Fall 2008

TC TT The Magazineoo of teachersdada college , columbiayy university

Shaping the Future of Nursing Elaine Tagliareni (Ed.D., ’01), President of the National League of Nursing, is redefining opportunity in the helping profession In This Issue • Tailoring Teaching to Students • The Klingenstein Center at Thirty TCToday

Up for Debate Lisa Graham Keegan (left) and Linda Darling-Hammond (center), education advisors to John McCain and Barack Obama, debated at TC in October. TC President Susan Fuhrman moderated. See story on page 4.

Photograph by ryan brenizer Fall 2008

Contevnolumets 33 • No. 1 Features Departments 12 Shaping the Future Letters 2 President’s Letter 3 of Nursing TC Campus News 4 by Jonathan Sapers The education debate; TC in the Elaine Tagliareni is fighting for greater community and around the world opportunity for graduates of two-year First Editions 11 associate degree programs TC’s faculty in print Alumni News 30 18 Bottling the Magic Global awareness through by Joe Levine “edutainment,” alumni of note Great teachers are born, but through adaptive End Note 44 instruction, great teaching can be made Professor W. Warner Burke on learning from the military 24 The Power of Friends of the College 45 Independent Thinking Trustee Chris Williams believes in high-stakes education by Ryan Brenizer The Klingenstein Center is improving In Focus back Cover education by developing leaders who For James Rolling (Ed.D., ’03), constantly question it—and themselves creative practice makes perfect TC Letters to the Editor

TCToday FALL 2008

TC Today, the magazine of Teachers College, From our readers is produced by the office of Development and External Affairs Opinions, advice and food for thought at Teachers College, Columbia University. vice president of development and external affairs early math: Net Gain early childhood education. My classroom Suzanne M. Murphy To the editor, experience was at the middle school level.

In his essay “Preschool Math: Why Therefore, my challenge is to find tools TC Today Staff it Adds Up” (TC Today, Spring 2008), TC that take advantage of the new possibili- Executive Director of External Affairs faculty member Herbert Ginsburg talks ties today’s Web offers that are appropri- Joe Levine about the need to engage preschoolers in ate to this age level. Director of media relations learning activities conducive to the devel- I recently was trying to take on this Patty Lamiell opment of math skills. Dr. Ginsburg sug- challenge by finding videos on the Web director, office of the TC web gests that these activities can even include that would demonstrate how teachers Paul Acquaro “teacher-guided projects of complex topics.” were using Web technologies for teaching (M.A., Instructional Technology, 2004) His closing statement—“After all, before and learning. I found a video on YouTube associate director of Publications the Web was invented, no one knew that about Kathy Cassidy, a first grade teacher Lisa A. Farmer four-year-olds would be capable of using from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, senior writer it”—was actually an opening prompt for whose students create blogs and wikis. Ms. Victor Inzunza me to reflect on the possibilities that even Cassidy was also profiled in schoollibraryjour- Associate Web Editor a medium like the Web, which can be nal.com and edtechtalk.com. Her work sup- Maurice Zide thought of as complex for kids at this age ports Dr. Ginsburg’s belief in the capability Administrative Assistant level, could be taken advantage of as kids of young kids to use the Web, specifically in Kalena Rosario develop early math skills. the development of math skills. Hopefully, Editorial Assistants As Assistant Professor of disseminating the efforts of researchers like Melissa Christy, Elise Martingale Educational Technology at St. John’s Dr. Ginsburg and practitioners like Ms. Art Direction University, I have the responsibility Cassidy can help demonstrate that this is Deirdre Reznik to expose my students to a variety of possible and inspire our early childhood (M.A., Applied Linguistics, 2004)

instructional technologies they can later teachers to engage in the development of Contributing Writer adopt in their practice as classroom even complex math skills. Jonathan Sapers teachers. One of the areas that I have Brenda Lopez Ortiz to put more effort into is identifying Ed.D., Instructional Technology

potentially beneficial technologies for and Media, 2006 TC Today, Fall 2008 Vol. 33, No. 1 Copyright 2008 On The Cover by Teachers College, Columbia University Elaine Tagliareni (seated, center) TC Today is published twice per year by Teachers College, Columbia University. Articles may be reprinted with the with nursing students (from left) permission of the Office of External Affairs.

Mary D’Ambra, Dana Wilks, Yavonda F. Please send alumni class notes, letters to the editor, Williams, Susana Rodriguez, Giovanni address changes and other correspondence to: Del Vecchio, Tracie Comuso and Tonya TC Today Office of External Affairs Cooper at the Community College of 525 West 120th Street, Box 306 Philadelphia in October 2008. Tagliareni New York, NY 10027 212-678-3412 is profiled on page 12. [email protected] www.tc.edu/tctoday Photograph by Samantha Isom

2 TC TODAyl FALL 2008 President’s Letter TC

Connecting the Dots at TC Working together is our greatest challenge and opportunity

ecently, after reviewing our academ- Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated. the needs of individual students. You’ll ic strengths here at Teachers College, a And questions relating to genetics, meet TC alumna Elaine Tagliareni, head visiting scholar said, “You have so many disease and health status, and the of the National League for Nursing, wonderful dots—now you’ve got to con- cognitive processes the preferred nect them.” of the brain are ever membership That assessment succinctly states more intertwined. organization for our most important challenge and great- Teachers College nurse faculty and Rest opportunity: enabling the many is uniquely positioned leaders in nursing brilliant minds at TC to work together to grapple with these education, who is across departments and disciplines, so issues, because we fighting to expand that the College can become something bring together leaders opportunities greater than the sum of its parts. in education tech- for graduates of From TC’s inception more than nology, curriculum two-year com- a century ago, breadth has been the development, policy, munity college College’s hallmark. Our name notwith- nursing programs. standing, we were never just a college to Teachers College is uniquely positioned... And you’ll get an prepare teachers, but also the birthplace up-close look at of nursing education and nutrition because we bring together leaders TC’s Klingenstein education; the place where, arguably in education technology, curriculum Center for more than any other, the application Independent of psychology to education became development, policy, literacy, urban School Education, a field unto itself; and where educa- where, in their tion is viewed as occurring not only in science and math education, movement quest to create classrooms, but also in homes, streets, science and so much more. educational excel- churches, communities and beyond. lence and equity, Today, the world’s problems literacy, urban science and math the nation’s top private school educators increasingly arise from multiple origins. education, movement science and come to gain knowledge of law, ethics, The education crisis that afflicts our so much more. finance, philosophy and, ultimately, nation and others results as much from This issue of TC Today brings you themselves. poverty and its attendant ills as from examples of that breadth, and also of Taken together, these three stories inadequate teaching or under-financed how we are linking it across fields. You are just a slice of life at TC. Still, they schools and districts. Yet poverty, in will learn about how Lucy Calkins, give you a sense of how rich that life turn, is perpetuated by inadequate edu- Herbert Ginsburg and others on our can be—and of the potential it holds for cation. Increasingly, the environment, faculty are collaborating with technol- building a better future. with its impact on the food supply and ogy companies and policy researchers health, is a barrier to stable communi- to create assessments of students’ abili- ties and effective schools—in poorer ties that are more truly diagnostic, and nations, but here in the U.S. as well, as that can enable teachers to adapt to Susan Fuhrman

p h o t o g r a p h b y j o h n e m e r s o n TC TODAyl FALL 2008 3 TKeepingC up with people, eventsC and othera news fromm Teachers Collegep us News

Debating the Week and edweek.org. Teachers Future of U.S. College President Susan Fuhrman moderated and the Education evening closed with a post- ebates on education debate discussion panel that topics don’t usually included two TC faculty mem- D attract major attention. bers, Lucy Calkins and Jeffrey But in late October, when Linda Henig. They were joined by Darling-Hammond, education Joseph Viteritti, Blanche D. advisor to Barack Obama, and Blank Professor of Public Policy Lisa Graham Keegan, education and Chair of the Department advisor to John McCain, faced of Urban Affairs and Planning off in TC’s Cowin Conference at Hunter College; and Eugene Center on the eve of the presi- Hickok, Deputy Secretary of Stanford University, and “Right now, we don’t dential election, the 600-seat Education during the first term Keegan, former Superintendent have the capacity to ensure that auditorium was packed, and of President George W. Bush. of Public Instruction for everyone gets what is really more than 9,000 people had Darling-Hammond, a Arizona public schools, pre- the new civil right—access to tuned in to watch a Webcast former TC faculty member and sented starkly different assess- a high-quality education,” produced by the Charles E. Ducommun ments of American education Darling-Hammond said. “That Education Professor of Education at and its future. is going to require equalization

