Hank Levin is giving the Distinguished Lecture; Janet Miller is receiving a lifetime achievement award; Susan Fuhrman, Amy Wells, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Edmund Gordon are speaking in Presidential Sessions, and Gordon and colleagues are part of "A Scholar's Evening in Harlem." And then there's the research.

Presentations by TC faculty and students at this year's American Educational Research Association annual meeting, held this week in New York City, will address a range of topics, including economic investment in education, urban science education, community colleges, the use of technology in education, student attitudes towards physical education. Among the highlights are:

• This year's AERA Distinguished Lecture, "The Economic Payoff to Educational Justice," delivered by Henry M. Levin. Levin, most recently the co-author with Clive Belfield of The Price We Pay, Economic and Social Consequences of Inadequate Education, has broken new ground in quantifying the dollar returns to taxpayers on upfront educational investment. He will discuss the evolution of this work, from a report he delivered in 1972 to a Senate subcommittee chaired by Walter Mondale to his most recent research, which has estimated precise savings per each additional high school graduate created by using proven methods of boosting the high school graduation rate. 3/26, 10:35-12:05 Hilton New York, Grand Ballroom, Grand Ballroom West, 3^rd floor

• This year's Division B Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the two awardees is Janet Miller, Professor of English Education and Program Coordinator, English Education/The Teaching of English. Miller is a leader in the re-conceptualist curriculum movement and the author of Creating Spaces and Finding Voices: Teachers Collaborating for Empowerment (SUNY Press); Sounds of Silence Breaking: Women, Autobiography, Curriculum (Peter Lang); and A Light in Dark Times: Maxine Greene and the Unfinished Conversation (Teachers College Press). 3/26, 6:15-7:45 pm, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Lenox Ballroom, 2^nd floor

• Invited Presidential Sessions
  
  
  • "Making a Difference in Policy & Practice: Communication, Education Research, and Civic Responsibility." Susan Fuhrman, President, Teachers College, one of the key analysts of the state education standards movement, will speak along with noted scholars Frederick Hess, Alex Molnar and Diane Ravitch; 3/25, 4 pm, Sheraton, New York Ballroom East, 3^rd floor
    
  • "The Multiple Contexts Shaping Development: The Importance of Developmental and Educational Psychology for the Future of Schools, Families, and Children." Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, whose studies have lent credence to the notion of the importance of influences beyond school walls upon student performance, will speak. 3/27, 12:25pm - 1:55pm, Hilton New York / Sutton, Complex, Sutton North, 2nd Floor
    
  • "The Changing Nature of Suburbia and What It Means for Public Education: Rethinking Stereotypes of -'Urban' and "Suburban' Spaces and Schools. Amy Stuart Wells, one of the nation's leading scholars on school desegregation, will speak; 3/26, 2:15-3:45 pm, Hilton New York/Gramercy Suite A, 2^nd floor
    
  • "Engaged Research and Scholarship: A Conversation with Edmund W. Gordon." Gordon, Richard March Hoe Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, and one of the leading proponents of supplementary education, will speak with A. Wade Boykin of Howard University. 3/26, 10:35am - 12:05pm, Hilton New York / Sutton Complex, Sutton Center, 2nd Floor

• Presentations by TC's Community College Research Center. These include:

   

  • An evaluation of the Virtual Enterprises program in career and technical education. Findings from a survey of 215 students who have used this well-known and highly touted program, which gives students the opportunity to run simulated business firms. Katherine Hughes, Joanne Wang Golann; 3/27, 12:25 pm -- 1:55 pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Shubert Complex, Plymouth Room, 6^th floor.
    
  • Federal government funding of technological education at two-year colleges. A case study of 10 institutions finds the government must establish more rigorous and comprehensive guidelines to ensure that colleges generate collective social benefits, rather than those associated with the firms or industries that often end up financing these programs long-term. Yukari Matsuzuka, Thomas Bailey; 3/27, 12:25 pm -- 1:55 pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Shubert Complex, Plymouth 1.
    
  • The benefits of Advanced Placement for disadvantaged and minority students. The benefits of AP courses are especially significant for minority and disadvantaged students, who constitute the bulk of community college enrollment. Dong Wook Jeong; 3/26, 8:15 a.m.-9:45 a.m., New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Marquis Ballroom, Salon B, 9^th floor .
    
  • The failure of current developmental education curricula in preparing students for discipline-specific reading and writing. In a study of 388 upper-level developmental education students, general proficiency in reading and writing didn't transfer when applied to a specific discipline, such as science. Dolores Perin; 3/27, 4:05 pm-6:05 pm, Crowne Plaza Hotel Times Square, Room 1504, 15^th floor.

