David C. Berliner, 2003 Laureate

David C. Berliner, distinguished teacher, researcher, and leader in the field of education, was awarded the second Brock International Prize in Education at the Brock Symposium on Excellence in Education held at the University of Tulsa, in Oklahoma on April 28, 2003.

Berliner and his co-author of the Manufactured Crisis systematically and successfully challenged the myth that the educational system was in acute crisis. Their scholarly review of the literature, analysis of extant knowledge, and effective writing were so compelling that the policy debate on American schools was substantially altered. This book provided clear evidence that American schools were strikingly varied and that our country had some of the best schools in the world but also many poorly achieving ones. This writing is widely seen as an accurate and penetrating description of the status of American education and has led to a new and notably different debate on the problems of schools, namely the discussion today includes how our society can support and improve schools. In addition, Berliner's capacity for policy leadership, was demonstrated by his election as president of the American Educational Research Association and his election to The National Academy of Education.

Berliner holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Stanford University and an honorary doctorate of human letters from the University of Massachusetts. He has received awards from the National Academy of Education, Kappa Delta Pi, National Education Association, Horace Mann League for Distinguished Contributions to Public Education, and lifetime distinguished contributions awards from the American Educational Research Association and the American Psychological Association. Berliner has authored, co-authored, or edited more than 12 books, chapters in over 25 books, and 220 professional articles related to the profession of education.

Berliner began his research in the area of microteaching and teacher education. Teaching and related policies have been the subject of his interest throughout his career. In the 1970’s, he headed the influential Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study at WestEd, where he was director of research. In that study, various aspects of time-on-task and opportunity-to-learn were found to be of profound importance in school learning. In the 1980’s, he headed the research team that explored expertise in teaching, demonstrating how the skills and abilities of expert teachers resemble those of experts in other fields. His model of how one develops from novice to expert has influenced teacher education programs worldwide. Work in school settings led him to believe that American education was actually quite successful overall, and that criticisms of the nation’s school were too broad, perhaps even malevolent. During the 1990’s his research centered on the relationships between public policy, schools, and American democracy. Currently he studies educational policy as it affects teaching and learning in public schools.