Announcements

Pitt Alum Drew Gitomer will address interested listeners in an Invited Talk on Friday, October 14, 2011, from noon to 1:30 in Glaser Auditorium (Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh).  A reception will be held after his talk at 4:00 pm October 14, on LRDC 9. All are invited.

Drew has been named a University of Pittsburgh Legacy Laureate. The Legacy Laureate program was launched in 2000 to honor University of Pittsburgh alumni for their outstanding personal and professional achievements. The program is designed to stimulate activity, identity and relationships among prominent alumni and the University of Pittsburgh community.  

Drew received his Ph.D. from Pitt in 1984. His dissertation, "A Cognitive Analysis of a Complex Troubleshooting Task," was based on a study of proficient problem solving in the domain of avionics. After Pitt, he embarked on a highly successful career at ETS that spanned more than two decades, serving as a senior scientist, senior vice president, as research director of the Teaching and Learning Division, and as a distinguished president appointee of ETS’s Policy Evaluation and Research Center. He joined the faculty of Rutgers University as the Rose and Nicholas DeMarzo Chair in the Graduate School of Education this fall.

Our next colloquium speaker is Patricia Gándara, Professor of Education at UCLA and Co-director of The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles. Dr. Gandara’s talk is entitled, "Finding Solutions to the Latino Education Crisis: An American Imperative." Please join us for this important event! For more information or to RSVP, click here.

Our next colloquium speaker is Richard Arum. Dr. Arum is a Professor of Sociology and Education at New York University, as well as Director of the Educational Research Program at the Social Science Research Council. He will share findings from the Collegiate Learning Association Longitudinal Study, which is tracking 2,300 students at 24 higher education institutions to examine what factors are associated with learning in higher education. These findings will provide much-needed information both about what determines success in college, as well as what might be done at the high school level to promote such success. For more information about this talk, click here.

As consultants for A+ Schools, the Learning Policy Center just completed a 15-month research project on teacher staffing, distribution, and mobility in Pittsburgh Public Schools. The project was highlighted in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette news article. To read the LPC technical paper for the project and/or sign on to the A+ Schools Community Agenda for Empowering Effective Teachers in PPS, go to the A+ Schools website by clicking

The next speaker in our Learning Policy Center Colloquium Series is William Tate from the University of Washington in St. Louis! His talk is on engineering quality academic and social opportunities for urban school students in the face of significant structural barriers. For more information about the talk, click here.

The Learning Policy Center proudly announces our entire 2009-2010 Colloquium Series: Preparing Students for Life Beyond K-12. If you cannot attend any of these events, they will be available via live webcast by clicking links below (test your browser prior to viewing any webcasts by clicking here and viewing the Welcome to Mediasite presentation). To view videos for past presentations, click links in the right column on this page.

Events in the series are:

October 22, 2009, 3 to 4:30pm: Allan Collins, Professor Emeritus of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, "Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology" (now available via free, on-demand video)

December 9, 2009, 2:30 to 4pm: William Tate, Professor of Education in Arts and Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, "Beyond the Business of Parallel Play: Engineering Changes in METS"
An RSVP is required to attend this free event. To RSVP, click here. Click here at 2:30pm EST on 12/9 to view the live webcast.

February 25, 2010, 2:30 to 4pm: Richard Arum, Professor of Sociology and Education, New York University & Director of Educational Research Program, Social Science Research Council, "Limited Learning in U.S. Colleges: Findings from the CLA Study" (Link for live webcast will be provided closer to the date of the event.)

March 25, 2010, 2:30 to 4pm: Patricia Gandara, Professor of Education & Co-director of The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, UCLA, "Finding Solutions to the Latino Education Crisis: An American Imperative" (Link for live webcast will be provided closer to the date of the event.)

For more information about these events and speakers, click here.

All talks will be transmitted via live webcast and available as on-demand videos in the weeks following each event.