Creating Good Habits in cerebral palsy therapy Researchers at TC’s Center for Cerebral Palsy Research turned the 10th floor of Thorndike Hall into a day camp this past summer in order to test a new therapy for a condition called hemiplegia, or paralysis on one side of the body. • The 10 willing subjects of the test, five-to-ten-year-olds who have the condition (including the camper pictured at left), spent six hours a day with TC Professor of Movement Sciences Andrew Gordon and 12 assistants, playing games and doing exercises ranging from tossing balls, molding and cutting modeling clay, stringing beads and playing board games, to the hands-down favorite: playing baseball, bowling or tennis on a Nintendo Wii. • The new treatment, called Hand-Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy (HABIT), embeds in those games a series of activities requiring coordinated use of both hands while emphasizing intensive practice with the paralyzed hand and arm. It improves on the old method of treatment, which involved restricting the use of the non-paralyzed arm with a cast, soft sling or bandage while at the same time engaging it in a series of repeated tasks of increasing complexity. Gordon and his team helped develop both treatments, but noticed that the earlier one led to children having difficulty with coordination. • Eventually HABIT could also be applicable to people who have suffered strokes or traumatic brain injuries. “Ultimately we want to enable kids with cerebral palsy to participate in more types of physical activity,” Gordon says. “Right now, most of these kids would probably be pulled from many activities in a normal gym class. But with the proper therapy, they might even be able to play sports.”

photographs b y r y a n b r e n i z e r Campus News

great debate Lisa Graham have barriers that are keeping Keegan (left) and Linda Darling- us from having the best teachers Hammond (center) debate, in the most needy classrooms? moderated by TC President Why is this not happening in Susan Fuhrman. the presence of the resources we do have?” of resources, and it is going to The two speakers disagreed require investments. When on a range of other issues. No Child Left Behind Act, say- into portfolios [compendia of people—particularly rich Keegan said McCain “would ing, “We need to be able to look students’ work over time] or people—say that money doesn’t absolutely lift any caps on the at measures that, in addition to things that are more subjective is matter, I don’t see them trying ability of states” to create new the kinds of standardized tests that we can’t compare kids.” to give it up.” She added that the charter schools, and that, unlike we currently have, evaluate 21st And where Darling- United States has “fallen to 35th Obama, he “does not want to century skills.” She said that Hammond extolled the value in the world in math, to 15th in get into the business of saying to the assessments of academi- of pre-K education, saying that terms of college access,” that “the states what an effective charter cally top-performing countries “the early childhood research nation’s graduation rate has been school program is.” “include relatively few multiple- base is really clear that high- stagnant for 40 years,” and that Darling-Hammond said choice items and, in some cases, quality preschool has strong those failures “are costing us in Obama “wants to see that fail- none. Kids are doing science and lasting benefits for students many ways—in our economy, in ing charters are closed while inquiries, research papers, tech- throughout school,” Keegan our national security.” successful charters are enabled nology products.” countered that “if that were true, But Keegan said that “there to move forward. Keegan said McCain was then by now we should have a is just not one single credible “Choice isn’t worth much “absolutely adamant that state lot more progress in elementary, study now that says what we if all it does is move around standards and the assessments middle and high school. Senator really need to do in the United the deck chairs on the Titanic,” for kids that are in place have McCain is saying, look, we have States is spend more money.” she said. got to stay in place,” adding that got to talk about the quality of The U.S. “in real current dollars Darling-Hammond “the problem with backing off of these programs.” has quadrupled our funding assailed aspects of the federal assessments and turning them Ultimately, about the only since 1968, and at the same thing the speakers agreed on time we have had achievement was Fuhrman’s observation that absolutely flat, slightly nega- Right now we don’t have the “too little has been said about tive,” she said. “If money were education in the presidential the answer, New Jersey and capacity to ensure that everyone campaign”—and for that, both [Washington] D.C. ought to be gets what is really the new civil blamed the media. off the charts, and they are not.” Archived video of the TC Keegan said McCain right—access to a high-quality debate, “Education and the Next wants the country to “sit down, education. President,” and a full transcript can make some tough decisions. -LindDana Dar Brownling-Hammond, be viewed at www.edweek.org or Are we in our own way? Do we Education Advisor to Barack Obama www.tc.columbia.edu/news/6719.

illustration b y m a r k s h a v e r TC TODAY l FALL 2008 5 TC Campus News

teacher development in STEM comprehensive partnerships subjects (science, technology, with a smaller group of Harlem engineering and math). This schools, under which the fall, the Office secured another College will take direct respon- $3.2 million from New York sibility for students’ academic Lending a Progress since then State to create STEM-focused performance. And TC is also has been swift and steady. after-school programming working to open its own pre- Hand in the Fuhrman and Associate Vice Neighborhood President Nancy Streim cre- ated TC’s Office of School Soon, TC will announce more n fall 2006, TC President and Community Partnerships Susan Fuhrman met with (OSCP) to serve schools as a comprehensive partnerships I a group of political, single point of access to the col- community and education lege’s resources. with a smaller group of leaders in Harlem and prom- In June 2008, OSCP Harlem schools. ised to establish broader and received a $5 million grant more comprehensive partner- from the GE Foundation to at public schools in Central K–8 public school in Harlem ships with neighborhood partner with a group of Harlem Harlem, Morningside Heights, in fall 2010. public schools. schools on curriculum and Washington Heights and And universities have a Inwood. (Students who par- strong self-interest in doing ticipate get to operate and pro- such work, Fuhrman and gram a robot and do other cool Streim argued in a November hands-on projects.) 2008 commentary piece And more will follow. in Education Week, because Soon, TC will announce more “today’s struggling public school students will become community service Left: tomorrow’s struggling col- Susan Fuhrman and Nancy Streim lege students.” Also, higher with NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg education—and education at the GE Grant announcement schools in particular—benefit press conference. Above: Johanna enormously from an ongoing Duncan-Poitiér speaks at the flow of real world knowledge October 2008 conference. and experience.

