A&M International's Dr. Vida Named Secretary to Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Dr. Rosa Maria Vida, Ph.D., dean of Texas A&M International University's College of Education, has been elected secretary of Southwest Educational Developmental Laboratory (SEDL).
Dr. Vida's election was announced at SEDL's Austin headquarters at the group's regular fall meeting. Vida has served on the board since late 1998.
SEDL is a private, not-for-profit education research and development (R&D) corporation that works with educators, parents, community members, and policymakers to build or find strategies and tools addressing pressing educational problems. SEDL then works with these groups to put these strategies into practice to improve education for all students.
SEDL's funds largely come from awards of competitive grants and contracts to continue operations of the regional educational laboratory, the mathematics and science consortium, and the regional technology consortium serving Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The company also won funding to continue operations of the Southeast Comprehensive Assistance Center serving Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research, based in Austin.
Vida has been a member of the University's faculty for over 20 years. She has directed the University's Self-Study program and her areas of research interest include at-risk gifted students, gifted students in multicultural education, teacher accountability, and supervision and appraisal of teachers.
She holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in bilingual education from The University of Texas at Austin. She also earned two master's degrees: one in elementary education from the former Texas A&I University in Laredo and one in administration from the former Laredo State University in Laredo.
SEDL's governing board contributes to the organization's efforts to help improve low-performing schools. Pursuing board-established goals, SEDL operates research, development, and dissemination programs focused on improving school performance; involving family and community in student learning; strengthening reading, mathematics, and science education; conducting policy research; putting disability research into practice; and integrating technology into teaching and learning.
Three other Texans join Vida on the 20-member board: Dr. Arturo Almendarez, deputy commissioner of the Texas Education Agency in Austin; Imelda Guerra, principal of East Elementary School in Calallen; and Brother John Paige, dean of St. Edward's University's School of Education in Austin.
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