• Physical education: attitude issues among urban high school students. A study of 3,656 at 17 New York City public high schools finds that girls score consistently lower than boys for both enjoyment and perceived usefulness of physical education; and that girls' enjoyment and perceived usefulness of physical education declined each year, starting from a high in 9^th grade. Student attitude toward physical education previously has been demonstrated to contribute to participation in physical activity outside of school. Urban High School Students' Attitudes toward Physical Education.Ralph Montalvo and Stephen Silverman; 3/27, 2:15pm - 2:55pm, Hilton New York / Trianon Ballroom/Petit Trianon, 3rd floor

• Urban science education:
  
  
  • Science Education in Urban Contexts. Planning and teaching in culturally responsive ways: elementary pre-service teachers' integration of multicultural themes and goals in science curriculum. Felicia Moore; 3/26, 10:35-12:05 pm, Hilton New York, Holland Suite, Fourth Floor.

     

  • Providing Science Agency to Marginalized Students in Urban Classrooms through Neo-Indigenous Cosmopolitanism. Science learning and achievement in NYC classrooms is inhibited by clashes between different groups of "hyphenated Americans," via a hierarchy under which students from populations more recently arrived in the U.S. are continually devalued, disrespected and in general assigned "otherness" by their more established classmates. Christopher Emdin; 3/24, 4:05pm - 4:55pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square/ Broadway Ballroom, Broadway North, 6th Floor.

• Assessment of student learning to improve teacher effectiveness and student outcomes.
  
  
  • The use of proximal assessment for learner diagnosis (PALD) to improve teaching practices and student learning and performance. Two new studies find that PALD significantly changes teacher practices and boosts the performance of fifth and sixth grade students in long division and other aspects of math. Madhabi Chatterji and colleagues; 3/28, 8:15-10:15 a.m., Hilton New York / Sutton Complex, Regent Parlor, 2nd Floor
    
    
  • Development and Analysis of an Integrated Screening, Process Monitoring and Cognitive Assessment System for K-3 Mathematics. A system drawing on screening and progress monitoring, cognitive science analyses of mathematical thinking, and clinical interviewing as a method for assessing cognitive processes was administered to 1,200 students in grades k-3 in Missouri and New York. Young-Sun Lee, S. Pappas, E.S. Lembke and Herbert Ginsburg; 3/26, 12:25pm - 1:55pm, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers / Executive Conference Center, Conference Room F, Lower Lobby

• Dis/Abilities, Special Education
  
  
  • Rethinking reading instructional practice for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Evidence shows that skilled deaf readers read phonologically -- in essence, by "sounding out" words" -- learning to read following the same sequence of skill development that hearing children do. The author suggests alternate routes of acquiring phonology. Ye Wang; 3/25, 4:05 - 6:05pm, Hilton New York / Nassau Suite A, 2nd Floor

• Technology and Education
  
  
  • Video as a Manipulative: An Innovative System to Transform University Courses in Psychology and Education. 3/26, 8:15-9:45, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers / Madison Suite 1, 5th Floor. A symposium led by TC Professor Herbert Ginsburg that includes two papers from Teachers College:

     

    The Use of Video in Teaching Psychology and Education," by Herbert Ginsburg, Ann Cami, and Eram Schlegel;

    "The Development of Critical Thinking Skills Using a Web-based Video Analysis System," by Michael Preston and Michael Weinstock.

In addition, Thursday evening, March 27^th, will feature a special AERA off-site event, "A Scholar's Evening in Harlem." Edmund W. Gordon, Richard March Hoe Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, and Dawn Arno, Director, TC Education Partnership Zone, will speak, along with Pedro Noguera, Lena Townsend and Jabari Osaze. The event will take place at The Schomburg Center for Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard and 135^th Street.

Other TC presentations include:

• Communications-Related Sessions
  
  
  • "Improving Research Use: Evidence-Based Strategies and New Media Opportunities." Richard Lee Colvin, Director, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media; John M. Willinsky; Gene Glass; Ronald Dietel; Paul Baker.
    
  • "Disseminating Education Research through Electronic Media: Advice from E-Journalists." Richard Lee Colvin, Director, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media; Alexander Russo, This Week in Education/Scholastic Administrator; Andrew J. Rotherham, EduWonk; Jennifer Medina, New York Times; 3/27, 10:35-12:05, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers / Lenox Ballroom, 2nd Floor. 3/26, 2:15-3:45, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square / Wilder Room, 4th Floor.

• Multimedia Storytelling: A New Literacies Research Pedagogy. Drawing from an ongoing ethnographic study of young people who pass through the criminal justice system, the author explores alternate ways of engaging these youth in story-telling, including digital voice recorders and cameras, and music. Lalitha Vasudevan. Mar 25 - 8:15am - 9:45am, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers / Executive Conference Center, Conference Room J, Lower Lobby.

• Conceptual Changes in Aspiring School Leaders' Support of Adult Development: Lessons from a University Classroom. A study consisting of qualitative interviews, pre/post surveys and other methodologies offers new insights into how course structure and instruction can work synergistically to support educators' leadership development and civic capacity. Eleanor Drago-Severson, Teachers College, Anila Asghar, Johns Hopkins University, Jennifer A. Roloff Welch, Harvard Graduate School of Education; 3/27, 2:15pm - 3:45pm, Crowne Plaza Hotel Times Square / Room 504, 5th Floor.

