The College of Education (COE) held an Assessment Symposium, with a theme of Assessment in a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning, on January 16, 2026 at the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. Organized by COE Director of Assessment, Accreditation, and Accountability Jamie Simpson Steele, the symposium brought together faculty and staff to engage in critical discussions about individual, program, and college-wide assessment practices.
“This gathering had an emphasis on our Native Hawaiian place of learning, both in form and function, mirroring our learnings from Cohort Kaulua,” Simpson Steele said. “So many hands contributed to the goals of supporting individual assessment practices as well as institutional plans for accreditation. It was a joy to spend the day with our COE community.”
Dr. Kealoha Fox, Deputy Director in the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability & Resiliency, provided a keynote to explore how realizing mana is important to the way we assess within the context and environment in a Native Hawaiian place of learning. Special guests also included Christine DeGregory and Karen Lowenstein from the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) and Monica Stitt-Berg from the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Excellence (OVPAE). Activities included presentations from 10 COE presenters and 11 COE PhD students.
During the symposium, the Mānoa Faculty Senate’s Committee on Educational Effectiveness (CEE) awarded 11 COE programs with a new Hōpoe Award of Excellence, which is more than half of the awarded programs campus wide:
• Early Childhood Education (MEd)
• Education (PhD)
• Education: Teaching (MEdT)
• Educational Administration (MEd)
• Educational Psychology (MEd)
• Educational Psychology (PhD)
• Elementary Education (BEd)
• Professional Educational Practice (EdD)
• Secondary Education (BEd)
• Special Education (BEd)
• Special Education (MEd)
