Peabloggy

At 12:01 this morning, U.S.News & World Report made public the latest rankings for its annual edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” Here’s the rundown:

• Vanderbilt Peabody moved up from No. 5 to No. 3 among graduate schools of education.
• We’re tied with Harvard, which dropped two spots from No. 1 last year. (Insert joke about Harvard being the Vanderbilt of the north here.)
• The new top five are Teachers College (1), Stanford (2), Vanderbilt and Harvard (3), and UCLA (5).
• Peabody did well again on the magazine’s specialty rankings:
  • Special Education 1st
  • Administration/Supervision 2nd
  • Education Policy 5th
  • Educational Psychology 9th
  • Elementary Education 9th
  • Higher Education Administration 9th
  • Curriculum/Instruction 10th

A little off the cuff analysis. That top five cluster is pretty tight, with overall scores between 100 and 95. After that, there’s quite a drop. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, No. 6, has a score of 90. Northwestern, No. 7, scored 85, and the descent continues from there. Take away message: both quantitative and qualitative differences are rather pronounced once you get out of the top five.

Special education’s No. 1 ranking is its fifth in a row. Message: if you’re interested in special education, come here. We’re the best.

Education Policy and Higher Education Administration both went up one spot (so did Ed Psych). If I had to speculate–and I am–I’d guess that we’re continuing to benefit from publicity about the way we re-engineered our Ed.D. to make it relevant to practitioners and distinguish it from the more scholarly Ph.D. We’re probably gaining recognition, too, for the two national centers (school choice and performance incentives) we’ve inaugurated with large federal grants in the last three years. Someone should chisel “Reform Starts Here” over the doors to Payne Hall.

In the interest of full-disclosure, Elementary Education and Curriculum/Instruction both dropped three. I don’t have an explanation, but I’d be interested to learn one. I’m inclined to think that like a lot of the top schools, we get hurt a little by the apparent disconnect between emphases on research and practice. (Aside: we’re working on that. Stay tuned.) Message: we’re still in the top ten. Talk with our people and decide for yourself.

Educational Psychology is kind of an interesting case. We’ve been ranked highly in that specialty for years, despite the fact that we’ve lacked a formal degree program. Rather, we’ve got educational psychologists scattered throughout our departments and our knowledge in the area informs many different programs. This year, however, Professor Steve Elliott has developed a new Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Educational Psychology. He’s looking for candidates.

There are a few other bright spots in the data:

• Our combined GRE for doctoral students is 1340. This was the second highest among the top ten.
• Our acceptance rate for doctoral students was only 10.3 percent. That’s remarkably low. We’re the second most selective among all top 50 schools.
• We also had the third lowest student-to-faculty ratio in the top ten.

Combined message: we take the smartest people, and we mentor them very closely.

Having flacked the numbers, it’s probably time to add the usual qualifiers: no ratings system is perfect, the numbers game misses many qualitative differences, etc. These qualifiers are true, and important. As someone who works in higher ed communications, frankly, I’ve got mixed emotions about rankings.

So let me close with a question: current students, prospective students–how important were/are the rankings to you? And why? Leave a comment.

–Kurt Brobeck

I was saddened this week to hear of Tony Snow’s returned cancer. And I want to start this post by saying my best thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Snow is one of the most gifted writers I have read in my adult life. But more importantly, the messages behind his words — read, his perspective on life — are even more profound. Remember how I posted a few weeks ago about leaders? Well, Snow just may be one of them in my book (and I am putting political views aside at this point so as to decharge the conversation here, because there’s more to Snow than politics).

I first came across Snow in the Spring of 2002 on a street in DC just outside the White House. Walking with my parents, I ran into him, and my mother, being a FoxNews affectionado, immediately recognized him getting out of his car. Without a second thought, she stopped him and said, “You are my hero in news.” Great quote, mom!

Figuring I ought to start reading what this “hero” wrote, I Googled and found his weekly column. For some odd reason, I can’t remember the title, despite almost an hour of searches tonight. (Anyone??)

