Great Valley appoints Clariana new education division head

Penn State Great Valley recently appointed Roy Clariana to be its education division head. Clariana, associate professor of instructional systems, has taught at the graduate school for more than 10 years. He said his main goal for the division will be to provide courses and programs that provide local school teachers and administrators with the tools they need to teach youngsters effectively, as well as meet federal mandates including "No Child Left Behind."

"The mission of Penn State University as a land-grant institution is to improve the local quality of life. Providing teachers with quality instruction develops well-educated students, which helps us accomplish our mission," said Clariana. "The days of creating a graduate program and then teaching it unchanged for decades are over. The needs of our teachers and school districts are in flux, and our courses and programs continually develop and change to meet these needs."

A few of these newer programs are the master of science education degree, which provides elementary school teachers with proven hands-on approaches for teaching science more effectively to prepare students for the new science portion of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA); a reading specialist PDE certificate that provides teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to become state-certified as reading specialists; and a new e-learning certificate beginning this fall that will help companies with widely dispersed workforces create online training programs.

Clariana earned his bachelor's degree in biology and master's degree in biology education from University of Central Arkansas in 1975 and 1979, respectively, and a doctorate degree in education from University of Memphis in 1990. He has done extensive research on e-learning, and published numerous articles on the subject. This research brought him to Finland in 2005 as part of a Fulbright Teaching and Research Award.