6 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 illustration b y s c o t t l a u m a n n Now, with the United States in financial crisis and CELEBRATING ANN GENTILE the future of school budgets in jeopardy, the two are position- Movement sciences professor retires after 40 years at TC ing Teachers College as a leader Antoinette Gentile, a leader in more creative ability to produce in promoting university-public movement sciences and neuro- different kinds of movements. school partnerships as a nation- • motor research, retired in spring Gentile also fleshed out theories al model for assisting struggling 2008 after 44 years at Teachers that skills involve both “implicit” schools and addressing the College. She has been named and “explicit” processes. Explicit education achievement gap that Professor Emeritus of the College. processes are ones the perform- separates many poor children Beginning in the early 1970s, er is aware of and can describe, (typically those of color) from • Gentile pioneered in apply- such as braking for a red light. their wealthier peers. ing theories of brain function in Implicit ones lie beyond con- In October 2008, they held movement disorders to patient scious awareness—for example, a major conference at TC that treatment. Previously, treat- the balancing required to ride brought together more than 200 ment had been shaped largely by a bike. Gentile applied this New York State education offi- • defining the extent of damage to patients’ brains. conceptual framework to the teaching of skills cials to discuss the expansion of Gentile, whose training encompassed neuro-anat- and to physical rehabilitation, arguing that much university-school partnerships omy, movement, motor learning and developmen- early learning occurs in the implicit realm and across the state and the creation tal research, focused instead on the impact of that a patient’s cognitive abilities determine of models of cooperation for environment on brain function and the potential what treatments will be successful. Gentile school systems across the coun- • for behavioral change. She was an early champion and a TC colleague, Joe Higgins (now retired), try. Speakers at the conference of the notion of “neuroplasticity”—the concept also established the first graduate program in included Stanford University’s that the brain can reorganize following trauma, motor learning, now a major sub-discipline of Linda Darling-Hammond, shifting functions to new regions. “Ann hasn’t physical education/kinesiology. To effectively founder of a high school in • been sufficiently recognized for her contributions, teach motor skills, they believed, one needed California and education precisely because they have crossed disciplinary to know how the learner learns. Many gradu- advisor to then-Democratic boundaries,” says James Gordon, Associate Dean ates became leaders in kinesiology, physical Presidential candidate Barack of the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical education and rehabilitation (especially physi- Obama, and Johanna Duncan- Therapy at the University of Southern California. cal therapy and occupational therapy). Gentile Poitiér, New York State’s “That’s trendy now, but she was doing it 30 years also built the program’s reputation by bringing Senior Deputy Commissioner ago. Also, what really makes her emblematic of leading scientists to discuss their work and its of Education for P–16. the TC ideal is that she’s always been interested in potential application to rehabilitation and edu- At the close of the how theoretical ideas can be applied to solve real cation. “Ann is a gifted teacher who provided conference, Photeine • problems.” In a 1972 paper titled “A Working lectures to thousands of therapists over the Anagnostopoulos, Chief • Model of Skill Acquisition with Application to years in which she masterfully translated sci- Operating Officer for the New Teaching,” Gentile argued that neuromotor skills entific work conducted across many disciplines York City Department of are acquired in distinct stages, with a performer’s into a language they could understand and use,” Education, said that because current stage having implications for teaching says TC’s Andrew Gordon, Professor of Movement the City can’t afford to do or treatment. In a “Taxonomy of Tasks”—now Sciences. “She influenced many hundreds of much educational research, ubiquitous in texts in the field—she grouped tasks therapists to practice and develop the motor “universities are really our according to the structure of the environment in learning approach directly with patients. Her R&D departments—they which they are performed. Does, for example, the ideas remain an accepted component of virtu- bring in what they’ve learned environment stay the same? Then the performer ally all curricula in physical and occupational around the country.” can learn a movement by rote. But if it changes, therapy and influence the training of new reha- For more information, visit as in walking on varied terrain, he must develop a bilitation therapists to this day.” www.tc.edu/oscp.

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 7 TC

TC, Far and Wide There’s so much history in urriculum develop- what TC has already done, ment projects in India; from Afghanistan to East Africa C a growing partnership with the education ministry to Asia. of Jordan; new collaborations -Portia williams, with the governments of the director of international affairs at tc Dominican Republic and Bhutan—it’s all taking shape Work by TC faculty is speaking and listening skills; under TC’s first Director of In August 2008, TC sent a also continuing apace in India, engage in role-play and exer- International Affairs, alumna delegation of faculty members where, funded by a $750,000 cises that involve moral deci- Portia Williams (Ed.D., 2008; and consultants to Amman, grant from The Global sion making; learn to identify Ed.M., 2005). Jordan, to assist the nation’s Education and Leadership their own leadership strengths Named to the post in Ministry of Education in Foundation (tGELF), the and weaknesses; and discuss June 2008, Williams has pre- making mass-scale improve- College is helping to develop the qualities of national viously worked in the Peace ments to Jordan’s public school and assess a leadership cur- and global leaders. They Corps in Albania, lectured at system. Members of the TC riculum for junior high and also participate in conflict the University of Shkodra and team led a five-day retreat high school students at a select management workshops, an trained teachers in the city’s to design pre-employment group of schools. adventure camp and organic Department of Education, training for Jordan’s newly The curriculum—one farming, and spend time with and directed education and hired public school teachers, of the few anywhere that street children. other development programs and several stayed on to teach targets high school students— In September 2008, TC in East and Southern Africa. teachers a three-week course launched in April 2008 at a hosted a delegation from the “There’s so much history in the Teaching of English to ceremony in New Delhi, at Dominican Republic led by in what TC has already done, Speakers of Other Languages which TC President Fuhrman President Leonel Fernández, from Afghanistan to East Africa (TESOL). spoke, along with India’s who told the College’s to Asia,” says Williams, who The five-day “design Prime Minister, Manmohan Provost, Thomas James, that reports directly to TC President retreat” facilitated by the TC Singh. It consists of 12 sessions “there is an education crisis” in Susan Fuhrman. “We can focus delegation was attended by over the course of a school his country. on our existing relationships but more than 100 prominent year and is mandatory for all The delegation had also move beyond that to see Jordanian educators, includ- eighth and ninth grade chil- previously visited Columbia how we, as an institution, can ing Ministry of Education dren at participating schools. Secondary School, a new support our partnerships and staff and faculty from Students work on team skills, public school launched by create new ones.” Jordanian universities. thinking skills and writing, Columbia University that

8 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 global economy while main- heads the country’s Royal taining a pristine environment. Council of Education, the Building on a relationship College has agreed to provide established through TC faculty training to Bhutanese educators member Francisco Rivera-Batiz while advising the government and a Bhutanese alumnus, as it formulates a national cur- Gyaltshen Penjor, who now riculum framework. z

robinson named vp

is headed by a TC gradu- Dominican interns and help in ate, Jose Maldonado-Rivera, the founding of small schools and employs philosophy like CSS. James pledged the and social studies curricula College’s cooperation, saying shaped by his former advisor “if we’re not having an impact at the College, Professor of out in the world, our work Psychology and Education wouldn’t matter, so we’re going TC General Counsel Janice Robinson has been named to the College’s Deanna Kuhn. Known as to find ways to do this.” newly created post of Vice President for Diversity and Community Education for Thinking, And most recently, in Affairs. • Robinson, who has also served as Executive Director for Kuhn’s curricula seeks to October 2008, TC entered Diversity and Community as well as Assistant Professor in Higher instill core skills related to into partnership with Bhutan, Education, will stay on as General Counsel—a post that origi- inquiry and argumentation. another country undergo- nated with her—until a replacement is hired. • TC President Susan At the end of the visit, ing wide-spread educa- Fuhrman thanked Robinson for “her years of intelligent, collabora- Fernández asked James for tional reforms. Located in tive and creative work leading up to this distinguished appoint- a permanent collaboration the Eastern Himalayas, this ment.” • Fuhrman said that elevating the Office of Community with TC in which the College small kingdom of fewer than and Diversity to a position meriting its own vice presidential will function as an advisory a million people is working appointment fully recognized and backed its work as “central to group to the country, host to incorporate itself into the our mission as an educational institution.” • Robinson received her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, and an M.A. and world views From left: an Ed.M. from TC. She also has a B.S. degree from the University of Dominican Republic President Bridgeport. • Before coming to TC, Robinson held a joint appoint- Leonel Fernández at TC with ment as Special Counsel to the Law School Dean and Associate Professor Deanna Kuhn; Gyaltshen Dean of Academic Affairs with Rutgers School of Law-Newark and Penjor, TC alumnus and head of Rutgers-Newark College of Arts and Sciences. • Robinson has the Royal Council of Education in served on several professional association boards and committees, Bhutan, and Provost Tom James including the Rent Stabilization and Guidelines Board under New sign a Memo of Understanding; York City Mayor David Dinkins. She currently serves as a Trustee for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan the Link Community School in Newark, New Jersey, and chairs its Singh and Susan Fuhrman in New Education Committee. Delhi. Top, left: Portia Williams.

