AERA-E: Counseling and Human Development Forum

> Peabody Research Institute of Vanderbilt University
> Postdoctoral Field Based Research Methodology Training
> 
> The Peabody Research Institute of Peabody College of Human 
> Development and Education/Vanderbilt University has received an award 
> 
> from the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences 
> 
> to fund four two-year post-doctoral trainees over the next five years 
> 
> as part of a Postdoctoral Field Based Research Methodology Training 
> program beginning in the summer 2010, led by Dale C. Farran and Mark 
> Lipsey.
> 
> The Peabody Research Institute will train four postdoctoral fellows 
> in all aspects of experimental research for studying the 
> effectiveness of educational interventions in field settings. These 
> postdoctoral fellows will have their main home in the Peabody 
> Research Institute, which provides rich resources for this purpose. 
> The purpose of the Peabody Research Institute (PRI) is to conduct 
> research aimed at improving the effectiveness of programs for 
> children, youth, and families. This mission encompasses educational 
> programs but also other interventions aimed at increasing the well 
> being of children and their families. Methodologically, PRI 
> emphasizes efficacy and effectiveness research based on experimental 
> and quasi-experimental designs in field settings: 
> http://www.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/Peabody_Research_Institute.xml.
> 
> Fellows' training includes four main components. Foremost is an 
> apprenticeship in which each postdoctoral fellow works with an 
> accomplished scholar. In this approach, the student is mentored, 
> moving from the more basic research activities to major project 
> responsibility, and the program is highly individualized. Both Farran 
> 
> and Lipsey are leading the projects outlined below that will be 
> available to the postdoctoral fellows. Fellows may work with a 
> particular project or Fellows primarily interested in methodology may 
> 
> work across projects.  All Fellows will be immediately involved in 
> ongoing research projects. Other components include access to 
> advanced statistical and design courses to fill in any gaps a fellow 
> may have; participation in ongoing research analysis meetings at PRI; 
> 
> and assistance in developing independent grant proposals.
> 
> Two Fellowship positions are available beginning Summer 2010.
> 
> Application Information:
> Applicants must have a Ph.D. and evidence of potential for 
> publication in education or social sciences, potential for obtaining 
> external funding, substantive knowledge and background in the field 
> of education and/or developmental psychology, and demonstrated 
> leadership, management, and communication skills.
> Applications will be reviewed beginning March 15, 2010.  Please submit:
> o	Curriculum Vitae
> o	3 letters of reference (2 from graduate school mentors with 
> whom you have worked on research)
> o	Sample publications or other writing samples
> o	Letter of intent describing your research training goals and 
> interests, including why your background and interests are a good 
> match for the particular position.
> 
> Candidates will be considered on the basis of skill sets and match to 
> 
> PRI research programs, potential for impact, and past 
> experience/achievement. Salary and benefits are competitive. 
> Appointments will begin as early as July 1, 2010. 
> 
> Please send applications to:  by e-mail to: 
> [log in to unmask] or telephone Dale Farran for more 
> information at 615-343-9515
> 
> Types of Educationally Oriented Projects at PRI
> Measuring relevant educational outcomes. Postdoctoral fellows may 
> work on a Goal 5 measurement project awarded to Lipsey and Farran in 
> the spring of 2009. The goal of this project is to construct 
> composite measures of learning-related cognitive self-regulation for 
> pre-k children that have high predictive validity for achievement 
> gains and are easily used in pre-k settings.
> 
> Identifying promising interventions that work. One of the specialties 
> 
> of PRI is meta-analysis of research on the effectiveness of 
> interventions for children and families (e.g., Garrard & Lipsey, 
> 2007; Lipsey & Wilson, 2001; Wilson & Lipsey, 2007). In addition 
> postdoctoral fellows may be involved in a new 5-year randomized field 
> 
> trial (Goal 3) awarded to Farran and Lipsey in summer 2009. This 
> project is conducting an experimental evaluation of an innovative 
> preschool curriculum called Tools of the Mind. This curriculum has a 
> distinctive focus on developing sustainable learning skills that 
> enable children to engage in and benefit from all kinds of learning 
> tasks and activities intrinsic to school-based instruction.
> 
> Assessing practices when they are taken to scale. PRI researchers are 
> 
> currently involved in two large scale up projects. One is assessing 
> an early math curriculum scaled up for multisite implementation. In 
> addition, a new large multisite project awarded to Lipsey and Farran 
> in the summer of 2009 is related to the IES initiative entitled 
> "Evaluation of State and Local Education Programs and Policies" and 
> was created jointly by the Office of Early Learning in the Tennessee 
> Department of Education and the PRI research team. The Tennessee 
> initiative is a 5-year statewide scientifically rigorous study of the 
> 
> effectiveness of the Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K program for improving 
> children's readiness for kindergarten and their achievement in the 
> later grades.
> 
> Developing experimental and quasi-experimental methodology. Work is 
> ongoing at PRI to develop and extend various aspects of the design 
> and implementation of research on the effectiveness of interventions. 
> 
> This includes conceptual and statistical issues related to 
> statistical power, measurement of fidelity, characterizing the 
> practical significance of intervention effects, meta-analysis of 
> intervention research, improvement of quasi-experimental designs for 
> application to education programs, and related topics. This research 
> is pursued in conjunction with ongoing field studies, such as those 
> described above, and as separate initiatives.
> 
> Peabody Research Institute
> Peabody #181
> 230 Appleton Place
> Nashville, TN 37203-5721
> 
> -- 
> Dale C. Farran, PhD
> Professor, Dept. of Teaching and Learning
> Senior Associate Director, Peabody Research Institute
> Box 0230 GPC
> Vanderbilt University
> Nashville, TN 37203
> 
> Phone: 615-343-9515

AERA Division E: Counseling and Human Development Forum
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