AwardAward Volume XIX, No. 3 • New York City • JAN/FEB 2014 www.EducationUpdate.com Winner CUTTING EDGE NEWS FOR ALL THE PEOPLE 2 Education update ■ FPor arents, Educators & Students ■ JAN/FEB 2014

LEARNING & the BRAIN® SPRING 2014 CONFERENCE

THE SCIENCE OF SMARTER MINDS: TEACHING TO THINK, CREATE AND INNOVATE FOR SCHOOL AND CAREERS New York, NY • May 8-10, 2014 At the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel

The Age of Insight: Art, Brain and the Creative Beholder Eric R. Kandel, MD, Columbia University Making Students Smarter: Strengthening Thinking, Reasoning and Learning Sandra B. Chapman, PhD, The University of Texas at Dallas CO-SPONSORS INCLUDE: st Developing Thought-Full Minds and Schools for the 21 Century and Beyond Neuroscience and Education Program Arthur L. Costa, EdD, California State University, Sacramento Teachers College, Columbia University Critical Thinking and 21st Century Skills Mind, Brain & Education Program Daniel T. Willingham, PhD, University of Virginia Harvard Graduate School of Education Smart Thinking: Helping Students Solve Problems, Innovate, Create and Learn Comer School Development Program Yale University School of Medicine Arthur B. Markman, PhD, The University of Texas at Austin The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The Dana Foundation Preparing Future Innovators: Lessons from Studying the Development of Math The Neuroscience Research Institute and Science Talents for 35 Years University of California, Santa Barbara Camilla P. Benbow, EdD, Vanderbilt University National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Creating Innovators National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Tony Wagner, MAT, EdD, Harvard University The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Problem Solvers Through Digital Learning Center for Childhood Creativity James Paul Gee, PhD, Arizona State University Center for Curriculum Redesign “Man and Machine”: Impact of Technology on Innovation, Creativity and Learning LEARNING & the BRAIN® Foundation Charles K. Fadel, MBA, Harvard Graduate School of Education

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— Eric R. Kandel, MD For more information or to register, go to LearningAndTheBrain.com Columbia University or call 781-449-4010 ext. 101 or 102. JAN/FEB 2014 ■ FPor arents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 3 GradFair ads 2013_EdUpdate 1/11/14 12:27 AM Page 1

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GUEST EDITORIAL GUEST EDITORIAL Raising the Bar for Educating the Whole Student Women Behind Bars By Matthew G. Mandelbaum, Ph.D. mongst a room full of young teachers By Rev. Vivian Nixon the course of their lives for grades Pre-K to 12, I ask, “Who have had a front often have left them with has heard of the concept of educat- row seat for the a sense of hopelessness. ing the whole child?” The room is past dozen years But as we work with them suddenly divided between raised hands of Early watching the trans- we see, one by one, how Childhood and Childhood educators and hands formative power that educa- they grow and once again lowered of their Adolescent counterparts. I ask tion can have on women who find the hope that seemed one Childhood educator to define whole child face extraordinary challenges. altogether lost. For many education for us. She said, “It means to con- First, as a student and then— of our clients and stu- sider educating the student on the intellectual, for the last seven years—as dents, the chance of emotional, social, and physical levels, always executive director of College attaining any type of edu- considering the student’s overall development and Community Fellowship cation was out of reach. towards greater achievement in academics and (CCF), I have learned first That’s why CCF’s prima- in life.” That sounded like a pretty good con- By focusing on the whole adolescent, Stevenson hand the importance of educa- ry objective is providing cept for a teacher and for a student. I asked the helps students recalibrate their lives to be full tion on the lives, not just of the educational support ser- group, “Who thinks that the description offered of meaning, purpose, and accomplishment. The students themselves, but their vices to help our students should be a given in education for everyone?” Stevenson faculty helps students set S.M.A.R.T. families, the organizations that hire them and earn undergraduate and graduate degrees from They all raised their hands. So, I asked them, goals that are attainable across disciplines - in the their community. accredited colleges or universities in the greater “Who has ever heard of educating the whole fine and performing arts, the humanities, the sci- The CCF is a non‐profit organization that New York metropolitan area. Those enrolled in adolescent?” No one had. Dead silence turned ences, in technology, and in physical education. serves as a resource for formerly incarcerated our program receive counseling, financial lit- to sighs. “Why not?” I wondered aloud, “Does Stevenson helps build self-esteem, self-efficacy, women in New York City. We help women eracy education, peer support services, tutoring something end in 5th or 6th grade and we forget and self-confidence. Students are able to rejoice transition back into their communities, through and referral services, and other extracurricular the whole person? Shouldn’t 21st Century edu- in their successes, but also are able to tolerate and strategies focusing on higher education, leader- activities. Through monthly community meet- cation, with its focus on preparing individuals learn from their failures. Resilience grows out of ship development, increasing social capital, ings, they are able to discuss common issues for success in the world, focus on the entire these experiences with the safe, structured sup- economic stability, and artistic expression. Our as it pertains to their education, receive life person, especially as they transition into adult- port of teachers and advisors. The result is a 100 goal is not just to assist women to reintegrate skills training, and have a source of support hood? Where can we find the whole adolescent percent college acceptance rate with appropriate into their communities, but to work to help lift and advice. education in action?” matches. Recognition of our unique services them up. Their effort has paid off. Some 65 percent of At least some students who need this type of is reflected in the fact that most of the students Since 2000, we have had the honor to see the more than 400 women in our program have learning are getting it at Robert Louis Stevenson receive significant funding from their districts. over 400 women overcome incredible chal- graduated within four years. Sixty-one of them School (Stevenson-school.org) on the Upper West Educating the whole person should be a focus lenges. The women we work with succeed not have gone on to get Master’s degrees and we Side of Manhattan. For over 52 years, Stevenson across development as we learn to increase poten- solely because we are there to provide guid- have one with a doctorate degree and two more has been integrating social-emotional and aca- tial and growth for all. # ance and structure to their quest, but because who are close to being PhDs. They get full time demic education for bright adolescents in Grades Matthew G. Mandelbaum, PhD is the they are incredibly motivated and resilient. The jobs, reunite with their families and contribute 7-12, who have been underachieving due to social- Director of Outreach, Robert Louis Stevenson challenges these women have faced through continued on page 30 emotional difficulties and/or learning differences. School in NYC.

The American Association of instruction and curriculum in their collective GUEST EDITORIAL Colleges for Teacher Education classrooms? Ignoring this question continues (AACTE) announced a proud to put teacher education at risk. accomplishment of the teacher All the diversity that characterizes teacher Teacher Education: preparation community and education and certification—theory, practice, its partners as they celebrated instruction, and student teaching—necessarily “Who’s on First?” the launch of the first nation- remains entangled in a wide range of curricu- ally available, standards-based lar options and course requirements, student By Mark Alter, Ph.D. grams: of their process, performance assessment for placement criteria, and performance account- n a recent article, Harlem Village practice, and procedures?” preservice teachers: edTPA. ability. Each is probably as diverse as the Academies is reported as planning Unfortunately, both exist- This new “performance- field of education itself. Being a teacher and to open a graduate school devoted ing and newly emerging based” assessment tool and preparing a teacher are informed by broad and to progressive education. A decade approaches to teacher edu- career-entry test that measures deep understandings of range of disciplines and ago, this would have been a remarkable devel- cation are often ideologi- teacher preparation, is “fully specializations, and by an ethical commitment opment; however, today, Harlem Village cally rather than empiri- operational.” While no single to equity and social justice. For example, teach- Academy is merely the city’s latest charter cally driven. The fact that more than one teach- assessment or study of teacher training can be ers must attend simultaneously to what they school to start its own graduate program. Last ing style can work successfully across discern- totally comprehensive—unless teacher-educa- are teaching (content) as well as to when and year, the city’s largest charter network, Success ibly different students, school, and community tors build such an assessment program—we how they are doing so (pedagogy) with respect Academies, partnered with Touro College’s settings patently suggests more than one route will have no way of adequately defending to the learner. Teaching and learning does not Graduate School of Education to create its own can lead to effective classroom performance. our practices, of determining how to improve take place in insular classrooms; rather, teach- masters granting program. And in 2011, three Still, are schools of education producing the existing programs, or of making sound judg- ers must be prepared to see the classroom multi-state networks—Uncommon Schools, kind of valid and reliable evidence of good ments regarding proposed alternatives. So, the in its wider school and community context KIPP, and Achievement First—formed their teacher training that will allow students of edu- question remains: What features of any teacher- and to strive to understand and act within the own graduate school in New York, called cation to follow the route appropriate for them? preparation program—undergraduate, gradu- dynamics that influence this context. Among Relay. In 2011, Alter and Pradl wrote question- In short, the question is still very much with ate, or stand-alone—succeed in creating future others, this includes attending to state and ing both traditional and alternative approaches us: Has anyone produced any valid and reliable teachers who can promote student learning and professional board policies, parents and other to teacher education programs: “who stands data regarding teacher education to justify any contribute to a school culture where teaching community members, teachers’ unions, other prepared to validate the merits of these pro- particular approach? professionals continually assess and renew continued on page 30 JAN/FEB 2014 ■ FPor arents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 5

GUEST EDITORIAL Recruitment of English NYS Teachers Union VP Language Teachers for Discusses Legislative Priorities By AndRew Pallotta Primary and Secondary To keep New York a “state of mind,” with As New York State’s legislative season public higher education as the path to oppor- swings into high gear, an important question tunity, we need to stop the slow erosion that Schools in Hong Kong underlies every discussion being held at the underfunding has caused to our public colleges Capitol: What does the Empire State stand for? and universities. Is New York State committed to benefitting A $1.9 billion increase for public schools The Education Bureau cordially invites you to apply for the EAL positions all its citizens? Or just a few? is essential to help narrow the achievement Do we support the principle of graduation gap between students in high- and low-needs in public-sector primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. caps for every child or undemocratic tax caps districts. New York State needs to invest more that hurt schools and disenfranchise voters? in community schools, provide universal Pre-K The positions are required to teach English as a second language to Hong Do we understand that public colleges and for all four-year-olds and restore important Kong students and assist in teacher and curriculum development in public- universities need significant investment to academic and extracurricular programs that maintain New York’s pre-eminence as a “state students have lost in recent years. Early- sector primary schools (for students aged between 6 and 11), secondary of mind”? Do we value and invest in the ser- childhood education — including full-day Pre- schools (for students aged between 12 and 18) and schools for students vices our hospitals and not-for-profits provide Kindergarten and Kindergarten, and Head Start with Special Educational Needs (SEN). to the sick, the developmentally disabled and — is essential. Schools that serve the special- the frail elderly? ized educational needs of students with severe QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTMENT New York State’s budget reveals our state’s learning, emotional, behavioral and physical Applicants should have fluent speaking English competence and priorities and values. That’s why New York disabilities deserve funding that compensates State United Teachers fights so hard to ensure for the reality that many have not had a cost- possess: state budget priorities align with what’s good of-living adjustment since 2008. for all New Yorkers. As the state’s largest NYSUT advocates for legislative priorities (A) For primary school positions: http://www.edb.gov.hk/pnet union — with 600,000 members in educa- that advance quality services for all New tion, health care and human services — New Yorkers. A Safe Patient Handling bill, for (B) For secondary school positions: http://www.edb.gov.hk/snet York State United Teachers is a constant and example, is essential for the wellbeing of vocal presence at the Capitol to ensure legisla- patients and health care professionals. This leg- TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT tors hear what’s needed for our schools, our islative session, NYSUT is continuing to press universities, our health care facilities and our critical issues surrounding the over-testing of • The appointment will be on a two-year contract basis normally from not-for-profits. students — issues that have mobilized parents 16 August 2014 to 15 August 2016, subject to renewal after expiry. On budget issues, NYSUT believes the con- and educators. We speak on behalf of students. • Remuneration package: tinuum of public education and health care We are vigorously advocating on the issues of • Salary from HK$23,285 to HK$56,810 (US$2,985 to US$7,280*) must be fully funded. inappropriate testing of young children, priva- CUNY, SUNY and the state’s community cy of student data and the need for a three-year per month - dependent on qualifications and post-qualification colleges deserve significant investment by the moratorium on high-stakes consequences for teaching experience state to fund more full-time faculty, smaller students and teachers resulting from standard- • End of contract gratuity, if performance and conduct have been satisfactory class sizes and more sections offered in major ized state tests — to ensure the time needed to • Return airfare reimbursed per contract (including luggage on first courses to help students graduate in four years. get it right. New York State should increase aid to its The results of this legislative session will appointment) community colleges and establish a $1 billion help define the future for all New Yorkers and • Cash retention incentive provided from third year of continuous Public Higher Education Endowment Fund. As shape the state’s priorities for years to come. service onwards a state, we must fully commit to investing in Quality public education and health care are our public hospitals that provide lifelines to the essential for all New Yorkers — and we are • Medical insurance allowance communities and educate the next generations proud to carry that message to our elected • Housing allowance HK$16,859 (US$2,160*) per month for teachers of health care professionals. Our campaign to leaders.# whose normal place of residence is outside Hong Kong keep SUNY Downstate Medical Center open Andrew Pallotta is the New York State United More details at: and serving the community is a case in point. Teachers (NYSUT) Executive Vice President. http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/common/NET package.pdf Did You Know That Walt Whitman *US$ 1 = HK$7.80 (subject to fluctuation) Taught School in Queens & Suffolk Counties? APPLICATION Walt Whitman, Teacher Applicants should apply through Footprints Recruiting, the Education Bureau’s recruitment representative in the United States and Canada. in 9 School Districts Website: “Singing the need of superb children” –Walt Whitman taught in nine different school dis- http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/hong-kong-net-scheme Whitman tricts, stretching from Queens through Suffolk In the summer of 1836, having just turned counties on Long Island. In Smithtown, he Contact : Luna Ahn 17, Walt Whitman began teaching school on taught 85 pupils in a one-room schoolhouse. Email: [email protected] Long Island. Like most country teachers, young Whitman became a fervent supporter of edu- Walt worked under difficult conditions for very cational reform, and he later wrote newspaper Phone: + 1 604 677 6556 ext. 5004 low pay. During his four-year teaching career, articles on the subject. 6 Education update ■ FPor arents, Educators & Students ■ JAN/FEB 2014

Exclusive Interview with Youth Communication: Teen Sandra Priest Rose of the Journalists Promoting Reading By Lisa K. Winkler Reading Reform Foundation publishing underground The five clocks on the wall above newspapers around the coun- By Jasmine Bager Youth Communication’s (www. try. We’d get stacks of them “Language can be made fascinating,” says youthcomm.org) door are set to the and shuffle them and then Sandra Priest Rose, the well-respected vet- same time. Unlike clocks represent- send out packs to the editors eran educator and philanthropist. She has been ing time zones around the world so they would know what actively training young students and teachers for found in professional newsrooms and everyone else was doing. the past few decades. For the last 32 years, Priest hotel lobbies, these clocks show the From that, we started a news- Rose has been involved in the not-for-profit lit- time in New York City’s boroughs: letter for teen activists,” he eracy organization, Reading Reform Foundation The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, said, referring to two friends of New York (RRF), which she founded. The Queens, and Staten Island. who helped him. RRF creates tools to help teachers learn how Next to the door stands an over- When he moved to NY to better teach. It is a program, “by teachers for loaded bookcase, its shelves teem- in 1979, he realized his teachers,” she says. In 1963, Priest Rose took ing with titles written by some Keith Hefner, Youth newsletter readers were now a Spalding course in Peterborough, NH, which of nearly 3,000 alumni of Youth Communications adults; many were working served as one of her early inspirations. Since Communication’s teen journalism in youth programs and sub- then, her organization has benefited over 30,000 programs. Writers who have participated in scribed to keep in touch with youth issues and students from the RRF methodology. says, including early identification of children at YC’s programs include the novelist Edwidge to use the stories with teens in their programs. The teaching consultants that she trains work risk of reading failure. Daily training in linguis- Danticat and Rachel Swarns, newspaper report- This evolution is similar to the challenges YC with public elementary school teachers from tic and oral skills helps to build awareness of er and author. faces today with its programs and products. NYC and the surrounding areas. The program speech sounds, or phonemes, she says. Explicit Founded by Keith Hefner in 1980, Youth “We’re no longer just a youth journalism is in place to boost reading for students in instruction in letter sounds, syllables, and words, Communication produces two teen-written program,” he said. Though YC remains com- K-3 classrooms. They meet 60 times over the accompanied by explicit instruction in spelling magazines: YCteen, for secondary school stu- mitted to teaching students writing, essays course of one academic year, providing train- is also implemented. Teaching phonics in the dents, and Represent, by youth in foster care. may go through up to 10 drafts. The focus ees with information on how to teach reading, sequence that research has found, leads to the Through personal essays, teens share their has shifted to serving educators as peo- writing and spelling, using RRF’s multisen- least amount of confusion, her findings states. stories about issues other teens want to read ple and especially youth who read less. sory approach. The approach has been heavily This is instead of teaching phonics in a scattered about. Creating what Hefner calls “service “It used to be we’d produce a magazine with a influenced by the Spalding method, which is an fashion and only when children encounter diffi- journalism,” YC’s original goal was to dispel great cover and headlines and students would instruction that is “explicit, systematic, interac- culty. Practicing skills to the point of automatic- the media images of urban teens as wanton automatically read it. Our books were often tive, diagnostic and multisensory.” The method ity is the goal, so that children do not think about and violent. “We also wanted to show kids the the most stolen from classrooms,” said Hefner, is helpful in improving student understanding sounding out a word when they need to focus on world beyond their block, and how they could “but now, kids aren’t reading on their own, at of text structure, fluency, reading comprehen- the meaning. It also means building vocabulary overcome the challenges they faced and trans- all.” Bundles of magazines would go unopened sion, grammar and high-frequency vocabulary. knowledge through reading aloud and discuss- form their lives,” said Hefner. on school doorsteps. But when the magazine It has also been helpful to those with learning ing, as well as writing about quality children’s From the magazines, printed on newsprint, or books were delivered directly to a teacher disabilities and those who are learning English literature and nonfiction topics. Frequent assess- YC’s products grew to include more than who then assigned the readings, students read as a second language. ments and instructional adjustments need to be 30 anthologies, created from teen articles, non-stop. Once a teacher has been trained in areas in place in order to make sure that children are that include titles such as “Real Jobs, Real “We realized we needed to market to the such as phonemic awareness and fluency, that making steady progress. Regardless of social Stories”, “Teen Guide to Sex (without regrets)”, adults working with the kids,” he said. There teacher then translates this information to their class, race or income, roughly a third of all and “Vicious: True Stories by Teens about are currently 690 teachers who order bulk students by helping them see, hear and write kindergarteners require this explicit, systematic Bullying.” Following the books, YC produced copies of YCteen. (It’s free, because The New what they are learning, simultaneously. Students approach to learn how to read, Priest Rose says. leader guides for teachers, counselors and York Times donates the printing.) They use it are taught to examine words for their roots and Over the last few decades, scientists have set other supervisors of youth programs to assist to teach reading and writing, and in counseling meanings using flashcards and other methods out to persuade educators and policymakers of them in using the stories with their teens. Each settings. For example, some teachers use the which allows for more thoughtful reading and the significance of these findings. The National magazine sponsors an essay writing contest YC materials to help introduce thematic units, understanding. The result has been successful. Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) examined each issue that attracts entries nationwide. The or linked text sets. One teacher, Hefner recalled, With raised test scores, students have gained what current aspiring elementary school can- magazines, and several of the anthologies, recently used YC stories to introduce themes of confidence and the ability to excel in learning. didates in teaching are learning about reading have won top awards from the Association of family relationships in a unit that also included Funding is mostly from contributions and each instruction. They examined a random sample Educational Publishers. the Arthur Miller play, “Death of a Salesman”. school pays a small fee. of teacher certifications that cater to schools of Hefner began advocating for youth voices YC already provides free Common Core-linked Over 1,600 New York City students are cur- all types and concluded that five components when he was a teen himself in Ann Arbor, lesson plans that accompany YCteen magazine, rently thriving from the program and 64 teachers of effective reading instruction are: phonemic Michigan. and the staff hopes to assist teachers in linking are receiving the Reading Reform training in awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and “It was the late 1960’s. There was no Internet; more YC materials to curriculum requirements 16 NYC schools in four boroughs, and in one comprehension, according to the research by the no Facebook. There were thousands of teens in the future. # school in Port Chester, NY. At this time, 300 National Reading Panel report, released in 2000. teachers are taking Reading Reform courses and The RRF believes that schools would have to his/her needs and that of the students. Often an effective system of accountability for both 1,200 teachers have been part of the in-school better classroom successes if course materials teachers, make too few demands and have low education schools and teacher standards. Better teacher-training program. More than 20,000 better addressed each of these five components. expectations of certain students, and emphasize textbooks and legitimate experts in the field teachers attended the annual conference. Balanced approaches often still ignore the sci- fun rather than learning. Their quality of read- must develop and write better reading textbooks. Some students catch on to reading so quickly ence of reading. National accreditation does ing textbooks is poor and their content includes Priest Rose says that students must learn to that it appears effortless, but it often narrows not automatically equal adequate learning for little or no hard science. Another issue is frag- sit up straight and use a pencil. This way, they down to who their first teachers were and teachers. Many reading teachers and textbooks mentation in the field of reading instruction. can truly learn so that they can teach. “Lead the the curriculum at their schools. Functionally describe the process of becoming a reader, as States need to develop strong reading standards kids to great literature and learning. The intel- illiterate or illiterate adults routinely apply the a natural, organic process. Many courses indi- and licensing tests based on those standards. lectual journey is the right of every child,” she lessons learned from the scientific findings in cate that exposure to literature sparks a natural While 29 states require reading courses, many concludes. # the classrooms. Elementary classrooms must development of reading skill. Each teacher do not implement what their trained educators For more information, visit their website incorporate certain research-based practices, she should still personalize the class and tailor it should teach and how. Standardized tests create (www.ReadingReformNY.org). JAN/FEB 2014 ■ FPor arents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 7