illustration b y a l a n g i a n a TC TODAY l FALL 2008 9 CONVOCATION 2008

Partnering to Change the World

Partnership was the theme of TC’s 2008 convo- wheelchair-bound due to brittle bone disease. reminder to her that, “the core for me, as for you, cation ceremonies in May for more than 1,900 And Ted Kesler, now an assistant professor in is about teaching and learning. Everything else master’s and doctoral degree students hailing the CUNY system, was previously an elementary is just a part of how you create an environment from 57 nations and 38 American states as well school teacher who, in 1996, became the focus of that enables teachers to be the best they can as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. • a 10-part New York Times series as he prepared be and students to open the doorway of life.” Despite their diversity of origin and interests, his students to take the City’s first high-stakes • The third medalist, Gloria Ladson-Billings, TC President Susan Fuhrman told the gradu- promotion test for third graders. • “For Ted, who Kellner Family Professor in Urban Education at ates, “you all came to TC because you wanted had taken a course with [TC Professor Emeritus] the University of Wisconsin-Madison, called for to engage the world and even more important, Tom Sobol on ‘defining moments’ it was definitely the graduates to engage in “public scholarship,” because you wanted to change it.” That desire, a defining moment,” Fuhrman said of Kesler’s which she described as being “less the university she said, is rooted in a view of partnership that ordeal. “It left him convinced that as a teacher, and its faculty going outside the ivory tower to began with John Dewey, who wrote that, “The his job was to protect kids from the demands of solve ‘community problems’ and more the cul- learning in school should be continuous with that the tests and to proceed with inquiry, engage- tivation of norms of reciprocity and mutuality out of school. There should be a free interplay ment and everything you believe really connects that place communities and universities on more between the two. This is possible only when there with kids’ lives and motivates them to learn.” • equal footing.” • Ladson-Billings, who spoke in are numerous points of contact between the New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo fall 2007 at a TC launch event for the College’s social interests of the one and the other.” • elaborated on that theme, calling on the nation “Teaching The Levees” curriculum, which explores Fuhrman illustrated her premise with the stories to deliver on its historic promise that “you could civic issues raised by Hurricane Katrina and its of a handful of those receiving their degrees. go to school and become whatever you wanted aftermath, cited New Orleans’ ongoing plight as a • Patricia Lopez, who received her master’s in to be.” Cuomo accepted the College’s Medal for classic example of the need for such scholarship. Health Education, is an Argentine-born single Distinguished Service on behalf of the state’s • “The shame of New Orleans is not just what has mother who focused on preventive health care governor, David A. Paterson, who was unable happened to its edifices, it is how the city has after losing her mother and two aunts to cancer. to attend due to illness. • And at the evening become a metaphor for urban neglect and sys- Joe King, graduating with a Master of Science in master’s ceremony, medalist Randi Weingarten, temic failure,” Ladson-Billings said. “How do we education from TC’s clinical psychology program, President of the United Federation of Teachers not see that far too many of our urban centers are served as Vice President of the Student Senate, (and since elected President of the American one natural disaster away from becoming another interned in Washington, D.C., co-authored a Federation of Teachers, the profession’s national New Orleans? And how is it that we are not called chapter in a faculty member’s book and kept a union), pointed out that Dewey also helped found to action as citizen scholars to bring our expertise regular blog on the TC Web site—all despite being the former organization. That fact, she said, is a to bear on our most persistent problems?”

10 TC TODAY l Spring 2008 Andrew Cuomo Gloria Ladson-Billings Randi Weingarten FirstEditioTC’s facultyn in prints TC

Closing the Health Gap A Doctoral Student’s New Best Friend The 21st century’s major Civil Rights issue A new guide for academia’s most onerous task

t the heart of Toward Equity in Health: A New Global he doctoral dissertation is academia’s Mount Everest. Approach to Health Disparities is a simple but powerful Thus, as Marie Volpe, a faculty member in TC’s Adult A idea: Inequality in access to and quality of healthcare T and Higher Education program, and former TC doc- is “the major civil rights issue of the twenty-first century.” toral student Linda Dale Bloomberg note in Completing Your Editor Barbara C. Wallace, TC Professor of Health Qualitative Dissertation: A Roadmap from Beginning to End, every Education, has devoted her entire career to this issue. institution has its share of “All-But-Dissertation (ABD)” students Toward Equity in Health, which grew out of a 2006 confer- who toil seemingly endlessly on its slopes. ence Wallace organized, makes it abundantly clear why. The Volpe and Bloomberg focus on qualitative research book is full of stunning and upsetting statistics. One chapter methods—an area of growing interest, as Volpe found when she notes that hypertension affects recently conducted 11 lectures in East Asia. The book is “a disserta- 40 percent of African Americans tion in action,” geared to doctoral students in the social sciences compared to only 28 percent who are embarking on or writing their dissertations. It is, in effect, of whites.” Another points out “a dissertation in action.” A real research problem is laid out in that “infant mortality rates Chapter One and carried through all subsequent chapters. The for African-American infants authors identify the problem statement, develop the research pur- are 2.3 times the rate of White pose and research questions, formulate appropriate data collection infants.” Similarly, the New methods, analyze and synthesize data, and present conclusions York Times recently reported on and recommendations. a study from the Black AIDS Part One constitutes a broad intro- Institute, which found that if toward equity duction to the complex task of writing in health: black America were its own A New Global a dissertation, and offers an overview of country, it would rank 16th Approach to Health the steps involved in preparing for the in the world in the number of disparities dissertation process. people living with AIDS. Barbara Wallace, Editor Part Two provides comprehensive (Springer Publishing, Wallace’s contributors 2007) instructions on the content of each dis- also note disparities based { } sertation chapter, accompanied by illus- on ethnic background, language group, sexual orientation, trations of what a completed chapter income and HIV status. And the book documents dispari- should look like, using the specific completing your qualitative ties suffered by inmates in U.S. prisons as well. research problem addressed in the dissertation: Yet Toward Equity in Health is ultimately a hopeful book as an example. A roadmap from work, presenting solutions as well as problems. For example, Part Three addresses the final Beginning to end Linda Dale Bloomberg chapters describe and evaluate different methodologies for stages of the dissertation process, and Marie Volpe training community health workers; for improving the including selecting an appropriate (Sage Publications, 2008) delivery of HIV/AIDS education; and for using technology to title, proofreading and editing, prepar-{ } better support public policy and service planning in health. ing for a successful defense, and considering possible avenues for Her intended audience, Wallace writes, “includes presentation and publication. all those interested in closing gaps in health.” As Toward Throughout, the authors acknowledge that the challenges Equity in Health makes eminently clear, that should include involved are both practical (How will I find appropriate data?) all of us. z and ineffable (Am I committed enough to make this happen?). z

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 11 Shaping the Future of Nursing ith a mixture of diplomacy, frank talk and Wa charm all her own, nurse educator Elaine Tagliareni is trying to steer nursing toward a more inclusive future

by Jonathan Sapers Photographs by Samantha Isom

lay observer at the 2008 Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education (OCNE) summit might not A have guessed he was watching the aftermath of the profession’s possible equivalent to the signing of the Magna Carta or the adoption of women’s suffrage. Nor would he likely have supposed that, with her keynote speech, Elaine Tagliareni (Ed.D., Nursing Education, 2001) was once again steadying the ropes on a political high-wire act of several years duration. In a bright blue suit offsetting her short reddish-brown hair, Tagliareni—President of the National League for Nursing (NLN), which serves 27,000 U.S. nurse educators— was “just being Elaine,” as those who know her might say: touching on nursing educator foibles like doing four times as much work on the clinic floor as one’s students; quoting Anaïs Nin and other eclectic sources of inspiration; invoking her own mentors; and, characteristically, working to make every- one in the audience feel good about themselves. Nevertheless, her support for the group’s work was clear. “I want you to remember that this is going to have an impact,” Tagliareni said, “and to think, ‘I was a leader in that.’” The work Tagliareni was supporting was a controversial bid to solve Oregon’s and potentially the nation’s deepening shortage of nurses (demand is projected to exceed supply by as much as 27 percent by the year 2015, according to U.S.

