Peabody College

Paul Dokecki was born and raised in Brooklyn and came to Nashville in 1962, 10 days after his wedding to his wife, Katherine, to start a doctoral program in clinical psychology at Peabody. “The culture shock was significant at about every level,” he says. Read More

This academic year is an exciting one for all those associated with Peabody College, as 2010-2011 marks our 225th anniversary. Read More

Two hundred and twenty-five years is a long time for an institution to survive. Founded as Davidson Academy in 1785, what is now Vanderbilt’s Peabody College initially existed under various names—Cumberland College, University of Nashville, State Normal College of Tennessee, Peabody Normal College. During those years, Peabody’s primary innovation was its continued existence in a region not always responsive to higher education. Read More

New research based on preliminary data in a pilot study has found no significant difference in achievement gains on standardized math tests between students in charter schools and those in traditional public schools. The findings have spurred the collection of additional data for continued analysis. Ellen Goldring, Patricia and… Read More

Richard Dreyfuss (right) discussed the importance of civics education at an event moderated by John Siegen-thaler (left) at the Tennessee governor’s residence on Oct. 12. On Tuesday, October 12, Peabody and Owen Graduate School of Management joined with Tennessee’s First Lady, Andrea Conte, to welcome actor and education activist Richard… Read More

Identifying and developing a process for transferring key elements that make some high schools in large urban districts more effective at improving outcomes for low-income and minority students as well as English language learners is the focus of a new national center at Peabody. Read More

Improving math instruction for elementary and middle school children experiencing problems with fractions is the focus of a $10 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, a research branch of the U.S. Department of Education. Among the collaborators in the new Center on Improving Mathematics Instruction for Students with… Read More

Illustration by Elizabeth Rosen Visit Peabody College’s Web site at http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/ Bonnie Arant Ertelt, Editor Donna Pritchett, Art Director Michael Smeltzer, Designer Nelson Bryan, Class Notes Editor Contributors: Kurt Brobeck, Sue Erickson, Kara Furlong, Stacy Gardner, Jennifer Johnston, Camilla Meek, Melanie Moran, Jan Read, Rob Simbeck, Cindy Thomsen, Tom… Read More

Elizabeth Shapiro Silverman’s family ties to Vanderbilt run deep. Her father, Dr. John Shapiro, BA’38, MD’41, grew up near campus on Acklen Avenue, attended Vanderbilt as an undergraduate and medical school student, and later became a renowned pathologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Read More

Our 2009-2010 donor roll recognizes our donors, reflecting gifts made to Peabody College between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010. Read More

What Every 2nd Grade Teacher Needs to Know: About Setting Up and Running a Classroom (Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc., 2010) by Margaret Berry Wilson, MEd’93 and Andy Dousis. Wilson starts with a concise review of second graders’ common developmental characteristics and then shows how to adjust your classroom and… Read More

Jesse Register, director of schools for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, during a March visit to South China Normal University. In January, a group of Chinese educators journeys to Nashville for a two-week visit that mirrors that of the Nashville group in the summer. In the movie Dead Poets Society, Mr. Read More

Peabody College’s expertise in special education dates back to at least 1937, when it established its Child Study Center to examine reading disabilities. Speech therapy was added in 1944 and a training program for teachers of the blind in 1953. But it was the groundbreaking work of Peabody-based special education… Read More

Peabody College welcomed 13 Humphrey Fellows from 11 countries in August 2010: Layla Al Yusuf, Bahrain; Baikita Yankal, Chad; Ya Rachel Valery Kouame, Cote d’Ivoire; Zalak Kavi, India; David Kabita, Kenya; Khin Latt, Myanmar; Ram Hari Lamichhane, Nepal; Fati Bagna Seyni, Niger; Nadia Ashraf, Zaheer Iqbal and Lubna Mohyuddin,… Read More

Stella Flores Stella M. Flores, assistant professor of public policy and higher education at Peabody, has been named a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow. The award will allow her to pursue her research interests during 2010-11. She was one of 20 fellows selected nationally from a competitive pool of… Read More

Victoria Risko, James Guthrie and Anne Corn were named emeriti professors at Commencement. Also named as emeritus professor was Dean James Hogge. Brian Heuser, assistant professor of the practice in international education and public policy, will serve as a U.S. Embassy policy specialist in higher education for 2010-2011, researching higher… Read More

Braxton is 10th most cited in higher education literature John Braxton John M. Braxton, professor of education at Peabody, is the 10th most cited individual in higher education research according to a recent study published in Research in Higher Education. Only a small number of academic papers are cited even… Read More

Peabody College has a long history of hosting gatherings to bring faculty, staff, students and families together. One of the more popular events was “Watermelon Cutting Day,” which was celebrated during the 1940s until the late 1970s. Watermelon cutting was a special event to mark significant days and occasions at… Read More

A community component of the Early Reading First project combined forces with the Nashville Public Library to foster home literacy in a summer program called Lift Off Camp. YMCA Urban Services Program hosted the camp in August to boost learning gains and smooth the transition into kindergarten. Several Vanderbilt Peabody… Read More

From left, Charlotte Bryson, executive director of Tennessee Voices for Children, and Jack McKenzie, president of the board of directors, along with Catelyn Sweeney presented longtime children’s advocate Craig Anne Heflinger, associate dean for graduate studies and professor of human and organizational development at Peabody, with its Lifetime Invisible… Read More