Camilla P. Benbow and David Lubinski have been selected to receive The International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR)’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Intelligence. They co-direct the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth. The 50-year longitudinal study of 5,000 highly talented individuals is the world’s foremost long-term examination of intellectually gifted individuals.
“Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski’s research has yielded unprecedented information about the life trajectories of some of our most accomplished innovators, leaders and scholars, as well as those who serve their communities in many other ways,” said Vanderbilt’s Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente. “The study’s findings affirm how important it is to meet the educational needs of the gifted. They are deeply deserving of this recognition.”
Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development, took over the study in the 1970s after her mentor and study founder Julian C. Stanley retired. Since 1991, she has co-directed the study with Lubinski, professor of psychology and human development and an investigator at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.
They will receive the award at ISIR’s annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland in July 2018. Then, at the 2019 ISIR annual conference in Minneapolis, they will share their latest round of study results and deliver the keynote address.
Xiu Cravens, associate professor of the practice of educational policy and associate dean for international affairs, and David Laird, assistant professor of the practice of education, have been named Bold Fellows by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching. The Bold Fellowship is a new initiative to develop learning projects and provide funding to doctoral students to design and develop online learning experiences.
Lisa Fazio, assistant professor of psychology, received $50,000 from the Knight Prototype Fund to support her partnership with CrossCheck, a collaborative journalism project that was used to combat misinformation during the a French election. Fazio’s research will develop guidelines for fact checkers in an effort to combat fake news and bolster the public’s trust in journalism.
Anjali Forber-Pratt, assistant professor of human and organizational development, was invited by the South Korean government to speak in January at a conference about her work and research related to the Paralympic movement. Forber-Pratt conducts research on disability identity and is an elite wheelchair racer. She is the 2011 World Champion in the 200m and holds two bronze medals after participating in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, and the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. Forber-Pratt also was featured as a 2018 Emerging Scholar in the January 2018 issue of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine; and selected for the “guiding women in sport” award by SHAPE America. Sharon Shields, professor of the practice, will deliver the Rachel Bryant lecture at the SHAPE America annual meeting in March.
James Fraser, associate professor of human and organizational development, has been named to the Transit and Affordability Taskforce by the Nashville mayor’s office. The taskforce will offer policy, project and programmatic recommendations to help Nashville’s decision-makers ensure that
planned high-capacity transit corridors are
safe, affordable and inclusive.
Jason Grissom, associate professor of public policy and education, received $673,426 from the National Center for Education Research and the National Center for Special Education Research to train postdoctoral researchers to study school leadership. Collaborators are Ellen Goldring, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy and chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations; and Gary Henry, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education.
Jason Grissom also was named faculty director for the Tennessee Education Research Alliance. Dale Ballou, associate professor of leadership, policy and organizations, served as faculty director in TERA’s first year, and will continue in an advisory role until his retirement this spring. Grissom will collaborate closely with leaders in the state Department of Education and work with TERA Executive Director Erin O’Hara to set the strategic vision for the organization and spearhead its research agenda.
Carolyn Heinrich, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education and professor of economics, is lead investigator for Vanderbilt in a partnership with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to research the effectiveness of initiatives developed under Tennessee’s “Drive to 55” campaign. The partnership established the Tennessee Postsecondary Evaluation and Analysis Research Lab, or TN-PEARL.
Nicole M. Joseph, assistant professor of mathematics education, was selected for special recognition in Essence magazine’s February issue. Joseph was quoted in the article, “STEM’s New Guard: Fifteen women who are paving the way and paying it forward.”
Ann P. Kaiser, Susan Gray Professor of Education and Human Development; Jennifer L. Bumble, a third-year doctoral student pursuing the policy and community action specialization in special education; and Amy Weitlauf (Ph.D’11), assistant professor of pediatrics and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigator, are being recognized by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at its annual awards for outstanding contributions to the field. The awards will be presented during a ceremony at the AAIDD’s 142nd annual meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, in June.
Mark Lipsey, research professor, and Marcy Singer-Gabella, professor of the practice of education, were honored for 25 years of continuous service to Vanderbilt at the Fall Faculty Assembly.
Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez, associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, began her term as associate dean for graduate education on January 1, 2018. Mancilla-Martinez assumes these responsibilities from Craig Smith, associate professor of psychology and human development, who served as interim associate dean for the past two years.
Ebony McGee, associate professor of teaching and learning, and Jason Grissom, associate professor of public policy and education and associate professor of political science were among 12 Vanderbilt faculty members named 2018 Chancellor Faculty Fellows. The class comprises highly accomplished, recently tenured faculty from all corners of campus. They will hold the title of Chancellor Faculty Fellow and will be supported by an unrestricted allocation of $40,000 a year for two fiscal years beginning July 1.
Kristopher Preacher, professor of psychology, was among eight Vanderbilt faculty members included on the 2018 list of scientists whose papers have been cited most frequently by others. Preacher’s research focuses on the development and application of quantitative methods in the social sciences. This is Preacher’s third consecutive year to make the list, which is assembled by the global science analytics firm Clarivate Analytics.
Claire Smrekar, associate professor of leadership, policy and organizations, published an op-ed on the online academic platform The Conversation, “What we can learn from closure of charter school that Betsy DeVos praised.” Salon and Yahoo News both picked up the story, driving 90,000 views to the op-ed in just one week.
Barb Stengel, professor of the practice and director of secondary education in the Department of Teaching and Learning, was awarded nearly $16,000 in grant funding to design a teacher residency program that will pair prospective teachers with effective educators for a yearlong clinical experience as they train to become fully licensed teachers with Metro Nashville Public Schools. The Tennessee Department of Education has committed funding to support the development of residency programs, similar to medical residency programs, over the next two years. Vanderbilt has submitted its proposal, and could receive up to $1 million of additional funding for the full development and implementation of the residency program.
Vanderbilt scholars topped the American Educational Research Association’s list of most-read articles of 2017. The most-read article overall of AERA’s seven online journals was “Understanding Loan Aversion in Education: Evidence from High School Seniors, Community College Students, and Adults,” published by AERA Open. The authors are Angela Boatman, Brent J. Evans and Adela Soliz, all assistant professors of public policy and higher education. Two other articles also made the list. “The Effects of No Child Left Behind on Children’s Socioemotional Outcomes,” co-authored by Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education Christopher Candelaria, was the fourth-most-read article in AERA Open. “The Impact of Performance Ratings on Job Satisfaction for Public School Teachers,” co-authored by Associate Professor of Leadership, Policy and Organizations Matthew G. Springer, was the fifth-most-read article in American Educational Research Journal.
Seven Peabody professors are included in an annual listing of the most influential public scholars in education. The Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings are compiled each year by Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy for the American Enterprise Institute. Hess’ listing, published on his blog at Education Week, includes 200 scholars nationwide. The ranking uses nine measures to determine a ranking for each scholar, including metrics like their Google Scholar score, number of books published, inclusion in the Congressional record, mentions in newspapers and the education press and social media presence. The seven faculty members are:
- Dale Ballou, associate professor of leadership, policy and organizations
- Camilla P. Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development and professor of psychology
- Lynn Fuchs, Dunn Family Professor of Psychoeducational Assessment
- Ellen B. Goldring, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy and chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations
- Jason Grissom, associate professor of public policy and education and faculty director of the Tennessee Education Research Alliance
- Gary T. Henry, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education
- Joseph F. Murphy, Frank W. Mayborn Professor of Education and associate dean for special projects