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 13 Department of Health and Human Services data) by creating another controversial issue. When the smoke finally cleared, new advancement opportunities for a group often treated as clay “Purple Heart” pins were handed out. second-class citizens in the field: nurses who hold associate The group had persevered in part because of the support degrees from two-year community college programs. Under along the way of Tagliareni—herself a graduate of a four-year the new system, any nursing student who enters one of eight nursing program at Georgetown, but for the past 25 years a associate degree nursing programs in the state is automatically faculty member at the Community College of Philadelphia accepted into the four-year baccalaureate nursing program (CCP) and the first associate degree educator ever to be elected of the Oregon Health Sciences System, a publicly supported NLN President—who proved an important player on the university. The hope is that associate degree graduates from negotiation’s sidelines. community colleges in the state will opt to continue their edu- “Elaine is one of these movers and shakers who have cations at a higher rate than they do nationally, taking advan- been talking about the need for reforming education for years,” tage of an updated curriculum that puts new emphasis on such said Christine Tanner, a faculty member at Oregon Health & subjects as evidence-based research. Science University and editor of the Journal of Nursing Education, Five years earlier, the likelihood that OCNE’s fractious who helped guide the curriculum negotiations at OCNE. membership would ever unite behind such measures seemed “She’s talented and strong, and she came and delivered the mes- slim. Negotiations over how to collaborate to address the sage that everyone is looking at Oregon as a model. She really shortage had twice broken down in acrimony among faculty got people energized again. It was just fantastic.” backers from the different types of degree programs, who don’t typically interact. Outside mediators had had to step in, and Champion for Change little red “hot Whether as NLN President, wearing her professor hat, button” pins had or simply chatting with an interviewer in her office, Tagliareni been distributed seems to be all about breaking down stereotypes and moving for participants beyond long-established views. to hit when they “Anaïs Nin said, ‘We don’t see things as they are, we see wanted to call things as we are,’” she told the OCNE group in her keynote out and address address. “As teachers of nursing, we’re called to see the world as it is unfolding. We need to take in data about the trailblazer Tagliareni delivers world and incorporate it into our thinking. But keynote speech at the 2008 OCNE sum- back when we were taught, our thinking was mit; Tagliareni (top, right) and Mildred completely different, right?” Montag (bottom, left) at a con- The notion of empowering associ- ference at CCP in 1990; Tagliareni ate degree nurses is a perfect case in point, receives the Mildred Montag challenging prejudices that date back to the Award from the National League creation of the first two-year programs by for Nursing Council of Associate TC nurse educator Mildred Montag (Ed.D., Degree Programs in 1998. Nursing Education, 1950) in the 1950s. “Prior to that time, you had to prove you were single, white and virginal to be a nurse,” Tagliareni says. “But when community colleges opened up, they became a venue for working moms, grandmothers, men—every- body could enter nursing. So not only was it a revolution in the way nursing students were taught, but also in the type of people that moved into nursing.” But even as associate degree nurses swelled the ranks (Today they make up 60 percent of

14 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 As teachers of nursing, we’re called to see the world as it is unfolding. We need to take in data about the world and incorporate it into our thinking.

the nation’s new graduates each year.), nursing itself has under- what’s happening at the baccalaureate level,” seeing the world gone equally radical changes. Tagliareni says. Tagliareni at the Community “A nurse, even when I was in school, would have a patient Oddly, Tagliareni and the NLN are alone College of Philadelphia. pre-op for a few days, get to know them, find out what their among the major nursing organizations in needs were, be able to focus in on them,” Tagliareni says. “You arguing that all types of degree programs should continue to be actually saw the rehab, you saw the full continuum of care, and considered acceptable entry points to the profession. Their solu- you were involved with it in a very direct way. Now the hospital tion: colleges, nursing organizations, governments and hospitals environment is not a landing place for cure any more. As the should focus on prompting nurses of all stripes to continue their patient, you just stop down for a minute and get whatever it is educations. that you need to have done and move on for your rehab and Tagliareni’s contemporaries at Teachers College applaud convalescence and management. To manage that kind of envi- those goals. ronment, a nurse has to have really unbelievable assessment skills “If Elaine can put a new face on what we accept in mas- and be able to manage a multitude of problems.” ter’s programs, for example, she can slowly and incrementally Hospital patients have grown more challenging, as well. refocus the accreditation in order to meet the needs of our Most are elderly, Tagliareni says, and typically have more than marketplace,” says Elaine Rigolosi, Professor of Education and one chronic condition. “They come in with a fractured hip, but Program Coordinator of TC’s Executive Program for Nurses. they have diabetes, congestive heart failure, arterial sclerotic heart “And gradually she can bring nursing education into an arena disease and arthritis. Or a client comes in for an acute exacerba- that is preparing nurses ahead of current market needs while tion of some pulmonary problem with AIDS, but they already projecting educational requirements toward the future.” have neuralgia of some sort. They may have depression, too.” Like Tagliareni, Rigolosi believes nursing education is too Hence critics’ argument that associate degree nurses need focused on its past. “I believe that we cannot hold on to nursing, more education (though there may be an element of sour as it has developed from Florence Nightingale—that’s got to be grapes here as well: graduates of two-year programs are allowed changed,” she said. “You don’t go and assist a doctor by every to sit for the registered nurse exam, while hospitals hire them bedside or stand in the operating room providing technical to the same jobs and pay them the same salaries that they do assistance. Instead, you’re running a nursing home, or you’re graduates of four-year programs). managing an interdisciplinary healthcare facility in the inner “There’s a sense that what happens in associate degree pro- city. Nurses do all kinds of things in the fast-moving world of grams isn’t as valid and as theoretical and as evidence-based as healthcare and nursing practice.”

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 15 And nurses need to acquire the skills to assert their right- “I was chatting with ful role in the healthcare system, says Rigolosi’s colleague, the department head, Susan Kathleen O’Connell, Isabel Maitland Stewart Chair and TC Sherman, and she said, ‘It’s just Professor of Nursing Education. “We have to produce research amazing you know so much that gives evidence for practice. Who’s going to do it if we about this program,’” Tagliareni don’t do it? The drug companies? The equipment companies?” recounts. “And I said, ‘Well...,’ and then I told her the story. Blazing her own trail Needless to say, they hired me.” Tagliareni’s sympathy for nurses with less high-end Soon after she arrived, education may stem in part from her own experiences boot- Sherman and Verle Waters, now strapping it up through the system. Certainly she attended Dean Emerita of Ohlone College elite institutions, but at several points during her professional in Fremont, California, were career, she found herself in situations where she had to learn chosen to lead a national effort to fast and on her own. integrate gerontology curricula into associ- For example, as part of her master’s degree program at the ate degree programs, with the broader goal University of California at San Francisco, where she graduated of prompting community colleges to use in 1972, Tagliareni counseled nurses and patients at Moffit nursing homes as clinical sites and get RNs Hospital. “I loved it,” she says. “I worked with the staff nurses to work in them. on the cancer unit, who were dealing with their own feelings Tagliareni was put in charge of and their own special needs. I worked with patients undergo- the project’s Philadelphia-area arm. ing kidney dialysis.” According to Waters, she thrived. But then she couldn’t find a job in psycho-physiological “Of the six schools that were nursing, so she went to work as a psychiatric nurse at the involved in the project, Elaine threw out Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park. the widest net of all,” Waters says. “Part “We didn’t know what Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder of the plan was to be a sort of lighthouse in your area. And her was,” Tagliareni says. “We diagnosed everybody as schizo- light shone brighter than anyone else’s.” phrenic or paranoid schizophrenic. We would give them a Later Sherman became president and CEO of the small amount of different psychotropic meds because we didn’t Independence Foundation, a major Philadelphia philanthropy, know we could give them one in larger doses. We made a lot and established chairs in community health nursing at four local of mistakes after Vietnam, that’s for sure.” institutions. One was CCP, where the chair went to Tagliareni. Her husband joined the faculty at the University of One of her first efforts in that role was to work with the Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1976 and two years later, Tagliareni National Nursing Center Consortium, which was trying to answered a newspaper ad for a nursing faculty position at develop nurse-managed health centers as safety net providers Greenfield Community College. “I had had no experience as a for the poor, the elderly and other at-risk groups nationwide. faculty member, but I did have a master’s degree,” she says. “I “Here in Philadelphia, we’re the incubator for nurse- went there and taught myself to be a curriculum expert.” managed health centers in public housing run by nurse practi- Greenfield’s nursing program was not yet accredited, tioners, from a holistic model, dealing with vulnerable popula- so early on Tagliareni attended her first NLN conference, in tions, and we’re really seeing outcomes that supposedly can’t be New York City, to find out the steps involved. Coincidentally, achieved,” Tagliareni says proudly. “And it’s not like anybody is members of the Community College of Philadelphia’s (CCP) fighting to work with the populations that we work with.” nursing department were there, presenting on their program’s Tagliareni also helped lead development of a service learn- conceptual framework. Tagliareni took notes, and subsequently ing project at CCP, in which students work in neighboring she and two colleagues adapted the CCP model for Greenfield. North Philadelphia—one of the city’s poorest districts—help- The results paid off for everyone involved. Greenfield won ing public school nurses, assisting local physicians and survey- accreditation for its program, and several years later, when ing local health needs. Tagliareni went for a job interview at CCP, she found herself Meanwhile, she continued to participate in the NLN, unexpectedly well prepared. serving in various key positions on its Council of Associate

