Leading American researcher will head institute to transform education
Posted on 21 May 2007
Professor Robert Slavin will lead the Institute for Effective Education at York - an international, independent multi-disciplinary resource focused on producing high-quality evidence-based assessments of educational practice and policy, and translating it into effective action to benefit all young people.
The IEE is established at the University thanks to an £11 million donation from the Bowland Charitable Trust.
We are extremely fortunate to have secured the services of a visionary thinker of the calibre of Bob Slavin to head the IEE
Professor Brian Cantor
Professor Slavin is currently Director of the Centre for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and Chair of the Success for All Foundation. He takes up his new position next month.
He is co-founder of the Success for All Foundation, a non-profit organisation that develops and evaluates programmes for high-poverty schools across the USA and England.
The IEE, whose strategy board is chaired by former Secretary of State for Education, Estelle Morris, will welcome researchers from across the world to develop, test and evaluate ideas on how to improve education. The Institute will create a hub of evidence for education innovation, and play a pivotal role in influencing practitioners and policymakers.
The Institute, to be established in a striking purpose-built facility on the University of York campus, will make a substantial contribution to knowledge across a wide spectrum. It will initiate innovative research on literacy, language, numeracy, science learning, school improvement, school organisation, the deployment of educational resources and the relationship between effective learning and the family and socio-economic context.
Professor Slavin said: "For too long education has been ruled by fadism. We are delighted to join such an esteemed group of researchers to build the evidence base for replacing fads with evidence in education reform."
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, Professor Brian Cantor, said: "We are extremely fortunate to have secured the services of a visionary thinker of the calibre of Bob Slavin to head the IEE. His inspirational presence will help the Institute to attract the best thinkers and innovators to fulfil its mission to transform the educational landscape."
Bowland Charitable Trust states: "The success of the IEE will come from the difference it makes to schools and the lives of learners throughout the world. Professor Slavin’s experience, both in ‘evidence based’ research in schools and working with schools to improve their performance, will make a major contribution to this."
Professor Slavin will be joined by two other leading figures in education. They are American Professor Nancy Madden, the President of the Success for All Foundation, and a professor at the CRRE, and Professor Bette Chambers, a Canadian, who is also a professor at CRRE and Vice-President of Research at the Success for All Foundation.
Notes to editors:
- Robert Slavin is currently Director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University and Chairman of the Success for All Foundation. He received his BA in Psychology from Reed College in 1972, and his PhD in Social Relations in 1975 from Johns Hopkins University. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 articles and 20 books, including Educational Psychology: Theory into Practice (Allyn and Bacon, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003), Cooperative Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice (Allyn and Bacon, 1990, 1995), Show Me the Evidence: Proven and Promising Programs for America’s Schools (Corwin, 1998), Effective Programs for Latino Students (Erlbaum, 2000), and One Million Children: Success for All (Corwin, 2001). He received the American Educational Research Association’s Raymond B Cattell Early Career Award for Programmatic Research in 1986, the Palmer O Johnson award for the best article in an AERA journal in 1988, the Charles A. Dana award in 1994, the James Bryant Conant Award from the Education Commission of the States in 1998, the Outstanding Leadership in Education Award from the Horace Mann League in 1999, and the Distinguished Services Award from the Council of Chief State School Officers in 2000.
- Nancy A Madden is the President of the Success for All Foundation and a professor in the Center for Research and Reform in Education at John Hopkins University. She received her BA in Psychology from Reed College in 1973, and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from The American University in 1980. From 1980 to 1998, she was a research scientist at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk at Johns Hopkins University, where she directed the development of the reading, writing, language arts, and mathematics elements of Success for All. An expert in literacy and instruction, she is the author or co-author of many articles and books on cooperative learning, mainstreaming, Chapter 1, and students at risk, including Effective Programs for Students at Risk (Allyn and Bacon, 1989) and One Million Children: Success for All (Corwin, 2001).
- Bette Chambers is a professor in the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University and Vice-President of Research at the Success for All Foundation, where she oversees the Foundation research and directs the development and dissemination of the preschool, kindergarten, embedded multimedia, and computer-assisted tutoring programs. She received her BA in Early Childhood Education from Concordia University in Montreal in 1981, and her PhD in Educational Psychology in 1990 from McGill University. She has authored or co-authored numerous articles, books, and practical guides for teachers, including Let’s Cooperate: Interactive Activities for Young Children and Classroom Connections: Understanding and Using Cooperative Learning.