The first annual Ruth J. Simmons Urban Education Policy Scholarship, a full ride to the Urban Education Policy masters program, has been awarded to Maria Salciccioli GS, a Princeton graduate with experience training teachers to adapt to new curriculums in schools in Dallas.
"(Salciccioli) is very passionate about urban education policy and very passionate about life chances for children who come from low-income families," said Kenneth Wong, professor and chair of the University's department of education. "All of these things really personify and take the Ruth Simmons challenge down to the trenches."
The award was established in April in honor of former president Ruth Simmons by the Annenberg Board of Overseers, Wong said. Simmons was key to enhancing the Urban Education Policy masters program, Wong said, and showed commitment to community service and education reform.
Wong headed a five-person scholarship committee, which included Annenberg faculty members and directors. The committee began its selection process by examining a pool of 85 applicants to the Urban Education Policy masters program at Annenberg, Wong said. He and his team identified the 30 strongest applicants eligible for financial aid, he said.
The committee chose a winner based on academic record, leadership and community service, said Michael Grady, deputy director at the Annenberg Institute and committee member. Salciccioli was at the top in all three categories, Wong said.
"I'm excited, but I also feel like it's a big responsibility to receive this scholarship," Salciccioli said. She said she thinks she will work in education policy or politics in the future, but is "ultimately using this year to explore the field."
During her year of graduate school, Salciccioli said she will conduct research for the More and Better Learning Time Initiative alongside Annenberg faculty members. The Annenberg Institute recently received a $600,000 grant from the Ford Foundation for this initiative, which seeks to examine how time spent in high school can be used more effectively. Salciccioli said she will work with the principal investigators collecting data, attending meetings and reading literature to ultimately help develop a way of measuring the impact of the initiative's changes.
Wong said he sees great promise in Salciccioli as a future leader in education reform, adding that what she has already done is proof of her potential.
Salciccioli worked as a project coordinator in Texas, where she helped teachers use a new math curriculum effectively and assisted them in finding strategies to help individual students who were struggling, she said. She also taught in a high-risk area of the Washington, D.C. public school system.
"You do your best to pick the right person, but you don't really know until you meet them," Grady said. "But meeting Maria has reinforced the wisdom of the choice."
Correction appended: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Annenberg Institute runs the Urban Education Policy master's program. In fact, the University's education department runs the program. The Herald regrets the error.