16 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 “Half the students in the nursing program are minority, and we try very hard to maintain that,” she says. “They come from vulnerable backgrounds and also many of them are the first degree seekers in their families.” Indeed, Tagliareni is very clear that the socioeconomic role community colleges like CCP play is every bit as important as their impact on the profession of nursing. “In nurs- ing education, especially associate degree, we really move people into the middle class. We teach them nursing, but more importantly, we teach them about being a professional. A keeping it real Connecting with her students is important lot of times they don’t come to us packaged as to Tagliareni, who holds a Chair in Community Health Nursing from somebody who can move into the professional role. We have the Independence Foundation. The actual chair sits in her office to teach them that being on time really means coming on time. at CCP, along with her degree from TC. Then, when you come, you’re prepared, and you look pre- pared. That’s a new role for nurse faculty.” Degree Programs. She also continued to think about fur- At the entrance to one of CCP’s tiny lab rooms, which thering her own education. In 1997, accompanied by her include mock hospital beds and rather frightening manne- friend and CCP colleague Liz Speakman (now Assistant quins in hospital johnnies, Tagliareni greeted a student, Tonya Dean of RN programs and an associate professor at Thomas Cooper. The two shared a joke. Jefferson School of Nursing), she attended TC’s annual Isabel Maitland Stewart Conference. “I said, ‘Oh my God, I love this place, and it has wainscoting and all that!’” Tagliareni In nursing education, especially laughs. Both women decided to sign up, on the spot, for associate degree, we really move doctoral courses. According to Speakman, TC and Tagliareni were a perfect people into the middle class. We fit. “TC amplified notions she had that under the right circum- teach them nursing, but more stances, everyone can be successful. TC’s philosophy allowed her to flourish.” importantly, we teach them about . Staying inspired being a professional Tagliareni’s duties as NLN President (a volunteer posi- tion) take up an increasing amount of her time these days. “I’ve moved farther and farther away from the classroom When she isn’t traveling the country highlighting innovative but never completely left it,” Tagliareni says. “My energy comes nursing experiments like the one in Oregon, Tagliareni and from my students and keeping close with them. They love NLN Chief Executive Officer Bev Malone hold think tanks the fact that one of their teachers is President of the National on diversity, assessment and evaluation, and redesigning clin- League for Nursing, and they call me Elaine. Because here our ical education. They host “writing weekends” during which philosophical stance is that we educate adult learners. And that they offer editing to academic colleagues working on articles the faculty members are co-learners with them. We have more that, if published, could boost their academic careers. expertise and we know more about nursing—that’s why they Yet it’s in her role as teacher and mentor that Tagliareni came to us, right? But we believe that they see us as colleagues clearly feels most at home. After sitting for a long interview one in this journey that they’re about. So we tell them, we are your day this past spring, Tagliareni proudly led a visitor on a tour evaluators, we are your teachers, but we believe that as col- of CCP, pointing out the diversity evident in pictures of year leagues you should be able to call us by our first names. Not all after year of graduates. nursing programs do that.” z

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 17

Bottling the Magicby Joe Levine

Great teachers may be born, but a growing movement argues that great teaching can be made by adapting instruction to students’ needs. TC is in the vanguard

hirty years ago, Lucy Calkins was a teacher or 150 to deal with every day. Yet it accurately describes how with a gift—a love of books and stories, a pas- Reading and Writing Project staff members evaluate reading sion for words and a rare talent for fanning a ability: by actually sitting next to a child, listening to her read spark of magic with any child. and probing for everything from her overall comprehension to Calkins, an intense woman who today her ability to sound out vowels and recognize phonic patterns. is the Robinson Professor in Children’s The result is an assessment that, while it certainly doesn’t cap- Literature at Teachers College, also had a vision for sharing her ture all that’s relevant about a child’s abilities, is more sensitive approachT with other teachers. She wrote two landmark books, than the usual written, multiple choice tests—something that The Art of Teaching Reading and The Art of Teaching Writing, and can actually help the teacher tailor instruction to the student’s founded the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project—a needs rather than merely rank her on a bell curve. team of coaches that now works with more than 700 schools in One problem, though, oft-expressed by many principals New York City and many more around the country. and teachers: to date, the Reading and Writing Project has had “Lucy Calkins is a guru—the leader of a movement,” says no system with which to synthesize and track its assessments, to Fritz Mosher, an education consultant with the Consortium for share these with parents, and to study patterns of literacy devel- Policy Research in Education (CPRE). “It’s amazing to watch opment within and across schools and districts. what she does.” Last spring, however, Mosher and Corcoran, helped set Can anyone bottle Lucy Calkins? In a sense, Mosher and Calkins and the Project on a path that ultimately led them to his long-time colleague, CPRE Co-Director Thomas Corcoran, collaborate with an internet services company. are trying to do that. For The result is a Web-based program, now being used by the math goes hi-tech example, one of Calkins’ favorite New York City public school system, that will enable teach- P.S. 112 student Angelo injunctions to teachers is to “pull ers to enter and immediately view information generated by Borrero during a math assess- up a chair and listen” to kids. a TC Reading and Writing Project assessment. The reports, ment where his answers are That’s not easy to do when you which will be posted on a Web site, will allow a teacher to view input into a handheld device. have 25 students in your class— each student’s progress over time in reading fluency, accuracy,

p h o t o g r a p h b y s a m a n t h a i s o m TC TODAY l FALL 2008 19 comprehension, sight words and letter sound identification. the organization Teachers will even be able to track the kinds of spelling pat- (which unites faculty terns that students use. from seven major All of which will help even a rookie teacher get a quick schools of education, handle not only on what students can do, but also on ways in including TC), has which they are improving and ways they are struggling. For shifted its focus from example, on a chart for Maria, a fourth grader, a brown line the statehouse to the puts her overall reading capability at more or less grade level. classroom as the most However, the brown line has been flat since Maria was in the important theatre for middle of third grade—a red flag that she’s dropping behind by improving student staying static. achievement. If the viewer rolls the mouse over the brown line, a mes- “Policy mainly sage will pop up prompting the viewer to check other assess- results in structural ments offered by the program. A glance at the purple line change and can take on the chart shows that it flattened out even earlier than the you only so far,” says brown line, which suggests that Maria first encountered prob- TC President Susan lems with word recognition—which may have resulted from Fuhrman, who founded CPRE when she was a faculty mem- not doing enough reading. ber at Rutgers. “Much of what happens in the classroom is “So often assessment is something that outsiders do, some- beyond policy’s reach. Instruction is what makes it all happen, thing that feels very far from teaching,” Lucy Calkins says. “The and policy can only support that.” goal of our software is to help teachers know that assessment needn’t be outsourced. Expert teachers can watch a child read, and they can recognize signals that suggest the child is doing The goal of our software is well or is struggling. This software distributes that expertise to all to help teachers know teachers, helping all of us recognize the signs of reading growth.” that assessment needn’t be A Growing Revolution

