Newswise — Education experts from the Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development are available for back-to-school interviews. Peabody College was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 education school in the nation in 2009.
Broadcast Media: Vanderbilt has a campus broadcast facility with a dedicated fiber optic line for live TV interviews and a radio ISDN line.
School funding and No Child Left Behind
Ellen Goldring and Tom Smith can discuss challenges that schools across the nation face as budgets are reduced and the need to meet No Child Left Behind standards continue. Goldring and Smith can discuss the balancing act required of school administrators to manage costs, ensure teacher quality, raise student performance and meet the needs of high-achievers. Smith can also discuss the options available to schools when dealing with underperforming teachers and what strategies work best to boost teacher performance. Goldring is Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership and chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations. Smith is an associate professor of public policy and education.
Bios: Goldring http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1463.xml
Smith http://www.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x5062.xml
Public school reform, magnet schools
Ellen Goldring and Claire Smrekar can discuss various efforts to reform the nation's public schools and the important role of families, communities and schools in shaping those reforms. Goldring and Smrekar are co-authors of the article, "Magnet Schools in Urban Districts: What's Our Choice," which focuses on questions of equity and community in urban districts with extensive magnet programs. Smrekar is associate professor of public policy and education.
Bios: Goldring http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1463.xml
Smrekrar http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1546.xml
No Child Left Behind and testing
Stephen Elliott is an international expert on large-scale testing and the interplay between social behavior and academic performance. Elliott is a professor of special education and Dunn Family Professor of Education and Psychological Assessment.
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x4706.xml
Graduation rates
Carolyn Hughes can discuss critical interventions needed to reduce the dropout rate in U.S. schools. As part of her work on this issue, Hughes manages a program that pairs Vanderbilt undergraduates with youth in high-poverty high schools to encourage those students to complete high school and go on to college. Hughes is a professor of special education and a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development investigator.
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1288.xml
Closing the achievement gap
Donna Ford can discuss the complex factors surrounding the achievement gap between white and minority students, as well as the special challenges faced by gifted black students. Ford is a professor of special education and the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2008 Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Association for Gifted Children and the Career Award from the American Educational Research Association.
Bio: http://www.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x4732.xml
Performance incentives for teachers
Matthew Springer is the director of the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt's Peabody College, funded with a $10 million federal grant to determine the impact, if any, financial incentives for teachers have on student achievement. He has also served on several advisory committees charged with designing performance-based compensation systems for teachers and/or principals at the state and district level, and conducted analyses of performance pay and of school finance systems in Alaska, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas and New York City.
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x2031.xml
Helping kids handle stress
Judy Garber can discuss options for parents in helping their teens safely handle stress and treat depression, which may arise as the school year gets underway. Garber recently published the results of a national study showing the positive benefits of cognitive behavioral programs for teens at risk of depression. Garber is a professor of psychology, an assistant professor of psychiatry and an investigator in the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.
Bio: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/Garber
Boosting math and science skills
Camilla Benbow, a member of the National Science Board, is available to talk about the importance of math and science education to America's ability to compete globally. She was vice chair of President George W. Bush's National Advisory Mathematics Panel. Benbow is Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt's Peabody College and is co-leading a 50-year study on mathematically precocious youth. She is a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development investigator.
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x6737.xml
Technology in the classroom
Ted Hasselbring has conducted research over the past 30 years on the use of technology for enhancing learning in students with mild disabilities and those who are at-risk of school failure. This research resulted in several widely used computer-intervention programs for struggling learners, including READ 180, a reading software program now managed by Scholastic, Inc. Read 180 is in more than 10,000 schools and has been used by more than 1 million students. Hasselbring is a research professor of special education.
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3446.xml
Classroom "troublemakers"
Kathleen Lane studies the connection between academic underachievement and emotional and behavioral disorders. Her work in classrooms has helped teachers to reduce the impact "troublemaking" kids have on other students, while helping those troubled children focus and learn by addressing their emotional and/or behavioral disorders. Lane is the co-author of three books on this topic. She is associate professor of special education and a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development investigator.
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1314.xml
Bullies
Maury Nation can discuss understanding and preventing violence and bullying among youth and the short- and long-term consequences of peer harassment. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and book chapters on school violence and bullying. Nation is associate professor of human and organizational development.
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1620.xml
Re-segregation
Ellen Goldring and Claire Smrekar are available to talk about the re-segregation occurring in many of the nation's schools following the Supreme Court's 2007 decision on desegregation and new school assignment plans that take greater account of family income. The three submitted briefs to the Supreme Court on the cases regarding the use of race in school assignment, which the court found to be unconstitutional.
Bios: Goldring http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1463.xml
Smrekrar http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1546.xml
Designing effective pre-kindergarten curriculum
Dale Farran can discuss the components of an effective pre-kindergarten curriculum and the importance of pre-k for at-risk students. Farran was a co-primary investigator of the Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research project (PCER), a national evaluation of early childhood curriculum models completed in 2006. In 2005, Farran and Vanderbilt Peabody colleague Mark Lipsey, along with the University of California at Berkeley, won a "scale up" project from the Institute of Education Sciences involving a pre-kindergarten mathematics curriculum. This curriculum is being implemented in Metro Nashville Public Schools and Metro Action Committee Head Start. Farran is professor of education and psychology and a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development investigator.
Bio: http://www.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1199.xml
For more education experts, visit http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu.
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