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Department: School of Education

Janelle Johnson

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Janelle Johnson, Ph.D., is an associate professor with the School of Education at MSU Denver, where she teaches in STEM teaching and learning. Prior to her current role, she was the STEM equity specialist at MSU Denver and a coordinator for Project SEED-Scholarships for Education and Economic Development at the University of Arizona. Johnson was also the program coordinator for a State Department-funded leadership institute for indigenous university students from Latin America. During this time, she served as a guest researcher at the Center for Research and Higher Education in Social Anthropology. She has also taught math and science to elementary and middle school students.

Deborah Horan

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I began my journey as an educator in Denver Public Schools (DPS), as a Spanish-English bilingual elementary teacher. To better advocate for language minority families, I pursued a doctorate at a social justice-focused institution, Boston College, with an emphasis within Teacher Education on Language, Literacy & Culture. While in Boston, I collaborated with educators in Boston Public Schools around literacy for multilingual students.

My previous experiences include collaborating as a literacy specialist on the Ithuba Writing Project, as funded by USAID. This collaboration with the South African Department of Education focused on creating national public school “readers” (text materials), authored and illustrated by Bantu-speaking teachers and artists. English versions of these culturally relevant materials are available within three DPS Newcomer schools, as facilitated through a donation from the Ithuba Writing Project to support Denver’s African refugee population.

Elizabeth Hinde

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Elizabeth Hinde is Professor and Founding Dean of the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Prior to coming to MSU Denver, she was Director of the Division of Teacher Preparation at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, one of the largest teacher preparation programs in the country. Along with her work in teacher education, she specializes in social studies education. She is the author of over 50 publications concerning social studies education, curriculum issues, and teacher preparation.

Dr. Hinde was a featured speaker at the Educational Research Center Conference in Dubai, UAE in April, 2013, and is a 2013 graduate of Harvard Institute of Higher Education’s Management Development Program. Dr. Hinde has been recognized nationally for her work in curriculum development and integration and has conducted numerous presentations at the state, national, and international levels. She was a member of the National Geographic Assessment Committee of the 21st Century Roadmap for Geographic Education Project and was research director of the Arizona Geographic Alliance’s GeoLiteracy and GeoLiteracy for English Language Learners programs. She was also a member of the curriculum development team of the Sandra Day O’Connor Our Courts: 21st Century Civics project, now iCivics.org. In addition, in 2005 Dr. Hinde received the National Council for Geographic Education’s (NCGE) Distinguished Teaching Award and is the 2010 recipient of the Geography Excellence in Media Award by the NCGE. She is on the Board of the Directors of the National Council for the Social Studies, is past-president of the Arizona Council for the Social Studies, a Teacher Consultant with the Arizona Geographic Alliance, sits on the editorial boards of a number of journals, and is active in numerous state and national professional organizations.

Elmer Harris

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Elmer Harris, Ed.D., is a Wilton Flemon Postdoctoral and assistant professor of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Prior to becoming a full-time university instructor, Elmer served in a number of public school positions. This included early intervention paraeducator, special education (autism), fifth-grade general education and district behavior interventionist.

His main research areas are in diverse teacher recruitment/retention and school-family partnerships. Additionally, he is a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and was one of six educators throughout the nation selected to serve as U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows during the 2017-2018 school year. Harris has also served on the associate board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Denver. He was an inaugural participate in their mentor 2.0 program in 2015, which matched every incoming freshman from Sheridan High School with community members for personal, academic and vocational support throughout their high school career.

Harris earned his doctorate and master’s degree from the University of Colorado, with focuses on educational equality and special education. His teaching philosophy as a public school educator and university instructor is based on building and maintain a sense of community within learning environments, and using those relationships as a foundation for experiences that are individualized, relevant and highly engaging.

Ingrid Carter

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Ingrid Carter, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Elementary Education and Literacy in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her research interests include preservice elementary education, teacher preparation in mathematics and science, equality and diversity in science education as well as argumentation in elementary science through writing.

In addition, she is the graduate programs coordinator for the School of Education at MSU Denver. In 2019, Carter was the third winner of the Faculty Senate Teaching Excellence Award and the winner of the 2019 Colorado Association of Science Teachers Award for Excellence in Teaching College Science.

Carter taught primary school grades in a Spanish/English bilingual classroom for four years in Richmond, CA. She also worked as an assistant professor at the University of Louisville for three years. Carter received her Ph.D. in science education from Indian University, Bloomington.

Rebecca Canges

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Rebecca Canges is an associate professor with the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She began her career in education as a one-on-one behavioral interventionist for children with autism. After earning her Education Specialist Teaching Credential, she became a special education middle school teacher in the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) in Southern California. During her time as a teacher she was nominated for the Disney American Teacher Award and was the first recipient of the LBUSD District Employee of the month. While working on her Masters in Special Education, Canges focused on research in the area of effective teaching practices for English Language Learners (ELLs).

