Stanford University Professor to Discuss State of Science Education in Schools

Dr. Richard Shavelson, a national leader in science education, presents

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Posted: Oct 9, 2003

Is science receiving the attention it deserves in our schools? Or is it being left behind? Dr. Richard Shavelson, professor of education and psychology at Stanford University and a leader in science education, will discuss this question when he delivers the Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecture, entitled "The No Child Left Behind Policy—Is Science Being Left Behind?," on Thursday, October 16, at 4 p.m. at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Kuykendall Hall Room 301. The lecture is sponsored by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.

Shavelson is currently engaged in policy work focusing on the assessment of learning in higher education and the quest for accountability. His recent work includes two monographs on alternative designs of indicator systems for monitoring the health of the nation‘s mathematics and science education systems. Shavelson‘s other research involves working closely with teachers and scientists in the development of performance and other assessments in science education.

Shavelson received his bachelor‘s degree in psychology from the University of Oregon, a master‘s degree in psychology from San Jose State University and a doctorate in educational psychology from Stanford University. His dissertation research focused on the cognitive structures developed when learning physics (mechanics) and their correspondence to the structure of the subject matter.

From 1995 to 2000, Shavelson served as the I. James Quillen Dean of the Stanford University School of Education. From 1987 to 1994, he was dean of the Graduate School of Education and professor of education and statistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He was also director of the RAND Corporation‘s Education and Human Resources Program; professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles; a former president of the American Educational Research Association; a member of the National Academy of Education; a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Society; and a national associate of the National Academy of Science.

For more information about the lecture, contact Cindy Hunter at 923-9741.