Connie Argento-Smith

Connie Smith is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Education and Coordinator of the Urban Outreach Initiative in the Division of Education at Walsh University. She has been with the Division of Education since 2007. Professor Smith has served as a teacher and administrator in both public and private education. She has experience in teaching higher education courses, as well as being a high school/middle school/elementary school teacher, forensics coach, and elementary school principal/pre-school director. She holds an M.S. Admin. and M.S. Ed. from Ashland University, as well as certification in Elementary and Middle School Administration and her B.S. in English Education (AYA) from Kent State University. Professor Smith is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Leadership and Management.

Teaching

Professor Smith teaches courses including ECE210 (Introduction to Early Childhood Education), ECE211 (Growth, Assessment and Development in Early Childhood Education), and EDUC255 (Language and Cognitive Development for Licensure areas: Early Childhood Intervention Specialists and Mild to Moderate Education Specialists). She has also taught higher education courses in communications and speech. Professor Smith is an advisor for both Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Intervention Specialist majors and is the coordinator of the Urban Outreach Program for Walsh University.

Scholarship

Professor Smith's research interests include providing academic opportunities and support to local families and community members in impoverished environments, incorporating and understanding the benefits of enrichment programs, incorporating technology in the authentic field based pre-service experience, and recognizing the importance of appropriate field experiences on pre-service teacher candidates when practicing in diverse populations, specifically targeting second language learners, early language learners, children from low socio-economic populations, and students of cultural and linguistic diversity. She is preparing and has attended presentations/publications for upcoming conferences on English as a Second Language and technology as a hybrid course, including a paper accepted for publication and presentation at an International Conference (eLEARN-AACE) "Hybrid Approaches to the Development of an ePortfolio Learning Community." She attended the NCATE Institutional Orientation Conference in Washington D.C., EduComm in Las Vegas Nevada, and serves on campus committees including: The General Education Committee, Advising Task Force Committee, Diversity Board for the Division of Education, NCATE Standards 2 and 4 Team, Field Advisory Committee, and the Teacher Prep Developmental Portfolio Essay Committee.

Service

Volunteering for diocesan and public schools in her communities, Professor Smith has initiated a collaborative partnership with The Goddard School, Our Lady of Peace Catholic School, and Portage Montessori School pairing the Walsh teacher Candidates with young learners in an authentic environment. In addition, she continues to develop and coordinate the Urban Outreach Partnership with Our Lady of Peace and Walsh pre-service teacher candidates, providing extended day enrichment and summer academic opportunities for all learners. Professor Smith is also a board member and Ambassador for the Stark County Early Childhood Resource Center in Canton, Ohio. She is a member of the campus Hybrid Course Learning Community, Education Club Co-Advisor and a member of the following external professional organizations: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), the Ohio Middle School Association (OMSA) and the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Canton Chapter, CAAEYC where she hosted Mount Union and Malone Universities at a University-Wide collaborative lesson share in fall 2010.Professor Smith lives in Magnolia, Ohio where she and her husband of 23 years have raised three children, all of whom are in college, and is currently completing her dissertation entitled: "A Study of Early Childhood Pre-Service Teacher Candidates' Perception of the Significance of Embedded Field-Based Teaching Experiences in Authentic Environments and with Diverse Populations."