Feature Article
Education Policy
by Jim Wyckoff and Daphna Bassok
Policymakers at the federal, state and local levels are actively exploring strategies to improve educational outcomes for all students. Increasingly these strategies include dramatic changes in the way schools are organized, in who teaches and how these teachers are prepared, and in how schools are held accountable for student outcomes. Unfortunately, there is little good evidence on which to base many of these important policy decisions. This has led to a growing need for careful, experimental and quasi-experimental research to inform key education policy issues.
The Ph.D. program in Education Policy has been re-established in the last year, after having been dormant for a number of years, to prepare students to develop causal evidence regarding pressing issues of policy. The program incorporates four components: strong preparation in methods that permit causal inference, a grounding in a social science discipline, an understanding of the working of schools, and working knowledge of the existing educational policy landscape and literature. While coursework is important to student preparation, a close mentoring relationship with faculty is crucial to the design of the program. Students will work closely with faculty on research projects to examine the impact of a variety of educational policies.
Education Policy is in the process of growing. Although the program currently counts Daphna Bassok and Jim Wyckoff as its only official faculty members, a number of faculty across a variety of Curry program areas, and across grounds contribute to the intellectual vitality of the program. We have an active research seminar meeting on alternate Mondays to present on-going research which draws faculty and students from across Curry, Economics, Sociology and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. We have also begun conversations with the Dean and Associate Dean at the Batten School about offering joint degree programs and developing other forms of collaboration.
Faculty in the program are actively engaged in research that makes a strong contribution to the academic literature and simultaneously informs important current policy issues. In a paper recently accepted at Child Development, Daphna Bassok examined whether the effects of preschool interventions vary across racial groups and explored whether expanded preschool interventions are likely to narrow achievement gaps. She is now working on a project using newly-available Census data to examine how quality regulations in the early childhood sector impact turnover among early childhood educators. Jim Wyckoff's recent work identifying aspects of teacher preparation that improve student achievement was recently accepted at Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and has informed policy discussions in New York. Jim is also working with the Virginia Department of Education to examine issues of teacher retention employing a statewide database on all public school teachers.
Over the next few years we anticipate continuing to build strong bonds across other program areas in Curry and across grounds, to develop a strong group of Ph.D. students who are actively engaged in contributing evidence to on-going policy discussions, and to working with policymakers in Virginia and across the nation to provide evidence for their decisions.
Monday, October 19 @ 11:30 am: Education Policy Seminar: Daphna Bassok will present "Competition or Collaboration? The Role of State Prek-Kindergarten Expansion on Program Quality in Head Start" in Ruffner Hall 200.
TUESDAY, October 20 @ 11am: Education Research Lectureship Series: Geoffrey Borman of the University of Wisconsin--Madison will present "Growing Capacity for Dissipation? Second-Year Outcomes of a School-Randomized Trial of the Effects of Professional Development on Student Achievement in Elementary Science." Please note that this address is on Tuesday and not the typical Friday. It will take place in the CLIC.
Wednesday, October 21: Faculty & Doctoral Brown Bag Lunch: Tonya Moon will be presenting on the IRB process in Ruffner Hall 200.
Thursday, October 22 @ 12noon: Tea and Technology in the CLIC: How can we use simulations and games to assess student learning? What assessment strategies exist and what are their strengths and limitations? David Feldon will discuss performance assessment mechanisms in this context, using data and theoretical models from several of his projects. A key focus of the talk will be the linking of observational (behavioral) data with cognitive processes to reach generalizable conclusions about students' post-simulation performance in the real world.
Friday, October 23 @ 11am: Education Research Lectureship Series: David Reinking will be visitng from Clemson University and presenting "Beyond the Laboratory and Lens: New Metaphors and Methods for Education Research." The address will take place in the CLIC.
Monday, October 26: Dealine for Curry Cup submission of proposals
Wednesday, October 28 @12noon: Faculty & Doctoral Brown Bag Lunch: Technology. Join us in Ruffner Hall 200.
