EDUCATION EXPERT TO EXAMINE SCHOOLS' READING POLICIES AT PRESIDENT'S LECTURE SERIES TALK JAN. 29

P. David Pearson, dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, will discuss "The Politics of Reading Pedagogy: The Role of Research in Shaping National, State and Local Reading Policies and Practices" Thursday, Jan. 29 at Old Dominion University.

Pearson's lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 8 p.m. in the Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building Auditorium. It is the Parsons Foundation Early Childhood Lecture and a part of the 2003-04 President's Lecture Series at Old Dominion.

A faculty member in the language and literacy program at Berkeley, Pearson is currently the principal investigator for the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. His research focuses on issues of reading instruction and reading assessment policies and practices at all levels.

Pearson began his professional academic career at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Since then he has served as the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Education in the College of Education at Michigan State University.
He has also served as the dean of the college of Education, co-director of the Center for the study of Reading, and professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois.

Pearson has written and co-edited several books including the "Handbook of Reading Research" and "Effective Schools and Accomplished Teacher." He received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in reading education from the University of Minnesota.

For more information about the lecture call 683-3114.