There’s one piece, written in the summer of 2002 I believe, which will always stick with me. It discusses perspective. The kind of perspective that I believe is incredibly helpful when considering any job or career path that has the potential to consume you. Snow’s words aren’t exact in my mind, but I remember reading it over and over, agreeing in my head: “Yes. He’s so right. There is so much more going on that is significantly more important — and more powerful ‘up there’ — than what goes on inside the Beltway.” He’s continued that drumbeat of reality and faith through his struggle with cancer.

I will not forget that perspective for a long time, and I am grateful for Snow having said it. I’m going to keep searching for the piece so I can keep it on file. In the meantime, I’ll continue to watch and read the work of someone I truly admire. I encourage you to Google around and read more about him and what others think of him.

~Kristen Hayner

Many people would answer this question with a big, “No, it was abolished years ago.” These people are wrong. Increasing one’s awareness of the truth in the world can be truly eye opening…and sometimes disturbing. In the US we live such comfortable lives. We don’t like to think about the tough life situations others are in. Well, did you know that slaves travel through the US everyday on their way to slave-trades around the world? Also, did you know that products you frequently purchase are made in China, where workers barely get paid if they even get anything. It is a communist country, so if these workers do not like their work conditions, there is nothing that they can do about it, and yet the US trades with China more than any other country (go ahead, check the items you buy for a week…I bet 75 percent of them are made in China).

Modern day slavery is greater in number than all of the 400 years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the past that we all know about. WOW!

To learn more about this go to TheAmazingChange.com This is a website and campaign to educate people about modern day slavery and how YOU can help change the way things are in our world. It highlights groups of people that are currently working towards ending slavery. This site also has the movie trailer for the film “Amazing Grace” which was released in February of this year. This film is about William Wilberforce, the man that led the abolishment of slavery in Britain. With this film and website, you can learn more about the steps and challenges it took to end slavery in Britain.

It was thought to be impossible then, but it wasn’t. Some may think it is impossible now, but it isn’t. People must take action, spread the word, and work towards a change. Slavery in the world will not stop if we all just sit back and do nothing. At least check out the website to see what you think about it.

-Anna Oparah

Hammer is probably not the best choice of tools for this blog post, but I think it will get the analogy across.

In Geoff Bellman’s Book, The Consultant’s Calling, he makes a great statement regarding using what you have as a unique individual to consult with a client. Without quoting verbatim, the assertion is made that, no matter the tools you use to consult — the books, manuals, processes, templates, agenda guides — you are ultimately the one who is using the tool. And therefore, it’s truly your own.

I found this a simple yet profound statement. As someone who looks for best practices and to emulate what other “smart people” do, it’s refreshing to know that, even if I use someone else’s idea and attempt to follow it to a “T,” it’s still my own work. It still will have my own stamp — right or wrong, beneficial or harmful to the client.

We’ll be speaking with Bellman during our next class for LPO 3372 via simulcast and I’ll surely have questions for him about this. I’ll keep you updated.

~Kristen Hayner

I’ve been privileged to work as a Research Assistant (RA) on a federally funded project, the principal investigators of which are Doug and Lynn Fuchs. Known to RA’s as the “Hot Math” project, this intervention involves 16-week whole-class instruction and one-on-one tutoring for students in 3rd grade classrooms across Davidson County. One goal of the research is to identify ways to help students with difficulties learn effective strategies for math problem solving.

Last fall, each of five RA’s conducted a full week of whole-class pre-testing in four 3rd grade classrooms each. We then spent two hours a week for 16 weeks in four classrooms each, teaching problem-solving strategies and coaching students as they began to use them. I loved having interaction with kids; as a first-year graduate student in secondary English education, I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to spend time in a school for any other reason, and I loved it. Being in the classroom helped me keep in mind the purpose of my education, and the reason Peabody even exists in the first place.

Now that post-testing is over, however, we RA’s are listening to tapes of our colleagues’ lessons, grading post-tests, and entering data in the computer. Right now (as I type this), I’m listening to a tape of a fellow RA giving a Hot Math lesson. I’m marking items off on a fidelity sheet to indicate that my colleague delivered instruction in the prescribed way. Yeah, this is a little boring. I’d say I have the ed. research doldrums.