Thursday, October 29 @ 12noon: Tea & Technology in the CLIC: Mable Kinzie will discuss Inquiry-based Learning in Early Childhood
Friday, October 30 @ 1pm: The Curry Community Talent & Variety Show in the CLIC
The Curry Calendar is up-to-date. Bookmark it and visit it often!
News at Curry
Professor Dewey Cornell Authors Commentary for CNN.com
October 13, 2009--Professor of Education at the Curry School and foresnic clinical psychologist, Dewey Cornell, was invited by CNN to author a commentary on school and youth violence. View the article, Commentary: Making schools safe takes money, will on CNN.com.
U.S. Education Secretary Gives 'Call to Teach' Address to Curry Students
October 12, 2009 — U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan came to the University of Virginia on Friday to deliver the first of three addresses he's giving this month to recruit an "army of great new teachers" to close the achievement gap among students and help ensure the country's longAdd-term prosperity. "I can think of no better place to start recruiting teachers than in Thomas Jefferson's hallowed halls," he told the capacity crowd, made up mostly of U.Va. teacher-education students, gathered in the Dome Room of the Rotunda. Duncan said he was addressing not only them, but also college students, professionals, military veterans and retirees who might consider teaching." More.
Photos of Secretary Duncan's Visit.
Associated Press article
Chronicle of HIgher Ed article
Times Dispatch article
United Press International article
Curry School Co-sponsors 'Educating World Citizens' Conference, Featuring the Dalai Lama
October 6, 2009—The University of Virginia's Curry School of Education is a co-sponsor of the Mind and Life XIX conference (www.educatingworldcitizens.org) on "Educating World Citizens for the 21st Century," to be held Oct. 8 and 9 in Washington, D.C. The conference features the Dalai Lama, along with leading educators, scientists and policymakers worldwide. Conference organizers are seeking to promote research that explores the best ways to integrate emotional, intellectual and social learning in the classroom. More.
Did you know?
4th Year PhD Student Published in School Psychology Review
Sharmila Bandyopadhyay, a 4th year Ph.D. student in Curry's Clinical and School Psychology program, had her article "Valitidy of Three School Climate Scales to Assess Bullying, Aggressive Attitudes, and Help Seeking" published as a feature in School Psychology Review. The article was co-written by Dewey Cornell and Tim Konold.
Dewey Cornell offers his perspective on the challenges school leaders in the article "Family furious over Smithfield bus brawl posted on YouTube."
Dewey Cornell also offers his perspective on a story covering the recent youth violence in Chicago area in the Chicago Tribune article "Fenger kids tell why they fight."
Bridget Hamre will be a featured speaker at the NYU Steinhardt Education Policy Breakfast Series on Friday, November 6. The event is the first in a three-part series, "Educational Transitions from Childhood to Adulthood: Research and Policy Iniitatives." The November 6 session is titled "Part 1: Strengthening Children's Chances of School Success before Kindergarten: Integrating New Evidence from Research and Practice."
Bob Pianta was quoted in the article "Child-Development Findings Are Ready for School: Schools can bridge the long-standing gulf between child psychology and classroom practice" posted on Edutopia.org.
Announcements
Curry's Annual Talent & Variety Show Needs YOU!
The annual talent and variety show and Halloween costume contest is happening Friday, October 30 at 1pm in the CLIC. If you are interested in participating, contact Bob Covert (covert@virginia.edu) or Rhonda Tooley (rlt9a@virginia.edu). Trick-or-treating on the Lawn begins the same afternoon at 3pm. Bring your children to the show and then head over to the Lawn for the festivities!
Curry's Annual Appreciation Event
 You're Invited
21 November
7:00 p.m.
Alumni Hall Ballroom
All faculty and staff members of the Curry School are invited to Curry's Annual Appreciation Event. Please join us as we appreciate and honor the many people in the UVA, Charlottesville and Albemarle communities who work tirelessly with our students.
We hope you'll join us as we take the opportunity to honor them and thank them for all that they do.
RSVP by November 11th to curry@virginia.edu or 924-4001.