For the past 20 years, U.S. states have set increasingly outsourced. detailed standards for what students are expected to study and -lucy calkins, tc’s Robinson know—part of a broader sea change in American education Professor in Children’s literature away from attempting to guarantee equal opportunity through access to good teachers, safe And when it comes to instruction, the belief at CPRE is facilities and strong cur- that what’s needed most is personalization—the ability to pre- riculum and toward trying to vent individual kids from being left behind by teaching them legislate universal achievement. based on real knowledge of what they understand, what they The latter trend has achieved don’t and why. its fullest expression in Recently, Mosher, Corcoran, Fuhrman and others the federal No Child Left have created a new unit within CPRE, called the Center on Behind Act, which seeks Continuous Instructional Improvement (CCII), through to ensure that all kids will which they are trying to generate a national conversation about be proficient in reading and how to create that kind of teaching. Mosher and Corcoran math by the year 2014. are hardly the first to work this territory, but together the two CPRE, created in the men, who have known each other for years and tend to pepper mid-1980s as the nation’s each other with wonky questions even when others are part first federally funded education of the conversation, bring a lot of experience and contacts to policy center, was in the vanguard of the table. Mosher, the more soft-spoken of the two, is shaggy analyzing the state standards movement. Yet today, and wolfish, with long, silvering hair. He spent 36 years as a

20 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 with just plain empirical observation, about the order of strate- gies and tactics most kids go through to understand increas- ingly complex concepts.” While a number of learning progres- sions have been created to date, right now the classes mandated by most states and districts for students in each grade are, in the view of those who actively champion the idea of learning progressions, little more than laundry lists of information to be covered in a given time period. Second, the approach advocated by CPRE calls for the bona fide use of formative assessment—frequent formal and sharing assessment Left: Lucy Calkins at a Reading and informal assessments conducted in classrooms that are genu- Writing Project training session. Above: Fritz Mosher (left) and inely aimed at monitoring children’s understanding of what Tom Corcoran in TC’s CPRE office. is being taught and diagnosing their learning needs. The best assessments would be the ones linked to learning progressions, program officer with the Carnegie Corporation of New York, because they could pinpoint, along a clearly defined spectrum, working on programs in international affairs, governmental what a child knows, what he doesn’t and what he needs to reform and education at all levels, and now works with the learn next to improve. Spencer Foundation and the RAND Corporation. Corcoran, Third, Mosher, Corcoran and others at CPRE are calling a Co-Director of CPRE, is craggy, with the brusque manner for the use of truly “adaptive instruction”—teaching that is fre- of a newspaper managing editor. He was Policy Advisor for quently fine-tuned based on the results of formative assessments. Education to New Jersey Governor Jim Florio and has con- sulted widely with urban school districts and national founda- tions on issues of quality and equity. Operating out of a small office on the fourth floor of TC’s Gottesman Libraries, Mosher and Corcoran have been working with a range of partners that includes the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the Vermont Mathematics Project and the state of Massachusetts, as well as the TC Reading and Writing Project and a software company called Wireless Generation. With funding from the Hewlett Foundation, Corcoran and Mosher also plan to convene a number of conferences and roundtables during the coming year to hammer out working models for successful personal- ized teaching on a mass scale. “We want to build a field of work so that researchers come together and build better assessment tools, better curricula and better professional development for educators,” says Corcoran. Successful personalized teaching, as CPRE sees it, must include four main components. The first is what the National Science Foundation calls “learning progressions”—or, as Corcoran puts it, “what we know, from learning and developmental theory, combined in the palm of her hand Right: Kiara Toribio, a first grader at P.S. 112 in New York City, counts as TC doctoral student Genevieve Hartman runs an mCLASS assessment. Left: Formative results after one of the curriculum-based measures in the mCLASS software.

photographs (b o t t o m l e f t a n d r i g h t ) b y s a m a n t h a i s o m TC TODAY l FALL 2008 21 And the final piece is “knowledge management”—a fancy term for learning and sharing the kinds of adaptive instruction The goal is to help teachers that teachers find to be effective, through better technology understand each kid’s thinking that, like the new assessment program for the TC Reading and Writing Project, will allow schools and districts to more effi- so that they can teach better, ciently share student assessment results and analyses. That’s espe- cially important in big schools where kids are regularly handed and in a more personalized and off to teachers who have never worked with them before. effective way. Corcoran uses the analogy of medicine to explain this -herbert ginsburg, TC’s Jacob H. idea: “In countries such as Great Britain and Spain, and even in Schiff Foundations professor of a few places in the U.S., there are databases that a general prac- Psychology and Education titioner can call into or access by computer to say, ‘I’m seeing this array of symptoms, the patient is a 71-year-old male’—and small, hand-held computers, the evaluators record each child’s then get back an answer that says, ‘OK, do this or that test,’ answers and note the problem-solving strategies he or she uses to or ‘Here are several possible treatment regimens.’ But teachers try to figure out how many objects are on a plate or whether one have no equivalent of that—no organized body of knowledge grouping has more objects than another. that would provide that kind of guidance.” “Kids love to be tested if you can do it well and make it It’s not easy to find current teaching models that combine enjoyable,” says Teachers College faculty member Herbert learning progression, formative assessment, adaptive instruc- Ginsburg, a mild, bespectacled man who is the Birthday Party tion and knowledge management, but some of the best exam- Project’s progenitor. “That means making assessment fun but ples are happening at Teachers College. still something that yields valuable information.” “What’s always made TC special is its breadth,” Susan To an expert like Ginsburg, whose oeuvre ranges from a Fuhrman says. “We have neuroscience and cognitive people, preschool math curriculum grounded in the work of Jean Piaget we have curriculum people and we have people working with to Two Two the Tooth Fairy, (a story book about spatial relations in technology and computers, all under one roof. When they which his grandson Matthew is a key character), the kids’ birth- come together, it’s incredible what can be accomplished.” day party choices reveal where they stand cognitively, and more specifically, “how their mathematical minds operate. Happy Returns “We’re not doing intelligence testing,” he says. “That’s One effort where they are coming together is something essentially irrelevant for teaching math. The goal is to help called the Birthday Party Project, an assessment system, still teachers understand each kid’s thinking so that they can teach in development, designed to determine what very young chil- better, and in a more personalized and effective way.” dren understand about math. Ginsburg’s efforts to do that are predicated on an idea There’s no pencil or paper, many find radical: that very young children can, in fact, do real no multiple choice questions. math—and enjoy it, too. In fact, the kids involved (pre- “Research has clearly shown that nearly from birth chil- schoolers ages three to five) dren develop an ‘everyday mathematics’—informal ideas of don’t know they’re being more and less, taking away, shape, size, location, pattern and evaluated; instead, they’ve position—that is broad, complex and often sophisticated,” he been told they’re going to a wrote in an essay in TC Today in spring 2008. make-believe birthday party. Ginsburg has co-authored a preschool curriculum, “Big They play games, including Math for Little Kids,” with Carole Greenes of Arizona State activities such as counting pres- University and Robert Balfanz of Johns Hopkins. And at TC, ents and adding candies, and he teaches a course called the Development of Mathematical identifying shapes and patterns. Thinking, in which students are taught partly by analyzing Then the grown-ups running video clips of young children in various situations, from free things ask them questions about how play to focused interviews to instruction, in order to identify they arrived at their answers. Tapping with a stylus on behaviors that shed light on children’s mathematical thinking,

