Page 9 - Alcorn Magazine - Spring, 2019

Dr. Tabitha Smith Sets Out On A Journey To Better Education In Mississippi
Educators are a key component in the intellectual develop- ment of students. eir role as leaders whose job is to foster young minds is critical to the betterment of society’s present
and future.
Part of Alcorn State University Department of Education’s mission is to recruit seasoned instructors who are capable of reviewing the quali cations of potential educators to join them on their quest to instill greatness in today’s youth. One of those seasoned teachers is Dr. Tabitha Smith, an assistant professor in Alcorn State University’s School of Education and Psychology.
Smith was selected to serve on the Mississippi Department of Edu- cation’s Alternate Route Task Force, which was established to review and revise regulations, processes, and procedures for certifying indi- viduals who possess a degree outside of teacher education but now wish to become certi ed to teach.
e opportunity allows Smith to collaborate with other professors in search of those who desire to make the transition to education.
“ is is a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Alternate Route Task Force,” said Smith. “ e task force will allow me to collaborate with other universities on various key issues that a ect the curricu- lum for how students matriculate in the program for advancement.”
Being a teacher requires more than giving information while stand- ing front and center of the classroom. Smith and her colleagues search for candidates who possess intangible traits such as patience and adaptability.
Dr. Smith stated, “Great teachers do great things. Aspiring teachers must be able to adapt to ages, languages, ethnicities, and be knowl- edgeable of the subject areas in order to be successful. A day with a teacher can vary greatly depending on the subject and the grade level in which they teach.”
In the future, the youth of today will dictate the progress of soci- ety, which is why Dr. Smith is adamant about discovering those who genuinely have a passion for molding the next generation for greatness.
Smith believes, “Teachers are in a unique position to have a direct impact on their students. ey can see their work in action through changes in their students’ behavior and classroom performance. Set- ting high standards for their students is the goal for teachers because their main priority is to help others.”
One of the ultimate goals of educators is to inspire their students to
follow in their footsteps. Smith has faith in today’s teachers’ ability to inspire their students to seek a career as an instructor.
As smith stated, “A teacher’s goals should includes more than just changing a student’s life, it also includes inspiring them to be teach- ers in the future. My favorite book, Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!,’ motivates students to pursue a successful career in education.”
While staying busy pursuing future educators, Dr. Smith continued to work on another aspect of her craft, scholarly research.
Smith set out on a journey to delve deeper into tutoring and how important it is to the matriculation of students and wrote an article to support her ndings.
Her article “Tutoring: An E ective Instructional Alternative for Promoting ird Grade Students’ Reading Performance” was pub- lished in the Journal of Leadership and Interdisciplinary Research in Education, Vol. 1, No. 1 because of its outstanding ndings, excep- tional presentation, and careful attention to detail.
“ e article discusses the e ects of instructional outcomes, model- ing, sca olding, and the feedback students must receive during dif- ferential instruction that bene ts all students, both struggling and higher-achieving students. It’s an interesting article because it fo- cuses on monitoring students for word recognition, decoding skills, and language comprehension.”
Seeing her article published in the journal is one of Smith’s most cherished career highlights. She’s passionate about spreading aware- ness on how bene cial tutoring can be for children.
“I’m proud to have accomplished this goal. My article focuses on how important reading skills are for children, as well as learning to read, which helps children overcome challenges with word recog- nition.”
Despite the challenges that come with analysis and research, Smith persevered and reached her goal. e research gave her more insight and equipped her to be an even stronger force in the eld of edu- cation.
“I wanted to understand e ects of tutoring with children and stu- dents, and how to communicate e ectively and e ciently. Con- ducting scholarly written work isn’t simple. It requires exceptional aptitude for research. Researching other articles is important. But it can be achieved, which provides valuable understanding toward the di erent approaches with tutoring students.”
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