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Whitehurst to discuss educational strategies during UB lecture
By PATRICIA DONOVAN
Contributing Editor
Many education programs and practices—some quite popular and familiar—are based on theories that are not supported by scientific research. That is to say, there is no proof that those programs or learning strategies produce the results that are assumed or that they are effective at all—a fact that many parents, teachers, therapists and policy makers do not know.
WHITEHURST
For this reason, the interdisciplinary Center for Children and Families at UB sponsors an annual lecture series that advances evidence-based approaches to child and adolescent mental health and education.
As part of the 2003-04 series, Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, director of the U.S. Department of Education's new Institute on Education Sciences (IES), will present an address on that topic at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in 203 Diefendorf Hall, South Campus.
Whitehurst, a distinguished pediatric psychologist, author, editor, educational administrator, teacher and researcher, is a longtime advocate for children who has dedicated himself to the implementation of educational strategies with proven results.
His talk is free of charge, open to the public and will be followed at 5 p.m. by a wine and cheese reception. For further information, contact Karen Fisher at 829-2244, ext. 29. At 8 a.m. tomorrow, Whitehurst will conduct Pediatric Grand Rounds in the Kinch Auditorium in Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo.
Two years ago, Whitehurst was appointed by President George W. Bush to his current six-year term as the first director of the IES, which was established within the DOE by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002.
The institute conducts, supports and disseminates research on education practices that improve academic achievement, statistics on the condition of education in the United States and evaluations of the effectiveness of federal and other education programs.
Whitehurst administers the institute, including the activities of the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, and the National Center for Education Research, and encourages the use of scientifically based research in education policy and decision-making throughout the United States.
He previously served as assistant secretary for the DOE Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the institute's predecessor. In that role, he established the "What Works Clearinghouse," initiated new programs of research in areas such as reading comprehension and preschool curriculum, and increased the rigor of scientific peer review by the office.
Before entering federal service, Whitehurst was lead professor of psychology and pediatrics, and chair of the Department of Psychology at the University at Stony Brook.
Whitehurst also has served as editor of two leading scientific journals in his field: The Merrill-Palmer Quarterly of Behavior and Development and Developmental Review. He is the author or editor of five books and has published more than 100 scholarly papers on language and pre-reading development in children.
He developed the techniques of dialogic reading, a widely used method of shared picture-book reading that enhances children's language development. His work in identifying preschool predictors of reading achievement influenced curriculum for Head Start and pre-K programs throughout the country and led to the development of screening instruments that identify children with low levels of reading readiness.
The Center for Children and Families Lecture Series is designed to provide health and mental-health professionals, educators and students with current strategies for understanding, identifying and treating children with mental-health problems.
Whitehurst's lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, the departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the School of Public Health and Health Professions and the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology in the Graduate School of Education.