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT’s DESK Building a Robot at Improve School Culture, John Dewey High School By Fil Dispenza Improve School Achievement earned 11th place out of the 66 competing Team 333, also known as the “Megalodons”, robots. By Mary Robinson Cohen ing in schools where the culture was hor- is a group of students from John Dewey High Starting January 4, 2014 our team will be Recently I saw Tony Hsieh, the CEO of rendous – my own “worst” recent memory School who come together to build robots. building a new robot for the First Robotics Zappos interviewed and his message resounded includes a school where all of the employees Our robotics team has been part of the Competition. We are currently unsure of with me: “Our number one priority is company literally punched a time clock. This factory First Robotics Competition (FRC) since last what our next challenge is going to be, but culture. Our whole belief is that if you get the model was replete with employees being rep- decade and our team members are the inspira- we are ready to take on anything. On March culture right, most of the other stuff like deliv- rimanded and having their pay docked for tion and recognition of science and technol- 27 to March 29, we will be competing at ering great customer service or building a long- arriving a few minutes late and receiving nei- ogy for our school. Technically, we contend the SBPLI Long Island regional at Hofstra term enduring brand will just happen naturally ther recognition nor compensation for staying in the design, construction, operations and University. Then on April 4 to April 6 2014, on its own.” beyond the working day. application of robotics. we will be competing at our home Regionals Educators often eschew having parallels The culture in this school was completely Every year for FRC, we get a challenge to in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center. drawn between businesses and schools yet broken; student achievement was low and staff build a robot in six weeks. For the building of Everyone is welcome to attend these free many of the scholarly writings on school turnover was high. This culture was an anath- these robots, students decide how the robot events. leadership are predicated on the work which ema to the teacher practice where so many is going to be built and then work together Unlike most robotics teams, team 333 emanates from the nation’s most prestigious teachers arrive early, stay late and never seek to construct the robot. Our robotics team has has gone out to the community to dem- business schools. compensation. functioned for 12 years and has earned the onstrate their eagerness to participate in I believe that one of the most important jobs I have been fortunate to work in a school reputation as being reliable and enthusiastic the First Robotics Competition, and spread of school administrators is to assess and build where the culture made it pleasurable to go having reinforced a variety of robots. Last First Robotics throughout the community. school culture among staff. Without a healthy to work each day. The faculty room was a year, we were given a challenge to throw a In October of 2012, the Megalodons created school culture, the mission and vision of the home away from home and collegiality and Frisbee into different goals and to climb a a robot that can go under water to manifest leader remain just that: the leader’s vision and conviviality were evident throughout the school pyramid. After the intense six weeks of build- the marine life. The latest robot made by our mission and not the shared mission and vision day and beyond. There was a high level of ing, our robot went into the competition and applet builders can pitch a baseball a dis- of the school community. When I visit a school, trust between administrators and teachers and tance of 60 feet and six inches. This baseball I look and listen very carefully to ascertain friendships crossed lines. Before the term “pro- and staff turnover was low. robot threw the first pitch during a Brooklyn what kind of culture exists; with practice, I fessional learning community” was coined, we School culture is a critical variable in impact- Cyclones game at MCU Park in Coney Island. have become adept at assessing the culture functioned as such, as we discussed students, ing student achievement; administrators need to At the moment, we are preparing our room and delineating the steps that are needed to curriculum and content and supported each learn to assess it and build it. # for competition season by setting up our improve it. other in our professional careers and our per- Mary Robinson Cohen, M.A., J.D. is a super- machinery, tools, and work benches for the We can probably all recount stories of work- sonal journeys. Student achievement was high intendent in a New Jersey public school district. upcoming event.# 8 Education update ■ FPor arents, Educators & Students ■ JAN/FEB 2014

EDUCATION UPDATE STAFF REMembers School LEssons Me mories of In China: Student’s Note Brings the Music ur chool ays As the New YearO begins, the staffS of Education Update reflects D on memorable aspects of By Julia Qian in the province. If the school their education. Members of our staff come from varied educational backgrounds: parochial Six years ago, I was an 8th grader in a middle had given me any official punishment, even a schools, charter schools, public and private universities, and schools abroad in several countries school in Hangzhou, China. I was required to tardy, they would put my future and also the including China, Italy, and Saudi Arabia. Despite these diverse backgrounds, the common thread take 12 different courses all at once from 7:00 school’s reputation into jeopardy. we have been fortunate to share is the passion and commitment of great teachers. # am to 5:00 pm on weekdays and extra test Shockingly, two months later, our president preparation classes on Saturdays. There were read part of my letter and announced the limited extracurricular activities or playtime. “music program” in a school-wide meeting. Students were overwhelmed with work and After several meetings with faculty members, High School Uniforms were undergoing an inappropriate level of he said, they decided to implement a music By Patricia Lavelle to help others, for anything. stress for our age. program to de-stress students. The music pro- “You can wear that outfit to school?” I remem- I can’t remember a time in As naïve as I was, I wrote a complaint letter gram was to play 30 seconds of classical music ber being amazed, as other children on my street my high school years when to our school president. I was too scared to before each class, as both entertainment and as arrived home from school in jeans and sneakers. my school wasn’t involved in some community put my name on the letter or to show my own a way to help students get ready for class. He For most of my educational career, I woke up service or philanthropic effort. handwriting. I asked my mother to rewrite the deliberately picked “The Maiden’s Prayer” as each morning; rolled out of bed and into a pleat- Each year at Open House, the one Sunday letter and put it in the president’s mailbox. At the first piece because “from the handwriting, ed plaid skirt, knee socks and a collared shirt a year I was happy to wear my uniform, a that time, complaints on heavy schoolwork the letter was a kind wish from a girl.” and headed out the door to school. As a student slide show with pictures of events that went and criticism on the education system were I was astonished. Back then; students in a parochial elementary school in Brooklyn, on—from basketball games to the drama club common; however, it was very rare for stu- wouldn’t have the chance to talk to the presi- and later an all-girls Catholic high school, wear- production—played to the theme song of the dents to speak up in front of teachers or any dent. Thus, his positive response to an anony- ing a uniform was a tradition that I took part in television show, Cheers. My high school was “authorities”—much less the school president. mous letter was extraordinary and very unusu- everyday, without even realizing it at the time. truly a place where everyone knew your name. I was expecting the worst: to be expelled from al. Till this day, I still haven’t told anyone Traditions like my uniform created the sense With a graduating class of only 144 girls, each school or at least a school-level detention. that I wrote this letter. Although I doubt how of community that defined my education. I and every one of us represented our school. The However, I also knew that the school wouldn’t effective the music program was—since most might not have had the largest selection of faculty and staff worked hard to make sure that give me any punishment because I was one of of us used that 30 seconds to finish up work Advanced Placement (AP) classes or the best we represented them well. Although I no longer few students who had the grades for the best before class—the implemention of the music technology, but I would not trade my experi- wear my school uniform, I will forever wear my high school in the province. Middle schools program gave me, as well as many others, a bit ences as part of a community with the desire experiences there like a handprint on my heart.# were evaluated and ranked by the number of of hope for improvements on the middle school students who tested into top three high schools education.# New York State United Teachers Journalism Ambition: Representing more than 600,000 professionals in education and health care. Writing the Right Way By Wagner Mendoza ficulty to memorize theorems and formulas I’ve loved writing since I was in fourth and input them in quick quizzes and tests are grade. My sister was in her sophomore year of not my strong suit. Because of my love for college and she told me how frightening her writing and reading, my history and English Working first year in college was. After being an over- classes are heavens for me. Learning from past achieving student in high school, she struggled peoples’ mistakes and growing, as a human with college writing. She told me that due to a race throughout history is titillating and a great with parents lack of practice in high school, she did not feel experience to have within the confines of a fully-prepared to write at the college level. She school classroom. Being able to relate to pro- urged me to read literature above my grade- tagonists’ lives and problems in the literature level and to continuously practice my writing read in my English classes help me adjust with skills because it would be beneficial to me in the transition from adolescence into adulthood. the long run. After taking classes at school, I attend college When I entered high school, my desire and courses at CUNY’s Queens College. Most Working hunger to write was bigger than ever. I looked recently, having taken political science has for programs and internships to participate helped me meet deadlines, learn of the politi- in. My first writing opportunity came when cal and economic aspects of our world and has for students I was accepted into the Teens Reviewers and made me a more aware person. I am now able Critics program. My group and I watched the- to form deeper understandings of how indus- atrical performances, films, and modern art at tries, economies, government agencies all come Richard C. Iannuzzi, President museums that we later wrote about in our own together to run countries. The classes I take are www.nysut.org Andrew Pallotta, Executive Vice President reviews. My instructor and my peers were a helping me mature as a writer and person. Maria Neira, Vice President great help in my ongoing journey to becoming a I want to become a journalist to develop Kathleen M. Donahue, Vice President Lee Cutler, Secretary-Treasurer writer. In the writing programs I have been able understandings of the world around me and to take part in, I have learned ways to structure provide insight to the people reading my work. Representing more than 600,000 professionals in education and health care. my writing, edit correctly and compose more I want to serve as the eyes and ears to my 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110-2455 n 518-213-6000 / 800-342-9810 sophisticated pieces of writing in school and in audience; to help them see and read true and n Affiliated with AFT / NEA / AFL-CIO my short-stories. unbiased information about the world around I dread math classes in school. The dif- them.# JAN/FEB 2014 ■ FPor arents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 9

EDUCATION UPDATE STAFF REMembers School LEssons Growing Up with Choices Travel Is My Textbook By Yehuda Bayme By Jasmine Bager night. Europe. Planning the trip around I was raised in a Modern The aforementioned sched- My plane ticket was my most my classes was a challenge. I lis- Orthodox Jewish family. This ule was grueling. Many times, valuable textbook. During my tened to tapes of people speaking in term is rather new in the develop- school seemed to be a miserable early years, my parents would Czech before I jetted off to Prague, ment of the Jewish religion. Many place because of the workload. take my siblings and I to differ- Czech Republic, to study film. I Jews prefer the term “Modern However, part of the advantage ent cities so that we could visit studied maps of Spain before I Orthodoxy,” because its rules to the dual-curriculum is that relatives and learn from the locals. packed my bags to study in Madrid. allow those who practice the abil- many of the secular subjects are By the time I reached adulthood, If you have the chance to study ity to connect to the Jewish tradi- mastered using logic, memory, I had been lucky enough to have abroad, you should take it. A huge tions, but also offers a lifestyle that and deductive analysis. These lived in several countries. I was part of my education was travel. is more palatable with Western same skills are encouraged when born on one continent, raised in Getting on planes, trains, buses, society. one engages in the Divine Law that is taught another and had adventures in a few others trams, cabs and on foot taught me things that From nursery through college, I attended in Jewish courses. When one studies legal along the way. no online website or book could. Speaking to Jewish schools. They included: Salanter and ethical issues in Jewish literature, there Waking up to a strange bed, with the sounds the locals, walking into museums or public Akiba Riverdale Academy (SAR) in the is a recognition that intellectual honesty of church bells or the athan (Muslim prayer) libraries really paved my way to understanding Bronx, The Ramaz School in Manhattan, and is needed. By building that skill, tackling were days in which I learned the most. Being more about others—and myself. School should Yeshiva University in Manhattan, as well. My tricky math questions, or any technical skill greeted with a foreign language and forced to be taken seriously no matter where your class- education consisted of two cores; all of these taught in school is better seen on one’s hori- decipher writings in a menu full of peculiar room is and I think travel only enhanced those schools obligated students to take two cur- zon. ingredients excited me. Learning about coun- things highlighted in my textbooks at home. riculums. We had secular studies, which con- Modern Orthodox Jewish education has been tries in geography class was one of my favorite There is a saying that goes, “The more you sisted of all of the courses that you would find a great tool for me, because it eased me along subjects in school, but getting up and walking learn, the less you know.” When you travel, in any other New York school (math, biology, in the professional decision process. Having on the streets taught me things that history, eco- you get out of your comfort zone and walk history, music, art, chemistry, and English). the option to weigh what subjects I have inter- nomics, sociology, psychology and literature through the streets that millions of others have We also had Jewish studies. Those included: est in over others has enabled me to see how class could not. walked before you. It is a humbling experience Old Testament, Talmud Laws, Jewish his- slow the world really moves even amongst While pursuing my undergraduate studies in and one that contributed most to my overall tory and Jewish philosophy. We started school these fast-paced technologies. Regardless of the States, I had the chance to study twice in education. # each day with morning prayers that lasted how successful I will ever be, the importance around forty-five minutes. By the time I was of variety of choice when it comes to life deci- in high school, I was in school until 5:00 pm, sions means a lot to me and I learned that by and would get home at around 6:00 pm. In applying my skills I could better decide which The ‘Mission’ of Being a Professor college, classes could go on until 10:00 at way to go. # By Valentina Cordero Guida was very similar to The teacher’s mission doesn’t Angelo Marco Rossi. He was a end at the school’s front door. philosopher and history professor A Novel Approach This is true. Some professors are in the foreign language high school not able to inspire students, while I attended. I was even afraid of By Omoefe Ogbeide tive and mere presence is valuable others can influence them so him before I met him for the first Throughout my life, I have had to our collective academic enrich- much that they can even change time. He was considered a kind of a few teachers that made a last- ment. In a class of predominant- their lives. “very severe” man that was mak- ing impression on me but none ly Anglo-Saxon males, I always Anna Maria Guida and Angelo ing students over-worked. That is can compare to one. Dr. Maclean had the confidence to speak up Marco Rossi are the two teachers how he had been described to my Gander is the ultimate exempli- regardless of whether I thought it that you wish you could have. classmates and I before we started fication of what it means to be a would be well received. Because They make the difference, because they are our first month in that high school. teacher. He made me believe in Dr. Gander valued the pursuit of able to relate to students at every level, expect- Whoever portrayed him like that was wrong. my capacity to write after years the best available truth not just ing the most from them. Whoever was afraid of him was not able to see of struggling with it in college. In a pre-determined answer, every- With their dedication, they taught us how to what his concept of “education” was. It is true his English class, one of his open- one’s additions brought us closer look farther than a book or a board. that he was extremely demanding. The first ing quotes is “Writing is easy. All you do is to a grasp at deeper comprehension. He was Anna Maria Guida is a middle school teach- lesson he told us was: “I will be bad with you stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of fascinated with our ability to find new mean- er. She used to teach in my little town of guys and the tests will be hard.” But behind blood form on your forehead.” He immedi- ings and connection in material he had taught Priocca, Italy. She taught literature, history, the word “bad” there was another meaning. “I ately dispelled the popular myth of the genius numerous times. This made us all feel a desire geography, and Latin. We were only 13 years will do my best to teach you how to open your that writes perfect prose in single sittings. He to analyze everything that we encountered just old, and she treated us as adults. She knew minds,” he said. And he was right. We had to guided each of us to discover our individual so that we could share our discoveries with how to be strict with us, giving a lot of home- do a lot a pre-learning reading. He wanted us process by teaching the connection of cogni- him. Of any quality teachers should have, they work and a lot of tests in class. The room was to come to class knowing the topic already so tion and writing. must be interested, not just interesting. Good very quiet when she was teaching, because we that we could discuss it. And I could never He also created a setting of engaging learn- teachers give to their students, but when you had to listen to her. But every time she was forget when he used to become kind of upset ing with his exploratory teaching style. His see them take away inspiration from your explaining something to us, there was always and nervous: crossing his eyes as he was classes are one part teaching, two parts stu- work, you learn first-hand that you have power a life lesson to learn. I remember that one time making sure that we understood what he was dent contribution--each equally essential in in a world that may not always reflect these there was a kind of shoe on the market that explaining because as he used to say, “this is his classroom. Being a young woman of sentiments. Dr. Gander does what only a great became very popular. Everybody was wearing a philosophy life lesson.” He used to speak African American descent in a sea of men, I teacher can do: cultivate novelty in a sea of them in our school. And one day, during a test, with every single student privately to make have sometimes felt my words are not valued in mediocrity. # she underlined that “it doesn’t matter what you sure that he or she was feeling comfortable. He discussion. It breeds a sense of otherness and Omoefe Ogbeide is a reporter at Education are wearing. A person is not good because he cared a lot about us. in turn can create a feeling of inferiority. Dr. Update, a former student at Brandeis or she wears such a kind of shoe. Other things What makes a good professor is not the Gander has the unique ability of making each University and currently attends Landmark count much more.” Those words are still in my number of words that he knows, but how he or student feel like an individual whose perspec- College. mind and my heart. I will never forget them. she teaches you to open your eyes and mind. # 10 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ JFAN/ EB 2014 Italian American Women Garner Awards

Lauren Ruotolo, Dir. of Entertainment Anna Fiore, Head of School, (L-R) Dr. Merryl H. Tisch, Chancellor, NYS Board of Regents & & Promotions at Hearst Magazines La Scuola d’Italia Dr. Christine Cea, NYS Board of Regents of the honorees “for having drawn upon their they will affect locally, nationally and interna- The Greater New York Region of the Dr. Christine Cea is a researcher at the New culture and heritage, using their lifelong learn- tionally. Their unstoppable dedication exempli- National Organization of Italian American York State Institute for Basic Research (IBR) ing to make a significant difference in the lives fies them as a source of pride and inspiration to Women (NOIAW) recently held its annual in Developmental Disabilities on Staten Island. of adults and children and those other lives that the Italian American community.” # Epiphany Celebration event at the Columbus She holds the seventeenth seat on the NY State Citizens Foundation at 8 East 69th Street, New Board of Regents, representing the newly York City. Each year the organization honors created Thirteenth Judicial District of Staten BOOK REVIEW three wise women who have excelled in their Island. chosen fields. This year’s honorees are Lauren Anna Fiore is the Headmistress of La Ruotolo, Dr. Christine Cea and Anna Fiore. Scuola d’Italia “G. Marconi,” the only Italian Reforming A School System, Lauren Ruotolo is the Director of American school in North America. In 2005, Entertainment & Promotions at Hearst she was appointed as the Educational Director Magazines and has assisted in the production at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome and Reviving A City: The Promise of of specials on MTV, E!’s Style Network and Directorate General for Cultural Promotion and Scripps for Esquire and The Food Network & Cooperation. Say Yes to Education in Syracuse Good Housekeeping magazines. MaryRose Barranco Morris applauded each