She worked for many years as the research assistant for Jana Echevarria, Ph.D., and examined the effectiveness of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol Model (SIOP Model) in supporting the educational needs of ELLs in the content area. Later, while working as a full time lecturer in the Special Education Credential program at California State University, Long Beach. Canges earned her doctorate from the University of Southern California in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in teaching in multicultural societies. Her doctoral work focused on methods that general education teachers can implement to support the social success of students with disabilities included in their classroom. Canges has taught at MSU Denver for the past seven years. She was the recipient of the 2016 Teaching Excellence Award from the MSU faculty senate and currently serves as the department chair for Special Education, Early Childhood and Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education.

Susan Bertelsen

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Susan Bertelsen, Ed.D., is a professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver where she has been employed for eleven years. Previously, she taught two years at the University of Wyoming, one year at Santa Barbara City College and over 10 years at the high school level in California, Hawaii, and Colorado. Bertelsen specializes in methods of teaching fitness and physical activity education, health education and physical activity behavior change. She has owned and operated a 3,000 square foot fitness center from 2007-2009 and has been a certified personal trainer since 1997.

Originally from California, Bertelsen earned her Bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; Master’s from California State University Fresno; and Doctorate from University of Northern Colorado. She is an avid mountain bike rider and enjoys a variety of outdoor pursuits including golf, water sports, and traveling.

Philip Bernhardt

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Philip E. Bernhardt, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Secondary Education, K-12 Education and Educational Technology in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

From July 2013 – August 2017 he served as the founding chair of the Department of Secondary Education, K-12 Education and Educational Technology. Bernhardt has spent nearly two decades working in public schools, including eight years as a secondary social studies teacher working in co-taught classrooms. In fall 2016, Bernhardt was selected by the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) as a clinical practice fellow and currently serves as co-author and senior research associate of a 5-year National Science Foundation Noyce Scholars grant. He regularly presents at national and regional conferences.

His professional development interests and expertise include co-teaching, backwards design, performance assessment, effective instructional practices, new teacher mentoring and induction, and supporting middle and high schools establish course placement norms to help students access advanced-level coursework. Bernhardt has published articles in numerous journals including American Secondary Education, The Community School Journal, Current Issues in Education, The Field Experience Journal, and Educational Leadership. He is collaborating on a textbook for middle school students entitled, “Digital Wellness: Promoting Life Skills for Thriving in a Connected World” and recently had a chapter published in, “Teaching Social Studies: A Methods Book for Methods Teachers.”

Bernhardt received his doctorate in curriculum and instruction from George Washington University, Washington, DC and Master of Arts in Teaching in social studies education from Boston University. He currently holds a Colorado professional teaching license in social studies education (7-12).

Michael Benitez

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Michael Benitez, Ph.D., is the vice president for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He is a nationally acclaimed scholar practitioner and educator in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. Benitez has a critical perspectives on social and cultural issues on topics related to leadership and identity development, intersectionality, race and ethnicity, knowledge production as well as critical and inclusive pedagogy/practice in higher education.

Prior to his current role at MSU Denver, Benitez served as director of diversity initiatives at Dickinson College, director of intercultural development and the black cultural center at Lafayette College, affiliate faculty in the Graduate School of Leadership and Professional Advancement at Duquesne University, director of intercultural engagement and leadership at Grinnell College, and chief diversity officer/dean of diversity and inclusion, and Title IX and EEO officer at the University of Puget Sound.

Benitez’s deep knowledge and practice of innovative equity and inclusion-based strategies has helped to address some of higher education’s more pressing campus climate issues of today, including the Diversity Monologues- a critical spoken work initiative he helped implement and shape at multiple institutions, the campus climate community participatory framework and the Northwest 5 Consortium for supporting faculty of color.

He has authored book chapters and articles on student identity, hip hop culture, cultural centers, cultural and ethnic studies, institutional research and campus climates as well as faculty development. Benitez has also been featured in educational documentaries such as “Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity” and has appeared on talk shows such as “Worlds Apart,” “Hard Knock Radio” and “Speak out with Tim Wise.”

Benitez received his Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy with a focus on social justice in higher education from Iowa State University, a master’s in counselor education and a bachelor’s in human development and family studies from Pennsylvania State University.

Sue Barnd

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Sue Barnd, Ed.D., is a professor in the Department of Secondary/K-12 Education and Educational Technology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She specializes in elementary physical education pedagogy.

Barnd has over 30 years of experience in teaching, having taught at the elementary, middle school and university levels. She spent 11 years at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse serving as a faculty member and as coach for women’s fast pitch team. At MSU Denver, Barnd works with the K-12 Physical Education majors, supervises student teachers and is the co-advisor for the Physical Education Teaching Majors Club. In addition to teaching, Barnd serves as the program director for the K-12 Physical Education Program.

She has published over 35 articles; and has presented at the local, state, region, national and international level. Barnd has been actively involved in numerous local, state and national physical education committees. She has also served as the Colorado Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance President.

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