The APA Education Directorate's 2005 convention programming will include award-winning and other featured addresses, a tutorial for up-and-coming teachers (see sidebar), a glimpse at promising research on education and an exploration of student giftedness and talent.

For starters, the directorate will honor three psychologists who have devoted their careers to educating the next generation of psychologists. They are:

• John C. Norcross, PhD, winner of the Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology Award. Norcross will give his award address on Friday, Aug. 19, at 11 a.m. on "The psychotherapist's own psychotherapy: Educating and developing psychologists."

• Irma Serrano-Garcia, PhD, winner of the Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology Award. Serrano-Garcia will give her award address on Friday, Aug. 19, at noon on "Mentoring: A powerful relationship."

• Cal Stoltenberg, PhD, winner of the 2005 Distinguished Contribution of Applications of Psychology to Education and Training Award. Stoltenberg will give his award address on Friday, Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. on "Integrating science and practice in clinical supervision."

The psychology of giftedness

The Education Directorate's Center for Gifted Education Policy will host the session "Unwanted gifts: Roadblocks to success in developing academic/artistic giftedness" on Saturday, Aug. 20, at 2 p.m., along with the American Psychological Foundation and the Coalition for Psychologists Engaged by Giftedness and Talent (see more details on page 72). The coalition is comprised of members from five APA divisions--Divs. 7 (Developmental), 10 (Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts), 15 (Educational), 16 (School) and 53 (Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology)--that share an interest in research on giftedness and talent.

TOPSS featured speakers

The Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools will host a series of talks by leaders in psychology education on topics ranging from stereotypes to aging. This year's speakers and their presentations are:

• Joshua Aronson, PhD, of New York University, on "Stereotypes and the fragility of human intelligence."

• Aaron T. Beck, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, at the session "A conversation with Aaron Beck: Psychology curriculum for students?" Frank Farley, PhD, of Temple University, will chair the session.

• Toni Antonucci, PhD, of the University of Michigan, and John Cavanaugh, PhD, of the University of West Florida, on "Choosing the older person you would like to be."

Building better schools

Additional special sessions will highlight psychologists' roles in boosting school performance and promising education research. They are:

• "Building a toolbox for evaluating school improvement designs," sponsored by the Center for Psychology in Schools and Education. Participants in the session, to be held on Friday, Aug. 19, at 10 a.m., will describe the recently proposed revisions to the "Learner-Centered Psychological Principles: Guidelines for School Redesign and Reform" document--printed by APA and the Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory in 1993. Panelists will also discuss a model for improving collaboration among psychologists, K–12 teachers and school districts that was developed at the 2004 Education Leadership Conference.

• "APA/Institute of Education Sciences Postdoctoral Education Research Training (PERT) Program: Next generation education research," to be held at noon on Friday, Aug. 19. The session will spotlight the PERT research mentoring program as well as current education research by PERT fellows. Panelists will also discuss the benefits and challenges of applying psychological science to K–12 education.

Finally, education and training programs interested in grant funding can attend the program, "Funding opportunities in the Bureau of Health Professions," on Friday, Aug. 19, at 1 p.m. Participants in the session, chaired by Nina Levitt, EdD, of APA's Public Policy Office, include Tanya Pagan Raggio, MD, director, Division of Medicine and Dentistry; O'Neal Walker, PhD, branch chief, Bureau of Health Professions; Lynn Rothberg Wegman, director, Division of State, Community and Public Health; and Chris McLaughlin, GPE program officer.

--COMPILED BY APA'S EDUCATION DIRECTORATE

Email this article to a friend or colleague

Cover Page for this Issue