Reforming A School System, Reviving founding director of the Hechinger Institute on A City: The Promise of Say Yes Education and the Media at Teachers College, to Education in Syracuse Columbia University. He knows his stuff, and Publishing Experts By Gene I. Maeroff. perhaps even more important, knows how to Book and App Development Published by Palgrave Macmillan, share it in a way that matters to his audience. New York: November 2013: 228 pp. Maeroff makes it clear that the problems K-12 Content Development Syracuse faces, with a largely minority public school population, many of whose families Creation of Teaching Materials Reviewed by Merri Rosenberg live in poverty, weren’t simply economic. As ¡En español! School reform, with its promise, challenges, he writes, “Years after the program started, matemáticas historia and disappointments, is a perennial topic for some residents still did not understand that academics, journalists and other experts who Say Yes was about a lot more than the scholar- literatura periodismo seek that magic bullet for system-wide trans- ships. Say Yes intends to make post-secondary arte de lenguaje ciencias formation. school affordable and –just as important—give informática música One miraculous concept was Syracuse’s idea students the grounding and aspiration to keep that offering qualified public high school grad- them there, once admitted, thereby leading to uates free tuition to more than 100 colleges the completion of degrees.” and universities would be enough to alter both To make it work, the schools needed the sup- Birds in Their Environment the school system’s, and the city’s, fortunes. port of local businesses and government, which Trilingual Dictionary Syracuse, a declining city of about 145,000 got on board, and additional services such English, Spanish & Kreyol people with a student enrollment of almost as health clinics, social workers, even legal 20,000 students, was the beneficiary of the New assistance for students’ families. The district Multimedia with classical guitar York City foundation, Say Yes to Education made the school day and the school year lon- Inc, which offers scholarships. ger, and provided even more staff development In this engrossing volume, which deftly min- to be sure that teachers were up-to-date with Wordless Stories gles anecdotes about students with profiles Common Core standards. Improve students’ writing skills. of school and city administrators, as well Even though the focus of the Say Yes initia- as teachers; classroom observations; scholarly tive is on high school graduation and college Students write what THEY see. reports, and comparisons to other programs and admission, the Syracuse experiment is very Professional editing of student cities, even a lay reader is rapidly caught up in much a “whole district” effort, which is what writing available. Syracuse’s story. enticed superintendent Sharon Contreras to It helps that the author, Gene Maeroff, is move from a position as chief academic officer as good as it gets. Former national education in Providence to Syracuse. Towards that end, www.PalmichePress.us (954) 805-0621 correspondent for the New York Times, and a in Syracuse, Say Yes has slowly evolved into [email protected] [email protected] senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for what Maeroff calls a “wraparound program that the Advancement of Teaching, he is also the … strives to fill the gaps in children’s lives.” # FJAN/ EB 2014 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ Special Education 11 Child Mind Institute Gala The Child Mind Institute raised over $6.6 her parents who spoke movingly about their million at its fourth annual Child Advocacy daughter’s journey to overcome selective Award Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street recent- mutism. ly. These critical funds allow the Child Mind The evening concluded with a hugely suc- Institute to continue providing life-changing cessful auction, led by Al Roker, to raise mental health care for children, pursuing sci- funds for the Child Mind Institute’s Healthy entific breakthroughs, and expanding public Brain Network, which is pioneering inno- education and outreach efforts. vative, collaborative approaches to brain The event, hosted by journalist Meredith research with the ultimate goal of developing Vieira, honored Ram Sundaram, partner at biological tests to identify mental illness and Goldman Sachs and Child Mind Institute track treatment response. board member, and Pasko Rakic, MD, PhD, Dinner chairs included: Elizabeth and director of the Yale University Kavli Institute Michael Fascitelli, Debra G. Perlman and for Neuroscience. Mr. Sundaram was the Gideon Gil, Brooke Garber Neidich and recipient of the 2013 Child Advocacy Award Daniel Neidich, Linnea and George Roberts, for his foundational philanthropic contribu- and Stephen M. Scherr. # tions to children’s mental health and the The Child Mind Institute is dedicated to growth of the Child Mind Institute. Dr. Rakic transforming mental health care for chil- received the “2014 Distinguished Scientist dren everywhere. Founded by Dr. Harold S. Award,” in recognition of his outstanding Koplewicz and Brooke Garber Neidich, our contributions to developmental neuroscience. organization is committed to finding more Both the “2013 Child Advocacy Award” and effective treatments for childhood psychiatric the “2014 Distinguished Scientist Award” (L-R) Al Roker, Meredith Vieira,® Brooke Garber Neidich, Board Chair, Child Mind and learning disorders, building the science were designed and donated by Michael Aram. Lindamood-BellInstitute and Dr. Harold Koplewicz, New York President, Learning Child Mind InstituteCenter of healthy brain development, and empow- “Looking at tonight’s honorees, I can see a ering children and their families with help, brighter future for all the young people who “Ram and PaskoNY embody Education the dedication, Update the and our - children’s January children.” 2014 hope, and answers. The Child Mind Institute struggle with psychiatric and learning disor- commitment to breakthrough science and The evening celebrated the stories of fami- does not accept funding from the pharmaceu- ders, ” said Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, presi- compassionate1/2 treatment, page and the ad resolve - 10" that widelies who havex 5.15" struggled withdeep these disorders, tical industry. For more information, visit: dent and founder of the Child Mind Institute. can make a real difference for our children, most notably a six-year old girl joined by ChildMind.org.

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©Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes LC-PA-NY Ed Update ad 0114 12 Special Education ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FJAN/ EB 2014 NCLD Honors The Windward School for Leadership & Innovation Recently, the National Center for Learning Jim Wendorf, NCLD Executive Director, Disabilities (NCLD) presented its Carrie and spoke about the organization’s commitment to Pete Rozelle Award to the Windward School improving the lives of all people with learning of White Plains and New Dorp High School on and attention issues and its particular invest- Staten Island. ment in helping schools advance their work Presentation of the award, named for the with children with learning and attention issues. founders of NCLD, was the centerpiece of the “NCLD believes that all schools can be as great group’s fourth annual “Celebrate Our Schools” as the ones we’re celebrating today, schools luncheon November 4th at the Yale Club. Each which exemplify leadership, innovation and year, NCLD honors a public and private school success. The awards are especially meaningful for innovation and leadership in addressing this year because they demonstrate the power learning and attention challenges. of a unique collaboration between a public and Presenting the award to Dr. Jay Russell, private school.” Head of School at the Windward School was Accepting the award, surrounded by Denis O’Leary, a former Windward student and Windward trustees, staff and family members, an analyst at JP Morgan’s Investment Bank. Dr. Russell emphasized that though in its 35 Denis spoke movingly about his experience at years the school had transformed the lives of Windward, which he attended from 3rd to 5th (L-R) Monica DiBella, New Dorp graduate, Deirdre DeAngelis, New Dorp Principal, James so many struggling students, “thousands more grade, a time he describes as “a turning point Wendorf, Executive Director, NCLD, Andrea Pinkney, Board Member, NCLD, Dr. John Russell, children continue to struggle with language- in my life’. Before he came there, his learning Head of School, The Windward School, and Denis O’Leary, former Windward student. based learning disabilities because they do not disabilities “attacked my feelings of self-worth, receive the help they need to become confident, confidence and capability.” All of that changed successful students and adults. In fact, each year at Windward -- “the lessons I learned there are we are forced to turn away two to three times the awyers arents pecial with me every day and have played a major part number of students than we accept for admis- L , P & S in making me the person I am today.” sion.” But, he asserted with pride, Windward is The award recognized Windward’s exemplary now well on its way to achieving a “watershed” Needs Students: Finding the work in research-based instruction to help chil- moment with the opening of a New York City dren overcome learning disabilities. Windward campus which will provide more than 350 chil- roper lacement and the other honoree had a special connection— dren the chance to have the education program P P key to the New Dorp transformation was adop- that changes lives, as it did for Denis. For these tion of a writing program created at Windward students, Dr. Russell said, “we are not merely by Dr. Judith Hochman, former head of school. opening a school, we are unlocking a door.”#

Is your child Dyslexic or experiencing school failure? If so, we may be the solution. We strive to help children not only have the skills needed to learn, but want to learn. Michelle Siegel, attorney

By Danielle M. Bennett, M.A. If your child is not functioning, not participating TheSterlingSchool Recently, an overflow audience of 55 eager in class, you can request an evaluation. Once the parents of adolescents and children receiving parent has signed informed consent, he or she We take our commitment seriously and/or seeking special services gathered at the has sixty days in which to take action. When you Robert Louis Stevenson School, a private col- are giving signed consent, you essentially are lege preparatory school in on the Upper West giving the Department of Education permission Orton Gillingham trained staff Side. to go in and observe your child. The interest in Small classes with Individualized attention At the meeting, conducted by special educa- the audience was high and the range of ques- tion attorneys, Adam Dayan and Michelle Siegel tions could have gone on for another hour. The Art, music, culinary arts and and organized by Dr. Matthew Mandelbaum, attorneys and Dr. Mandelbaum were extremely computers for a rich education Stevenson’s Director of Outreach, parents knowledgeable about the choices available to learned about their rights and privileges in parents and teachers. securing the appropriate and least restrictive For over 50 years, Stevenson has been a haven educational placement for their children as well for adolescents with social-emotional difficulties NOW AcceptING ADmISSIONS as obtaining funding with the support of a law- and learning differences in grades 7-12, whose yer/advocate. A paper trail is very important needs have not been met by more traditional, call 718-625-3502 emphasized the attorneys, for example, keeping public setting. Stevenson, under the leader- WWW.SteRLINGScHOOL.cOm Ruth Arberman, letters that summarize the action of the district. ship of Head of School, Douglas Herron, has Director of the Sterling School Parents have to be aware of their rights and obli- a successful graduation rate and a great ability 299 pacific Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201 gations that will help them find the best place to transform young lives. Almost all Stevenson for their child. Sometimes, the jargon used by graduates matriculate to higher education, the Department of Education is very confusing including institutions such as Barnard College, for parents. How do you request an evaluation? continued on page 14 FJAN/ EB 2014 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ Special Education 13 Hunter Autism Research, Practice, & Policy Center: Exclusive Interview with Dr. Michael Siller Interviewed By Patricia Lavelle & Dr. Pola Rosen Transcription By Yehuda Bayme & Valentina Cordero Dr. Pola Rosen (PR): Michael Siller is in the Communication and Play Lab in the department of physiology at Hunter College. We are going to be discussing some of his work in the field of autism. Michael Siller (MS): I am a child devel- opment person and I am really interested in autism. PR: Would you say that your main focus own way. At the time, society seemed to blame here is autism? the parents for having children with disabilities, MS: Yes, almost exclusively. following the tradition of Bruno Bettelheim. PR: What are some of the other disabilities Many children were sent to institutions away that kids have come here to Hunter looking from their parents as a result. They were very for help? caring, but they lacked the use of research. I MS: I co-direct the Hunter Autism Research decided to go to the U.S. to learn about the Practice and Policy Center (HARPP) with John research done in the field of autism. I really Brown. He is in special education. The HARPP loved the work that was done in the field and center is essentially an attempt to bring people have been practicing it ever since. together at Hunter College who work in the area PR: What kind of research have you done of autism. It is a very eclectic group and we are that is the most impactful in dealing with very loosely connected. The HARPP Center this issue? doesn’t have space. We are not a physical entity MS: I had an important mentor named but a faculty group that comes together. John Marian Sigman at University of California, Brown really developed a postgraduate certi- Los Angeles (UCLA). She was known for fication for individuals who work in the field. understanding the social difficulties early on in PR: Does that certificate enable people to the child’s development. She had the insight to get a job? What does it enable people to do? follow the progress of each child as he or she BE INFORMED. BE INSPIRED. MS: All of the people who are enrolled in got older and basically followed that longitudi- this program already have a license as a teacher nal model until she died. TRANSFORM LIVES. or social worker. Then, they get this training PR: Did you follow-up with that six-year on top of it. It is a sort of mid-level certificate. old boy in Germany? Windward Teacher Training Institute provides professional There is one piece missing in the acronym, MS: When I got to visit Germany, I would development based on scientifically validated research in child development, which is education. The HARPP Center has a touch base with him. He still did not talk and learning theory and pedagogy. The IMSLEC-accredited training program leads sort of broad range of goals. The biggest one was difficult socially, but he remembered me to national certification in multisensory structured language education. really is to educate students at Hunter about and the games that we used to play together. autism and train them in the field. We try to PR: If you met him today as a six year old, generate new knowledge. We strive, not only what would you do differently? Would you in educating our students, but also in educating have institutionalized him? those already working in the field. We provide MS: No. He should have been at home with continuous education for teachers. I work a his family. The institutions in Germany, at the lot with physicians, teaching them about early time I worked there, were not very inviting identification. The HARPP Center is trying to towards parents. The problem they saw was Register Now for Upcoming Classes change practice in New York and are work- that during the family visits that occurred every Language, Learning & Literacy • SMART Notebook Training • Reading Comprehension Skills ing in the policy area, as well. Hunter runs the six months, children would be given sweets and Positive Behavior in Children • What Is Dyslexia? • Improving Students’ Math Skills Roosevelt House, a public policy institute. We stimulation that they were not afforded other- Executive Function Skills • Writing a DBQ Essay • Multisensory Reading Instruction: Part II held a round table discussion in 2011 about wise. When they would return, the institutions Offered in Manhattan - Multisensory Reading Instruction: Part I toddlers with autism. We hope to have another would not be able to successfully reintegrate Robert J. Schwartz Memorial Lecture round table this fall about adults. Most people the children. However, the institutions should Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 7:30 p.m. • Gordon Sherman, Ph.D., Lecturer who contact us are concerned parents, a rising have better understood the need for family in www.thewindwardschool.org/lecture population due to higher awareness these days. the children’s lives and encouraged visits. Patricia Lavelle (PL): What made you to PR: How do you interact with kids with want to get involved in autism? autism? MS: Since I was a teenager, I have been MS: I strive to exhibit the traits of a caring involved. At the time, which was 1989, I had parent in my interactions. Marian Sigman used worked in an orphanage in Germany where I to videotape the parents of the children talking For Further Information: am from. I worked with children with disabili- with them. 914-949-6968 • [email protected] • www.thewindwardschool.org • @WindwardTTI ties and one of them was autistic. He was six I would study those tapes and code them as years old and he did not talk. He was difficult, I saw different practices representative of good Windward Teacher Training Institute is a division of The Windward School, an independent school for students but I found him lovable and interesting in his continued on page 28 with language-based learning disabilities, located in White Plains, NY. 14 Special Education ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FJAN/ EB 2014 Exclusive Interview: Dr. Donald Vogel, Director, Hunter College Center Communication Disorders By Patricia Lavelle Labor Statistics. as a state of the art center for diagnostic hearing clinical audiologist “Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow” is the new Education Update recently toured the and speech-language services and treatment. working at Lenox hearing conversation ad campaign that can be Hunter College Center for Communication The site is a true gem both for the future Hill Hospital, found plastered in subway cars and bus stops Disorders (HCCCD), which located at Hunter’s professionals that learn there and the patients Manhattan Eye, across the city. With the baby boomers aging Brookdale Campus, along with the department who are seen there. Dr. Donald Vogel, Director Ear and Throat and more and more individuals being diagnosed of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, of HCCCD, spoke of the advantages of receiv- Hospital and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical with communications disorders and hearing which provides graduate-level training for stu- ing services from a university clinic because Center. After many years as a clinical audi- loss associated with exposure to loud sounds dents obtaining masters’ degrees in Speech of the immense attention each client receives. ologist, he decided it was time to help train the from headphone use, the field of Speech- Language Pathology at Hunter College and Student clinicians who work with each client next generation. Language Pathology and Audiology is grow- doctorate degrees through a consortium of also work with a professor in the department The center is open Monday through Thursday ing. In fact, both fields are expected to grow Hunter College, Brooklyn College and the to develop the perfect fit diagnosis and therapy 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information or to significantly between now and 2020, creating CUNY Graduate Center. The center serves as a plan for each client. Vogel, an audiologist, came schedule an appointment, call HCCCD at (212) several new jobs according to the Bureau of clinical training site for these students as well to Hunter College after years of experience as a 481-4464.#

ming in a communal setting with small class Overcoming Poverty and Prison: Lawyers & Parents sizes, but also intensive counseling support and advising. A faculty (1:4 faculty to student ratio) continued from page 12 consists of teachers and counselors who are high- Helping Teens Write CUNY Senior Colleges, SUNY schools, NYU, ly dedicated to their work. Stevenson is proud to Boston University, UMASS, Penn State, and be a part of a network of over 1,500 child service By Jasmine Bager readers a true snapshot of how life can be like as those of recent graduates—Brandeis, Bard, professionals and organizations, including sub- Writing about overcoming adversity can help a teen trying to survive in tough environments. Manhattanville College and Marymount- stance abuse counselors, social workers, mend broken pasts was the theme of a recent The night included a powerful impromptu per- Wheaton College. lawyers, advocates, psychologists, psychia- Youth Communication’s “Listen v. Lockup, formance by three passionate teens, who walked Students admitted year-round not only receive trists, hospital workers, etc. Unheard Stories from Teens in Trouble” fun- along the aisles of the packed auditorium, telling challenging, individualized academic program- In addition to its academic and therapeutic draiser event. For the past 30 years, the New stories of life’s challenges on the street. A large appeal, the financial aspect for parents can be York-based organization has been encouraging screen played clips from the 2012 documentary, She said that the purpose of the film, like the writ- paramount in their decision to pursue this edu- impressionable teens to “reach for a pen, instead The Central Park Five, which showed the true ing youth programs, was to “humanize” and to cational placement for their children. Nearly of a fist.” The Youth Communication mission has story of the infamous 1989 rape case of a white hear “directly from the guys.” The panel centered all families obtain New York City Department been helping marginalized youth use the power woman who was jogging in Central Park in NYC. on topics that defied the stereotype. Journalist of Education funding to attend the Stevenson, of their own words to overcome emotional tur- Five unlucky black teenagers, who were standing Neil Barsky, director of the Koch documentary and often courts determine that Stevenson is moil from their violent pasts. The youth writing nearby, were eventually jailed for decades for a and co-founder of a hedge fund, stated that this the most appropriate educational placement for program can be done part-time during the school crime that they did not commit. initiative was “not just ticking a box, the one that the children. Tuition payments may be also tax year and fulltime during vacations. It offers these Raymond Santana, one of those wrongfully says ‘least likely to succeed.’” One of the most deductible as medical expense.# young men and women the chance to be paid convicted teens in the rape case, was a panel recent participants of the program, Marlo Scott, For more information about the Robert Louis writers. Professional editors, who help the teens speaker. Writing had a positive impact on him was on the panel, too. Scott has been a staff writer Stevenson School, visit www.stevenson-school. draft cohesive essays or poems, review each piece during those turbulent years. He talked about his at Represent Magazine—one of the publications org. To learn more about your parental rights before publication. Sometimes it takes up to 20 time at Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, where of the program—since 2011. He lived a life of and privileges in the special education system, edits. The result is then included in one of the he participated in a writing youth workshop, run poverty as a child, which resulted in depression consult the law offices of Adam Dayan (dayan- organization’s magazines or books. The exercise by Youth Communication. Sarah Burns, author of and anger. lawfirm.com) and Michelle Siegel (msiegelaw. helps these teens express themselves. It also offers the Central Park Five book, was also on the panel. continued on page 30 com).

