On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The new national education law shifts autonomy away from the federal level to the state and local district levels with teacher evaluation, testing, academic standards, and many other policy issues.

F. Chris Curran, an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, and Ann Kellogg, a Ph.D. student in public policy, have launched a website titled “#ESSA: Social Network Sentiment and Discourse Analysis of the Every Student Succeeds Act.” The website displays their analysis which tracks public discourse of ESSA on Twitter for seven days following its passage. The aim of the research is to analyze how ESSA is understood by the public immediately after it is passed. Curran and Kellogg explain that with increased autonomy bringing challenges to interpretation and implementation of the law at the local level, tracking public sentiment could help answer important questions surrounding the legislation.

“Does the law become entangled in political debates around Common Core? Does the law break with the past ire directed towards NCLB or become viewed as a continuation of such policies?,” the researchers state on the website. “In part, the answers to these questions will be determined by the way in which ESSA comes to be understood in the immediacy of its passage, and one domain in which such discussions will take place is Twitter.”

Curran and Kellogg have found that early public discourse about ESSA has been generally positive, but there are groups of people who view the law negatively.

“Advocacy organizations and individuals identifying as advocates have been very active in the conversation,” they explain, “we find issues such as equity, teacher preparation, and local implementation have been among the most common issues discussed.  Such early discourse may set the stage and direction of future discussions as the law progresses through implementation.”

Explore Curran and Kellogg’s observations and find more information at hashtagessa.com. Their work was featured in POLITICO’s Morning Education Briefing on Monday, April 4.

Image: President Barack Obama signs S. 1177, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), during a bill a signing ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, Dec. 10, 2015. Official White House photo by Amanda Lucidon.

"Sir Tummington"

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UMBC faculty in political science, public policy, and American studies have been in the news providing political analysis as Maryland’s primary election is less than a month away and the presidential campaign intensifies.

Laura Hussey, an associate professor of political science, joined Maryland Public Television’s “Direct Connection” program to discuss the possibility of a contested Republican convention and the state of the presidential campaign. Hussey covered several issues, including how she thinks the current campaign compares to past presidential elections.

“This election…has been much more about people than it has been about policy,” Hussey told host Jeff Salkin during the program. View the complete segment below.

School of Public Policy Professor and Director Donald Norris provided analysis for WJZ-TV for its Maryland Democratic Primary debate in the U.S. Senate race and its Baltimore mayoral debate at the University of Baltimore. “They acquitted themselves very well. They distinguished themselves only a little bit from each other,” Norris told WJZ’s Pat Warren after the Senate debate between Representatives Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards.

Norris was also quoted in The Baltimore Sun about state legislators moving some bills early, anticipating vetoes by the governor, and questions surrounding campaign contributions for State Sen. Catherine Pugh in the Baltimore mayoral election. “She is the front-runner and seems to have the momentum to pull this thing off,” Norris said about Pugh. “Pugh has been around a long time, and I’ve never heard anything to suggest she did anything untoward. These are probably acts of desperation that probably won’t harm Pugh.”

Earlier this month, Political Science Professor and Chair Thomas Schaller and American Studies Associate Professor Kimberly Moffitt were guests on WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show to discuss the presidential election. The panel of guests analyzed election results from primaries in Florida, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and North Carolina and their impact on the race.

Roy Meyers, a professor of political science, wrote an op-ed for MarylandReporter.com in which he explained why parts of the state budget are mandated.

In an April 2 New York Times op-ed and April 4 column in Bloomberg about the future of the Republican party, arguments and analysis from Schaller’s book The Stronghold were cited.

For complete coverage, see below:

How does a contested national political convention work? (Maryland Public Television’s Direct Connection) 
WJZ to broadcast Senate debate (WJZ) 
Maryland General Assembly moving quickly to thwart potential Hogan vetoes (The Baltimore Sun) 
Embry takes aim at Pugh’s donations from lobbyists in Baltimore’s mayor race (The Baltimore Sun) 
Social security plays prominent role in Senate contest (The Baltimore Sun) 
National roundtable: election results (WEAA’s The Marc Steiner Show) 
Analysis: If governor wants mandate relief, he should treat the legislature as an equal partner (MarylandReporter.com)
Why Trump can’t break the G.O.P. (New York Times) 
Republicans can’t stop hurting themselves (Bloomberg) 

Image:  The State of the State Address in the Maryland House Chambers. Photo by Maryland GovPics, CC by 2.0.

The Noordbrabants Museum in the Netherlands has opened a new exhibition commemorating artist Hieronymous Bosch’s 500^th anniversary. Honors College Professor Ellen Handler Spitz wrote a detailed review and analysis of the exhibition in New Republic.

In her article, Spitz gives the reader a glimpse into her lifelong interest in Bosch’s work and grapples with the complexity and ambiguity of his art.

“Like many of my peers, my first exposure to his shape-shifting, spell-binding world came in the form of glossy reproductions, color plates in massive art books,” Spitz wrote. “Our family’s volumes weighted down the bottom shelves of mahogany bookcases in front of which I sprawled poring over details—tiny details that rewarded hours of staring. Painted in sure strokes with small brushes, sometimes not more than a single hair, and brilliant hues, Bosch’s teeming human-scapes exuded an aura of the forbidden to my child’s eye.”

