Increasingly, educators and policy makers are looking globally for understandings related to perplexing problems of education, including teacher education. Penelope Peterson, dean of Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy, will consider trends in international research when she presents at the annual conference of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) in Chicago on February 7.Peterson will be a presenter in a major forum entitled "The Internationalization of Education Research: How Will It Affect Teacher Education Programs?" Reflecting the trend toward international studies of teacher preparation and student learning, this forum sponsored by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) will focus on a new venture: the development of the World Education Research Association.
This institution is intended to facilitate the globalization of education research and enhance current efforts at improved research and practice about key aspects of learning and teaching such as assessment, accountability, studies of memory and professional development. Besides Peterson, other presenters are Eva Baker of University of California, Los Angeles, and Jeffrey Gorrell of George Mason University. Gerald Sroufe of AERA is the moderator.
AACTE is a national alliance of educator preparation programs at 800 institutions dedicated to professional development of teachers and school leaders in order to enhance preK-12 student learning. This year's meeting, with the theme "Innovation and Impact," brings education professionals from around the country to explore critical themes that will influence teacher education today and in the future. The meeting will take place February 6 to 9 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.
Prior to her appointment as dean of Northwestern's School of Education and Social Policy in September 1997, Peterson served as University Distinguished Professor of Education at Michigan State University and Sears-Bascom Professor of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Under Peterson's leadership, SESP has moved up from a rank of 20 by U.S. News and World Reports to being ranked consistently among the top ten schools of education nationally. Peterson's books include Restructuring in the Classroom: Teaching, Learning, and School Organization (with Richard Elmore and Sarah McCarthey) and Learning from Our Lives: Women, Research, and Autobiography in Education (with Anna Neumann).
Peterson is past president of the American Educational Research Association. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Educational Research Association. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Currently, she is also co-editing (with Eva Baker and Barry McGaw) the International Encyclopedia of Education, Third Edition, which will be 12 volumes when published. In addition to her role as dean, Peterson co-teaches the beginning course in the Learning Sciences graduate program, and she directs the undergraduate Honors Program in the School of Education and Social Policy.
Last Modified: 8/20/09