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StevensonColorAdFinal2.indd 1 12/19/13 9:42:54 AM FJAN/ EB 2014 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ COLLEGES & GRADuate Schools 15 Landmark College: Learning Disabilities Innovation Symposium By Yehuda Bayme while not everyone in the general population explained that visual attention is part of vision to the text in the document facilitate learning To an overflowing group of educators from has difficulty with reading, we must remind our- itself and plays a significant role in everything through associative proximity. In other words, across the Northeast and Canada attending selves that reading is not a natural human reflex, one see. Audible books may not be a solution students can see their own notes and the actual the 2013 Learning Disabilities Innovation like tasting or smelling. Even those who are not either, because the person may have an auditory text description right next to each other. Symposium at the Landmark College campus dyslexic require at least seven years of practice attention deficit, as well. However, training in In another session, Caleb Clark of Marlboro in Putney, VT, President Peter Eden described to become fluent readers. The skills needed to that area can also be created so that students can College Graduate School, who oversees a tech the 28-year-old school as a collaborative space read include building a vocabulary repository, improve control over what they hear. program and comes from a media production devoted solely to students who learn differ- phonological awareness (sound-symbol asso- Some of the other presentations during the background, discussed the future of apps and the ently. Dr. Eden proudly noted that 66 percent of ciation), understanding syntax (grammar), lower symposium, included a session by Dr. Manju internet. He noted that because of cloud comput- Landmark graduates succeed in obtaining a bac- order perceptual skills, and working memory. Banerjee, Vice President and Director of ing, emails will no longer have attached files to calaureate degree, as compared with the national Schneps added another little-known, but very Landmark College Institute for Research and download, but instead, individuals will be able average of 55 percent for all learners, and 23 important skill to the list- control over attention. Training (LCIRT), which illustrated how writing to grant access to their own cloud for others percent for students who learn differently. This is not inhibitory control that helps a person could be made easier for students who learn dif- to view any shared document or file. He also Dr. Matthew Schneps, Director of the refrain from doing something else while reading ferently, by using features within Adobe Acrobat shared examples of several educational apps. Laboratory for Visual Learning at Harvard- and it is not a form of disorganization. Control – Standard/Pro. Adobe converts text into PDF, During the panel discussion, students talked Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was this over attention has to do with visual attention, which stands for “Portable Document Format.” about their experiences at Landmark College. year’s keynote speaker. Dr. Schneps is a sci- which is the ability to focus in on the thing that Dr. Banerjee explained that PDFs maintain One student spoke of how she uses programs entist by profession and an individual with is of interest to us while screening out all other the same format as the original document, but such as Google Calendar to color-code and dyslexia himself. His recent research is focused visual stimuli. When people learn to read, they can be made more malleable and accessible remind herself to organize her day’s schedules. on technologies that make reading easier for have to learn to put their attention right on the by using features within Adobe Acrobat. For Another student from Woodstock, NY, who some profiles of dyslexic individuals. He said word they’re trying to read. Many people with example, you can insert hyperlinks into PDFs is interested in a career in electrical engineer- that the key to success is having a deep passion dyslexia are not able to do this and have trouble and attach your own text or audio to the docu- ing, spoke about how he “syncs” his elec- for learning and transforming that into reality, with reading because their attention lags behind ment at any location within the document. Other tronic calendar with all his portable devices and in his case, through technology. He broadened their vision. Schneps has learned through his features allow one to use the technology to do puts all of his textbooks on Kindle. Another the common understanding of dyslexia, which own research that iPod e-readers, which limit lower order tasks, such as searching and locat- student, with dyslexia and Attention Deficit asserts that dyslexia is caused by difficulties the amount of text on each line, can make it ing words or bodies of text within the file, thus Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) talked about with phonological awareness, to include chal- easier for some dyslexics to place their atten- facilitating higher order cognitive tasks such as using her Mac computer as a text-to-speech lenges to visual attention as part of the dyslexic tion on each word and improve their reading comprehension and recall. Writing a term paper, device to aid her reading. She buys her text- spectrum. While individuals with dyslexia do comprehension. for example, is made easier by embedding cues books from Coursesmart.com and uses the text have difficulty with phonological awareness, During his Question and Answer session, Dr. and notes as reminders within the text of a highlighting tool in Adobe Acrobat to assist with Dr. Schneps noticed that many dyslexics also Schneps explained that video games are perhaps seminal resource document to remind oneself reading. describe their experience with reading as the the most famous example of interventions to that this information is important. These notes, Everyone benefitted greatly from the exchange text “swimming on the page.” He said that, help people improve their visual attention. He whether written or audio, embedded right next of ideas and the information shared by experts. # Learn, then lead. Whether you want to teach math and science, work with special education students, lead in K-12 or higher educational settings, or obtain dual certification in a number of specializations, Hofstra offers graduate programs and advanced certificates in more than 40 areas, including: • Applied Behavior Analysis • Family and Consumer Science • Literacy Studies • Mentoring and Coaching • Special Education • Elementary Education • STEM Elementary Education • TESOL & Bilingual Education • Educational Leadership • Sports Science • Technology for Learning • Physical Education and Health Education • Four doctoral programs

Programs offered entirely online include: • Educational Technology • Gifted Education • Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies Convenient evening classes and scholarships are available. v Find out about these graduate programs and more: Graduate Open House, Tuesday, January 14. School of Education Doctoral Programs Open House, Friday, January 17. hofstra.edu/gradteach

Ad_SOE_Jan14GOH_EducUpdate.indd 1 12/20/13 3:49 PM 16 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ JFAN/ EB 2014 Interview: Professor Christine I Don’t Hear America King Farris, Sister of MLK Singing in the South Bronx By Joan Baum, Ph.D. By Gisela Rodriquez-Montalvo the mountain and make him Being vulnerable, take them and are satisfied; In February 2004, an accessible, influential role I don’t hear America singing in the South But nothing is gained. Education Update had the model. Bronx. We’re living circles of unending strife as privilege of interviewing She travels a lot across the As the sun rises over this low and dismal We strive to become all that we can possibly Christine King Farris, the country, reading from the book, place, be. only surviving sibling of and time and again realizes You can hear the stirring of a people in bond- Every once in a while a prodigy is born. Martin Luther King. With us, that so many youngsters think age: Someone who is able to break the chains she shared her own educa- her brother “came from outer A people held together by the same broken And leave behind the memory of the land tional journey and the strug- space”; that he was so extraor- dream; That raised him. gles she had to overcome dinary, that he must have been The dream of every American to live in Let’s hope that he remembers along the way, including her born extraordinary. Showing harmony. Of what soil he is from. student years at Teachers that Martin Luther King, Jr. had Each link of the long chain that binds us, If I am among the lucky ones, College, which she loved. “a normal childhood” is impor- Represents our failures in achieving what is I pray to God I can help my people to be She also enlightened us on tant to her, she says, because rightfully ours. equal! her childhood years with her only then can young read- Our yells and calls for help fall on deaf ears. This poem was written by Gisela Rodriquez- brother and the impact of his ers—the book is slated for ages Our captors’ hearts are as solid and cold Montalvo in 1979. Today, she is an extraor- legacy. Now, in 2014, she is still a professor at 9-12—really identify with him, appreciate the As the concrete streets of our land…the dinary and exemplary teacher in the South Spelman College. significance of having a close-knit and loving South Bronx. Bronx. She earned a B.A. and M.S. from Perhaps it is because on that fateful day, family, and realize that they, too, can be like False promises are what they make and we… Fordham University. April 3, 1968, just hours before his assassina- Martin. “Everyone must try to achieve,” she tion in Memphis, Martin Luther King spoke says, regardless of background, and they will so eloquently of God’s allowing him to go up try if they see that their “hero” was a youngster to the mountain where he saw the promised like themselves, full of fun. She might as eas- land, that this man among men has become ily added, however, that her own life could be I assist families in obtaining enshrined in myth as a man still on the moun- inspirational. an appropriate education for tain: heroic, larger than life, mythical. He was a Professor King Farris teaches in the children with special needs. giant among men, and he had a dream that still Department of Education at Spelman College, haunts and inspires millions around the world, where she directs the Learning Resource but he was first a boy, a typical fun-loving Center and is completing her 55th year! I will fight for your child through child, who before he knew he wanted to turn Christine King Farris has a remarkable story the world around joked with his friends, played to tell, which she promises to do in her next all steps of the process and piano, would horse around in the backyard book, which will be geared towards adults. provide an unparalleled with some white kids, before he learned why An economics major at Spelman, where she level of support. he no longer could. Having others understand got a B.A., she thought she would move into the young Martin Luther King, identifying accounting and banking, so she arrived in New with his typical childhood, is extremely impor- York City at Columbia University, a young tant to Christine King Farris, his older sister. girl from the South, and entered a graduate Her dream is to have people, especially young program in economics. She was, she soon black children, understand that Martin could discovered, the only woman in the class and indeed be a model for them because he was the only black, with a professor who expressed no different. To that end, she wrote a remark- no interest in her. For all her “daring,” the able book about her brother, her second, My experience was “traumatic,” and she withdrew. Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Just down the block, however, was Teachers Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King College and a wonderful program in educa- Jr.(2003), with pictures by the award-winning tion and thus began study for her first Masters children’s book illustrator Chris Soentpiet, that in education. A second would follow, with is designed to bring Martin back down from emphasis on reading and then more courses, Law Office of until the Civil Rights movement claimed her attention. She did teach in the Atlanta public schools for several years, at least until the MICHELLE SIEGEL public school system forced her out because msiegelaw.com [\ she wanted to get married. The apples do not fall far from the tree, [email protected] however, if the tree gets nurturing. Her own (646) 530 - 2130 “Education is the most children who had been close to Martin’s still powerful weapon which constitute a close family. Her daughter, who has a Ph.D. in psychology, teaches at Spelman, you can use to change too, and treasures the photos of what she was the world.” too young to recall, of herself with her famous grandfather. But again, with compassion and www. EducationUpdate.com -Nelson Mandela firmness, Prof. Farris stresses how everyone can pursue the dream. Were Martin alive today, he would still be pushing for it, know- [\ ing that “we still do not have a level playing Scan QR Code field.” He gave us the “blueprint; we have to with your Smartphone carry it out.” And that “we” means everyone.# JFAN/ EB 2014 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 17 Nelson Mandela: His Legacy Lives On By Omoefe Ogbeide, Lisa Young Congress (ANC), an organization prison, he ran for president of most, “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether & Jasmine Bager promoting democratic policies in South Africa. He was unani- that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. The former South African president, Nelson South Africa. He was instrumen- mously voted into office in Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head Mandela, was an advocate for education and tal in establishing the ANC Youth 1994. After being wrongfully pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving for- freedom, not only for his fellow countrymen, League and became its president jailed for 27 years during which ward. There were many dark moments when my but also for the children of the world. We in 1951. is mother and eldest son died, faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would proudly wrote about Mandela in our 2005 issue, Following the implementa- Mandela found enlighten- not and could not give myself up to despair. That which became one of our favorites. Since then, tion of apartheid laws by the ment, not resentment. As he way lays defeat and death”. many events have transpired. Mandela recently National Party (NP), which described, “As I walked out the Mandela’s contributions to social activism passed away at the age of 95, leaving behind assumed power in 1948, Mandela door toward the gate that would continue today, even after his departure. The decades of awe-inspiring work. and other members of the ANC lead to my freedom, I knew if I Nelson Mandela Foundation works in expansive Sacrificing his personal freedom in the name protested apartheid laws through its Defense didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d and varied ways to enrich the global community of democratic and social principles, Mandela Campaign. In response to NP threats of dis- still be in prison.” Mandela felt that the time he through charitable work. Their projects include had a tremendous historical impact. From his banding the ANC, the “M” plan was formed. spent in prison reading letters from his people construction of schools, HIV/AIDs research and early youth, he was actively involved in fight- Named after Mandela, the plan resulted in the gave him an insight to their struggle he may prevention efforts, rural education research, and ing racial discrimination in South Africa. As organization of smaller ANC units, which would never had. peace and reconciliation interventions. a student, he was involved in a protest of the encourage the earliest participation in the anti- Mandela drew further veneration from his Above all, Nelson Mandela was a loving hus- white minority government’s obstruction to apartheid movement. countrymen and the world, as he demand- band, father and grandfather, and an unforget- basic rights for South Africa’s majority Black Mandela’s anti-apartheid activities eventually ed that his former oppressors be absolved of table inspiration to the world with his wisdom African population which had interrupted his led to his arrest, a five-year sentence in 1956. In their transgressions and face no punitive ret- and kindness. He reminded us that the good own education. He continued to pursue his 1961 he was acquitted, but was again arrested in ribution. During his term, he introduced the is worth fighting for and that education makes degree despite the challenges and succeeded. 1962 and this time sentenced to life imprison- “Reconstruction and Development Plan,” which it possible. He said, “Education is the most Receiving his law degree after several set- ment. During his incarceration, Mandela covert- fostered economic growth and job creation, powerful weapon which you can use to change backs, he opened a law firm with his college ly engaged in the struggle against apartheid, housing and basic healthcare. Mandela led the world.” And the struggle for equality must friend, Oliver Tambo, which provided free or releasing a statement to the ANC, encouraging South Africa’s shift away from apartheid, which not end. Especially for the children of today, low-cost legal advice to many Black Africans Africans to come together in the fight against finally ended in 1996. The newly formed consti- Mandela’s legacy gives us urgency: “It is not who otherwise would have been grossly under- apartheid. The movement only grew stronger tution of South Africa in 1996 finally guaranteed beyond our power to create a world in which all serviced. in his stead as his unjust persecution became a the promise he and many others had fought for: children have access to a good education. Those During his years as a student, Mandela began symbol to galvanized masses. equality. Mandela’s belief in a better tomorrow, who do not believe this have small imagina- his involvement with the African National Following his February 1990 release from despite his circumstances, separated him from tions.” The History of Dr. King Comes Alive in Atlanta By Omoefe Ogbeide Home to CNN headquarters and the Coca Cola Company, Atlanta, Georgia is not new to big names. Although these enti- ties have immense stature, one name resonates deeper than either one. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a man whose legacy as a civil rights leader is inextricable from the very fabric of American his- Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. tory. Dr. King was born in Atlanta Martin Luther King, Jr. preached on January 15, 1929. In the August of 1963, one hundred years after President Abraham Lincoln The entrance to the MLK International Walk of Another momentous site found in Atlanta had signed the Emancipation Fame is Ebenezer Baptist Church. This church’s Proclamation, Dr. King confront- most notable member was Dr. King who was ed the American conscience with The beautiful promenade at the MLK ordained as a minister there at the young age his famous “I Have a Dream” Historic Site together at The marvel of Atlanta is the great history it of nineteen. In 1960, he became the church’s speech in Washington, D.C. The the table houses. The United States government estab- co-pastor with his father “Daddy” King and speech was the powerful climax of broth- lished the National Martin Luther King, Jr. remained the pastor until his brutal assassina- of the March on Washington for erhood.” Historic Site there in 1980 in order to preserve tion in 1968. Ebenezer Baptist Church held Jobs and Freedom where two hundred thou- Dr. King’s words moved the nation and the the vital monuments of his life so that visi- his funeral as the world mourned the undeni- sand demonstrators gathered in the nation’s injustice could no longer be ignored. Although tors could partake in these artifacts of history able tragedy. capital to pressure President Kennedy to pass a President Kennedy was assassinated before for years to come. Dr. Pola Rosen, publisher, Outside of the National Martin Luther King comprehensive civil rights bill that addressed passing the demanded provisions, President is someone fortunate to have visited each Jr. Historic Site is a tribute of remembrance the grave inequalities experienced by African Lyndon B. Johnson followed through the calls of these sites personally. The house at 501 to Dr. King’s life as well as following others Americans. for equality in The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Auburn Avenue is the home where Dr. King that exemplified his vision for equality. The Dr. King spoke of a world that he did not and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Fifty years was born and grew up for the first twelve International Civil Rights Walk of Fame was live in, but that he hoped for when he said “I later, Education Update celebrates the anniver- years of his life. He lived there with his created ten years ago and boasts the actual have a dream that one day on the red hills of sary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a grandparents, parents, and two siblings, Alfred footprint imprints of great leaders of social Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons Dream” speech at the March on Washington Daniel Williams King and Willie Christine change including Reverend Al Sharpton, Maya of former slave owners will be able to sit down and goes back to where it all began. King. Angelou, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. # 18 COLLEGES & GRADuate Schools ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FJAN/ EB 2014 Teachers College Celebrates 125 Years

(L-R) Prof. Anand Marri, and his wife, Marie; Dr. Charlotte Frank; (L-R) Dr. James Comer; former NYS Gov. Mario Cuomo; his wife, former NYS First Trustee Joyce B. Cowin; Dennis Walcott, Former Schools Chancellor Lady Matilda Cuomo; Laurie M. Tisch; TC Pres. Susan Fuhrman; TC alumna Dr. Ruth Westheimer; Tony Bennett; his wife, Susan Benedetto; Jeffrey Immelt By Yehuda Bayme Recently, Teachers College celebrated its 125th Tisch Center For Food, Education and Policy schools. The wife-husband duo have been long anniversary at the famed Apollo Theater in at Teachers College. Through the Tisch Center, time supporters of arts education. Mr. Bennett, Harlem. The event underscored the creativity of fresh and healthy foods are being made available in addition to being a world famous musical the faculty and students. Honored this year were to more people in more communities. Presented performer, founded the Frank Sinatra School of Dr. James P. Comer, Laurie M. Tisch, Jeffrey with the difficulties in nutrition that arise from the Arts in Queens, NY. His wife was a school- Immelt, Susan Benedetto and Tony Bennett for rising healthcare costs, disintegrating communi- teacher in the arts. their humanitarian efforts to sustain and advance ties, and lack of nutritional education, the Center The Apollo is a grand and historical venue; the educational programs. The honorees shared their seeks to teach about restructuring this industry evening was embellished with great music, great vision as activists to improve the organizations for the sake of better health. food and unique performances. Teachers College they lead. Jeffrey Immelt is the CEO and chairman of brought these outstanding leaders together to Dr. James Comer is a leader in the organiza- General Electric, a company that has for a long create a vision and culture that fortifies the tional transformation of the school systems. For time been a leader in industry, providing innova- stance that should be a model for all educational over 40 years, as head of the Yale Child Study tive technologies in aviation, power, consumer institutions. This gala embodied the spirit of Center, he has helped improve the performance and business appliances, electronics, and insur- imagination and bright hopes for the future. Tony of public school students by emphasizing the ance. He is an advisor to President Obama on Bennett performed to the overflowing crowd. In importance of the interactivity necessary between economics. In his address to the attendees he a tribute to millenials, Professor Chris Emdin teacher, student, parent, school, and community. mentioned how corporate culture has a variety directed high school students in a rap that was His work has been codified and used in over 600 of elements such as problem solvers, teamwork, both entertaining and inspiring. The evening schools across the country. He is also the associ- goals, and education that must all work together ended with all members of the audience dancing ate Dean of The Yale School of Medicine. William Rueckert, Co-Chair of the to create a successful enterprise. on stage including faculty, students, honorees and Laurie Tisch is a philanthropist and vice Teachers College Board of Trustees, Susan Benedetto and Tony Bennett are the trustees. We wish Teachers College much success Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees at Teachers and his wife, Fleur founders of the Exploring the Arts organization, and look forward to many more years of leader- College. She recently founded The Laurie M. a non-profit that affords arts education to public ship in education.#

Cartoon by Brian Narelle NY Architects Design Vanderbilt University’s www.ucsusa.org/scienceanddemocracy Historic Peabody College for Teachers George Peabody College for Teachers moved Bruce Payne came from the University of to the current Peabody campus location in Virginia in 1912 to serve as Peabody’s presi- 1914, but the college’s history began much dent. America had seen the 1893 Columbian earlier. Originally founded in December 1785 Exposition in Chicago and translated Europe’s as Davidson Academy (the nation’s fifteenth Ecole des Beaux-Arts into its own “City college), it became Cumberland College in Beautiful” movement. Payne wanted an “aca- the early 1800s. Cumberland’s charter was demical village” along the classical lines of altered in 1826, changing the school’s name to Thomas Jefferson’s design for the University of University of Nashville. Virginia in Charlottesville. Payne hired archi- The University of Nashville was the first tects Ludlow and Peabody of New York along college to receive aid from the Peabody Fund, with Warren Manning to realize his goal. which was established in 1867 by philanthropist Sketches were produced by the prestigious George Peabody to help rebuild the South’s edu- New York architectural firm of McKim, cational system after the Civil War. In 1875 the Mead, and White, who went on to design the university began to function as a state normal Cohen Memorial Building and the Peabody school; after 1889, it was known as Peabody Administration facility immediately next door. Normal College, and, in 1909, it incorporated The National Historic Landmarks program des- as the George Peabody College for Teachers. ignated the central lawn and surrounding build- In 1979, it merged with Vanderbilt University. ings as a historic district in 1965.# FJAN/ EB 2014 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ Technology & EDUCATION 19 Taking Notes on Student Debt: Do MOOCs Threaten Higher Education? By Adam Sugerman ings (at state schools, which rely on reces- cism is constructive. issues. Schools need to reallocate some of the Face it. At some point, the United States sion starved diminished state revenues, this Recently, I queried two dozen students who money that presently go into MOOCs into government—for political and economic rea- is already occurring). With increasing com- consider themselves poor writers at high school intervention such as counseling and tutor- sons—will have to forgive a large chunk of petition from massive open online courses and college levels. The majority responded ing. Professors and tutors get to know their the Brobdingnagian amount of student debt. In (MOOCs), universities are feeling the pressure that they needed a better breakdown of how students’ learning styles and could help their the short term, will the political will be there that their future as a viable business model will sentences are constructed, tips to improve customers—yes, students are the clients— given our fractious, ideologically stagnant have to evolve. Or will it? Higher education cohesion and flow in their writing, and a more flourish. lower house? Writing off even a portion of the institutions such as California State University expansive vocabulary that is readily acceptable MOOCs do have a role in higher education. loans will be considered a form of welfare for at San Jose have toyed with the idea of replac- when under strict deadlines. Writing is indi- They could be utilized, for example, in spe- college students and for secondary institutions. ing remedial English courses with MOOCs. vidual. MOOCs are massive. Students are not cially selected graduate level and adult educa- The bursting bubble will slather the colleges Will this approach work for remedial courses? going to receive feedback in a timely manner tion courses as well as courses where students that charge exorbitant tuition and fees without Probably not. As a publisher who has worked from the professor when thousands of students observe or audit. But again, the professor will helping students procure employment. In a with student interns over the last two decades, need to submit their work. need a system of support staff to be successful society where decisions are increasingly driv- I know firsthand that traditional writing skills Getting back to student debt and MOOCs and not have to spend 20 hours a day preparing en by data, institutions with high default and are in decline (although social media writ- replacing college courses. If colleges were a class, teaching, performing administrative mediocre graduation rates will be excluded ing skills, namely the ones used for Twitter, serious about helping students pay their debts, and grading duties, all which would apply if a from the federal coffers. are better than adequate). Struggling writers they would need to keep college tuition afford- teacher had thousands of students. # With fewer college options, how will stu- improve their craft when they are interested in able and make the effort to track students Adam Sugerman is the co-publisher of dents obtain an education to get a job where the topic and when they receive personalized closely so they could complete college. Many Education Update and a doctoral candidate in problem-solving skills will be in demand? feedback. It is not easy for the ego to hear that students drop out due to financial pressure, Computer, Technology and Education at Nova Many colleges will cut back on course offer- one’s writing is not up to par even if the criti- job pressure, family problems, and academic Southeastern University. CAREERS

