Ideas In Action Featured

By Jenna Somers Meghan Burke Public schools’ resources for students with disabilities are critical tools for empowering their educations, especially when families have the knowledge to advocate for their children and partner with their children’s schools to create support plans. However, research suggests that some schools may be falling… Read More

By Jenna Somers Amy Booth; Photo by Anne Rayner; VU Little is known about the origins and development of scientific literacy and interests that emerge in early childhood, but according to Amy Booth, professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of education and… Read More

Impacts include higher quality of care, increased parental employment and educational achievement—plus millions of dollars in state economic benefits. The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center release a one-of-its-kind report, Early Investment, a Lifetime of Returns: Articulating the Value of Early Childhood Investments in Virginia. This report estimates that the… Read More

By Jenna Somers Lisa Fazio New research published in Public Opinion Quarterly reveals a correlation between the number of times President Donald Trump repeated falsehoods during his presidency and misperceptions among Republicans, and that the repetition effect was stronger on the beliefs of people who consume information primarily… Read More

By Jenna Somers Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez Many students from Spanish-speaking homes—whether designated as English learners or not—struggle with English language and reading comprehension, including students born and raised in the U.S. and who attend English-only-instruction schools. These students’ low scores on standardized English reading and language assessments are often associated… Read More

By Jenna Somers Hilary Travers Earlier this year, the U.S. and Tennessee Departments of Education awarded grants totaling more than $9.9 million to Hilary Travers, PhD’21, research assistant professor of special education, to support educational and post-school outcomes of students with disabilities in Tennessee. In April, Travers received… Read More

By Jane Sevier and Jenna Somers Meghan Burke Meghan Burke joined Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development in August as professor of special education. Her research interests include family advocacy, families of individuals with disabilities, and disability policy. She examines how families advocate for… Read More

By Jenna Somers James R. Booth A five-year, $3.9 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders will support novel research into the brain function of language development in 4- to- 8-year-old late talkers with language delay to identify predictive biomarkers that could support early… Read More

By Jenna Somers Autumn Kujawa A two-year, $1.45 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will support a study to test a novel therapeutic approach for preventing the emergence of anhedonia, a hallmark symptom of depression, in high-risk children. Autumn Kujawa, associate professor of psychology… Read More

Daphne Penn Sociologist of education Daphne Penn joined Vanderbilt University Peabody College of education and human development in July as assistant professor of education policy and inequality. Her research aims to understand and address the root causes of educational inequality by examining schools as microcosms of society. “In… Read More

By Jenna Somers Alyssa Wise Learning sciences, educational technology, and learning analytics researcher Alyssa Wise joined Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development this month as professor of technology and education in the Department of Teaching and Learning and is the new director of the… Read More

Laurie Cutting, a renowned scholar and expert in cognitive neuroscience, has been appointed associate provost in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, where she will aim to foster academic excellence, innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. Read More

By Jenna Somers Krista Mehari Youth violence prevention researcher Krista Mehari joined Vanderbilt University Peabody College of education and human development in May as assistant professor of psychology and human development. As a community-based researcher, Mehari works with schools, police departments, local businesses, and organizations to understand… Read More

Despite the practice of exclusionary discipline in schools declining over the past decade, policy and program reforms intended to replace the practice largely have not benefited African American students, according to a new study from associate professor of education and public policy Richard Welsh recently published in Children and Youth Services Review. Read More

By Jenna Somers Lisa Fazio A study recently published in Psychological Science reveals that when people repeatedly encounter headlines about corporate wrongdoing, they view the wrongdoing as less unethical and are more likely to believe the headlines are true. Social media can cause scandalous news to go viral in… Read More

By Jenna Somers Autumn Kujawa A recent study published in Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology demonstrates that measures of brain function related to emotional processing in adolescents with depression could improve predictions of treatment outcomes in response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Adolescents whose electroencephalogram (EEG) scans… Read More

By Jenna Somers Kaylin Hill, Ph.D. Postdoctoral scholar Kaylin Hill has received a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Mental Health. The five-year grant exceeding $900,000 will support Hill’s research into the neurobehavioral pathway from depression in mothers and birthing parents to… Read More

Representatives from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of education and human development visited the American University of Iraq—Baghdad in April and May to advance the collaboration between the institutions on improving Iraqi higher education and strengthening the teacher workforce. Read More

The Nashville Partnership for Educational Equity Research has received a three-year, $650,000 grant from the William T. Grant Foundation to study early postsecondary opportunity offerings, access, and success in Metro Nashville Public Schools and to design solutions for addressing disparities. EPSOs—high school academic offerings that expose students to advanced… Read More

By Jenna Somers Kelly Slay (Vanderbilt University) Kelly Slay, assistant professor of higher education and public policy, is one of 25 education scholars to receive the National Academy of Education (NAEd)/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship. The $70,000 non-residential fellowship supports one year of leave from teaching for early-career researchers contributing… Read More