Diane Hirshberg

The Improving Childcare Outcomes Research (ICOR) project, with Diane Hirshberg as part of the team, is expanding the definition of culturally responsive teaching from its current K-12 focus to include early childhood education. This involves creating and assessing the effectiveness of new professional development aimed at strengthening culturally responsive practices among early childhood educators. The work is intended to be informed by research. As part of that, researchers surveyed parents and educators about how they define culturally responsive practice.

ISER researchers Dayna DeFeo, director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research and Diane Hirshberg, professor of education policy, were featured prominently in Education Week for a recent article on teacher turnover in Alaska. 

In a new education publication, Dayna DeFeo, Matthew Berman, Alexandra Hill, and Diane Hirshberg examine how Alaska’s K-12 spending compares to other states in the US. In Alaska’s fiscal crisis that has drawn increased attention to education spending, this report shows that after taking into account higher Alaska prices for items largely beyond local school districts' control, Alaska's per pupil spending is about average among all the US states. 

ISER’s Diane Hirshberg is working with partners at Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) on ways to strengthen culturally responsive early education. 

Diane Hirshberg, along with Charlene Stern, co-chair of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Nolan Klouda, director of the University of Alaska’s Center for Economic Development, will be working with partners in the Neets’ąįį Gwich’in communities of Vashrąįį K’ǫǫ (Arctic Village) and Vįįhtąįį (Venetie) to explore Indigenous and non-Indigenous educational pathways necessary to sustain and develop economic, political, and social goals of indigenous communities. 

ISER Professor of Education Policy Diane Hirshberg is co-editor of the new book, Including the North: a comparative study of the policies on inclusion and equity in the Circumpolar North. Nearly four million people live in the Arctic, including indigenous peoples, northerners, and those who’ve recently arrived.

ISER Director Ralph Townsend and ISER faculty Diane Hirshberg provided information on school funding and the retention and turnover of teachers in Alaska at the February Alaska Municipal League (AML) Winter Legislative Meeting in Juneau. AML is an organization of cities, boroughs, and unified municipalities representing over 97% of Alaska residents.

University of Alaska faculty and administrators have leadership roles in several national and international Arctic research organizations, including ISER’s own Diane Hirshberg. In December 2017, Dr. Hirshberg was elected to a three-year term on the Board of the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. Dr. Hirshberg also was re-elected to a second three-year term on in the International Arctic Social Sciences Association Council in June 2017. In addition, she continues to serve as Advisor to the UAA Chancellor on Arctic Research & Education, facilitating UAA’s engagement in the University of the Arctic (UArctic), building the Arctic research community at UAA, and co-organizing the Anchorage Arctic Research Days along with ARCUS, the Institute of the North and the Anchorage Museum.

The ARCUS Board is led by another UAA faculty member, Board President Dr. Audrey Taylor, an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at UAA. Dr. Taylor is in her second three-year term on the board, and was elected President in December. Another UAA professor, Dr. Jeffrey Welker, Professor of Biological Sciences, is serving in a new leadership capacity in Arctic research. In 2017, he was appointed the first UArctic Research Chair (a collaborative appointment between UArctic, the University of Oulu and the University of Alaska Anchorage). His role is to implement and drive collaborative actions among UArctic members; develop research cooperation that includes undergraduate, graduate, PhD and postdoctoral scientist training; and build partnerships with the broader Arctic community. Finally, in June 2018 University of Alaska Fairbanks Vice Chancellor for Research Larry Hinzman was elected president of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) Council.

There are many other University of Alaska faculty and administrators taking leadership in national and international Arctic research and education efforts and organizations, and ISER is pleased to be a part of this important work.

Researchers at ISER's Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR) have recently published two articles examining issues important to Alaska's teachers.

• It’s more than just dollars: Problematizing salary as the sole mechanism for recruiting and retaining teachers in rural Alaska, by Dayna DeFeo, Diane Hirshberg, and Lexi Hill. This article, published in the Alaska Native Studies Journal, argues that improving teacher retention in Alaska’s rural schools will require both adequate pay and attention to working conditions. Full text available for download.

• Statute and implementation: How phantom policies affect tenure value and support, by Dayna DeFeo, Matt Berman, and Diane Hirshberg.  This article, published in Educational Policy, discusses how teachers and principals understand, inflate, or underestimate tenure protections, and how those interpretations affect the perceived value and effectiveness of the tenure policy itself. Abstract available for download, full text available for purchase.