Biography
Robert
J. Tierney is Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of
British Columbia. Robert came to the United States from Australia
in the early 70's where he grew up, attended university, and worked
as a classroom teacher in a demonstration school setting for Sydney
University.
He continued his studies in the States, completing his master’s
degree and Ph.D. at the University of Georgia.
For the past twenty-five years, teaching and learning have been the
focus of his scholarship and professional activities and as a literacy
education professor he has held faculty positions at several major
educational research centers and has served on several international
advisory boards, especially in the area of literacy education. He
has contributed significantly to research discussions, particularly
in the areas of teaching, reading comprehension, reading-writing relationships,
multi-literacies, literacy assessment, and educational reform.
He has been the Past President of the National Reading Conference,
past Chair of the Research Assembly for the National Council for Teachers
of English and past editor of the Reading Research Quarterly. He has
served on several panels for the United States Office of Education,
international agencies and a number of corporations including publishing
and media groups. He has worked closely with the Children's Television
Workshop and has been engaged in several long-term studies examining
the impact of technology on teaching and learning. During his tenure
in the United States, he has been a member of the Faculties of the
University of Arizona, the University of Illinois, Harvard University,
and the University of California at Berkeley, and The Ohio State University.
In 2000, he assumed the position of Dean in the Faculty of Education
and The University of British Columbia.
A major foci has involved examining assessment procedures that may
serve to empower teaching and learning without either compromising
the complexity of what is measured or undermining ongoing goal-setting
of teachers and students. To these ends, he has been developing and
studying alternatives which represent and support the professional
development of teachers and students via the use of portfolios, performance-based
assessment systems and systematic observational procedures. Emanating
from his work with teachers, he has co-authored two books, Portfolio
assessment in the reading-writing classroom, and Interactive
Assessment: Teachers, Parents and Students as Partners.
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In 2003, Rob announced the formalization
of a partnership between the Faculty of Education and the Vancouver
School Board which aims to improve schools in five areas: research,
learning technologies, social responsibility, First Nations education,
and literacy.
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