Education

Families, faith and foster care are the focus of the 13th annual Family Re-Union conference, set for Oct. 18 at the downtown Nashville Public Library, located at 615 Church Street. Read More

Paul Cobb, professor of education at Vanderbilt's Peabody College of education and human development, is the first recipient of a new endowed faculty chair, the Peabody Chair in Teaching and Learning. Cobb will receive the new title during Homecoming festivities on Friday, Oct. 12. Read More

Nashville Public Television (NPT) and Vanderbilt University have entered into a new strategic partnership designed to develop, enrich and extend educational programs and services throughout the region. Read More

Reading, writing, 'rithmetic and... good manners? Researchers have found that 10 basic social skills such as taking turns, listening and simply being nice are just as important to children's academic success as the subjects they study, and that students can and should be learning these skills in the classroom. Read More

As perhaps the fastest-growing sector in the school choice movement, charter schools claim to offer a bigger bang for the public education buck. The question is, is it true? According to Charter School Outcomes, a new book by some of the leading charter school researchers in the country, it depends. Read More

Metro K-12 teachers attending a Sept. 14 workshop sponsored by Vanderbilt's Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies can try dancing the tango with instructors from Tango Nashville. Read More

The Supreme Court's recent decision in Parents v. Seattle nudges the nation further along the path of race-neutral decision-making in the educational arena. Unlike the 2003 Michigan cases that dealt with racial preferences in higher education, the latest case strikes down the use of race in pupil assignment to K-12 schools in Louisville, Ky. and Seattle, Wash. By doing so the Court agreed with the parents that the diversity plans being challenged violated the equal protection rights of the white students to attend the schools of their choice. Read More

The future career path and creative direction of gifted youth can be predicted well by their performance on the SAT at age 13, a new study from Vanderbilt University finds. The study offers insights into how best to identify the nation's most talented youth, which is a focus of the new $43 billion America Competes Act recently passed by Congress to enhance the United States' ability to compete globally. Read More

New research from Vanderbilt University and the University of Missouri-Columbia suggests that performance pay for teachers and administrators often has a positive impact on student achievement and should be explored by states and school districts. Their findings are the result of a review of six large current or planned performance-pay programs and the U.S. Department of Education's $500 million Teacher Incentive Fund implemented under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Read More

Helping African American males succeed in urban schools can seem like an intractable problem, but applying some basic principles that empower teachers and students is a key part of the answer, finds Vanderbilt University education researcher H. Richard Milner. In a new article in the journal Theory Into Practice, he argues that teachers and school leaders must move beyond making excuses to turn around failing schools. Read More

Vanderbilt University higher education experts are available for back-to-school interviews on admissions, tuition, financial aid, rankings, higher education policy and reform, immigration and higher education, and more. Read More

Education and child development 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. 3 education school in the nation in 2007. Read More

One of the more difficult challenges for families of school-aged children heading back to school is how to deal with the potential of bullying. While schools often have tough policies to reduce acts of bullying, many children still end up feeling "picked on" or teased and it can affect their school experience and even their grades in the long run. Read More

Most of America's low-cost stores have much of their merchandise made in foreign countries, like China. What's become better known, because or recent news reports, are the serious safety and environmental concerns that can arise from these foreign suppliers. Read More

Camilla P. Benbow, vice chair of President Bush's National Mathematics Advisory Panel and a member of the National Science Board, is available to talk about the importance of funding math and science education to the United States' ability to compete globally. Read More

The Master of Liberal Arts and Science program, Vanderbilt University's prime educational outreach program to the Nashville community, is attracting record numbers of students and expanding course offerings. Read More

For the first time in more than three decades, a multi-center team of researchers has uncovered a gene linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) that could pave the way for future research and treatment options. Read More

One of the nation's most respected political scientists and a prominent young political leader will team up at Vanderbilt University to teach a unique course in which students create strategies on how best to win the 2008 Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer and former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. will co-teach "Capturing the 2008 Presidential Nominations." Read More

Four young men stand on the edge of a stage, eyes closed and backs facing the room. More young men stand below, some poised for action and others distracted with horseplay. Read More

An Op-ed by Claire Smrekar, associate professor of education and public policy, on the recent U. S. Supreme Court ruling regarding race-based assignment plans for the school districts of Louisville, Ky. and Seattle, Wash. Read More