International Affairs with a concentration on and Spanish. products providing analytical services to both Careers for the courses at the Journalism School. I did a Did you have internships, and were they the buy-side and the sell-side. Most recently, number of internships at documentary film helpful? Who were some of your mentors? I was promoted within Bloomberg LP and companies, which were doing films about Two internships stand out for me: my time at work in trading systems at Bloomberg Asset 21st Century international issues. It was like going to film Education Update while I was in high school, and Investment Manager (AIM) that delivers By Dr. Pola Rosen school for free. and my time assisting Frank Bohan at the global, multi-asset solutions for front-end port- Given the expense of an education and that it Who were some of your mentors? Harriman Institute at Columbia. Pola Rosen folio, trading, and middle & back office opera- is necessary economically as well as for emotional The documentary filmmakers: Marc Levin would send me out into the field on assignment tions for buy-side institutions, hedge funds, and and intellectual fulfillment, what are the choices and Al Levin, Sheila Nevins, the head of non- -- no ifs and buts, tough love—and so I began proprietary trading desks. after graduation? So many individuals of all ages fiction programming at HBO. to overcome my intense childhood shyness. Which college did you attend, and what are having trouble finding work. Education Update Frank taught me everything I know about was your major? thought it would be helpful to have an ongoing accounts payable and receivable, while telling I attended the Macaulay Honors College at column interviewing people about their work, Kasia me stories about growing up Irish in Brooklyn, Hunter College with a major in Economics and how they prepared for it, how one goal was back in the day. Both offices, actually, were Political Science. transformed into another and in short, to show like home to me; they set the bar high for my Did you have internships, and were they career choices available. So, here we go! Nikhamina, future jobs in terms of warmth and close-knit helpful? teams. After college, I worked in the Rackets Yes. I first interned at Scott Balice Strategies Small Business Bureau of the New York Country District (acquired by PFM Group), ranked top-10 Attorney’s Office for about three years, and financial advisory firms in the country, special- Daphne then another three years in Investor Relations izing in providing financial advisory services Owner at the D. E. Shaw group, a hedge fund. to the largest governments, corporations and What is your current non-profit organizations. Internships are essen- Pinkerson, career? tial for many reasons: 1) exploring a new My husband, Ilya, and Aleksandr field a student may want to pursue, 2) gaining Documentary I launched Redbeard exposure to a specific industry and profession- Bikes, a full-ser- als within that industry, 3) enhancing skill-sets vice bicycle shop, in Akulov, and resume, 4) providing a “foot in the door” Producer DUMBO, Brooklyn, in for a solid job. An internship is a bit like dat- What is your current the fall of 2012. One Financial ing. You first want to meet the girl and date her career? year after we opened, we moved to a new, before deciding that she is the one. Sure you I am primarily a larger location around the corner. We sell Manager can get a divorce/ switch a career but it would producer and work in bicycles and accessories, and do repairs and be great to get it right on the first try. In short, documentary film pro- fittings. Ilya and I collaborate closely on all What is your current internships are vital. duction at Blowback aspects of running the shop, though I focus career? Who were some of your mentors? Production. on the bookkeeping and marketing. I also I worked on the I have many mentors. My mentors are in Which college did help out in a sales capacity, especially when it Corporate Development various industries and come from all walks of you attend, and what was your major? comes to helmets. When I’m not working at the team with the new life. I think one thing they all have in common Barnard College, Political Science. shop, I write plays and prose. My site is www. financial products is that they are passionate, motivated, and are Did you have internships, and were they TheMayorsHotel.com. group, and was heav- simply good people. I’m fortunate to know helpful? Which college did you attend, and what ily involved with M&A such great people. When choosing a mentor I My most helpful internships were during was your major? targets and strategic partnerships, in addition think it is first important to decide why you graduate school at the School of International I attended Columbia College, class of 2007. to organic business incubation across all the want a mentor- everything else will flow into and Public Affairs at Columbia University, I majored in Comparative Literature and financial products. I then advanced to work as place. When you get a mentor make sure to where I received a Master’s degree in Society. My languages were Russian, Polish, an equity specialist with a focus on derivative always show gratitude. # 20 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ JFAN/ EB 2014 Strategically Ladder 100th Anniversary of the Crossword By Patricia Lavelle word puzzle was a diamond shape and con- Your Legal Skills The Crossword puzzle recently celebrated tained no internal dark squares. Nowadays, its one hundredth anniversary. The first cross- crosswords are typically arranged into square By Vera Sullivan, M.A. the old maxim that “no one gets there alone”? word puzzle was published in the New York shapes. The inner section of the puzzle was Increased competition, changes to billing That’s even truer in today’s globally connected World and was created by the “Father of completely hollow. The name originated from practices, and overseas outsourcing have sub- world where “everyone is everywhere”. You Crossword,” Arthur Wynne. Wynne originated the bisecting lines created by the words. The stantially changed the legal industry. Given need to build strong relationships and networks from Liverpool and moved to the United States name was eventually changed to Cross-word these changes, it is much harder, and may take with your associates, partners, judges, clients, to pursue a career in journalism. Wynne’s edi- and later the hyphen was dropped after a mis- longer, to distinguish yourself and achieve your colleagues and friends and always be ready to tor at the time approached him to create a new print. goals. I counsel lawyers to think very strategi- make new connections. mental exercise for the World’s entertainment Wynne’s mental exercise has since become cally about the positions they accept and “lad- 3) Be known for your stability and reliability. section. Wynne’s first puzzle was the brainchild a Sunday morning staple and can be found der” their way to long-term success. By ladder, Clients, partners, associates, and judges want to of his interest in lexicons and included many across the globe in newspapers, magazines, as I mean to recognize that with each job accep- know they can trust your work and your deci- obscure words. well as online. Crosswords have truly become tance, there needs to be a specific skillset that is sions. Become the go-to-attorney that people Originally called Word-cross, the first cross- a beloved pastime.# acquired that contributes to a larger, long-term turn to in a crisis. career goal. 4) Review and Implement your Career Plan Lawyers need to go beyond their specialized Every Month. Certain requisite business, finan- New York’s leading career counselors for over author of From Wishing to Reality: How to legal abilities and develop a wider and deeper cial, and interpersonal skills will be enormously 30 years specializing in the legal industry use The HourGlass PrincipleTM to define your management toolkit. For example, four of the helpful whether you end your career as a firm’s in career counseling, diversity recruiting for career goals. Please visit the Diversityforce ten core skills I help lawyers develop in my partner, an in-house counsel, running a non- corporations, and outplacement. Vera is the website at www.Diversityforce.net. # career counseling and placement practice are: profit, or opening a new restaurant in Malibu. 1) Know how your clients run their business. Draft a career plan and run with it. The most True client symbiosis comes with mastering the important aspect to your plan is that you’re day-to-day. In-house positions offer intimate identifying and acquiring skills. Anniversary Guessing Game knowledge of the data, processes, finances, How to begin? Ask yourself: “Why did I and challenges of one company in an industry. become a lawyer,” “What do I want to achieve COMPILED By Omoefe Ogbeide five this year and boasts prominent alumni Having only one client can also allow you to during my career?” and “What steps do I need 2013 and 2014 hold memorable anniversa- including Christine King Farris, Merryl Tisch develop a complete business model, pieces to take to reach my goals?” Please feel free to ries of great significance. How many of these and Education Update’s own Pola Rosen. Can of which will be transferrable to other future share your career strategies with me via Vera. famous anniversaries can you name? you name this Upper West Side institution? situations. [email protected]. 2) Build great relationships with all the Vera Sullivan, M.A., is the Founder and 1. This national banking institution that was 7. Fifty years ago, this president was assas- groups you touch and connect with. Remember President of Diversityforce, LLC, and one of created during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency sinated in Dallas, Texas. Can you name this turned one hundred. Can you name this central former leader? banking system? 8. This musical first debuted on Broadway 2. This song sang at the opening of almost with songs such as “Sunrise, Sunset” and “If We are looking for every sporting event in the country was written I Were a Rich Man” fifty years ago. Can you by Francis Scott Key two hundred year ago. name this Tony award-winning musical? institutions that would Can you name this popular anthem? 9. It was at this famous event fifty years ago like to train teachers 3. This jolly holiday of a movie premiered that Martin Luther King told the world about a fifty years ago and is the inspiration for a new dream. Can you name this momentous event? on our System..Orton movie currently out in theaters. Can you name Gillingham derived this Disney classic? 4. This author who took the road less trav- elled passed away fifty years ago. Can you Education Update It is a full clinically developed curriculum of systematic lesson name this great poet? plans honoring all of the current cutting edge research. is an 5. This gritty novel written by John Steinbeck independent • Multisensory and simultaneous modality instruction turns seventy-five. Can you name this book? • Phonological awareness training newspaper. 6. This school turns one hundred and twenty

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MOVIES The Struggle of Saving Mr. Banks Teacher Unemployment by Danielle M. Bennett “I’ve just been kind By Jan Aaron the child be a nuisance?” Not impressed with Vassar Greene, 40, began his education career of on an unemploy- A plot about a dispute between a writer and the giant Mickey Mouse and balloons in her teaching elementary school in Newark in 1998, ment rollercoaster,” a studio director over the artistic direction for a Beverly Hills Hotel suite, she pitches them and was promoted assistant principal at Irvington Greene laughs He’s movie sounds yawn-inducing. But, if the writer a basket of fruit out the window into the hotel’s High School in 2005 and enjoyed his job. But glad to be off the ride. is the cranky and curt, P.J. Travers, author of pool, astonishing the swimmers and sunbathers. as schools throughout the country responded to “I was not too proud “Mary Poppins,” and the Most of the movie deals the economic crisis with budget cuts, Greene, to take a lower-paying studio chief is Walt Disney, with the weeks in 1961, non-tenured, lost his position. job even if it meant it commands our attention. when Travers, in serious From 2007-2008, Greene stayed home with his accepting a 200-mile The director of Saving financial trouble, comes two sons but as Greene’s unemployment extend- commute round trip from his southern New Mr. Banks, John Lee from London to Los ed, his life at home grew strained. Eventually, Jersey home of Sicklerville to Louverture up Hancock, also faced a Angeles to consider selling the economic and emotional stress of unemploy- north in East Orange; there were no job pros- major obstacle: How do the rights to “Poppins,” and ment contributed to Greene’s divorce, he admits. pects in his hometown. you make an engrossing meets with the songwriting Greene, who’s quite the gentle giant at 6 feet Greene knows he’s fortunate to be work- movie when you already team’s Sherman Brothers 7 in comparison to his fifth grade students, has ing and will soon celebrate his second year know how it ends? Even (Jason Schwartzman and occupied room 16 at Louverture since he was at Louverture. Unemployment data as of more challenging how- B.J. Novak) and screenwrit- re-hired to teach fifth grade math, science, and September 2013 from the Bureau of Labor ever, was making a genial er Don DaGradi (Bradley writing last November. Although, today, he Statistics show that the unemployment rate for film about a cantankerous Whitford.) “These books serves in a different capacity as instructional black men over 20 remains more than twice as female author (Travers) do not lend themselves to tutor in those content areas, Greene receives the high, at 14 percent, as for white men the same going through one of the chirping and prancing,” she same benefits as a classroom teacher. age at 6.1. # most challenging periods says. She disdains when of her life? Dick Van Dyke is called The film doesn’t exact- “one of the greats,” as she ly adhere to historical finds Laurence Olivier of Fausto Pinto Graduates record, but brings it all Othello a true idea of a We would like to congratulate together successfully with great actor. one of our very own Education a “spoonful of sugar” to The screenwriter’s script Update reporters, Fausto Pinto, sweeten the truth and a goes back and forth between on his recent graduation from performance by Emma Thompson that ignites the Los Angeles period and the Australian the CUNY Graduate School of the screen. Though co-star Tom Hanks plays a childhood of Helen Goff (newcomer Annie Journalism. Pinto started as an wonderful Walt Disney, it’s Thompson’s movie. Rose Buckley), the little girl who grew up to intern at Education Update in Her face; perfectly powdered, her hair in tight become P.J. Travers. The script tells us that 2009 and has since become one of curls, lips frozen in crimson; she insists every- the idea for Mary Poppins came from Travers’ our most trusted reporters. He was one – including Walt Disney – address her as childhood but it revealed that her troubles with awarded the 2012 New York Press Mrs. Travers. Disney stem from unresolved childhood issues. Club Inaugural Scholarship and Script-writers Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith How then did this movie ever get made with won the 2010 Murray Kempton give her great lines. She is the kind of frank all the disagreements? It is Disney himself who Award for Best Feature Story. We woman who comes right out and asks a young comes to the rescue with a speech about the are very proud of his outstanding mother on the airplane to Los Angeles: “Will healing power of storytelling. # achievement.#

International News Exclusive Interview with Father Patrick Devine: Creating Peace in Africa By Patricia Lavelle Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution and this geographic area also want a better future As a young man, Father Patrick Devine Reconciliation (SCCRR) with a vision of a for their children. Education is the foundation knew he wanted to dedicate his life to work- society where peace, social justice and recon- on which a more peaceful future is formed. ing among the poorest of the world. Now the ciliation prevail throughout Africa. In his own In efforts for peace, SCCRR helps to form founder of the Shalom Center for Conflict words, Father Devine states “peace in the sense inter-ethnic schools to bring families from Resolution and Reconciliation, he has been at of absence of violence is not enough.” In order opposing groups together in order to generate the forefront of positive peace efforts in Kenya to have true, positive peace, there must be not conversations and cooperation between them. and other areas of Africa and was the recipient only an absence of violence, but the conflict- The organization also provides solar energy to of the 2013 International Caring Award which ing parties must care about each other’s well 178 schools in the area, thereby extending the brought him to Washington DC with accolades being. The mission of SCCRR is to work for learning hours so students can do work in the by General Colin Powell among others. His a society free of physical violence and unjust evening as well as providing meeting places for work in the region began in 1988 when he social structures in Africa. This mission is lived the community. joined the Society of African Missionaries and out as the organization brings together leaders When asked why he named the organization devoted his life to improving conditions in a and opinion shapers from both sides of conflict the Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution and region of the world that had been the site of and teaches them analytical skills to assess the Reconciliation, Father Devine explains that persistent poverty, conflict, and social injustice. problem and the peace building tools required Shalom means not only peace, but also peace His work brought him to a poor isolated area in to address it. Prior to these meetings, empiri- with justice and harmony, holistically inte- West Tanzania where he spent seven years as a cal research is conducted and both sides have grated. What a truly apt title for an organization missionary. He later became the organization’s agreed to name the issues to ensure these meet- that diligently works for conflict resolution and regional superior of Kenya and Tanzania. ings are productive. social harmony in Africa. It can serve as a para- In 2009, Father Devine founded the Like parents all over the world, parents in digm for societies around the world.# 22 MUSEUMS AS EDUCATORS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FJAN/ EB 2014 7 Painters, 7 Stories: Poison at the AMNH Seeking A Synthesis Between By Jan Aaron Wandering on, we learn about crabapple-like Back in my high school days, I had the thrill fruits that can cause severe swelling of the of playing one of the witches in Shakespeare’s throat, making it almost impossible to breathe. Abstraction And Representation Macbeth. “Tooth of wolf, tongue of dog,” I We learn other amazing facts at a model “You can’t escape your time - some embrace Early 20th Century Art and the curator of the intoned, bending over a caldron, my pointy of a South American plant, where its large it, some fight it, as for me, I supposed I had exhibition. “American painters who came of black hat dipping, as I stirred. This image leaves are cozy nests for ants of the genus a contrarian streak in me,” notes artist Paul age in the 1940s and 1950s were expected to recurred when I attended “The Power of Myrmelachista. The ants’ relationship to the Resika, one of the seven artists whose work choose an allegiance between the two.” Poison,” at the American Museum of Natural plants is mutually beneficial: they protect their is on view at the National Academy Museum It was in this cultural moment that the paint- History (AMNH). Curator Mark Siddall, from nests by spraying poisonous acids at nearby in See It Loud: Seven Post-War American ers in See It Loud were beginning their careers. the museum’s division of invertebrate zool- plants of competing species, killing them off, Painters. Crossing the line and ultimately embracing the ogy—and his talented team—brewed a great creating a uniform patch – colorfully called In the years after World War II, a group of possibilities of a dialectical synthesis between show, touching on every taxonomical cat- a “devil’s garden” in the forests of Peru and young New York artists known as the New abstraction and representation, Paul Georges, egory: Animal (including adorable looking Ecuador. York School formed the basis for Abstract Paul Resika, Leland Bell, Albert Kresch, Peter orange frogs, each able to secrete enough Finally, the show turns to poisons that cure. Expressionism, a school of painting in America Heinemann, and Neil Welliver, born before the venom to kill 10 humans); Vegetable (includ- A treacherous chemical may also become a that exerted a major influence on international outbreak of World War II, ventured to claim this ing a widely consumed plant Cassava — powerful medication. For instance, a chemi- artists. Artists Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), aesthetic no-man’s land. Their junior contem- which in nature is laced with cyanide) and cal found in the poisonous bark of the yew Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), and Mark porary, Stanley Lewis, born ten years after the Mineral (including the gemstone “amethyst,” tree is effective against cancer (leading to the Rothko (1903–1970) were among the move- youngest of those six, boldly joined them. Their once worn to protect wearer from poison and drug Taxol.) One component of Gila monster ment’s leaders. They abandoned formal com- art grew out of abstract currents, but shifted Ammonite fossils and once thought to cure venom lowers the blood sugar of its victims position and the representation of real objects toward representation. snake bites). and has been used to treat Type 2 diabetes. The and concentrated on instinctual arrangements According to Weber, “All of the artists in venom of pit vipers has led to blood pressure of space and color. this exhibition insisted on the significance of drugs. Researchers are testing spider venom to During this time, abstraction and representa- figuration and landscape painting, even when it first museum exhibition devoted to this group treat breast cancer. It is clear the whether for tion were not only polarized in the American seemed irretrievably out of fashion. All felt in of post-war American painters. # good or bad, the power of poison is undeni- art world, but seemingly irreconcilable. “There some degree limited by abstraction and were, The National Academy Museum is located able.# was very nearly a moral dimension to the oppo- in fact, members of a larger group of American at 1083 Fifth Avenue at E. 89th Street. Learn For further information or to buy tickets sition between representation and abstraction,” artists who wanted to go beyond abstraction.” more at www.nationalacademy.org or call visit www.amnh.org/exhibitions/current-exhi- states Bruce Weber, Senior Curator of 19th and See It Loud, on view until January 26, is the 212.369.4880 x201. bitions/the-power-of-poison.

