Peabody Reflector

By Jennifer Kiilerich In an outpatient waiting room at the Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, occupational therapist Kevin Durney noticed a problem: the space where children and families spent time before appointments felt sterile, with nothing to do that reflected the kids who sat there. He wanted to… Read More

By Kurt Brobeck One year after the launch of Vanderbilt University’s Lamar Alexander Initiative, the Initiative recently celebrated the “graduation” of its first cohort of Fellows. Its organizers are already looking forward to welcoming a second set of Fellows this summer. The Alexander Initiative is housed within Vanderbilt Peabody… Read More

Key Takeaways: Vanderbilt is launching four new online master of education programs in Applied Behavior Analysis, Educational Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness, Innovative Design and Technology in Education, and Multilingual Education Graduates of these programs will be competitive for in-demand roles across a range of educational… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich and Jenna Somers Imagine learning about ecosystems by “becoming” a bee, connecting with your child more deeply by discussing a good book, or being inspired by a library of brand-new AI creations right at your fingertips. These experiences are all possible thanks to learning tools being developed,… Read More

Founded in 2016, the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) brought together leaders from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development and the Tennessee Department of Education to launch one of the first state-level research-practice partnerships aimed at informing education policy and practice. Through TERA, researchers… Read More

By Jenna Somers The Great Recession of 2008 led to a pronounced decline in birthrates, and the impact has caught up with colleges and universities. Children born at the start of the recession are now 18 years old, but there are fewer of them compared to the prior decade,… 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 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 and Krystal Schmidt Toddlers may not be the first people who come to mind when thinking about scientists at Vanderbilt University, but that is exactly who the little tykes at the Susan Gray School are. The preschool recently opened a new STEM laboratory for kids… Read More

By Jenna Somers Scholars at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development travel across oceans and borders to answer pressing questions on improving the human condition, a mission shared by scholars the world over who collaborate in partnership with Peabody. To strengthen this mission and advance Peabody’s global… Read More

Rich Milner, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education, founded the Initiative for Race Research and Justice in 2018. Through research, RRJ seeks to improve these ecosystems, policies, and practices and to disseminate resources and tools, in collaboration with community partners, to advance racial justice and disrupt systemic inequities across education landscapes. 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

Betsega Bekele, MEd'14, helps lead American Portrait, a multiplatform, national storytelling project tied to PBS’ 50th anniversary celebration. The digital-first initiative that launched online in January 2020 is centered on this question: What does it really mean to be an American today? Read More

One program worked much better than the rest: a long-term rental subsidy that held families’ housing costs to 30 percent of their income. Read More

Qualitative Data Collection Tools: Design, Development, and Applications, (2020, Sage Publishers) by Felice D. Billups, EdD’91 This new and unique supplementary text that will guide students and new researchers to design, develop, pilot and employ qualitative tools in order to collect qualitative data. Templates of interview protocols, focus group moderator… Read More

Psychological research demonstrates that noticing errors in what we read is often difficult, and that those errors can affect our later beliefs, even when we know they’re wrong. Read More

Sarah Brown-Schmidt, associate professor in psychology and human development, gave an invited talk on “Memory for Conversation as Evidence” at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Sun-Joo Cho, associate professor of psychology, has been elected a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Brian… Read More