But I am grateful that I have the experience of working on a project designed to help kids overcome challenges to their learning and achieve their potential. Thinking about that restores a little bit of the buzz — and I’m anxious to see (in the fall) what statistical analysis reveals about the intervention’s success.

– Rachel Bowers

…and another positive article about Peabody College. On the 19th, Education Week’s Debra Viadero authored a comprehensive look at the college’s new National Center for Performance Incentives. The center was established last fall with a $10 million grant from the federal Institute of Education Sciences.

NCPI, for short, was established to do rigorous evaluations of various new takes on merit pay (The Education Reform Formerly Known as Pay-for-Performance). It’s led by James Guthrie and Matthew Springer. The first project to get underway is happening here in Nashville, and some scholars are surprised that it’s happening at all. From the article:

The gem in the center’s crown of studies is the experiment it has set up in the 74,000-student Nashville public schools. As part of the project, which got under way last fall, mathematics teachers in the city’s 36 middle schools were invited to join a pilot program in which teachers could earn bonuses of up to $15,000 a year, over the next three years, for the gains their students make on state exams.

Gary W. Ritter, a researcher from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said his plan to conduct a similar experiment in the Arkansas capital had to be scuttled when the local teachers’ union opposed the idea. “I can’t imagine too many places where the idea is not controversial,” he said. “I’m quite surprised Vanderbilt was able to do it, and do it as well as it did.”

Thankfully, the article also points to the collaboration of the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association, which has been closely involved at every step along the way. As Viadero notes, 70 percent of the union’s members approved the experiment when it was put to a vote.

Collaboration is very much the theme in this instance, and I think it may just say something positive about Nashville in general. The merit pay experiment is supported by the mayor, the school district, its teachers, parents and students, the local business community (which is helping to pay for the bonuses), Vanderbilt and its scholars.

Merit pay has long been a source of controversy (read the article), but here in Nashville, rather than defaulting to the standard repertoire of adversarial relations, all the constituents have come together with open minds and basically said, “This is an interesting idea. Let’s find out if it works.”

I like that about Nashville–and Vanderbilt.

–Kurt Brobeck

Many people struggle with trust. This struggle could be having a hard time: trusting people to follow through with what they say they will do, trusting God to be who He says He is, trusting that your future holds good things for you, or trusting that you won’t have to struggle on your own.

There are various levels of trust. In relationships, people often ease into trust. They protect themselves and hide parts of themselves because it may be too risky to expose it. Fear is associated with mistrust. Fear of betrayal, rejection, disappointment, hurt and so on.

As I was driving on Interstate 65, on my way to class at Vanderbilt, I began thinking about trust. Driving on a highway requires very high levels of trust. I drive a huge heavy machine (my Jeep) at about 75 mph within feet of other people that are driving huge heavy machines at 75 mph. I am trusting that the people driving the cars next to me will stay within their lines. I am trusting that they will not crash into me, or break hard right in front of me. I am trusting Jeep manufacturers and mechanics that my car will work as it should. My life is on the line. Even people that say they have trouble trusting are required to trust when they are driving on the highway.

I am fascinated with this. Most people don’t think about the trust it requires to do simple things throughout the day. I just wanted to share my thoughts on trust.

-Anna Oparah

I’ve been absent from the Peabloggy scene for longer than I wanted as I have been involved in a client engagement for LPO3372 - Consultation Skills, which has taken up a lot of time. Unfortunately, I can’t blame my absence on Spring Break (oh, how I miss those days…).

This is a great class, and I was just thinking to myself during Saturday’s session that it really is worth both the work load and the tuition. For what I could pay to go to a 3- or 4-day conference, this class offers practical experience and face-to-face, focused feedback from a professor who is well respected and very knowledgeable about what is quite an undefined career plan. (Doesn’t everyone call themselves a consultant these days? Including the folks behind the desk at Kinko’s, as pointed out by this professor.) I plan to write in the next few weeks about a few things I have learned from the books we’ve read — things that are so practical in nature that they cause me to really assess where I am as a professional and not just whether or not I am completing the right steps to being a good consultant. But you’ll have to wait for that.