LAST CHANCE CLOSES SUNDAY, JAN. 26 JFAN/ EB 2014 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ M USIC, ART & DANCE 23

A Conversation with Artist Linda Sirow Hunter College Launches By Joan Baum, Ph.D. Linda Sirow, who has a piece in a juried New MFA & BFA Studios show at the Richard D’Amato Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York, continues to impress with Hunter College celebrated the official launch Hunter College Galleries, Joachim Pissarro. her lovely abstract encaustics. The competition, of Hunter’s new MFA and BFA studios at 205 His new spectacular book, Wild Art, is a col- a benefit for The Retreat, a well-known shelter Hudson Street in Tribeca. Kudos to the Bershad lection of artwork that won’t be found in for abused women and children on the East End Professor of Art History and Director of the museums.# of Long Island, drew 200 applications from all over the world from artists working in various media. Of course, Sirow is pleased that her folk patterns and symbols—constitute much into Lincoln-log-like shapes–an imaginative work was one of 25 selected submissions, and of the art. She has also been looking at related take on the assignment. More significantly, the delighted that 100 percent of the entry fees go work online, and she sometimes finds herself girl had been led to pursue a “passion” for and directly to support the work of this important attracted to craft items, such as bowls she saw “excitement” about art. The finished piece gave organization. And how serendipitous that Sirow recently that were made out of knitted string, the girl a “confidence” that followed her into gets major attention at the top of the stairs of whose textured quality seemed consonant with high school. the two-floor gallery, and that the piece is next her own predilections. So much of the education world now suc- to nothing else like it around . Her openness to creative impulses affects cumbs to curricular cut backs, and the first The colorful 24” x 24” square of layered oil her teaching as well, where she encourages her areas to go are always art, Sirow understand- and beeswax on wood is called “Two Step“ students to see that working in clay is more ably laments. But when you cut away creative because she felt a kind of “dance-like” move- than throwing on a wheel. A recent assignment endeavor, it’s hard, if not impossible, to go ment guiding her when she was painting it, she included having her middle-school students back and resurrect it later in life. Conversely, says, a sense that helped determine the place- bring in found materials—wire, objects—to when it’s there, and encouraged, it’s there ment of her signature slightly open circles. Sirow still keeps to a restricted palette–here, include in their clay sculptures in a way that forever, even if not immediately recognizable. Indeed, “Two Step” exudes a kind of pulsing a warm assemblage of shimmering yellows, would enhance appreciation of repetition and Her own oldest son, who had always loved luminescence that suggests interacting images pinks, mauves, and corals under thin lines of form. One student, however, for whatever rea- drawing, now works in the financial world and slightly in motion, nothing fixed—a bit like her cooler hues–slashes of blue or green that subtly son, was averse to working in clay and wanted evaluates business ventures “creatively.” His life, which at one point she describes as having contrast with the overall pastel effect. to use crayons, melting them with a hot glue visual art experiences in high school paid off, “so many moving parts,” some not as readily Over the years Sirow has found herself gun. Since the girl was going to explore the idea and he is now also involved with nonprofits in apparent as others. A close look at “Two Step” increasingly attracted to encaustic, or hot wax of the assignment, Sirow supported her desire the arts. Needless to say, Linda Sirow loves her reveals a subtlety of form and technique: solid painting, and likes to experiment with its layer- to do something different. The result was an work at Dalton where for close to 20 years, she circles and one-inch perimeters that have been ing effects, noting that between oil and wax, “interesting” sculpture that had been built out preaches what she practices and continues to painted over and sit under the bolder circular the relationship can never be 50 / 50–one or the of melted colored crayons originally formed practice what she loves.# brushstrokes, and with slight gouge-like inden- other must predominate and for her, the winner tation that creative depth. For those following is wax. Why circles? She smiles, she likes the the evolving work of this decorative artist, who geometry–circles and squares— though she also teaches art at Dalton Middle School, “Two adds that she has also been looking at aborigi- BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND Step” may seem bolder than usual, though nal work in Australia where dots and circles— NY POST (critic’s pick)

National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene Chagall at the Jewish Museum PRESENTS ���� By Jan Aaron associate with the artist: Isolated men include When I was invited to see the Chagall show the gaunt “Sleeping Talmudist” There’s a man at The Jewish Museum, indelible images of clutching a Torah with small Jesus on the right Russian mythology inspired by old folktales edge. One of the most arresting is “Descent came to mind, led by the jaunty fiddler in stove from a Cross” (1941) which depicts an angel pipe hat perched on a roof. holding a palette and brush. Cubo-Futurist The show “‘Love War And Exile” focuses Jesus, “Calvary”, borrowed from MOMA and on another iconic figure: Jesus. Chagall was dated 1912, proves his interest during his for- obsessed with Jesus throughout his life, start- mative years. Among his wartime works, the ing with his days in St. Petersburg when he artists react to the news reports of a battle in his was a student, the painter depicted Christ Byelorussian, birthplace, Vitebsk, with images many times. Some Christs recall the Eastern of Jewish villagers nailed to crosses. Orthodox icons he remembered from his child- While this portion shows the artists dark hood. Others don’t resemble Christs anywhere side, the show resurrects child-like Chagall by on earth: they wear prayer shawls, instead of presenting his early life in Vitebsk, his early loincloths and sometimes tefilin, the leather years with Bella, enjoying a budding romance boxes orthodox Jews sometimes strap to their with a woman hired to care for him, Virginia foreheads and wrap around their arms. These Haggard McNeil. Jesus is still there, though in haunting ambiguous searing images dominate “Self Portrait with A Clock” seen in a painting the show, which focuses on Chagall’s life from on the easel near a ghostly bride represent- WWW.NATIONALYIDDISHTHEATRE.ORG 193—1948, the most trying in his life. It shows ing his wife. The artist here is seen as a red how he reflected in his paintings and poems the goat embraced by a blue-faced woman. The Exclusive 15% OFF rise of Fascism, the Holocaust, and the death in show leaves us with a happy ending: In “The Mention Code UPDATE 1948 of Bella, his wife. Wedding Candles” from 1945. A bride and There is a jaunty fiddler, flying blue cows, groom float in a mystical fog, a cow toasts the but most of the works reflect horrible dreams: newlyweds, and as if to say L’chayim” to the MARCH 2 - 16 ONLY! villages burn, patriarchs cry, Jews clutch Torahs world.# (Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Ave/212- fleeing with others. These are not the images we 423-3200, until Feb. 2) For tickets call (646) 312 - 5073 24 MEDICAL UPDATE ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ JFAN/ EB 2014

Medicare Rights Center’s National Cancer Prevention Panel Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, DC Moderated by Dr. Margaret Cuomo

Margaret I. Cuomo, MD, the author of A World Without Cancer, will serve as modera- tor of the panel discussion on Feb. 4, 2014— National Cancer Prevention Day—as well as the co-host of the day’s proceedings with Bill Couzens, founder and president of Less Cancer. The event will be held at The Rayburn Building in Washington, DC, with the Next Generation Choices Foundation Board of Directors. Dr. Cuomo is a board certified radiologist who served as an attending physician in diag- nostic radiology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York. Specializing (L-R) Alan Lubin, former Exec. VP & in body imaging, involving CT, ultrasound, Andrew Pallotta, Executive VP, NYSUT Joe Baker, Pres., Medicare Rights Center MRI, and interventional procedures, much of her practice was dedicated to the diagnosis of The 2013 Medicare Rights Center’s Annual cancer and AIDS. She is the daughter of former Awards Dinner was a success, says Joe New York Governor Mario Cuomo and Mrs. Baker, President. With the generous support- Matilda Cuomo, sister to Governor Andrew ers at the event, the organization will now Cuomo and CNN’s Chris Cuomo, and the wife Dr. Margaret Cuomo be able to advance their mission of working of Howard Maier. She has been interviewed to ensure access to affordable health care on many TV shows, such as Good Morning ally for the prevention of cancer, heart disease for older adults and people with disabilities America, Good Day New York and national and and diabetes. through their programs in counseling and advo- regional radio programs, and has been featured Dr. Cuomo will be joined by Dr. Howard cacy, education and public policy initiatives. in many magazines and newspapers, including K. Koh, MD, MPH, who is the Assistant The group promises to broaden their out- Education Update, Manhattan, New York Daily Secretary for Health, US Department of Health reach in states across the country with pro- News, O Magazine, Vogue and Women’s Day, and Human Services, and by Dr. Graham A. grams including Seniors Out Speaking—which and on-line sites. Dr. Cuomo is a contributor Colditz, MD, DrPH, from the Washington now reaches more than 60,000 individuals. and a member of the Medical Review Board University in St. Louis School of Medicine. The group honored Elizabeth J. Fowler, Vice of the Huffington Post, and is also a regular For more information on the event, visit: President, Global Health Policy at Johnson contributor to WebMD. She advocates nation- Lesscancer.org. # & Johnson; Janella T. Hinds, Vice President, United Federation of Teachers and Secretary- Treasurer, NYS AFL-CIO, Central Labor Useful Apps for Everyone Council; and Dr. Steven M. Safyer, President Philanthropist Edith Everett and Chief Executive Officer of Montefiore By Patricia Lavelle My Fitness Pal: Does your New Years Medical Center, for their visionary leader- The group looks forward to sharing their initia- Smartphones have made life easier in many Resolution have to do with taking better care of ship in improving health care quality and tives, news and achievements as they develop ways with the help of useful applications. Here yourself? My Fitness Pal helps with all of your increasing access to care for all Americans. throughout the year. # are a few of our favorites at Education Update: diet and weight loss needs. With this easy to use Shazam: Ever find yourself listening to radio app, you can record your food, caloric intake and and wondering what the name of a song or artist your exercise routines. My Fitness Pal also allows Better Food Choices for is? Shazam can help with that. Shazam is an app you to connect with friends and makes it easier to that identifies the music playing around you with see your results! the simple touch of a button. Groupon: Groupon provides discount offers Better Heart Health HopStop: HopStop provides detailed transit on things to do, see, and eat in over five hundred It’s easier to follow a heart-healthy diet than Alliance, how they would tweak the typical maps, nearby stations, and directions for over cities across the globe. With endless possibilities, you think. All it takes is some simple changes in American diet to be healthier for the heart. six hundred cities across the globe. HopStop also you never know what kind of a deal you’ll find food choices, reports the October 2013 Harvard Their suggestions lower the amount of saturated gives door-to-door transit, schedules for subways from discount show tickets to four course dinners. Heart Letter. fat, trans fat, sugar, sodium, and calories, and and buses, and estimate travel times and costs Lumosity: Lumosity is a fun, yet education- Wholesale changes aren’t necessarily needed. boost the amount of fiber and nutrients. for taxis. al way to play on your phone. It was cre- Instead, smaller ones can make a big difference, Breakfast Charity Miles: Looking to do good for your ated by neuroscientists to train memory and says registered dietitian Kathy McManus, direc- If you eat: Eggs body and for others? Charity Miles helps with attention through specialized games. It features tor of the department of nutrition at Harvard- Try: Scramble in leftover vegetables from both by logging how far you’ve ran, walked, or Personalized Training Program, which provides affiliated, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. last night’s dinner or chopped fresh tomatoes biked and donates to the charity of your choice an individualized approach to improving your “The typical American diet contains a large and avocado based on how far you’ve gone. cognitive function. # proportion of unhealthy fats, too few fruits and Why: Adds nutrients and fiber; tomatoes add vegetables, too much sugar and sodium, and too antioxidants, which help prevent fatty plaques; Dijon mustard, fresh herbs, 1/3 cup vinegar, 2/3 tomatoes and herbs or extra-virgin olive oil, little fiber,” she says. “This contributes to risk avocados add monounsaturated fat, which helps cup extra-virgin olive oil, pepper, and a dash of grilled shrimp, and a small amount of freshly of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.” the body absorb nutrients salt shaken together in a jar grated Parmesan cheese The Harvard Heart Letter asked Ms. Lunch Why: Reduces sodium and unhealthy fats Why: Reduces saturated fat; adds fiber and McManus and Dr. Michelle Hauser, a certified If you eat: Salad with ranch or blue cheese Dinner health-protecting phytonutrients; shrimp adds chef, nutrition educator, and internal medicine dressing If you eat: Pasta with meat and cheese omega-3 fatty acids, which may lower the risk fellow at Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Try: A vinaigrette dressing made with garlic, Try: Whole-wheat spaghetti topped with fresh of heart attack, stroke, and arrhythmias # FJAN/ EB 2014 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 25

1,600 students, ages 6 - 18, join us each 100 SUNY Students Receive $1 summer on Usdan’s idyllic Long Island THiS Summer campus. Usdan offers programs in Music, Art, Million in Scholarships Theater, Dance, Writing, Nature & Ecology, In 2011, the Jewish Foundation for Education the internship. Organic Gardening, Chess, Swimming, of Women (JFEW) awarded grants to the Deanna D’Onofrio ‘12, a psychology major UsdanUsdan Center for the Creative & Performing Arts and Tennis. SUNY Levin Institute to establish the JFEW- from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., who interned with SUNY International Relations and Global Charity Water, says, “The JFEW internship Affairs Scholarship Program for students at taught me essential skills regarding business SUNY Binghamton and SUNY Stony Brook. etiquette, international relations and how to The program helps students to become lead- carry myself as a professional, all of which I ers in international relations and global affairs will remember for the remainder of my career.” through mentoring opportunities and peer net- The second element of the scholarship is the works. During the course of the program, from two-year academic program. Completed during 2011 to 2016, 100 SUNY students receive over students’ junior and senior years, it includes an $1,000,000 in scholarship money and exten- academic-year seminar series, a paid summer sive professional support through a two-year internship with international organizations, pro- program, which includes a summer internship. fessional development activities, and opportu- The program began with a pilot summer nities to create mentor and peer networks, with internship for students entering their senior a focus on women, and leadership in interna- year; 10 Binghamton and 10 Stony Brook tional relations and global affairs. students were selected. Following a four-day Each year, 10 students are selected from orientation at the SUNY Global Center in both universities. During the previous years, Manhattan, where they learned about interna- students participated in monthly seminars that tional relations and how to succeed in a profes- gave them an overview of key themes, vocabu- sional environment, the interns were placed lary and resources in international relations with a variety of international organizations. and global affairs. They attended networking, Along with the experience they gained at their professional development and mentoring ses- host organizations, they took part in topical sions. # weekly seminars, participated in networking For additional information, contact Dr. Air-conditioned buses from all NY-area neighborhoods. events, kept a daily journal and completed sev- Maryalice Mazzarra, the JFEW SUNY Program eral assignments. Students received $5,000 for Director at [email protected]. Weekdays: 3, 4, or 7 weeks. Tuition: $2,310 - $4,075 plus transportation and fees. Visit: usdan.com 212-772-6060 | 631-643-7900 Dr. Herman Rosen at Landmark College: Allied A Barnard College Professor Breaks Health is a Growth Industry Tradition: Let Your Body Take the Lead By Julia Qian Letting your body take the lead means going By Yehuda Bayme “In an extremely competitive school, you back to your very first type of learning and the Dr. Herman Rosen, a board certified nephrolo- are taught to reason, and ultimately, to follow origin of our very own being. gist and clinical professor of medicine at Weill your brain. But in my class, I want to teach my Follow your guts, she says. After you listen Cornell Medical School, discussed, at a recent students to listen to their body.” to your body, you follow what it wants, from lecture at Landmark College in Putney,Vermont, For the students who don’t know her, a turn, a jump, a fall, to being still. I gradually the growing field of allied health professionals Professor Trainor is a well-known dance pro- discover that if my body wants a specific move- (people in the medical field that are not doctors fessor with one of the highest students’ evalua- ment, I do it well. And I know this principle or nurses). He discussed examples of how these tions in an Ivy League school. For the students applies to other aspects of life, as well. workers are in demand and will be in even greater (L-R) Pres. Peter Eden, Mascot Finn, and who know her, she is Caitlin. The next step is fulfilling the movements— demand in the next few years. Trustee Belle O’Brien at Landmark College “Embody the space,” “fulfill the movements,” every single movement. Fulfilling the move- His main example came from his own specialty, “follow your guts.” Caitlin always repeats those ment is a physical experience of “cape diem.” nephrology. In end-stage renal disease (kidney He posited growth opportunities for veterinar- phrases in class and expresses that in her way of When you lift up your right arm, for example, disease in which there is no medicine that can ian assistants to work as allied health profes- dancing and ultimately, living. She brings forth feel it being supported, not only by your arm be administered to get rid of it) treatment can be sionals in animal research. He also dealt with a wind of energy with her turns and breathes muscles but also with your shoulder, back either dialysis or transplantation. Dialysis, which issues of patient confidentiality, saying that medi- into a sharp, off-balanced pose. She dives onto muscles, the tips of your toes and the ground. is a process of removing waste from the blood- cal records personnel will be needed more. He the floor with her feet poking out of the “water.” You are not just lifting up your right arm, but stream, can keep patients alive for many years. answered concerns about safety, workers fatigue She fulfills every movement and every moment reaching for something bigger and further. You Because dialysis is performed on an increasing and hospital policies towards patient admissions. like a drop of water emerging from a sea. are not reaching at the air above your head, but number of patients three times a week, dialysis Dr. Rosen explained that although there are prob- Sometimes, only when you stop trying to the infinite space above you. Your fingertip technicians are in demand. lems working in the health field such as EMTs think, can you then communicate with the space is so far stretched, leading beyond your hair, Other examples mentioned were EMTs, para- encountering violence, exposure to infectious around you with all of your senses and listen to neck, and balls of your feet, as if you are no medics, x-ray technicians, occupational thera- organisms, proper training teaches workers to every crack of your body. In her dance class, longer under the law of gravity. Only when pists, physical therapists, and physician assistants. avoid problems. from the back of the skull, to the balls of my you fulfill that single act of reaching, can you Because more people are getting sick due to In conclusion, Dr. Rosen mentioned that feet, to the imaginative gut behind my belly “fully embody the moment.” You will taste population growth, increase in chronic diseases although growing, the medical industry is requir- button, I am present. It’s a time when my soul, the moment of using every muscle intention- such as diabetes, more technology and services ing associate or bachelors or higher degrees, so heart, mind, muscles, blood, skin, breath and ally and intensively to accomplish that one are needed and the industry is in growth mode. one should plan accordingly. Most important, the air surrounding me are all engaged in the simple act. Sometimes, you even experience Dr. Rosen estimates that allied health is poised to allied health can be a rewarding profession if one same conversation, in a harmony. the moment of losing control, the fall, and then, grow by 40 percent by the year 2020. is interested and passionate about helping others.# Listening to your body is only the first step. the catch. # 26 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ JFAN/ EB 2014

MERCY COLLEGE - THE DEAN’S COLUMN Learning with Results: On Testing A Process-Based Approach Many children and adults struggle with prob- fidence. It is our goal that all of our students lems related to reading, spelling, and lan- become independent, self-correcting learners in guage comprehension. Factor in diagnoses like all aspects of their lives. dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, auditory In order to provide the appropriate instruction processing disorder, hyperlexia, and autism for each individual, a learning profile must be spectrum disorders, and it can be difficult to established—this is accomplished with a com- know where to turn for the right educational prehensive battery of assessments. This learn- assistance. ing evaluation is analyzed and a consultation is With over 25 years of experience, then held to explain the individual’s strengths Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes offers and weaknesses, as well as a plan for instruc- solutions for many learning difficulties. Our tion. Each instructional plan is tailored to the research-validated instruction addresses the specific learning needs of the individual and global learning needs of all individuals. Our embodies an interactive, balanced approach. unique instructional programs are not age, The intensity of our instruction is a notable year, or performance specific; we see students difference between Lindamood-Bell and other of all levels and ages, including adults. We tutoring services that provide learning assis- have over 50 permanent Learning Centers and tance. Lindamood-Bell recommends intensive over 40 seasonal Learning Clinics across the instruction, which consists of approximately US, UK, and Australia. two to four hours per day, five days per week. Dr. Alfred Posamentier Lindamood-Bell® instruction develops and Our average results with intensive instruction strengthens the sensory-cognitive functions of may see two to three years’ growth in as little By Alfred Posamentier thought that test preparation would grow into phonemic awareness, symbol imagery, and as six to eight weeks. & Gene Maeroff what amounts to a subject in itself? In some concept imagery. A weakness in one of these The majority of Lindamood-Bell’s students Are students in our elementary and second- locales pressure for better scores led schools functions can cause reading, spelling, and com- are between the ages of 7-14, but because their ary schools taking too many tests? It is start- to deemphasize subjects that are not tested, prehension difficulties, and will interfere with a unique instructional program is not age, year, ing to look that way and no respite is in sight. especially music and art and, sometimes, student’s ability to learn. or performance specific, they see students of all Now, states are planning to assess the per- social studies. Our unique instruction and one-to-one setting levels and ages, including adults. # formance of students as a way to evaluate The ubiquity of the multiple-choice exami- allows for great growth, and the environment For more information, visit us online at www. their teachers. Never mind that student out- nation detracts from critical thinking and nurtures each student’s self-esteem and con- lindamoodbell.com. comes also reflect the influence of the home problem solving, sacrificing depth for brevity. and out-of-school factors like peer pressure The Common Core Curriculum that is now and tutoring. on the horizon in most states is supposed to Marine Science Program All of this comes alongside pop quizzes, lead to deeper learning. Chances are, though, standardized examinations that tell wheth- that the new tests of the Partnership for in rooklyn er students are performing on grade level, Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) B assessments by the federal government that that will accompany the Core Curriculum will By Lane Rosen Harbor Foundation are setting up an oyster reef compare students in one state with those in be replete with multiple-choice questions. John Dewey High School has a great location community for which data is to be collected other states, new examinations that measure Schools certainly should be accountable. on a 12-acre property in Coney Island. It is over a two year period. The marine biology progress as students move through the grades But the time has arrived to determine whether near miles of waterfront property along Coney club maintains about 12 fish tanks, turtles and to find whether they will be ready for col- the abundance of testing is counterproduc- Island Creek and Jamaica Bay in NY Harbor, lizards in the aquarium classroom. The club is lege, entrance examinations for college that tive. There are possibilities other than having an estuary for marine life. For the last 40 also raising trout eggs to be released as small students take in high school, and exit tests to every student take a test to find out how well years, there has been an active Marine Science fish in the spring. Cold Spring Hatchery does get out of high school. students in general are progressing or how Program at John Dewey. an egg stripping demonstration showing the Not all testing is of the high stakes variety. a school is doing. The federal government’s Currently, the course is a two-credit laboratory process of fertilization to the students first Periodic appraisal is appropriate to see if National Assessment of Educational Progress, science elective. The students do hands-on labs hand. With the support of the administration, students are achieving what teachers expect for example, uses matrix testing in which each with live and preserved marine life in an aquari- together with the Culinary Department we them to learn. These tests, referred to as for- question is not given to every student. A com- um enriched classroom and a brand new labora- are at the process of setting up a tank to raise mative assessment, contrast with the summa- posite outcome reveals what has to be known. tory. They are offered many unique educational tilapia. tive assessment in which the stakes are high, The pressure to prepare students for tests and career opportunities through the course. Our students love Kaiser Park, a waterfront deciding, for instance, whether students get should not be so great that teachers lose their The marine biology program works with many jewel in Coney Island. For this reason, we promoted to the next grade or receive their enthusiasm for teaching. They should feel agencies including; DEC, EPA, NY Aquarium, organize at least two coastal clean ups yearly, diplomas. free to provide enrichment in a subject even NYC Parks, AMNH, NYSMEA, Trout in the we teach marine environmental education and It makes sense to judge the performance of if it moves the lesson away from material Classroom, Cultural Research Divers, Cold offer opportunities to earn community service. students, teachers, and schools. Yet laudable that will be on the test. Nor should the pres- Springs Harbor Hatchery, Brooklyn College, We study horseshoe crabs, collect invasive crab goals sometimes seem subverted by the heavy sure prevent students from pursuing learning Pratt College, KBCC, Beneath the Seas and species, look at marine life, and study water burden of tests, which cumulatively rob stu- simply for the sake of learning. Testing is Friends of Kaiser Park. quality. This all creates a sense of belonging dents of increasing amounts of instructional the obverse side of the instructional coin and Students are involved in various activities and pride in serving our community and the time and raise the level of anxiety for every- society ought to wonder about a currency that and trips throughout the year. Trips include the environment around us. one involved. Cheating scandals arise ever could be debased by too much testing. # AMNH, NY Aquarium, KBCC, Bronx Zoo, Most importantly, students are required more frequently as the stakes rise. Witness Alfred S. Posamentier is Dean of the School and Marine Career Exhibition. Students are to complete a marine careers project, which the alleged behavior of educators in Atlanta of Education, and Professor of Mathematics encouraged to apply for internships at the inspires them to consider different college and who are now caught up in the justice system. Education, Mercy College, New York; Gene NY Aquarium, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, career opportunities. Many alumni have said, Entirely too much time is spent in some I. Maeroff is the Founding Director of the Prospect Park Zoo and AMNH. JDHS stu- that this has been the most educational, fun and classrooms in test preparation, hours that Hechinger Institute at Teachers College, dents recently went aboard the sailboat Pioneer enriching class they ever experienced. # teachers might better devote to engaging Columbia University and President of the Schooner at the new waterfront eco dock in Lane Rosen is the assistant principal at the students with meaningful content. Who ever Edison, New Jersey School Board Bay Ridge. They have been working with NY John Dewey High School in Brooklyn. FJAN/ EB 2014 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 27

