Peabody Reflector Fall 2023

Camilla P. Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development The Peabody Reflector returns with this fall 2023 digital issue. While the print magazine has been on hiatus since the Covid pandemic, the Peabody College community most certainly has not. Over the past three years, we… Read More

By Jenna Somers Cynthia Osborne Early in her career, Cynthia Osborne learned that the pathway to opportunity is paved by much more than a quality education. In 1994, a few years after graduating from college, Osborne began teaching middle school while also obtaining her master’s degree in education. “My students… Read More

By Jenna Somers Last year, analysis by The Washington Post showed that Tennessee had passed more laws targeting educational institutions than any other state. Among these laws are Public Chapter No. 493, commonly known as the “prohibited concepts law,” and Public Chapter No. 744, otherwise known… Read More

By Jessica Holter What school and community systems and resources are necessary to create equitable conditions for students to excel? How do district policies and practices exacerbate or transform disparities in student opportunities and outcomes? How can schools build learning opportunities to support all students? These questions guide the research… Read More

By Jenna Somers In 2022, the U.S. State Department awarded a two-year, $2.5 million grant to Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of education and human development and the American University of Iraq–Baghdad to design and launch a new college of education and human development at AUIB focused on teacher training and… Read More

On June 29, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions in cases against the University of North Carolina and Harvard College for violating the Constitution’s equal protection clause in their admissions practices. The decisions overturned more than 40 years of precedent set… Read More

The Peabody Scholars program gives exceptional undergraduate students at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development the opportunity to contribute to the betterment of society through collaborations with organizations around the world in the form of summer service projects. These projects reflect the program’s larger mission to… Read More

Cynthia Osborne Cynthia Osborne has been selected as a 2023 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow, recognized for her leadership in working across sectors to support the well-being of children and families. Osborne is professor of early childhood education and policy as well as the founder and executive director… Read More

Department of Teaching and Learning Alyssa Wise Alyssa Wise Professor of Technology and Education Professor Wise is the new director of the Learning Incubator: A Vanderbilt Endeavor (LIVE). Her research combines the tools of data science, the theory of learning sciences, and the practices of human-centered design to… Read More

  Erin Henrick Erin Henrick has been named a Carnegie National Faculty member by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Henrick is a senior lecturer in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development. “Carnegie National Faculty… Read More

Kathryn Humphreys, associate professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt Peabody College, has won a 2023 Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences. Read More

By Jenna Somers Richard Welsh, associate professor of education and public policy Two recent studies indicate that school-level factors play a considerable role in racial disparities in school discipline. The first study, conducted primarily through a series of interviews, reveals disciplinary tensions between district leaders, school administrators, and… Read More

By Jenna Somers Will Doyle, professor of leadership, policy, and organizations In April, Will Doyle, professor of leadership, policy, and organizations, participated in a panel presentation attended by congressional staff in Washington, D.C., to discuss the possibility of federal-state partnerships to fund higher education at low or no… Read More

Mason Richards, BS'97, continues his quest to turn 'The Seawall' into a feature film. Read More

By Jenna Somers Sarah Brown-Schmidt, professor of psychology and human development In the first four months of Donald Trump’s presidency, leading up to Trump firing FBI director James Comey on May 9, 2017, they met privately nine times. Alarmed by how these meetings broke with traditional boundaries between… Read More

Autumn Kujawa, assistant professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, has received a five-year, $3.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for a study to identify objective predictors of future suicidal behavior in high-risk adolescents. The study could improve understanding of the pathways to suicidal behavior in young people, help to identify those at greatest risk for suicide attempts, and lead to personalized interventions to prevent suicidal behavior and suicide deaths. Read More

By Jenna Somers Ilana Horn, professor of mathematics education, and Yeliz Günal Aggül, Fulbright Dissertation Research Fellow Around the world, educational problems are both highly universal and highly particular. Opportunities to collaborate internationally allow education researchers to see these problems through new perspectives and possibly discover solutions they otherwise may… Read More

Autumn Kujawa, assistant professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt Peabody College, has won the 2023 Award for Distinguished Early Career Contributions to Psychophysiology from the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Read More

By Jenna Somers Phillips-Galloway When doctoral student Basak Çermikli Ayvaz saw an opportunity to secure funding to partner with educators in Turkey to support multilingual and multicultural education, she discussed it with her advisor, Emily Phillips Galloway, assistant professor of literacy education. This led the researchers, both in the… Read More

From left to right: Adela Soliz, Cara DeLoach, Hidahis Mesa By Jenna Somers Community and technical colleges are essential for expanding access to post-secondary education and preparing students to enter the workforce, particularly within their local communities. Unfortunately, these institutions often have limited financial resources to respond to both industry… Read More