Elaine Cheesman

Assistant Professor of Special Education
College of Education

1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
(719) 255-4861

echeesma@uccs.edu

• Education
• Teaching
• Scholarship
• Service

Elaine Cheesman is an assistant professor of special education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in 2004. She received her training as a Qualified Instructor of Academic Language Therapy at Teacher's College, Columbia University.

Her primary research interests are the preparation of teachers in evidence-based reading and writing instruction and using technology to improve student learning.  Dr. Cheesman  received  the Excellence in Teacher Educator Award from the Teacher Education Division of the Colorado Council for Exceptional Children in 2008, and the Teacher of the Year award from the UCCS College of Education in 2007.

Dr. Cheesman serves on the National Board of Directors for the Academic Language Therapy Association.  She has assisted the Colorado Department of Education in reviewing the literacy content of teacher preparation programs throughout Colorado, writing the Specific Learning Disabilities Guidelines (2007), and the Colorado Academic Standards in Reading and Writing (2009).

Prior to coming to Colorado, she was the founding director of Read to Succeed Adult Reading Clinic, a research-based reading program for adults with reading disability located in Hartford, Connecticut. News about her work with adults has been reported in The Hartford Courant , the New York Times , and Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level  (Shaywitz, S. E., 2003, Knopf).

Education

Ph.D., Special Education
University of Connecticut – 2004

M.A., American Folk Culture, Cooperstown Graduate Programs
State University of New York - 1980

B.S., Elementary Education
Western Oregon University - 1972

Teaching

This course includes both content knowledge and principles of instruction regarding explicit, systematic instruction for students at-risk for reading failure and older students who struggle with reading. The scope of the course covers the five essential elements of reading and spelling instruction, including phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. Teacher candidates plan and organize instruction for a beginning-level reading tutorial student based on ongoing assessment. Students evaluate his / her instruction and the instruction of peers
through small-group coaching sessions.

This course focuses on expanding teacher candidates' knowledge of the structure of English, including syllable types, reading and spelling multisyllabic base words and derivatives, morphology, Latin affixes, Greek combining forms, and written composition. Teacher candidates plan and organize instruction for an intermediate-level reading tutorial student based on ongoing assessment. Students evaluate his / her instruction
and the instruction of peers through small-group coaching sessions.

Scholarship

Dr. Cheesman's primary research interests are the preparation of teachers in evidence-based reading and writing instruction and using technology to improve students learning.

Publications

Cheesman, E. A., McGuire, J. M., Shankweiler, D., & Coyne, M. D. (2009).
First year teacher knowledge of phonemic awareness and its instruction. Teacher Education and Special Education, 32(3).
PDF Link

Kyei-Blankson, L., Cheesman, E., & Blankson, J. (2009).
The value added effect of using clickers in a graduate research methods and statistics course Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2009 (pp. 1947-1952). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Cheesman, E. A., Winograd, G. R., & Wehrman, J. D. (in press).
Clickers in teacher education: Student perceptions by age and gender. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education.

Cheesman, E., & Winograd, G. (2008).
Classroom Response Systems: Student Perceptions by Learning Style, Age, and Gender. In K. McFerrin, R. Weber, R. Carlsen & D. A. Willis (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2008 (pp. 4056-4062). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
PDF Link

Winograd, G. R., & Cheesman, E. A. (2007).
Using classroom response systems in communication courses. In L. W. Hugenberg, S. P. Morreale, D. W. Worley, B. Hugenberg & D. C. Worley (Eds.), Basic communication course best practices: A training manual for instructors (pp. 177-193). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
PDF Link

Cheesman, E. A. (2006).
Isabelle Yoffe Liberman
In C. R. Reynolds & E. Fletcher-Janzen (Eds.),
Encyclopedia of Special Education (3rd ed.).
PDF Link

Cheesman, E. A. (2006).
Madeline Cheek Hunter
In C. R. Reynolds & E. Fletcher-Janzen (Eds.),
Encyclopedia of Special Education (3rd ed.).
PDF Link

Cheesman, E. A. (2006).
Performance-based Standards
In C. R. Reynolds & E. Fletcher-Janzen (Eds.),
Encyclopedia of Special Education (3rd ed.).
PDF Link

Cheesman, E. A. (2006).
The Tuskegee Airmen: 1940 - 1950
Freedom's Song: One Hundred Years of African American Struggle and Triumph
Los Angeles, CA: Farmers Insurance Group.
PDF Link

Cheesman, E. A. (2006).
African Americans in the Great Depression: 1930 - 1940
Freedom's Song: One Hundred Years of African American Struggle and Triumph
Los Angeles, CA: Farmers Insurance Group.
PDF Link

Service

University
Chair, Technology Committee, College of Education
Chair, TaskStream Committee, Department of Special Education
Chair, Admissions Committee, Department of Special Education
Member, Faculty Search Committees, Department of Education
Member, Faculty and Staff Awards Committee
Member, Student Achievement Assessment Committee
Member, Assessment Committee, College of Education
Member, NCATE Accreditation Committee, College of Education

Community
Member, Professional Development Council, Pike's Peak Region
Member, Alternative Teacher Preparation Development Council, Douglas County Schools

State/National
Member, Colorado Reading First Higher Education Advisory Council
Board of Directors, Academic Language Therapy Association