A Look Back at Education Update in 2013

President Susan Fuhrman, Teachers College Alan Alda (L-R) Pres. Jennifer Raab, Hunter College & Anne His Holiness the Dalai Lama Dr. Matthew Goldstein Eisenhower, granddaughter of Pres. Eisenhower

Dr. James Kutsch, CEO, Seeing Eye, Inc. President Ernest Logan, CSA Outstanding Educators of the Year 2013 Dr. Russell Granet, Executive Director, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, Yale University at the Harvard Club Lincoln Center Education School of Medicine, Dyslexia Expert

President Jimmy Carter Ann Tisch, Founder, President Lisa S. Coico, CCNY (L-R) Pres. Mitchel Wallerstein Senator Bob Kerrey Young Women’s Leadership Network & Phyllis Kossoff

Joyce Cowin, Trustee, Teachers College Sr. VC Jay Hershenson, CUNY Pres. Ellen Futter, AMNH awards President Marvin Leffler, Town Hall Dean Mary M. Brabeck, NYU Steinhardt first doctoral degrees from a museum 28 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ FJAN/ EB 2014

THE ETHICS COLUMN LAW & EDUCATION Genetics 2.0: Revoking The President’s Message – The Right Not To Know National Character Counts Week By Jacob M. Appel, MD, JD By Arthur Katz, J.D. uncertain and irremediable condition. Parents was investigated by New York City’s Laboratories conducting tests for genetic might equally wish to shield such diagno- National Character Counts Week was Education Department and resulted in mutations related to specific medical conditions ses from their children. The ACMC approach proclaimed by President Obama this a report that (according to the New often discover incidental mutations unrelated makes that choice impossible, unless the patient year. However, if you are like me, you, York Times) created an unflattering to the initial cause for testing. For example, or family forgoes all testing. too, never heard about it and National portrait of the school’s leadership team, a physician may send a sample of a patient’s I have written elsewhere that there may be Character Counts Week passed by and cited its well-regarded (until then) DNA to a lab to test for a mutation causing some conditions so devastating and so treat- unnoticed, which was our misfortune. principal and an assistant principal with a developmental disorder and the lab might able or preventable that all pediatric patients In his Proclamation, President Obama a failure “to efficiently and effectively also, as a byproduct of its analysis, learn that should be required to undergo them. One is said: “During National Character Counts Week, carry out the administrative duties entrusted to the patient stands at risk for developing an hard-pressed, for example, to make a case we reflect on the ways we support one another, them”. aggressive cancer later in life. Until recently, against compulsory screening for phenylke- the ways we come together and seek common I do not mean to single out educators, nor call patients retained the right to choose whether or tonuria (PKU)—a disease both easily treatable ground, and the lessons we teach our children for them to be held to a higher standard than the not to be informed of such incidental findings. through dietary restrictions and highly fatal about what citizenship means in the United rest of us (although it would not be a horrible However, a radical decision by the American without such care. Requiring universal pedi- States of America.” thought). I do not know if the recent publicity of College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) last atric screening offers tangible merits, albeit at “The children we raise today are surrounded good educators showing a lack of good sense is April recommended that labs have an ethical the expense of familial autonomy; requiring by proud examples of integrity, and moral cour- a sign of our times, although I hope not. and fiduciary duty to report incidental findings all-or-none testing offers far fewer. Mandating age, but it is our task as parents, community During a sentencing hearing of a former for fifty-seven commonly tested mutations— such testing for adults serves as a direct affront members, and leaders to teach them not only the bank executive in November 2013, Alvin K. whether the patients want such information to the now widely-accepted ethical norm that skills they need to succeed, but also the values Hellerstein, a senior judge of the U.S. District or not. This approach challenges traditional patients may control their own body tissue and that keep our country strong. This week, we Court for the Southern District of New York, notions of patient autonomy. drive their own care. reaffirm our commitment to helping our children is reported to have said “Why do so many In theory, the incidental findings are pro- Supporters of complete disclosure argue that turn away from bullying, harassment, and dis- good people do bad things;” a thought that I, vided to physicians, not patients, who may then revealing incidental findings is the accepted crimination, and to giving them the confidence too, also have had. At a minimum, it is clear decide whether to pass along the data. In prac- norm in other areas of medicine. If a chest and integrity to stand up for each other, imagine that there is a perception our moral fiber is tice, once such a finding becomes part of the X-ray for pneumonia reveals a liver tumor at a brighter future, and realize their dreams.” not what it should be. This was just pointed medical record, it is unrealistic to expect doc- the corner of the image, any competent radi- During the past two years or so, I have noticed out by Transparency International in its yearly tors to withhold the information or for patients ologist will report this incidental finding to an increasing number of publicized incidents “Corruption Perceptions Index” which, in rank- to remain in the dark for long. In other words, the patient. Yet genetic testing is different in which demonstrated a lack of values by educa- ing 177 countries in perception of public sector anyone agreeing to one form of genetic testing kind. While a patient is unlikely to skip a chest tors, each of which occurred under different corruption, ranked the United States as 19th, is essentially forced to accept a far broader x-ray or similar routine medical procedure out circumstances, but all of which, in retrospect, below Canada, Uruguay, Barbados and the UK! range of evaluation. This all-or-none approach of fear for a rare incidental finding, patients and as reported by the media, made me pause. But, all is not bad. Notable exceptions include appears particularly problematic in that some may well avoid genetic testing to avoid receiv- And it wasn’t because the educator involved Cornell’s September 2013 cancelation of all of these fifty-seven conditions remain untreat- ing unwanted knowledge. A policy intended may not have meant well or may not have fall competition for its men’s lacrosse team as a able and manifest later in life; others display to increase patients’ knowledge may actually been trying to “do the right thing.” Each was result of a hazing incident as well as Harvard’s only limited penetrance, meaning some patients scare away many individuals from all genetic unfortunate in its own right and each cast a long 2012 required withdrawal of over five dozen who possess the mutations will never develop studies, leaving them entirely undiagnosed. # shadow over a renowned educator nullifying, in undergraduate students, generally for a year, the diseases. A perfectly reasonable individual Jacob Appel, a physician and attorney, is a many instances, their decades of devotion to the as a result of cheating on the same take-home might not want to know that he faces such an psychiatrist at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. education process. exam. I was particularly impressed by Cornell’s Perhaps, the most publicized instance was “Group Misconduct” and “Hazing” public web- that way of thought. My study showed that, the mishandling of unwanted sexual conduct site pages, which attempt to explain in clear, Dr. Michael Siller although parents were not the cause of autism, at Penn State, which in October resulted in the unambiguous language what is unacceptable what they input into the child’s development University’s agreement to pay almost $60 mil- behavior and, just simply, not tolerated. continued from page 13 matters a lot. lion in exchange for settlements with 26 sexual However, Cornell’s and Harvard’s actions are parenting. These included responsiveness, PR: What intervention type is the most abuse victims. However, there have been less just a start. We still need to instill in our children warmth and parents talking about things inter- productive in treating the child? publicized incidents, from the recent indictment a better sense of integrity, moral courage and esting to the children. Although different from MS: It is complicated, because it is very dif- of an Ohio school superintendent for obstruct- what is right. And more publicly celebrating the philosophy of the time to give the kids ficult work. Autism is hard to identify in chil- ing justice as a result of his failing to take National Character Counts Week in 2014, in my structure, I maintained that the parents would dren ages 18 to 24 months. We work with early adequate actions in connection with an alleged view, would be a good start. # be required to be responsive in some way to the intervention providers, we offer workshops, but rape, to the mishandling of a cheating scandal Arthur Katz is a member of the law firm of children. My findings were that children who it is not always effective, because of the lack at Stuyvesant High School last year, which Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen, P.C. had more responsive parents would develop of children provided for our research studies. better language skills later on in life. In fact, We are given children from Weil-Cornell, but out to these services. We also encourage the York City public school system to come up parents were not to blame for having children diversity is not always well represented. Also, parents to use their own judgment and play with consistent plans and goals for engaging the with autism, but rather, it was just that they in the toddlers, the pace at which each child active roles in their children’s development. autistic spectrum. would be required to be more responsive to develops differs greatly and it is not easy to PL: Do you incorporate educators into the PR: New York is a culture of inclusion. their children than parents of non-autistic ones. understand this. The parents of these children caregiving mix? Should these children be included with non- PR: That is such an important finding. It have many worries and are not always inter- MS: We believe that everyone involved autistic children? used to be said that parents of children with ested in anything but direct healthcare and not with the children should be on the same page. MS: Absolutely. It is very important to incor- disabilities were “refrigerator parents.” It interactive lessons in communication. Teachers may not be trained in dealing with porate these children with the rest of the envi- was the philosophy that the parents were PL: What kinds of things do you tell the autism, but that is changing. The NEST pro- ronment. somewhat nurtured to be incapable of bear- parents? gram, originally headed by Shirley Cohen and The rest of this interview can ing normal children. MS: We give them access to early interven- now by her successors Angela Mouzakitis and be read in its entirety online at MS: Yes. In the 1980s, studies veered from tion providers. We encourage parents to reach Jamie Bleiweiss, trains teachers in the New www.EducationUpdate.com. JFAN/ EB 2014 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ EDUCATION UPDATE 29 Park Avenue Synagogue Hosts Good Deeds Fair By Yehuda Bayme gift bags for babies of Women in Need, emer- Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City gency preparedness kits for the United Jewish recently hosted the “Vicki K. Wimpfheimer Council of the East Side, Rainbow Loom Mitzvah Day,” an event focused on giving back Friendship Bracelets for Met Council on Jewish to society. “Mitzvah” is a Hebrew word which Poverty, care packages for Jewish soldiers in means “commandment,” but it is most well the United States armed forces, and craft kits known to mean “a good deed.” At the gathering, for children in hospice for Project Sunshine, different tables were set-up to provide oppor- a non-profit organization that helps medically tunities for children and adults to get involved challenged children with free services. A blood and make positive impacts on society at large. drive was also present. One of the highlights of the program was This Manhattan congregation is demonstrat- a haircutting station for donations to Pantene ing that giving feels good. Any type of giving, Beautiful Lengths, a development instituted whether it means making a friendship bracelet, by the hair care products company that makes giving a pint of blood, or even the wonder- wigs for patients undergoing cancer treatments. ful gesture of a hair donation, is good for the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation was there soul and good to society. These opportunities to take cheek swabs to find donors of bone are readily available to the public and more marrow and stem cells for people with leuke- help is always needed. Most importantly, the mia and blood cancer. Another table helped event made an impact on the students who York Preparatory School Coalition for the Homeless, a service provider were involved in the program. About 20 to 30 York Preparatory School 40 West 68th Street for the needy in New York City, as members high school students prepared packages for York Preparatory40 West 68th School Street New York, NY 10023 of this congregation prepared hundreds of bag the needy. The students were inspired by what New40 WestYork, 68th NY 10023Street York Preparatorywww.yorkprep.org School lunches for the organization. they were doing. It was truly an uplifting event Newwww.yorkprep.org York, NY 10023 Other activities included making toiletry and really brought out the giving spirit of this 40 West 68th Street York Preparatorywww.yorkprep.org School packages for the New York Common Pantry, season. # New York, NY 10023 YorkYork PreparatoryPreparatory40 West 68th SchoolSchool Street “An Intimatewww.yorkprep.org Place to Learn “AnYork Intimate PreparatoryNew4040 WestPlaceYork,West 68th 68thNYSchool 10023StreettoStreet Learn New York, NY 10023 “An IntimateNew40www.yorkprep.org PlaceWestYork, 68th NY to10023Street Learn ininYork thethe Preparatory HeartHeartwww.yorkprep.org ofof aa School GreatGreat City”City” “An IntimateNewwww.yorkprep.org PlaceYork, NY 10023to Learn inYork the PreparatoryHeart40 Westof a 68th SchoolGreat Street City” “An IntimateNewwww.yorkprep.org York,Place NY 10023to Learn DearDear in Parents:Parents: the Heart40www.yorkprep.org ofWest a 68th Great Street City” “An“An IntimateIntimateNew PlacePlaceYork, NY to10023to LearnLearn DearYouYou are areParents: cordiallycordially invitedinvited toto attendattend oneone ofof ourour “An in the Intimate Heartwww.yorkprep.org Placeof a Great to Learn City” DearYouOPENOPEN“An ininare Parents: HOUSESHOUSESthe the cordiallyIntimate HeartHeart atatinvited YorkYork Placeofof a aPreparatorytoPreparatory Great Greatattend to Learn one City”City” School.School. of our YouOPEN inare HOUSESthe cordially Heart atinvited York of aPreparatoryto Great attend one City” School. of our $$$Dear Tuesday, Parents: September 24th 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM OPEN$$$ Tuesday,“An HOUSES SeptemberIntimate at 24th York Place Preparatory9:30 to AM Learn – 10:30 School. AM $Dear$$YouDear Tuesday, in are Parents:Parents: the cordiallyOctober Heart 1st invited of a to Great 9:30attend AM one–City” 10:30 of AMour $$$$$$ Tuesday,Tuesday, SeptemberOctober 1st 24th 9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 AMAM $DearYou$$OPEN$You$$ Wednesday,Wednesday, are areParents: HOUSES cordiallycordially OctoberOctober atinvited invited 9th9th York toPreparatoryto 9:309:30attendattend AMAM one one–– 10:3010:30 School. ofof AMourAMour $$$ Tuesday, in the SeptemberOctober Heart 1st 24th of a Great9:30 AM – City” 10:30 AM $OPEN$$$OPEN$$ Thursday,Thursday, HOUSESHOUSES OctoberOctober 17th 17thatat YorkYork PreparatoryPreparatory5:305:30 PMPM –– School.6:30School.6:30 PMPM $DearYou$$ Tuesday,Wednesday, are Parents: cordially October October 1st invited 9th to 9:30attend AM one– 10:30 of AMour $$$$$$ Thursday,Tuesday,Thursday, September OctoberOctober 24th24th 24th 9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 AMAM $YouOPEN$$ Wednesday,Thursday, are HOUSES cordially October October 17th atinvited 9th York 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24th17th3rd3rd 9:309:305:305:30 AMAM PMPM –– – –10:3010:30 6:306:30 AMPMAMPM $$$ Wednesday,Thursday,Tuesday, October November NovemberOctober 1st 9th21st 13th 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Thursday,Monday,Wednesday,Tuesday,Thursday,Monday, JanuarySeptemberJanuary OctoberOctober November 13th13th 24th24th 24th 6th 9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 AMAM $$$ Tuesday,Thursday,Wednesday, December NovemberOctober October 17th3rd 9th21st 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Wednesday,Wednesday,Tuesday, October NovemberJanuaryNovemberJanuary 1st York York22nd22nd 6th13th6th 9:309:305:305:30 AMAM PMPM –– Preparatory–Preparatory –10:3010:30 6:306:30 AMPMAMPM SchoolSchool $$$ Tuesday,Thursday,Monday, DecemberJanuary October 13th 17th24th3rd 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Wednesday,Wednesday,Thursday, November NovemberNovemberOctober 9th21st 13th13th 9:305:305:30 AM PMPM – – –10:30 6:306:30 PMAMPM $$$ Wednesday,Thursday,Monday, January October NovemberJanuary 13th 24th York22nd 6th 9:305:30 AM PM – Preparatory –10:30 6:30 AMPM 40 West 68th School Street $$$$$$ Thursday,Tuesday,Thursday, December NovemberNovemberOctober 17th3rd 21st21st 9:309:305:30 AMAM PM –– –10:3010:30 6:30 AMAMPM 40 West 68th Street $RSVP$$RSVP Wednesday, toto thethe NovemberJanuaryAdmissionsAdmissions York22nd 6th13th OfficeOffice9:30 at:5:30at: AM PM – Preparatory –10:30 6:30 AMPM School $$$$$$ Tuesday,Tuesday,Thursday,Monday, DecemberDecemberJanuary October 13th 24th3rd3rd 9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 AMAM 40 West 68th Street 212-362-0400$$$212-362-0400 Wednesday,Thursday, November November ext.ext. 133133 21st 13th oror egarciaegarcia9:305:[email protected]@yorkprep.org AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM NewNew York,York, NYNY 1002310023 RSVP$$$$$$ Monday,Wednesday,Monday, to the JanuaryJanuary AdmissionsNovemberJanuary 13th13th York22nd 6th Office9:309:30 at:5:30 AMAM PM –– Preparatory –10:3010:30 6:30 AMAMPM School $$$ Tuesday,Thursday,Celebrating December November 3rd 21st 459:30 Years AM – 10:30 AM 40 West 68th Street 212-362-0400$$$ Wednesday,Celebrating January ext. 133 22nd or egarcia 455:[email protected] Years PM – 6:30 PM New York, NY 10023 RSVP$$$$$ Wednesday, to the AdmissionsNovemberJanuary 22nd 13th Office at:5:30 PM – 6:30 PM www.yorkprep.org York$$$York Tuesday,Monday, PrepPrep isis aa December January coeducationalcoeducational 13th 3rd collegecollege preparatorypreparatory9:30 school schoolAM – forfor 10:30 gradesgrades AM 6-12.6-12. www.yorkprep.org 212-362-0400$$$ Celebrating ext. 133 or egarcia [email protected] Years New40 York,West 68thNY 10023Street leaders in education at leaders in education $$ Thursday, November 21st 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM $$$RSVP Wednesday,Monday, to theJanuary JanuaryAdmissions 13th 22nd Office9:30 5:30at: AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM www.yorkprep.org York$$$ Tuesday,Celebrating Prep is a Decembercoeducational 3rd college preparatory 459:30 Yearsschool AM –for 10:30 grades AM 6-12. $RSVP$$212-362-0400RSVP Wednesday, toto thethe 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York Prep is a coeducational“An“An college preparatory IntimateIntimate school for grades 6-12. PlacePlace toto LearnLearn York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6-12. Watch over 100 video interviews with 100 video interviews over Watch

