CREDE Announces First Co-Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2000

California and Texas now share a strong ally in education reform with the appointment of Dr. Yolanda Padron as the first co-director at the Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE). A professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Houston and a CREDE researcher, Dr. Padron’s work explores resiliency among English language learners. As co-director she will guide the creation of CREDE’s innovative "synthesis teams," working groups of researchers, policymakers and teachers. "There are new challenges for CREDE in the months ahead, but we’ll continue addressing them so that we can improve the education of all our children and help them achieve academic excellence," said Dr. Padron. "CREDE’s work is crucial in bringing the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students into the forefront of education."

Dr. Padron’s connection to the University of Houston, which has the second most diverse student population in the U.S.*, underscores CREDE’s national commitment to improving education for diverse learners. "We’re excited and happy Yolanda has joined our leadership team," says Roland Tharp, CREDE’s director. "She’s a distinguished researcher, and her excellent work helps us broaden our institutional base and strengthen our regional affiliations." In addition to research on resiliency, Dr. Padron’s work focuses on children’s bilingual cognitive strategies in reading and mathematics. She will continue as a full-time faculty member at the University of Houston concurrent with her tenure as CREDE co-director.

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* www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/natu_div.htm
U.S. News & World Report (Eds.), (2000) America's Best Colleges. Washington, DC: U.S. News and World Report.

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