Releases

Calculators are useful tools in elementary mathematics classes, if students already have some basic skills, new research has found. The findings shed light on the debate about whether and when calculators should be used in the classroom.  “These findings suggest that it is important children first learn how to calculate… Read More

This summer Peabody’s Peggy Westlake, assistant to the director of the Center for Evaluation and Program Improvement, along with her husband, Mark, and daughter, Carolyn, traveled from Nashville to Key West, Fla., to Madawaska, Maine, to San Ysidro, California, to Blaine, Wash., and back to Nashville on motorcycle to… Read More

Standardized testing is an inescapable part of modern education; however, these tests often fail to meet the needs of students with learning disabilities. Vanderbilt Learning Sciences Institute researchers Stephen N. Elliott, Peter A. Beddow and Ryan J. Kettler have developed a decision-making instrument called the Test Accessibility… Read More

The new Peabody Research Institute (PRI) has been created to conduct research on children and families using a permanent staff of researchers and a high level of methodological expertise. Staff will collaborate with and support faculty on grants, including education research. The new center will be initially staffed with researchers… Read More

One of the things Peabody graduate Amy Cate, BS’03, likes best about teaching is the unpredictability. “It’s different every day,” she says. “You go in with a plan, but you never know what’s going to happen.” As a Spanish teacher at J.T. Moore Middle School, a public school in Nashville, Cate often tells her students, “Así es la vida”—“such is life”—presumably in order to help them deal with perennial travails such as homework or quizzes. Read More

Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Research for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been named dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Balser, who has served as interim dean since July 2008, becomes only the 11th dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine since its founding in 1875. In addition to his responsibilities as dean, Balser will be associate vice chancellor for Health Affairs, with continued oversight for medical center research. Read More

Mayor Karl Dean will discuss one of his favorite authors, John Irving, at an event for Vanderbilt University students Sunday, Oct. 12, 3 to 4 p.m. as part of a "citywide read" initiative. Read More

Israel should become a secular democracy and better integrate its Arab minority to help secure its future, Israeli political economist Bernard Avishai will argue during a lecture at Vanderbilt University based on his latest book. Read More

Songwriters Dean Dillon, Shawn Camp and Scotty Emerick will perform Saturday, Oct. 11, at Dyer Observatory. The final concert in this year's Bluebird on the Mountain series will begin at 7 p.m. Read More

Continued thrust and parry between Barack Obama and John McCain has led many to label the 2008 presidential campaign the most negative campaign in the modern era. Negative ads have dominated the airwaves to the point that even Karl Rove argued that both candidates have gone too far. Read More

Vanderbilt professor of law and sociology Beverly Moran will fulfill her American Council on Education Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read More

The highest priority must be given to the development of Afghan security forces that are better able to deal with insurgents within the country, even if they have a haven in Pakistan. Read More

Randall Balmer, professor of American Religious History at Barnard College and visiting professor at Yale Divinity School, will deliver the annual Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Read More

What does a mixture of two different kinds of cells have in common with a mixture of oil and water? The same basic force causes both mixtures to separate into two distinct regions. Read More

Vanderbilt, welcome to the big time. Mackenzi Adams came off the bench and threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 19 Vanderbilt beat 13th-ranked Auburn 14-13 Saturday night to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1943. The Commodores also improved to 3-0… Read More

Political scholars, journalists and pundits will offer their informed perspective on where the 2008 presidential election is headed during an Oct. 7 forum for students that is sponsored by Vanderbilt University and the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt. Read More

John McCain Needs Game-Changer: Campaign and polling expert John Geer says Barack Obama should strive to look presidential and avoid major mistakes in the remaining two presidential debates, while John McCain needs a game-changing event to shake up the race. However, with economic troubles looming, that could be difficult for the GOP nominee. (Vanderbilt has a campus broadcast facility with a dedicated fiber optic line for live TV interviews and a radio ISDN line) For a full list of election experts and news coverage, visit ElectionVU 2008. Read More

Vanderbilt University will host a number of events leading up to and on the day of the Oct. 7 presidential debate in Nashville. Read More

An exhibit of video art curated by Amelia Winger-Bearskin and another of photographic imagery by artist Blue Mitchell will open Oct. 15 at the E. Bronson Ingram Studio Art Center at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Peter Applebome, writer and editor at the New York Times, will present a lecture on Monday, Oct. 13, at 4:10 p.m. in Room 126 of Wilson at Vanderbilt University. Read More