Spitz provides close analysis of several of Bosch’s works, including The Garden of Earthly Delights. She explains that for viewers of Bosch’s art, his work grows more complex on many levels, but she emphasizes the endurance of his legacy.

“Obviously, the impact of works of art alters from age to age, and one wants very much to re-imagine its initial reception, despite the 500 years. What matters at least equally, it seems to me, is the endurance of these visions. Beyond their remoteness and delicacy, which push us toward cognition rather than emotion, there is the aesthetics of Bosch’s painting itself and its heady effect on its viewers. Bosch is less a master of composition than a master of draughtsmanship, color, and light.”

Read the full article “The Impious Delights of Hieronymous Bosch” on the New Republic website.

Image: Hieronymus Bosch – The Garden of Earthly Delights (1503-4) – Central Panel, CC by 2.0.

UMBC and U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) faculty researchers presented updates on five collaborative cybersecurity projects funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) during the inaugural USNA-UMBC Partnership Symposium, hosted by UMBC’s Office the Vice President for Research on March 22, 2016.

The five projects presented are supported by three-year grants from the ONR, most of which are entering their second year of funding.

When the joint research initiative launched a year ago, Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research at UMBC, described it as “the start of a long-term partnership.” The recent symposium was the first formal opportunity for the research teams to formally present their progress on tackling major cybersecurity challenges outlined when the partnership began.

One team is developing a way to ensure that cloud-based storage services are secure, and that consumers can store their files with confidence. UMBC principal investigator (PI) Karuna Joshi, assistant research professor of computer science and electrical engineering (CSEE); Tim Finin, professor of CSEE; and USNA faculty are developing a cloud storage system that will make it impossible for deleted data to be restored or recovered.

Another group is developing a system that can continuously monitor itself and detect potential threats more quickly than human monitors. This technology has important safety as well as security implications. In cars, for example, hackers can gain control of a vehicle through Bluetooth or other existing systems, potentially having deadly effects. UMBC PI Ryan Robucci, assistant professor of CSEE; Chintan Patel, assistant professor of CSEE; Nilanjan Banerjee, associate professor of CSEE; Anupam Joshi, professor and chair of CSEE; and USNA faculty are now completing tests that involve working to detect anomalies in various systems.

Drawing on the finding that many online attacks follow predictable patterns, UMBC PI Tim Oates, professor of CSEE, and USNA PI Nate Chambers, assistant professor of computer science, presented their work on a tool to monitor social media networks, like Facebook and Twitter, in real-time to detect likely attacks. The team is analyzing language trends on social media platforms around the times that previous attacks took place. Regular social media users often notice attacks or threats of attacks first, and by analyzing and characterizing the content of their posts on “normal days” compared with “attack days” the team is developing a way to automatically generate an alert when real-time social media posts indicate a possible attack.

Understanding the strengths and limitations of the range of existing mobile authentication methods is important in protecting individuals’ devices from getting hacked. UMBC PI Ravi Kuber, associate professor of information systems, and USNA faculty are studying the strength of various authentication tools on Android devices to develop new methods that use tactile cues, like vibrations, to authenticate mobile devices. The team conducted research to understand authentication practices of people who are conscious of security issues, and the susceptibility of current authentication methods to over-the-shoulder breaches. Kuber and his team developed a secure authentication tool called H4Plock that prompts individuals to enter strokes in response to cues, where response patterns would be unique to an individual user.

The fifth group including UMBC PI Nirmalya Roy, assistant professor of information systems; Todd Pittman, associate professor of physics; James Franson, professor of physics; and several USNA faculty, is working to create quantum computers that can help identify abnormal behavior or patterns at much faster speeds than current computing technology. The team is extracting photons that will then be included in optical fibers to emit light. They are working to pull bundles of optical fibers thinner to create nanofiber cavities.

Don Engel, assistant vice president for research at UMBC, thanked the ONR for their close collaboration and shared his excitement that the research collaborations have already shown such “fruitful findings.”

Image: Karuna Joshi presents during the USNA-UMBC Partnership Symposium. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Good Afternoon Future Retrievers!

We are two weeks away from one of our favorite events of the year; New Student Day!  The invites are out and you can register through your myUMBC account.  Be sure to use the registration code sent in your invitation.

We have a plethora of fun activities for you and your families throughout the day. You will have the opportunity to attend information sessions, meet current UMBC students, take a walking tour of the campus or a special interest area, and cheer the Retrievers to victory on the track. The Campus Activity Fair is an opportunity to learn about student clubs, intramural sports, and Retriever Athletics. Additional workshops are offered as well to learn more about becoming a future Retriever.

I want to congratulate all of the admitted students! We can’t wait to see all of you Future Retrievers on Saturday, April 16^th!

Remember, you can always stay up to date and find out what’s going on with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by following us on our social media sites @UMBCadmissions!