Pumpkins to Support a Community Preschool
Wesley Community Child Care Center (WCCCC) is a non-profit center located between Ruffner and Alumni Hall. WCCCC has partnered with various research projects at Curry over the last five years, and provided invaluable experience for students. One of their biggest fund raisers is the annual Pumpkin Patch. This year, the patch will run from Saturday, October 17 through Saturday, October 31 with prices ranging from $1 to $20. The pumpkin patch is open from 10:00 a.m. until dark (usually 7 pm) Monday through Saturday, and from 12 till 6 pm on Sunday. Help support our local preschools!
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at the University of Virginia Residential Fellowships for 2010-2011
The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities in Charlottesville, Va., offers residential fellowships to scholars in the humanities. We seek proposals for projects that are intellectually stimulating, imaginative, and accessible to the public. There are no restrictions on topic, but we especially encourage proposals on the history, literature, and culture of the South Atlantic region; African American studies; modern and contemporary poetry; and violence and survival. We also have a particular interest in projects that complement VFH programs in folklife and Indian heritage. Fellows have private offices with free parking at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, located on a scenic property several miles from the University of Virginia. They hold visiting faculty privileges at the University of Virginia and have access to all UVa research and recreational facilities. UVa library books are delivered directly to the VFH. Although housing is not provided, there are many reasonably priced options available in and around Charlottesville. We offer stipends up to $15,000 per semester; summer Fellows receive travel funds only. Residencies may be for a semester, an academic year, or a summer term. Applicants need not have advanced degrees, but we do not support work toward a degree, nor do we typically support dissertation revisions. Former VFH Fellows must wait three years before applying for another fellowship. The application deadline for 2010-2011 is Dec. 1, 2009. For more information, visit www.virginiafoundation.org or email Ann White Spencer, VFH Program Associate, at aspencer@virginia.edu.
Request from McIntire Students
We are a group of McIntire School of Commerce students conducting a survey to see how we can improve the lunch time needs of the University Faculty, Staff, and community. We request that you please forward this to your respective membership listservs. The link is below. The purpose of this short questionnaire is to collect data for our project that we are conducting for our Entrepreneurship class. Your answers are extremely important and will be used in our final project to infer the viability of a start-up that provides convenience service to the University staff and community. Your answers are completely anonymous and will ONLY be used for our final project. Thank you for your time and participation. Link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dExjOWhjaVY3c0x1ajgySWgtUWRtdUE6MA
Schedule Change for Director of Communications
Due to some medical issues, Audrey Breen will be adjusting her schedule beginning Monday, October 19. She will be working half-days and will be in the office from 7:45am to 12noon. She is certainly able to make exceptions in her schedule for meetings that need her attendance that might be scheduled in the afternoon. This modified schedule is likely to continue to her due date (December 9). Please don't hesitate to contact her with any questions or concerns. She can be reached at 924-0809 or audreybreen@virginia.edu.
The CLIC Announces its Innovation Collaboration Grants
Visit this page for more information on the CLIC Innovation Collaboration Grants. Thanks to generous support from the Vice President and Chief Information Officer (VPCIO), the Curry School has secured funding to support innovation in three areas: Digital Scholarship, Online & Distance Learning, and Community-Building.
 Curry welcomes the new CLIC Coordinator!
Please join me in welcoming Hamid Arsalan as the new CLIC Coordinator. Hamid will work with the Librarian in Residence, Ed Council, and Curry students and faculty to facilitate transition of the Education Library from a physical to a digital library. Throughout the year, Hamid will help implement the Curry Innovation Collaboration Grants program that has been provided for UVA faculty and students. Hamid Arsalan is a first year graduate student in the accelerated MPP program at the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy. He is also a part time graduate student at the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University where he studies Conflict Resolution. Hamid is a tea lover, a kite runner, and an avid reader. He is a member of the Jefferson Literary & Debating Society and the Shotokan Karate club at UVA.
His weekly schedule is the following:
Monday: 9:00-12:00
Tuesday: 11:00-4:00
Wednesday: 9:00-12:00
Thursday: 11:00- 2:00
Friday: 10:00-4:00
Welcome Hamid!
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