![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/files\/Alan-Davis-1200x500.jpg\")
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Alan Davis, PhD, calls himself a \u201cColorado boy.\u201d The\u00a0CU Denver\u00a0education professor\u00a0grew up near Golden,\u00a0started skiing when he was 12 and graduated from Wheat Ridge High School.<\/p>\n
Davis<\/a>\u00a0might\u00a0also\u00a0be called a\u00a0Denver\u00a0scholar\u00a0for the years of service he\u00a0has given, and continues to give, to\u00a0schools in\u00a0the Mile High City.\u00a0From\u00a0serving on\u00a0Denver Public Schools (DPS)\u00a0boards and task forces\u00a0to\u00a0helping\u00a0develop the\u00a0CU Denver\u2013DPS\u00a0Research Collaborative, he has\u00a0been a partner in local education\u00a0for decades.<\/p>\n The CU Denver faculty\u00a0member of 27 years received\u00a0the\u00a02017 Lynn K. Rhodes\u00a0Endowed\u00a0Faculty Award\u00a0from CU Denver\u2019s\u00a0School of Education\u00a0&\u00a0Human Development<\/a> (SEHD). Named for the\u00a0former CU Denver education dean, the awardee is chosen by former\u00a0Dean Rhodes and current\u00a0Dean Kantor to\u00a0honor\u00a0SEHD\u00a0faculty who\u00a0make a\u00a0significant contribution to the\u00a0school and\u00a0the communities\u00a0we\u00a0serve.<\/p>\n \u201cI have high regard for the purpose of the prize\u00a0and was very honored by the award,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n A faculty member in CU Denver\u2019s\u00a0Research and Evaluation Methods<\/a>\u00a0program, Davis has contributed much\u00a0of his\u00a0community service through his research\u00a0for\u00a0DPS.\u00a0Since 2011, he\u00a0has\u00a0served as researcher-in-residence with\u00a0the CU Denver\u2013DPS Research Collaborative,\u00a0coordinated a professional development grant to\u00a0help\u00a0English language learner\u00a0(ELL) students\u00a0in Denver,\u00a0and led\u00a0local\u00a0initiatives to improve attendance, increase organizational coherence\u00a0and reduce dropout\u00a0rates.<\/p>\n His\u00a0research\u00a0returns often to issues of culture and diversity, such as\u00a0ELL success factors,\u00a0urban learning environments\u00a0and the\u00a0immigrant experience.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0fascinated with\u00a0the concept of\u00a0an adolescent student\u2019s developing\u00a0sense of identity and how it affects academic success and career aspirations.\u00a0Through\u00a0a\u00a0National Science Foundation grant<\/a>\u00a0project led by SEHD\u00a0Mathematics Education\u00a0professor Ron\u00a0Tzur, Davis is now\u00a0studying a\u00a0new approach to teaching mathematics<\/a>\u00a0to multilingual learners\u00a0in\u00a0low-income urban schools.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of\u00a0the\u00a0pleasure\u00a0of my work\u00a0is constantly learning new things,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt keeps you\u00a0mentally\u00a0young. Now that I\u2019m 70 years old, that\u2019s\u00a0one of the things that I think about.\u201d<\/p>\n As an undergraduate in\u00a0Southern California in the late 1960s, Davis planned to become an economist. But\u00a0that changed when\u00a0a serendipitous hitchhiking encounter led him to a\u00a0job teaching\u00a0eighth- and\u00a0ninth-grade math and language arts\u00a0in San Luis, Colo.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a life-changing experience,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cI was bilingual, and so were all but four of my students.\u00a0The culture of the San Luis Valley was\u00a0new and wonderful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n CU Denver\u2019s Research and Evaluation Methods program offers options at the MA<\/a> and PhD<\/a> levels.\u00a0Our students are prepared to be collaborative, applied researchers who work with community, university and school partnerships. Visit www.ucdenver.edu\/education<\/a> or email [email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/a> to learn more and apply to the program.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n He went on to get his master\u2019s degree in teaching\u00a0from\u00a0Harvard University.\u00a0As he gained diverse teaching experiences\u2014in\u00a0the Philippines, at Native American high schools and with\u00a0urban and rural school districts across the country\u2014Davis\u00a0learned more and more about\u00a0the\u00a0role\u00a0of culture\u00a0in\u00a0education, and\u00a0in\u00a0achievement gaps.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing exists outside of culture,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s important that teachers\u00a0learn\u00a0something about\u00a0the\u00a0culture and neighborhood that their students\u00a0come from and\u00a0find a way to connect with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Davis has brought this\u00a0mindset to his decades of teaching SEHD undergraduate,\u00a0master\u2019s\u00a0and doctoral students.\u00a0He believes the school\u2019s emphasis on culture is one of its biggest strengths.<\/p>\n \u201cAt CU Denver,\u00a0we try to recruit students from diverse populations, and our faculty is pretty diverse as well\u00a0in\u00a0terms\u00a0of race,\u00a0national origin\u00a0and sexual orientation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see our mission as preparing teachers to work in urban\u00a0and rural\u00a0schools with diverse populations.\u201d<\/p>\n Davis has been teaching for nearly half a century, and he doesn\u2019t\u00a0intend to\u00a0stop\u00a0anytime\u00a0soon.\u00a0In fact, he\u2019s\u00a0still\u00a0starting new projects,\u00a0like\u00a0his new undergraduate research methods course for\u00a0SEHD\u2019s\u00a0Human Development and Family Relations<\/a>\u00a0program.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t retired simply because I am in very good health, still learning, still interested in research\u00a0and still loving the opportunity to teach in and out of the classroom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI insist on teaching,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cAnyone in teaching has a\u00a0legacy in the sense of what your students\u00a0go on to do.\u00a0You have some small share in that,\u00a0and that\u2019s very satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n So satisfying, apparently, that\u00a0this \u201cColorado boy\u201d\u00a0may\u00a0continue teaching long after\u00a0he\u00a0stops downhill skiing.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to damage\u00a0my knees.\u00a0Those things have to last,\u201d he said. \u201cBut my job is extremely rewarding to me. I love every aspect of it: teaching, doing research, the service component. It\u2019s a job that seems to fit perfectly with my personality and skill.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact the author: [email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/a>. View more articles by Amy Ventura<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Davis receives SEHD’s Rhodes Endowed Faculty Award Education professor keeps learning, prioritizes local research and partnerships (See full article on CU Denver Today) Alan Davis, PhD, calls himself a \u201cColorado boy.\u201d The\u00a0CU Denver\u00a0education professor\u00a0grew up near Golden,\u00a0started skiing when he was 12 and graduated from Wheat Ridge High School. Davis\u00a0might\u00a0also\u00a0be called a\u00a0Denver\u00a0scholar\u00a0for the years of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sehd.ucdenver.edu\/impact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Research for the community<\/h3>\n
![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.cudenvertoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/AlanDavis-KatrinaMarzetta.jpg\")
Connecting across cultures<\/h3>\n
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MA, PhD programs offered<\/h4>\n
A legacy through teaching<\/h3>\n