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Since 2020, educators, policymakers, and families have grappled with the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on student learning and well-being. While pandemic recovery efforts are ongoing, one of the most persistent challenges has been chronic absenteeism. Nashville PEER hopes to understand this issue at its roots with a new… Read More

By Jenna Somers A growing number of federal agencies require researchers to establish data management and sharing plans to receive federal funding. The National Institutes of Health’s policy took effect in 2023, requiring researchers to include these plans in their grant proposals and to share their data upon publication… Read More

By Jenna Somers Mark Chin Andres Pinedo Nicollette Mitchell Two scholars at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development were awarded prestigious early-career fellowships from the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation,… Read More

A recent study out of Vietnam, published in Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, offers important insights into how culture effects adolescents’ aggressive responses to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs include child abuse and neglect, exposure to domestic violence, and other such damaging experiences. The study focused on the… Read More

By Jenna Somers Richard Welsh Suspended FuturesTransforming Racial Inequities in School Disciplineby Richard O. Welsh   Racial disparities in school discipline can arise based on how educators perceive and respond to student behaviors, according to research by Richard Welsh, associate professor of education and public policy at… Read More

In May, the Peabody Journal of Education released a special themed issue on seven studies conducted by the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA), a research-practice partnership between Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development and the Tennessee Department of Education. TERA houses Tennessee’s K-12 public school… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Marissa Tessier, Melanie Hundley and Elizabeth Seeker. Photo: Krystal Schmidt Convincing tweens and teens to read books can be an uphill battle. But a collaboration between two Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development students, their professor, and best-selling Disney Books author Jen Calonita is… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Only a third of American students read proficiently, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress. Scores continue to lag behind those from 2019 and 2022, and there has been little overall improvement since the NAEP began tracking reading in 1992. Educators and policymakers have… Read More

by Jenna Somers Jessika Boles After consulting with the palliative care team, Jessika Boles, MEd’08, found herself speaking with a mother about honoring her daughter’s legacy. “One of the ways we can do that is through handprint art, since handprints and fingerprints are unique to each person. Would you… Read More

As founder and CEO of UpSmith, Wyatt Smith, BS'10, uses technology to help builders and technicians be more productive, master new skills to stay in the workforce longer and help solve the skilled workforce shortage. Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich When top special education researchers, a cutting-edge dyslexia academy and research center, and influential school leaders converge at Vanderbilt University, big ideas are bound to emerge. That is exactly what happened at the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools Neurodivergence-Informed Schools conference, hosted by the Roberts Academy… Read More

Jeremy Payne, principal senior lecturer in the Department of Human and Organizational Development, has been awarded the 2024-2025 Chancellor’s Cup by Chancellor Daniel Diermeier for his steadfast mentorship and teaching of undergraduate students. For more than six years, Payne has mentored and advised undergraduate, professional, and graduate students, and has shown he is committed to developing personal connections with each of them. Read More

Lynn Fuchs Lynn Fuchs, Dunn Family Professor of Psychoeducational Assessment, Emerita, passed away on May 7, 2025. She was 75 years old. Throughout her career, Fuchs was recognized as one of the top scholars in special education and psychological sciences as well as a leading scholar in mathematical and… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich The Roberts Academy at Vanderbilt University welcomed its inaugural class of third and fourth graders in August 2024. Since then, the school has celebrated many more firsts, from a groundbreaking ceremony to festivities and innovative collaborations. Established in 2023 with an unprecedented gift from Hal and… Read More

By Jenna Somers Where can professionals from K-12 and higher education institutions, non-profits, private industry, and federal and local governments collaborate to learn from and with one another on how to strengthen their leadership within their respective organizations? The answer to that question may be found in the dynamic learning… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich In rural Monroe County, Tennessee, the school district’s only teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI) is approaching retirement. But her daughter, Andrea Leatherwood, is almost ready to step into the role. Leatherwood is among the first cohort of teachers accepted last summer into the new Vanderbilt… Read More

By Jenna Somers When parents need answers about their child’s cognitive and emotional development or mental health, they may first ask the child’s pediatrician or a specialist. The parents may find the help they seek, or the doctor might say something like, “The research isn’t clear on that yet.” Scientific… Read More

by Jenna Somers When a first grader has a spelling test on a Friday, they probably understand that the more they study throughout the week, the better they’ll perform on the test. They also probably understand that if they only study on Monday, then by Friday, they may not remember… Read More