In the meantime, know that, if you take this class, you’re in for a lot of work but, I think, a great payoff in the end.

~Kristen Hayner

The longstanding debate about the credibility and relevance of the doctorate in education continues to simmer. At the same time, Vanderbilt’s Peabody College continues to be held out as a model for Ed.D. reform.

On Wednesday, Education Week highlighted the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, which includes a couple of dozen ed schools that have committed themselves to examining their Ed.D. programs and making changes to ensure that their programs meet the needs of high-level practitioners. Vanderbilt Peabody was mentioned as an example of one university that has already made significant changes:

At Vanderbilt University, Ed.D. candidates now take courses in a prescribed order in a cohort of about 20 students, and they finish by completing a group project. In the past, they took courses as they could, and wrote individual dissertations.

In addition, the group projects at Vanderbilt involve producing work for a client, such as a school district. Ellen B. Goldring, a professor who teaches in the program, said the endeavor better mirrors the kind of work that education leaders do in the field.

“Our assumption is that the quality of work will be much higher,” said Ms. Goldring, whose education school is part of the Carnegie initiative. “You’re not just doing it to finish up a degree. Your name is on it, and it’s going out into the world of practice.”

Ed.D. programs have gotten a lot of ink, most of it unfavorable, in the two years since Arthur Levine released his scathing report calling for the degree’s elimination. But even Levine, who was then president of Teachers College, acknowledged that Vanderbilt’s program offered an exception to the rule.

Read the EdWeek article here.

–Kurt Brobeck

I am about to share with you an embarrasing moment that I experienced yesterday, however, I must first set up the story so that you can know the build up!

Within the HDC Master Program, we are required to either complete a Master Thesis or Comprehensive Exams. I chose Comprehensive Exams (a.k.a “Comps”). Comps are over a two day period. There is a written part and an oral part of comps. The oral part involves reading a case study depicting a client and then being questioned on this case for 30 minutes by two faculty members. The questions mostly focus on treatment planning and ethical issues. The written part is 4 hours and is composed of two essay questions. One is a “special topic” which is written by a faculty member with the student. My topic is “the impact of media on young women’s body image in relation to internalization of cultural appearance ideals.” The other essay question is “integrative,” which covers all of the major components of the program, such as multicultural issues, development, research, and theory.

Now that I have given background information on what “Comps” involve, I can talk about how much time and energy went into preparing for them. I have been working on preparing, researching, practicing writing, studying and so on. As Comps grew closer, everyone’s nerves grew as well!

This past Monday we completed the written part and this Tuesday we completed the oral part! Such a weight has been lifted. I am so glad they are over!

So, still curious about my “Embarrassing Moment”?

It has to do with the oral part of Comps. I walked into the room where two male faculty members were sitting. These are professors that I had during my very first semester in the program. The questioning went well. I was nervous, but felt able to defend my answers appropriately.

Here’s the good part…

At the end of the interview one of the professors leaned forward with his hand out. I recognized this as a gesture to shake my hand, so I placed my hand in his and shook it. This all seemed to happen in slow motion, though. As I was shaking his hand, I realized that his facial expression was one of confusion. I then realized that the hand shake felt very awkward and strange. After we were done shaking hands, I soon learned that he was not intending to shake my hand. He actually wanted the papers that were in my OTHER hand! I guess I misinterpreted his leaning over and reaching out his hand, since my nerves were so high from being in the spotlight and answering questions for the past 30 minutes.

I was immediately embarrassed. I think I even let out a strange nervous laugh. The wonderful thing about this experience is what happened next. The other professor noticed all that had just happened and said, “It’s OK, you can shake hands!” and he put his hand out for me to shake! He is such a sweet man! At this, I said thank you and left the room.

Comps are over and now I have an embarrassing story to tell. I hope you all enjoyed this. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE ONE OF YOUR EMBARRASSING MOMENTS IN A COMMENT! It always seems better when you can laugh about it with other people!

–Anna Oparah