www.EducationUpdate.com 212-362-0400 ext. 133 or [email protected] RSVP to the“An Admissions Office Intimate at: Place to Learn York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6-12. 212-362-0400“An ext. 133 or egarcia [email protected] Place to Learn York Prep is a coeducational “An inin college preparatorythethe Intimate school for gradesHeartHeart 6-12. Placeofof aa GreatGreat to Learn City”City” York Prep is a coeducational in college preparatorythe school for gradesHeart 6-12. of a Great City” in the Heart of a Great City” DearDear Parents:Parents: Dear Parents: DearYouYou areare Parents: cordiallycordially invitedinvited toto attendattend oneone ofof ourour You are cordially invited to attend one of our YouOPENOPENDear are Parents: HOUSESHOUSES cordially atatinvited YorkYork PreparatoryPreparatoryto attend one School.School. of our OPEN HOUSES at York Preparatory School. OPENYou are HOUSES cordially atinvited York Preparatoryto attend one School. of our $$$$OPEN$$ Tuesday,Tuesday, HOUSES SeptemberSeptember at24th24th York Preparatory9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 School. AMAM $$$ Tuesday, SeptemberOctober 1st 24th 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM $$$$$$ Tuesday,Tuesday, SeptemberOctober 1st 24th 9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 AMAM $$$ Tuesday,Wednesday, October October 1st 9th 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM $$$$$$ Tuesday,Tuesday,Wednesday, OctoberSeptember October 1st 24th 9th 9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 AMAM $$$ Wednesday,Thursday, October October 17th 9th 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Wednesday,Tuesday,Thursday, October October October 1st 17th 9th 9:309:305:30 AMAM PM –– –10:3010:30 6:30 AMAMPM $$$ Thursday, October 24th17th 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Thursday,Wednesday,Thursday, OctoberOctober October 17th24th 9th 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$ Wednesday,Thursday, October November 24th 6th 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM $$$$$$ Thursday,Wednesday,Thursday, OctoberOctober November 24th17th 6th 9:309:305:30 AMAM PM –– –10:3010:30 6:30 AMAMPM $$$ Wednesday, November 6th13th 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Wednesday,Wednesday,Thursday, October NovemberNovember 24th 6th13th 9:309:305:30 AMAM PM –– –10:3010:30 6:30 AMAMPM $$$ Wednesday,Thursday, November November 21st 13th 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Wednesday,Wednesday,Thursday, November NovemberNovember 21st 13th6th 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$ Tuesday,Thursday, December November 3rd 21st 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM $$$$$$ Thursday,Tuesday,Wednesday, December November November 3rd 21st 13th 9:309:305:30 AMAM PM –– –10:3010:30 6:30 AMAMPM $$$ Tuesday,Monday, DecemberJanuary 13th 3rd 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM $$$$$$ Tuesday,Thursday,Monday, DecemberJanuary November 13th 3rd 21st 9:309:30 AMAM –– 10:3010:30 AMAM $$$ Wednesday,Monday, January January 13th 22nd 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM $$$$$$ Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday, DecemberJanuary January 13th 3rd 22nd 9:309:305:30 AMAM PM –– –10:3010:30 6:30 AMAMPM $$$ Wednesday, January 22nd 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM $$$$$$ Wednesday,Monday, January January 13th 22nd 9:305:30 AM PM – –10:30 6:30 AMPM RSVP$RSVP$$ Wednesday, toto thethe JanuaryAdmissionsAdmissions 22nd OfficeOffice at:at:5:30 PM – 6:30 PM 212-362-0400RSVP212-362-0400 to the Admissions ext.ext. 133133 oror Officeegarciaegarcia at:@[email protected] 212-362-0400RSVP to the Admissions ext. 133 or Officeegarcia at:@yorkprep.org 212-362-0400RSVP to the Admissions ext. 133 or Officeegarcia at:@yorkprep.org York212-362-0400York PrepPrep isis aa coeducationalcoeducational ext. 133 collegecollege or [email protected] schoolschool forfor gradesgrades 6-12.6-12. York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6-12. York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6-12. York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6-12. 30 EDUCATION UPDATE ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ JFAN/ EB 2014

Grace Outreach Gives what others are going through. It helped them Poverty & Prison socialize. When the kids knew that they could continued from page 14 read stories, they wanted to write their own.” Women A Second Chance He highlighted the story of a student who was He took the attitude of “I don’t care, ‘cause astounded when one of the books he was given By Patricia Lavelle no one else cares,” he said. The writing pro- mirrored the teen’s own life. When the teen A true celebration of girl power ensued gram helped him gain confidence and have looked at the author of the book, he found at the Grace Outreach Benefit, recently a sense of purpose. He proudly talked about that it was written by his very own principal, hosted at the Racquet & Tennis Club how he “didn’t write to satisfy the teacher’s Shawn Welcome, two decades earlier. Now, a in New York City. The event celebrat- curriculum,” but that he wrote because it was successful educator and writer, Welcome spoke ed the success of the organization since what he was passionate about. to the panel and how “the fog of anger and hurt its founding in 2004, in empowering Founder and Executive Director Keith began to lift away from his life,” when he used women to achieve success in both the Hefner said that this event was “to engage writing as a tool after years of being in trouble academic and professional sphere. The those who are most disengaged: the young on the streets. evening’s events highlighted this work people who have been let down by the adults The packed house watched attentively as and included performances by the Vision in their lives.” He spoke of how he approached the lights dimmed again and the words of the Steppers and a touching personal testimo- the probation officers with books to hand two male teens and one female teen echoed nial from Grace Outreach student, Aisha to the teens years ago. The response he got loud and proud. They recited words of hurt McBride and leader student tutor, Derrian from those probation officers was, “I hope it’s and pain, things like, “Nobody listens to me Robinson. According to McBride, College Facebook (the social media networking site), and I dropped out of school at 14.” Slowly, the Outreach’s College Prep Program was because that is the only book that they’ll read.” teens described how writing helped them heal. exactly what she needed at this point in That wasn’t so. The students not only asked if Working with an editor, one of the teens says, her life. While she previously struggled they could take those books home, but they was like holding up a mirror. Another chimed with her attempts to finish school, she even came earlier than their approved times to in how second chances made them proud of feels completely prepared to attend col- dive into the pages. Many of these were “kids their own reflections now. lege and pursue a degree in interior design who were running around in the streets for Hefner concluded, “if we don’t allow chil- because of the exposure and the support years or locked down in their homes. When dren to speak, we rob ourselves from listening she has received through the college prep they got out at 13, they had poor education and helping them grow. The goal is to expand program. and poor skills. These stories taught them and to reach youth directly in the front lines.” # The organization also honored Ann Margaret Grace, Founder, Grace Outreach Shoket at the benefit. Shoket is the Editor in Chief of Seventeen Magazine since women must use these tools to be powerful and Alternatives (CCA), formed the Education from 2007, and since her arrival has made the successful leaders. Vivian Nixon the Inside Out Coalition (EIO). Together, we continued from page 4 magazine one of the top teen publications in the The Grace Outreach provides extensive are working to remove the barriers to higher country. Through her work in this field, she has support for women from low-income back- to their communities. Perhaps the best metric of education facing currently and formerly incar- used her influence to inspire women of all ages grounds in their pursuits for higher education all, under two percent have gone back to prison, cerated individuals. Our main efforts are the to take hold of their futures and become the and employment. The organization initially was compared with some 40 percent of female reinstatement of Pell Grants across the nation, leaders this world needs. When she shared her a GED/High School Equivalency education releasees who become re-incarcerated within TAP eligibility for incarcerated individuals in experiences with Grace Outreach students, she center and now offers multiple services to help three years in New York State. New York, and the removal of “the box” on col- captivated their minds and left them feeling like these women achieve their academic and pro- However, the work that we do is not just limit- lege applications inquiring about past criminal no goal was out of reach. Shoket underscored fessional goals, including college preparation ed to serving women in New York City. Far too justice involvement, which unfairly stigmatizes the unprecedented moment in history women programs and a multitude of career services many women, and men, too, are still within the those who have paid their debt to society and are at right now. “Girls really are controlling and events. Over 925 women have earned their criminal justice system without access to higher are working diligently to move beyond their the tools of power these days,” she said. All GED/High School Equivalency.# education. It has become quite apparent that in past. order to compete in today’s economy, a college There is a lot to be done to revise the mind- degree is almost a requirement. Unfortunately, set of many people who have strongly held recognize that for long-term success teachers in response to the “tough on crime” attitude that negative views on people who have been in Mark Alter need the capacity to learn from and change or was pervasive throughout the 1990s, legisla- prison. Only through our combined efforts can grow appropriately through an ongoing cycle tors have made misguided policy decisions that we ensure that women served by CCF, and all continued from page 4 of reflection on their experience. have had long standing ramifications. In 1994, people denied access to higher education, can teachers/colleagues in the building, textbook Working within these mediated tensions the U.S. Congress revoked federal Pell Grant overcome the adversity they face and get the publishers, other professionals (nurses, social requires a high tolerance for ambiguity, so that eligibility for incarcerated individuals and New boost they need to fully participate in society.# workers, psychologists, etc.) and multiple tests, teachers are able to work in the real—what is— York State followed suit by eliminating tuition Vivian Nixon is the executive director of examinations, and measures of student work. while working toward an ideal—what might Assistance Program (TAP) grants for prison the College and Community Fellowship and Teachers must focus on the needs of each indi- be. Teachers are self-renewing individuals who programs the following year. Co-Founder of the Education From the Inside vidual learner within a classroom community have learned though their collaborative learn- That is why we, along with the Fortune Out Coalition. For more information, visit: marked by fairness and social justice for all ing experiences to develop and influence a Society, and the Center for Community www.collegeandcommunity.org involved, often among competing interests and growing circle of colleagues. Teachers need to loyalties. In short, learning and teaching, when accept change as a fact of personal and profes- it works, is characterized by an interlocking sional life, and still be committed to working in complex of collaborative social activities. dynamic environments. With shared evidence Teachers must be committed to life-long as the guiding rule, any number of critical learning for themselves and their students. friends, including SOE, Relay, Harlem Village I like the dreams of the future These educational tensions reflect the com- Academies and Success Academies, can join plexity of teaching and learning and the inevi- the challenge of creating the best teachers for better than the history of the past. table fact that no teacher education program New York City.# produces “finished products.” That is, the Mark Alter, PhD is a Professor of Educational beginning teacher must be prepared to succeed Psychology at New York University and in the context of real schools, but success never was the founding chair of the Department of -Thomas Jefferson means perfection. Both beginning and experi- Teaching and Learning serving as Chair for enced teachers—and teacher educators—must 14 years. FJAN/ EB 2014 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update 31

Learning and the Brain Comes to NYC Education Update

Beginning on May 8, Learning & the Brain® critical thinking and creative problem solv- who will be speaking on the topic of “Making Mailing Address: will be presenting a three-day conference for ing. Recent research in the fields of brain, Students Smarter: Strengthening Thinking, 695 Park Avenue, Ste. E1509, NY, NY 10065 Email: [email protected] www.EducationUpdate.com educators in New York City. The theme of cognitive and mind sciences are providing Reasoning and Learning.” There will also Tel: 212-650-3552 Fax: 212-410-0591 this year’s conference is “The Science of new insights into critical and creative think- be breakout sessions during the conference PUBLISHERS: Smarter Minds: Teaching to Think, Create ing and intelligence. This conference will where such topics such as teaching math Pola Rosen, Ed.D., Adam Sugerman, M.A. and Innovate for School and Careers”. bring cognitive scientists, psychologists and and science and creative thinking will be ADVISORY COUNCIL: The opening keynote speaker will be educators together to explore ways to use the addressed. Mary Brabeck, Dean, NYU Steinhardt School Dr. Eric R. Kandel, Nobel Prize Winner in science of “smarter minds” to teach the skills This event is produced by Public Information of Culture, Ed., and Human Dev.; Christine Cea, Medicine and Director of the Kavli Institute students need to meet today’s new standards, Resources, Inc. and co-sponsored by the Dana Ph.D., NYS Board of Regents; Shelia Evans- Tranumn, Chair, Board of Trustees, Casey Family for Brain Science at Columbia University. He curriculum and careers. Alliance for Brain Initiatives, the Program Programs Foundation; Charlotte K. Frank, Ph.D., will be speaking on the topic of “The Age of Some of the other keynotes include in Neuroscience and Education at Teachers Sr. VP, McGraw-Hill; Joan Freilich, Ph.D., Trustee, Insight: Art, Brain and the Creative Beholder.” Arthur L. Costa, EdD, Emeritus Professor College at Columbia University and both the Barnard College & College of New Rochelle; Andrew Gardner, Sr. Manager, BrainPOP The focus of this conference is to present of Education at California State University, NASSP and NAESP among other organiza- Educators; Cynthia Greenleaf, Ph.D., Sr. Assoc., some of the latest research on getting students Sacramento and former president of the tions. Heidrick & Struggles; Augusta S. Kappner, Ph.D., to think and be creative. A June 2013 report ASCD, who will be speaking on the topic of The conference will begin at 1 PM on President Emerita, Bank St. College; Harold Koplewicz, M.D., Pres., Child Mind Institute; called “Recovery: Job Growth and Education “Developing Thought-Full Minds and Schools Thursday, May 8th at the Sheraton New York Ernest Logan, Pres., CSA; Cecelia McCarton, Requirements Through 2020,” found that 96 for the 21st Century and Beyond” and Sandra Times Square Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. M.D., Dir., The McCarton Center; Michael percent of all occupations will require criti- B. Chapman, PhD, who is the Dee Wyly Additional pre-conference workshops for edu- Mulgrew, Pres., UFT; Eric Nadelstern, Prof. of cal thinking skills. New Common Core and Distinguished Chair and Professor of Brain cators will be run on the Thursday morning Educational Leadership, Teachers College; Anthony Polemeni, Ph.D., Dean, Touro College; Alfred S. Next Generation Science Standards also stress Sciences at the University of Texas, Dallas starting at 8:45 AM. # Posamentier, Ph.D., Dean of Education, Mercy College; Jerrold Ross, Ph.D., Dean, School of Education, St. John’s University; Dr. John Russell, Head, Windward School; Debra Shanley, Ph.D., YOUNG WRITERS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dean, School of Education, Brooklyn College; David Steiner, Ph.D., Dean of Education, Hunter New York, NY dyslexia successfully? I am in South Africa and College; Ronald P. Stewart, Head, York Prep; Trust Walk Muriel Petioni, M.D., Saves Harlem Hospital here they understand even less. Adam Sugerman, Publisher, Palmiche Press By Jamie Landis From Closing Tanya ASSOCIATE EDITORS: During the trust walk, I felt like my whole life To the Editor: Heather Rosen, Rob Wertheimer was in Jade’s hands. Because I was last to go, I This is a wonderful article of the impor- NEW YORK, NEW YORK ASSISTANT EDITOR: Patricia Lavelle had the hardest task. We didn’t have time for me tant Black Female physician whom we knew To the Editor: to go on the walk the first day, so I had to do it all our lives because she was at Howard To Dr. Pola Rosen: It is always so good to be GUEST COLUMNISTS: Mark Alter Ph.D., Fil Dispenza, Arthur Katz, on the next day. When it was my turn, first I had Medical School. Her late father was Dr. John exposed to your wide-ranging ideas, your grasp Esq, Gene Maeroff, Matthew F. Mandeldaum to put on my blindfold. I had to listen to Jade’s V. Golding, Sr. She was a legend who lived for of big subjects and your enthusiasm. You are Ph.D., Vivian Nixon, Andrew Pallota, Dr. Alfred voice, but she didn’t make any sense. Her direc- 100 years until she passed in 2011! She was a breath of hope, of future plans, of connecting Posamentier, Mary Robinson Cohen, Gisela Rodriguez-Montalvo, Lane Rosen, Vera Sullivan tions were not very clear, so Ms. Moretti helped a family friend and inspiration to all female everyone. M.A., Lisa Young everyone in the group be more specific guides for physicians regardless of ethnicity. She will Sandy Priest Rose, SENIOR REPORTERS: me. For example, Ms. Moretti said “Put your hand always be remembered and greatly missed for Founder of Reading Reform Foundation Jacob Appel, M.D., J.D.; Jan Aaron; Joan Baum, on the door and try to find the knob.” I started all her contributions to the Harlem Community Ph.D.; Vicki Cobb; Sybil Maimin; Lisa Winkler Santa Cruz, CA searching for the knob. Turns out, the door didn’t like her venerable physician father, whom we REPORTERS: have a knob because it was a door that needed to remember as children. Joyce Cowin: Philanthropist McCarton Ackerman, Ethan Arberman, Jasmine be pushed open. Cleonis Golding To the Editor: Bager, Yehuda Bayme, Danielle Bennett, Dominique Carson, Valentina Cordero, Sam Fulmer, Gillian When I was led out the door of the library, I I’m so proud of my cousin Joyce. I just turned Granoff, Richard Kagan, Lydia Liebman, Wagner started to hear Jade’s voice. Jade told me to walk South Africa 89, and in my whole life I have never encoun- Mendoza, Rich Monetti, Omoefe Ogbeide, Giovanny north. I walked north, and almost fell back because The Misunderstanding Of Dyslexia tered such a wonderful career and record of Pinto, Yuridia Peña, Ariana Salvatore, Julia Qian I was still blindfolded and couldn’t see where I To the Editor: philanthropy and good works. I think Joyce has BOOK REVIEWS: was going. In my head I thought about the com- It’s funny how people can mistake a person’s become one of the great people in our society, Merri Rosenberg mercial that says “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” frustration for being rude or short tempered. and there are not very many of those. Dear MEDICAL EDITOR: I thought to myself that I hoped I wouldn’t have They do understand tasks better than what they Joyce: may you be as happy as you deserve. Herman Rosen, M.D. to say that if it happened to me during the walk! are given credit for. But when some of them do Harry Berger Jr MODERN LANGUAGE EDITOR: My major task was chosen by Ms. Moretti. I the task wrong, then they get frustrated with Adam Sugerman, M.A. had to walk from the library to the faculty bath- themselves. How can one raise awareness of MOVIE & THEATER REVIEWS: room and wash my hands with soap and water. In This Issue Jan Aaron I felt so challenged because I have only been to MUSIC EDITOR: Editorial ...... 4-5 Irving M. Spitz Churchill for two and a half years, so I still don’t hands, I had to be careful because I almost put my Spotlight on Schools...... 6-9 know where some of the rooms are located. I was hands inside the toilet! Ethics & Education...... 8 SPORTS EDITORS: Richard Kagan, MC Cohen walking along the wall by using my hand to feel Next time there is a trust walk, I think people Books ...... 10 for the doors. Then Ms. Moretti pulled a surprise should remember to move slowly and feel around Special Education...... 11-15 ART DIRECTOR: task challenge: I had to unlock the bathroom door for clues. The guides should be more specific Leaders in Education...... 15 Neil Schuldiner with a key from her. Then I tried to move the key when they give directions so their partner knows Cover Story...... 16-17 Marketing & Advertising: in the lock. I didn’t get it on the first try. I didn’t get what to do. I would have trouble trusting someone Colleges & Grad Schools. . . .18-19, 25 Jazmine Barana it on the second try. I didn’t get it on the third try. I who does not tell me enough information or give Careers...... 19-20 ROVING REPORTERS: didn’t get it on the fourth try. I didn’t get it on the me specific clues. I would not feel safe if someone Young Writers...... 19-20 Jamie Landis, Tori Saltz fifth try. Then Ms. Moretti helped me unlock the didn’t guide me politely, slowly, and carefully. Movies ...... 21 Education Update is an independent newspaper, door to the faculty restroom. Most importantly, think about being blind. A Museums As Educators . . . . .22-23 which is published bimonthly by Education Update, Inc. All material is copyrighted and may not be printed Once I finally got into the bathroom, I had to trust walk is life. Every day, every second. Music, Art & Dance ...... 23 without express consent of the publisher. go find the soap. The soap was one of the hardest Next time I see a blind person on the street, I Medicine Update...... 24 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: parts of this task. It was an automatic soap dis- plan to help and to be a very specific guide. # Photos of the Year...... 27 Education Update; 695 Park Avenue, Ste. E1509; Jamie Landis is a 6th grade student at the Law & Education...... 28 New York, NY 10065-5024. Subscription: Annual $30. penser, so movement around the dispenser would Copyright © 2014 Education Update cause it to squirt. When I was trying to wash my Churchill School in NYC. Scholarships...... 29 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ FJAN/ EB 2014 18088 Jan Education Update Ad v1_Layout 1 12/4/13 9:28 AM Page 1

We offer a transformative learning experience for students with language-based learning disabilities (such as dyslexia), ADHD, and ASD. Saturday Open Houses February 15 • March 8, 2014 Experience the Landmark College difference for yourself! • Learn about our B.A., A.S., and A.A. degree options • Meet and speak with Landmark College faculty and students • Participate in a demonstration class

We offer educators extensive professional development and training, research, and support for their students who learn differently. • Using Annotation Apps to Facilitate Active Reading February 28, 2014 Explore how text reading apps radically improve accessibility to print for students with LDs (such as dyslexia), ADHD, and ASD. • Professional Visit Days for Educators (Features travel and lodging subsidies) • Certificate Program in Universal Design: Technology Integration (Next course, Assistive Technology Practices at Landmark, starts Feb. 17)

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