March 31–April 3

CLaRI is holding its annual Scholastic Book Fair on March 31 to April 3.
We are located in the basement of Baldy Hall, Room 17, University at Buffalo, North Campus

March 31

P. David Pearson, Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley

Dr. Pearson will visit UB and give two talks. Both are open to the public, faculty, students, and community members.

An Historical Analysis of the Impact of Educational Research on Policy and Practice: Reading as an Illustrative Case
Date: March 31, 2008
Time: 10:30-Noon
Place: 120 Clemens Hall

Professor Pearson will use the field of reading education as a context to examine the changing impact of educational research on wide-scale policies and school/classroom practices. Pearson will examine the impact of changing views of the nature of reading processes and pedagogies as well as the dominant research paradigms in educational psychology and changing views of the relationship between research and practice in different eras throughout the last century.

Teaching Comprehension in an Age of Accountability: Keeping the Science and the Art in Balance
Date: March 31
Time: 4:00-5:30 (Talk for Teachers, School Professionals, Teacher Educators, Researchers)
Place: TBA

In the context of increased emphasis on accountability mandated by NCLB and other policies, Professor Pearson considers the focus on reading comprehension and the current emphasis on achievement. For teachers and other school professionals, he offers perspectives on maintaining balance as educators learn from reading research while drawing on their expertise to practice the art of teaching.

P. David Pearson Biography

P. David Pearson serves as Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, and as a faculty member in its Language and Literacy program.

Pearson specializes in assessment and educational measurement, educational equity, learning, literacy, poverty and children, reading development and writing, and literature. Pearson’s research interests include practice and policy in literacy instruction and assessment. A member of the National Academy of Education, he is a former dean of the College of Education of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also co-directed the Center for the Study of Reading. Before coming to Berkeley he was the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Education at Michigan State University. He has served as president of the National Reading Conference and on the boards of directors for the International Reading Association, the National Reading Conference, and the Association of American Colleges of Teacher Education. His honors include the William S. Gray Citation of Merit from the International Reading Association, the Oscar Causey Award for Contributions to Reading Research from the National Reading Conference, and the Alan Purves Award from the National Council of Teachers of English. Among his books and articles are the Handbook of Reading Research, now in its third volume; and Learning to Read: Lessons for Effective Schools and Accomplished Teachers (with B. Taylor, 2000). At UC Berkeley, Pearson teaches "Foundations for Teaching Reading in Grades K-8", "Reading Research: Sociocognitive Perspective and Curriculum", "Assessment and Professional Development in Literacy Education."

For more on P. David Pearson visit his website: http://www-gse.berkeley.edu/faculty/PDPearson/PDPearson.html