By (March 3, 2008)

Bangert-Drowns named Acting Dean; Goatley named Vice Dean of the School of Education

Robert Bangert-Drowns has been named acting dean of the University at Albany's School of Education.  Virginia Goatley has been named vice dean in the School of Education.   Bangert-Drowns and Goatley assumed these roles after Dean Susan Phillips was appointed the University's interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs in January.

Bangert-Drowns has served as the School's associate dean for Academic Affairs since 2003 and been on the faculty of the Department of Educational Theory and Practice since 1987. Bangert-Drowns joined the UAlbany faculty after earning a joint doctorate in education and psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He directs the Albany Consortium for Research in Instructional Design and Theory (ACRIDAT), a forum and work group for students and faculty interested in research on instruction. He has also been project director at the National Research Center for English Learning and Achievement where he investigated the effects of writing on learning and student engagement with educational software.  His research interests include instructional design and technology, learning engagement, meta-analytic methodology, and educational programs designed for the prevention and rehabilitation of drug-related social problems. His work has appeared in such journals as Psychological Bulletin, Review of Educational Research, American Educational Research Journal, and Addiction. He received the Harold E. Mitzel Award for Meritorious Contribution to Educational Practice Through Research from the Journal of Educational Research and the Hinsdale Scholar Award for Scholarship and Professional Promise from the University of Michigan's School of Education.

Goatley has served as the School's associate dean for Professional Studies and on the faculty in the Department of Reading.  She joined UAlbany's Reading Department in 1995 after graduating with a Ph.D. in Education Psychology (literacy focus) from Michigan State University. As a project director for the National Research Center for English Learning and Achievement, she studied the integration of literacy and social studies across the elementary grades.  She led the School of Education's process for national accreditation of the Teacher Education Program, including 18 teacher certification degrees, by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). Her publications have appeared in journals including Reading Research Quarterly, Reading and Writing Quarterly, Language Arts, and Journal of Educational Research. She is co-editor of The Book Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (TC Press/IRA, 1997).  She received the Harold E. Mitzel Award for Meritorious Contribution to Educational Practice Through Research from the Journal of Educational Research and the Academic Excellence Award from Michigan State University.