Robert Pianta, dean of U.Va.’s Curry School of Education, went to Capitol Hill this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
If you don’t want to sit through two hours of video or 11 pages of Pianta’s formal testimony, here’s his summary:
The conclusions from any sensible analysis of the extant data are fairly straightforward. First, early educational opportunities in this country are a non-system. Publicly supported early education programs (child care, Head Start, state-funded pre-kindergarten, k-3) encompass such a wide range of funding streams, program models, staff qualifications, curriculum, assessments, and teacher capacities that it cannot be understood as an organized aspect of the public system of support for children. Second, despite stunning variability and fragmentation, there is compelling evidence that early educational experiences can boost development and learning, can close achievement gaps in elementary school, and can have longer-term benefits to children and communities. Third, interactions between teachers and children can be observed and assessed using standardized and scalable approaches. Finally and perhaps most promisingly, teachers’ skills and children’s learning can be improved with specific and focused professional development training and support.
The challenge for policy connecting ESEA and early childhood education is to incent construction and delivery of scalable and effective opportunities for teacher professional development and preparation, using new approaches to credentialing and certification and observational assessments of teachers’ classroom performance. Recent statements by professional organizations reflect an openness to innovation that, paired with demonstrably effective supports for teachers, could pave the way for tremendous positive change in outcomes for teachers serving children from 3-8 and for those children and society.
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People | Thursday, May 27th | By: Dan @10:57 am |
The annual Virginia Film Festival is in the fall, but there seems to be lots of video to take in this spring. To wit:
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TV | Monday, March 22nd | By: Dan @3:53 pm |
The Curry School of Education held its inaugural, student-led Curry Research Conference on Friday, and Curry Dean Robert Pianta called it a significant accomplishment.
“They deserve all the credit for sponsoring a first-rate professional conference that I trust will serve as a milestone in the school’s history,” he said.
About 200 people attended.
Curry School,
research | Tuesday, February 2nd | By: Dan @11:51 am |
The Curry School of Education’s Web site has an interesting essay from a participant in its annual Summer Enrichment Program, now in its 30th summer of giving gifted kids an early taste of college life.
(As an aside, I served as a counselor in the program for three years, from 1982 to 1984. I could tell stories for hours, but suffice it to say that very few of the participants fit any popular stereotype of the socially maladjusted nerd. Some, however, learned valuable lessons in how to share a suite in the non-air-conditioned Tuttle House for two summer weeks.)
All reminiscences welcome! Comment below.
Curry School,
Student Life | Tuesday, July 14th | By: Dan @2:55 pm |
Curry School of Education Dean Robert Pianta was interviewed by Reading Rockets, a nationwide multimedia project “offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.” He gave a great interview on how kids learn before Kindergarten in both formal and informal ways. You can watch it here.
Curry School,
News | Tuesday, March 24th | By: Kevin @8:56 pm |
If you loved sandboxes and books filled with dump trucks and steel beams, take a look at the live video feed of the Bavaro Hall construction site. A series of still images, as well as videos, shows the progress of building this new part of the Curry School of Education.
There is also a blog that chronicles the construction process.
Curry School,
On Grounds | Wednesday, March 11th | By: Dan @2:51 pm |
The U.Va. Athletics Web site has an interesting video up featuring third-year wrestler Brent Jones. Not only is he 26-6 this season (11 wins by fall) at 197 pounds, but he consistently carries at least a 3.0 GPA in the Curry School’s five-year exercise physiology program. He also works with recovering heart patients at Martha Jefferson Hospital’s Outpatient Care Center, and has even lured a few of them to watch his matches.
The Virginia wrestling team has completed its regular season with an 11-11 record in dual meets. The Cavaliers will next compete March 7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference championships in Blacksburg.
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Student Life | Wednesday, February 25th | By: Dan @11:23 am |
U.Va.’s venerable Summer Enrichment Program is now taking applications for its 30th summer. The program gives gifted students in grades four through 10 a chance to take classes representing diverse disciplines and fields as portals to developing their strengths and talents, interests and ways of thinking, said director Julie Baird. This summer’s lineup of courses includes medical ethics, analyzing presidential speeches and “SEP Live,” in which students will be writing and performing comedy.
Curry School,
On Grounds | Saturday, February 7th | By: Dan @2:45 pm |
Work is advancing on Bavaro Hall, the new buiding that will serve the Curry School of Education, With much of the lower steelwork in place, workers recently laid down the first-floor concrete.
Curry School,
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On Grounds | Monday, February 2nd | By: Dan @4:26 pm |