• Psychological factors that affect the way raters on standardized tests assess written essays. "Score Resolution In Essay Grading: A View from a Signal Detection Model of Rater Behavior." Essays obtained in a large scale assessments are typically scored by two raters. If the scores the two raters assign differ by more than 1, a third rater, or adjudicator, is sometimes used to resolve the difference. There are many questions about the best way to arrive at a score for each essay. The increase in classification accuracy obtained by using a third rater is examined. Lawrence DeCarlo and Youngkoung Rachel Kim; 3/24, 4:05 - 5:35pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square / Barrymore Room, 9th Floor.

• Colorblindness and School Choice: The Central Paradox of the Supreme Court's ruling in the Louisville and Seattle School Integration Cases. Amy Stuart Wells; 3/28, 10:35-12:05 p.m., New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Brecht Room, 4^th Floor

• Caring Enough to Enact Change: Examing the Roles and Responsibilities of Counselors for College-Bound Black and Latina/o Youth. Students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds are not entering college at rates equivalent to whites. Focusing solely on academically preparing these youth oftentimes ignores the potential of culturally responsive supportive practice and policies. Michelle Knight-Diop; 3/25, 2:15pm - 3:45pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square / Lyceum Complex, Booth/Edison Rooms, 5th Floor.

• Community Arts Programs, Cultural Cohesion and Political Activism: Case Studies of Henry Street Settlement and El Museo del Barrio. A comparative study of two institutions reveals a gradual shift from the use of arts to accomplish cultural cohesion towards the arts playing an instrumental role within social reform movements. Cathleen Gruen. 3/28, 2:15pm - 3:45pm, Crowne Plaza Hotel Times Square, Room 401/402, 4th Floor.

• Exploring Urban High School Students' Understandings of and Experiences with Classroom-Based Multicultural Democratic Education. How and what do urban middle and high school students experience and learn from a CMDE approach in U.S. history courses? A study aimed at improving understanding of ways in which urban students can be better prepared for active and effective citizenship. Anand Marri; 3/24, 4:05-6:05 pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Soho Complex, Olmstead Room, 7^th Floor.

• Low completion rates at community colleges: the failure of institutional services to help students persist in their studies. Community colleges are providing poorer and disadvantaged students with access to higher education -- but frequently access fails to translate into completion of post-secondary degrees. Students who do complete degrees tend to be those with access to information networks that help guide them. Yet typically these networks are not the result of institutional services, which are found to be largely ineffective. Katherine Hughes, Melinda Mechur Karp, Lauren O'Gara; 3/26, 12:25 pm -- 1:55 pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Astor Ballroom Pre-Function, 7^th Floor.

• Should the federal government fund technological education at two-year colleges? A case study of 10 institutions suggests that the answer is "yes" -- but only if the government can establish more rigorous and comprehensive guidelines to ensure that colleges generate collective social benefits, including inter- and cross regional curriculum development, transfer of two-year students to four-year programs, and academic career development for work-bound students. At present, colleges typically turn to industry partners for ongoing financing and technical expertise, with the result that benefits generated are typically industry- or firm-specific. Yukari Matsuzuka, Thomas Bailey; 3/27, 12:25 pm -- 1:55 pm, New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Shubert Complex, Plymouth 1.

• The benefits of Advanced Placement for disadvantaged and minority students. All students in college who took Advanced Placement courses have been show to benefit from that experience, but the advantages are especially significant for minority and disadvantaged students, who constitute the bulk of community college enrollment. AP narrows achievement gaps for these students. Dong Wook Jeong; 3/26, 8:15 a.m.-9:45 a.m., New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Marquis Ballroom, Salon B, 9^th Floor.

• How much does community college benefit students who were under-prepared in high school? The community college experience typically does not help academically under-prepared students overcome an inadequate high school preparation, even students who earn associates' degrees and transfer to four-year institutions. Juan-Carlos Calcagno, Josipa Roksa; 3/26, 8:15 a.m.-9:45 a.m., New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Marquis Ballroom, Salon B, 9^th Floor.

• A half-day off-site visit to two Middle College-Early College High Schools, at LaGuardia Community College, which seeks to enable traditionally under-served students earn associate's degrees or 60 transferable credits within 4-5 years of graduating from high school. The visit will spotlight practices that enable students to success in college courses. Elizabeth Barnett, Haiwen Chu, Cecilia Cunningham; 3/25, 8:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

• The impact of validation by faculty on persistence and completion by community college students. Higher rates of faculty validation -- support, encouragement, praise -- are associated with higher rates of persistence and completion among female students, Hispanic students and older and younger students. Elizabeth Barnett; 3/26, 12:25-1:55 p.m., New York Marriott Marquis Times Square, Astor Ballroom Pre-Function, 7^th Floor.

For more information about this year's AERA meeting, visit www.aera.net

Published Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2008