I received targeted professional learning and one-on-one coaching while learning to implement and model this routine. Attaining the SIM badge gave me the ability to support other educators in using the routine with their students.
I am currently working toward earning a second specialist badge in the Framing Routine, another essential Content Enhancement Routine that supports students in understanding key concepts and organizing information for long-term retention. This continued professional growth reflects both the commitment of the UCA Mashburn Center for Learning and the strength of the SIM professional learning pathway.
The UCA Mashburn Center for Learning plays a critical role in helping me become a SIM-trained specialist. The training and coaching model ensures that I am not only exposed to high-quality instructional strategies but I am also provided with the coaching, modeling, and ongoing feedback necessary for implementation. This level of support has enabled me to model the strategies with confidence and provide job-embedded coaching to teachers, helping them integrate SIM routines into their daily instruction.
I love hearing the feedback from the teachers who receive my support. They all report increased clarity in how they present content and a greater sense of efficacy in helping students access and retain complex information. Students, in turn, are benefiting from more structured and engaging instruction evidenced by improved outcomes.
Mallorey Jones
Assistant Principal
Cabot Junior High North
7-12 English Curriculum Coordinator
My partnership with the Mashburn Center for Learning has been a cornerstone of my development as an educator over the years. From my early days teaching English in the classroom to my current role in administration, the principles and strategies I learned through the MCL have profoundly impacted my practice and shaped the teacher and leader I am today.
As an English teacher, MCL provided me with practical, research-based tools that transformed how I approached instruction and student learning. The Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) Learning Strategies, in particular, became integral to my daily practice. The Unit Organizer Routine, one of the many SIM Content Enhancement Routines (CERs), was a key component I learned through the MCL and was a game-changer in helping my students grasp the big picture of a literary work or thematic unit. Visually mapping out key concepts, relationships, and learning targets provided a clear roadmap that demystified complex content and empowered students to see how individual lessons connected to the overarching goals. This proactive organization fostered a sense of purpose and reduced the cognitive load, allowing students to engage more deeply with the material.
Furthermore, the Framing Routine, another powerful SIM CER introduced to me by the MCL, equipped my students with powerful structures for understanding and responding to academic content. Whether we were analyzing a poem, dissecting an argument, or crafting an essay, the Framing Routine visual device provided a scaffold that guided their thinking and facilitated effective communication of their ideas. This was particularly beneficial for struggling learners, offering them a clear framework to organize their thoughts and access the curriculum with greater confidence. I witnessed firsthand how these strategies fostered deeper comprehension, improved student engagement, and ultimately led to greater academic success in my English classroom, all thanks to the resources and training provided by the Mashburn Center for Learning.
Moving into administration, my connection with the Mashburn Center for Learning continued to be invaluable. I had the opportunity to implement Xtreme Reading, a targeted intervention program I became familiar with through the MCL, as a course for students needing support in literacy. This program's systematic and explicit nature, rooted in the learning principles championed by the MCL, provided a structured pathway for these students to develop essential reading skills and build confidence. Seeing their progress and growth through this targeted intervention was incredibly rewarding and a direct result of the knowledge and resources I gained from the center.
Beyond direct student instruction, the MCL’s mentoring has also empowered me to effectively coach and support my fellow educators within the district. I have shared the power of strategies like the Unit Organizer, guiding teachers in its implementation to enhance their lesson design and student outcomes, drawing directly from my training and understanding of the MCL framework.
My journey as an educator has been significantly enriched by the MCL. I am deeply thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from and receive ongoing support from the Center. The principles and strategies of the MCL are not just pedagogical tools; they are a philosophy that emphasizes clarity, structure, and empowering learners to become strategic and independent thinkers. I am a better teacher and a more effective leader because of my partnership with the MCL, and I will continue to champion its principles in my future endeavors.
