Ideas In Action

School Choice and School Improvement; Mark Berends, Marisa Cannata, Ellen B. Goldring, eds; Harvard Education Press, 2011 Why do parents decide to switch schools? How good is the information school districts provide to guide those decisions? How do traditional public schools respond to competition from charter schools? Do options… Read More

Many advocates for school choice argue that the competition created by giving parents multiple options of schools for their children will improve education in traditional public schools. The latest research brief, “How do Principals Respond to Charter School Competition?,” released by the National Center on School Choice, examines the factors which contribute to principals’… Read More

Above: University faculty joined parents and advocates for a discussion of ethical issues surrounding disabilities. 
Vanderbilt researchers from the Department of Pediatrics, Peabody College and the Divinity School joined with parent advocates for a panel discussion on the ethical considerations of “curing” disabilities on April 5. The event was sponsored by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center to… Read More

Sun-Joo Cho Sun-Joo Cho, assistant professor of psychology, received the 2010-11 Award for an Outstanding Application of Educational Measurement Technology from the National Council on Measurement in Education. Bruce Compas, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Psychology and Human Development, received the 2011 Joe B. Wyatt Distinguished Professor Award from… Read More

Understanding how quickly children process speech is key to understanding why some struggle with language, but accurately measuring this speed has been difficult. Read More

Through its School Improvement Grants, the Obama administration has funneled $3.5 billion to turn around schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 15,000 schools, or 16 percent of schools nationwide, were eligible for the grants. According to Department of Education data, SIG-awarded schools tend to be high-poverty (75 percent), high-minority (86 percent) schools concentrated at the high school level in urban areas. Read More

Children who attended Tennessee state-funded prekindergarten classes gained an average of 82 percent more on early literacy and math skills than comparable children who did not attend, researchers from the Peabody Research Institute have found. Read More