Pamela L. Arnold, M.A.
Assistant Professor of Education
The Sage Colleges, Troy, NY 12180
Member of the Sage Colleges since 2001
Office: 205 Education Building, Troy Campus
Phone: 518-244-2290
Educational Background
- B.A. Political Science and History, State University of New York at Albany
- M.A. Teaching Social Studies, State University of New York at Albany
- +21 credits Post-Graduate Special Education, Sage Graduate School
- Ph.D in progress, Curriculum and Instruction, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, State University of New York at Albany
My name is Pamela Arnold and I come to the Sage community via the NYC/Long Island area. My family members on my mother's side are long-time Brooklyn natives, and my father came to this country from Montevideo, Uruguay. I grew up learning both English and Spanish, though my father tells me these days my accent in Spanish sounds pretty "Americana". My mission in teaching at the college level is to support the development of future educators that are highly capable and confident in their abilities to help all students learn. Teaching has been my passion in life as well as my profession. I find it very satisfying to share my knowledge of instructional design with, and learn from, others who are beginning their journey in teaching. I have been an Assistant Professor at the Sage Colleges for the past seven years and find it to be a wonderfully supportive home for this sort of work. Prior to coming to the Sage Colleges, I was a classroom teacher at a variety of levels in both general education and special education capacities, in urban and suburban settings. I believe these experiences from many vantage points help me share important insights with teachers who are preparing to teach in our ever more diverse and inclusive schools. I have also had the opportunity to work as an assistant director in the school study council of the School of Education at the University at Albany, a large research institution. That experience afforded me multiple opportunities to work closely and collaboratively with faculty and administrators from121 local area school districts to design professional development opportunities to benefit teachers and their students in the capital region.
I graduated from the University at Albany with a Master's degree in Teaching Social Studies in 1991, studied Special Education at the Sage Colleges as a post-graduate, and I am currently finishing my doctoral studies in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at the University at Albany. My most recent research has been in middle school students' mental models and recall of narrative texts, with an emphasis on the role of instructional approaches in the development of narrative understanding. I am currently developing an article for publication with my research team, and have presented the findings from this study at the National Council for Teachers of English. This presentation was focused on changes in sixth and seventh graders literacy. The research questions driving my current work include the following: What are some of the literacy practices of sixth and seventh grade students and how do those practices intersect with reading narratives in school? What are students perceptions of their difficulties with school reading? How do students know if they understand what theyre reading? What are the perceptions that appear to be commonly held by students regarding the usefulness of certain instructional approaches? This research takes place within the context of recent reports from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), indicating that the gap between high and low-performing students in reading performance was wider in the U.S. than for any other country studied, and that this gap occurs most markedly after students leave the primary grades for middle school. These questions are of interest nationally, but also locally to the schools and teachers that provide Sage student teachers with field placements, and to School of Education students who are preparing to enter the field of teaching. Being actively involved in research in education allows me to be able to bring the latest findings back to share with my own students who are preparing to become teachers.
