News & Updates

Cato College of Education faculty members Dr. Michelle Stephan (Department of Middle, Secondary and K12 Education), Dr. David Pugalee (Center for STEM Education), and Dr. Daniel Alston (Department of Reading and Elementary Education ), along with UNC Charlotte colleagues Dr. Kathy Asala (Department of Chemistry) and Dr. Marlon Mejias (Department of Software and Information Systems) were […]

The Cato College of Education is proud to present its 2024 Awards for Excellence to several outstanding faculty, staff, and graduates. Click the hyperlinks to learn more about each recipient. Clinical Educator – Spring 2024 sinokia Lee Campbell The Cato College of Education Clinical Educator Award annually recognizes a P-12 teacher who serves as a […]

Education majors Teresa Do and Makayla Dockery were raised on opposite sides of the country, but they discovered common ground and forged a fast friendship as student teachers at Harris Road Middle School. Now they will begin their careers together. Do, a native of Santa Clara, California, and Dockery, from Norwood, North Carolina, were acquainted […]

Details are like flowers to our tree,” explains UNC Charlotte senior Caitlin McGennis to a class of third graders. For emphasis, she glides her arms open. Smiling students are sitting in front of McGennis at Berewick Elementary School, located in south Charlotte. Curiosity and enthusiasm, characteristic of great elementary school classrooms, simmer. But there is […]

The Cato College of Education’s (CCOED) Daniel Maxwell is the recipient of the 2024 Higher Education Professional to Watch Award from the North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education.  Maxwell is a lecturer and university supervisor in the Office of School and Community Partnerships (OSCP) and the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education. As […]

The Cato College of Education welcomes Dr. Angela Preston to UNC Charlotte as the director of the Mebane Early Literacy Center. Preston began her career as a special educator in the North Carolina public school system and is dedicated to advancing the field of early literacy through forward-thinking teacher preparation. Preston’s career progressed from teaching […]

Throughout April, which is National Counseling Awareness Month, UNC Charlotte and the Cato College of Education recognize the graduate students preparing to enter the profession. At the same time, the University salutes the faculty members guiding them; with varied experience and expertise, most are current or formerly practicing counselors. In an environment that offers a […]

Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, Ph.D., founding director of the University’s Africana Studies Department, died March 21 at the age of 93. Maxwell-Roddey joined UNC Charlotte’s College of Human Development (now Cato College of Education) in 1970. The educational pioneer was among the first Black principals to lead a white elementary school in Charlotte. The next year, she […]

Jeff Cox, a lifelong champion of North Carolina public education, became the 11th president of the North Carolina Community College System in June 2023. Previously, he was president of Wilkes Community College, superintendent of Alleghany County Schools, assistant superintendent for Lee County Schools and principal of Benton Heights Year-Round School in Union County. In 2017, […]

Cato College of Education Professor Mark D’Amico is continuing his national leadership in improving the community college-to-university transition following a student transfer summit hosted by the U.S. Department of Education. The summit, a pivotal component of the “Raise the Bar: Attaining College Excellence and Equity” initiative, convened 200 higher education leaders at Northern Virginia Community […]

The Cato College of Education has named Dr. Kelly B. Cartwright the Spangler Distinguished Professor of Early Child Literacy.  The first to hold the position, Cartwright previously served as Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Teacher Preparation at Christopher Newport University in Virginia, and directed the Reading, Executive Function, And Development Lab (READLab), while contrbuting to […]

UNC Charlotte counseling professor Clare Merlin-Knoblich has been named Counselor Educator of the Year by the North Carolina School Counselor Association (NCSCA). The award recognizes Merlin-Knoblich’s outstanding contributions to the field of school counseling. She joins UNC Charlotte counseling Professors Sejal Foxx and Taryne Mingo, who earned the award in 2015 and 2020, respectively, in […]

On Thursday, Jan. 18, from 5 to 6 p.m., UNC Charlotte will welcome distinguished Charlotte architect, civil rights leader and public servant Harvey B. Gantt as its featured guest for Niner Nation King Week’s signature event.  During “An Evening with Harvey Gantt, Civil Rights Leader and Charlotte’s First Black Mayor,” Gantt will discuss in a […]

by: Tradesha Woodard, WCNC A good education can change anyone, but a good teacher can change everything. “I think each one of us can attest to the idea that if you have had high-quality teachers in your schooling, that it leads to more value as a citizen in the future,” Dean of the Cato College of […]

When Stephanie Ijames’ son Campbell left Cox Mill Elementary for the bright lights of middle school, Stephanie stuck around. She had been a plugged-in parent at Campbell and her daughter Columbia’s schools in Cabarrus County, and was offered a teacher’s assistant position at Cox Mill around the time of Campbell’s graduation. Ijames was a member […]

“Everything fit together. I decided that day to apply and felt like all of the pieces of my life led to that moment. I wanted to combine my passion for learning about the world around me with teaching others to see it too,” graduating Cato College of Education master’s student and first-year social studies teacher […]

Bethany Mavromatis slowed in the hallway of Niner University Elementary (NUE) to compose herself, closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and wiped the tears away. She crossed the threshold of her assigned classroom as a buzzing group waited. She took a seat and opened “The Last Stop on Market Street.” “CJ pushed through the church doors, […]

Zakia Williams began her time at UNC Charlotte as a transfer student grappling with changing her major. In a pivotal session, her academic advisor asked Williams what she was passionate about and wanted from a future career. Her answers helped guide her decision to pursue a dual major in elementary and special education, a signature […]