22 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 learning and understand- institutions—Arizona State University-Polytechnic, Georgia ing. For example, one State University, Howard University, Hunter College, Rutgers demonstration sequence University-Newark and San Diego State University—are or that Ginsburg uses in class soon will be piloting the program. shows two little boys, And meanwhile, though the Birthday Party Project is still Armando and Keithly, in development, Ginsburg and Wireless Generation have com- laying long blocks across a pleted development of mCLASS:Math, which uses a similar square foundation they’ve approach to help teachers understand the mathematical think- created, like roofers finish- ing of students in grades K–3. The mCLASS software enables ing a house. teachers to use handheld devices to give formative assessments “Two more to go, in early reading and math more easily and efficiently, receiving learning is fundamental we need two more,” data about each child’s learning strengths and needs imme- TC Professor Herbert Ginsburg Armando shouts as they diately, along with guidance for applying the information to developed the Birthday Party get close to filling in all instructional decisions. Project and a program called VITAL, the space—a possible sign mCLASS:Math is already in use by some 1,500 teachers an online learning environment. that, among other things, in 15 states. Teachers receive prompts for questions to ask that he has the ability not only probe students’ mathematical understanding. They can record to count, but also to follow a pattern, eyeball space and esti- (Continued on page 42) mate what’s needed to fill it. These video clips are currently stored in an online learn- ing environment called VITAL (Video Interactions for Teaching and Learning) that Ginsburg conceived and devel- oped in collaboration with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL), which is directed by TC faculty member Frank Moretti. Using VITAL, students in Ginsburg’s course can select their own segments of video, analyze them and insert them into their electronic papers as clickable multimedia citations—pieces of viewable evidence that buttress their analyses and interpretations. “I don’t like my students to talk in vague ideological terms, like ‘it’s great to let kids construct knowledge,’” Ginsburg says. “I want them to integrate what they learn about kids from observation with what they read and with their own skills of teaching. Unfortunately, many teachers don’t learn to think very well about what kids know and how they can use that information to teach more effectively.” Backed by a five-year National Science Foundation grant, Ginsburg and CCNMTL have been refining VITAL, and Ginsburg has been developing a curriculum modeled on his TC course for export to other universities and colleges that train teachers. This is the final year of the grant, and six doing the math Right: P.S. 112 pre-K student David Marcano repeats patterns as part of the Birthday Party Project. His progress is tracked on software on a handheld device. Left: Measurement of student’s problem-solving strategy in the mCLASS software.

photographs (b o t t o m l e f t a n d r i g h t ) b y s a m a n t h a i s o m TC TODAY l FALL 2008 23 The Power of Independent Thinking by Ryan Brenizer

TC’s Klingenstein Center is developing leaders who improve education by constantly questioning it—and themselves alfway through her year study- whose students past and present include leaders of indepen- dent schools that are among the Ivies’ steady feeder schools, ing at TC’s Klingenstein Center for would also soon be honoring Gladwell with its prestigious h annual Leadership Award. Independent School Leadership, Eileen During his visit, Gladwell admitted that his comments Neville had often been excited, exhausted about the Ivies were at least partly facetious, though he didn’t back off his strongest beefs. and elated. But the guest lecturer on a “I object to the hoarding of resources,” he said, citing the wintry afternoon last February promised multi-billion dollar endowments of some universities. “And I object to the way in which to be something truly special. those kinds of brand The Klingenstein Center is the nation’s oldest and best names distort educational known professional development program for leaders—and priorities in high schools, aspiring leaders—of independent schools. In each of its four with kids thinking that main programs—the full-year Private School Leadership that’s all that matters, and Program and the intensive Summer Leadership Program, how they serve as a kind both of which offer M.A. and Ed.M. degrees; the two-week of inappropriate marker in Summer Institute for Early Career Teachers; and the Heads the workplace. In fact, my of Schools Program, which functions as a renewal summit for corollary recommenda- longtime school leaders—the Center offers training that on one tion is that once you have level is intensely practical. Along with classes in organization graduated from college, outside the box Above: Guest behavior, cognition, curriculum and moral leadership, there you should not be allowed lecturer Malcolm Gladwell joins Pearl are courses in law, finance and marketing. to tell anyone—and no one Rock Kane at a Klingenstein class. Left: Yet perhaps the most important component of should be allowed to ask— Klingenstein Fellow Eileen Neville. Klingenstein programs is the premium they place on intro- where you went to school.” spection. “Truly good leadership requires a willingness to Still, when Klingenstein student Danielle Passno, a constantly consider alternatives to result in better quality,” Dartmouth graduate, asked Gladwell his feelings about inde- says Pearl Rock Kane, the Center’s longtime director. “We pendent schools, the answer was surprising. Growing up in are always looking at ways to improve, both in what we offer Canada, Gladwell had not fit the mold for attending his local our students and in what they take back to their classrooms public school. In fact, his mother and the school’s principal and schools. That can only happen by building in opportuni- had agreed upon an arrangement that enabled him to get ties and time for reflection.” through while spending considerable time on his own. And truly meaningful reflection, in Kane’s view, involves After the talk, Eileen Neville, a Harvard gradu- listening to different perspectives. ate who came to the Klingenstein Center from her job as “You don’t learn much from people who consistently the International Student Coordinator at The Williston agree with you,” she says. “The way to expand understanding Northampton School in Massachusetts, gave Gladwell the and improve the quality of decision-making is to invite the thumbs up. The mere fact of his presence at the Center dem- perspective of people with varying views.” onstrated something essential about the program, she said: that All of which may explain why the guest lecturer com- here, no ideas are off the table. “The conversation is made rich- ing to Eileen’s Neville’s class that day was New Yorker writer er by so many different perspectives,” Neville said. “It leads you Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author of the books Blink and to examine your own ideas. Why do I hold this dear? Why is The Tipping Point. “He’s thoughtful about such a wide variety of this important to me?” subjects,” Neville said. “Instead of saying, ‘I wonder why that is?’, he’s the guy who goes and gets to the bottom of it.” A public raison d’etre Gladwell is also the guy who, in The Tipping Point, sug- The Gladwell visit also suggests an answer to one of gested that Ivy League universities should be shut down. Yet the most commonly asked questions about the Klingenstein the Klingenstein Center, housed in just such a university and Center: How does a program for independent school leaders

photographs b y r y a n b r e n i z e r TC TODAY l FALL 2008 25 fit in at TC, which—despite being Ivy League—prides itself are all children of parents who can afford to live there. Not on championing educational equity with a focus on preparing only do we recruit Klingenstein students from diverse back- teachers and principals for work in the public school system? grounds and with varied work experiences, we aim to instill a Part of the answer can be found in the College’s broad strong sense of social justice and equity in their studies.” commitment to seeking, promoting and shaping quality edu- But in Kane’s view, the most important reason cation in all its forms. For while the Klingenstein Center may Klingenstein belongs at TC has to do with the sense of pos- once have primarily served traditional prep schools, (John sibility that independent schools inspire—and thus the kind of Klingenstein, the TC Trustee who founded the Center in 1976 people they attract. and last winter endowed it to the tune of $20 million, is a pas- “I have enormous respect for people in independent sionate Deerfield Academy alumnus.), that’s no longer the case. schools,” she says. “They’re not running away from anything, Today, the Klingenstein Center makes an effort to recruit they just want to be effective in what they do. They come here widely, both nationally and internationally, to reflect a rich believing in the transformational power of schools—that edu- diversity of educators and schools. cation is the way to change society. Whether they’re classroom “In any one of our cohorts, you’ll find educators who rep- teachers or school heads, they leave with a missionary zeal to resent the true breadth of independent schools—from schools make a difference—and we provide them with the knowledge that serve the poor, from urban schools, suburban schools, and skills that will help them be successful.” girls’ schools, boys’ schools, Satisfied customers boarding schools, There seems to be no lack of Klingenstein alumni who experiential validate that claim. More than 500 of them showed up in schools, religious February 2008 for the special dinner that celebrated the schools, no- Center’s 30th anniversary and honored John Klingenstein with tuition schools, a Lifetime Achievement Award. second chance For Nigel Furlonge, who’d originally expected his foray schools,” Kane into the profession to be brief, the Klingenstein two-week says. “What all summer program was “the moment when I truly understood these schools how challenging, difficult and rewarding this career is and have in common could be.” is the autonomy Furlonge, who describes himself as “the first faculty founders, keepers Above: John to meet the needs member of color ever” at the Holderness School, in Plymouth, Klingenstein receives a lifetime achieve- of their constituencies with- New Hampshire, had already decided to stay in the field, ment award at the Klingenstein Center’s out state interference. Private earning a master’s degree in history to improve his teaching. 30th anniversary celebration. Right: schools can bring in a poet or an Still, there were times when he’d wondered what he was Klingenstein Fellow Nigel Furlonge is artist, and are unconstrained by doing at Holderness. Academic Dean at the Lawrenceville bureaucratic regulations.” “Holderness is in rural New Hampshire. Over the course School, where the center holds its sum- They can also choose their of my tenure there, I grew to be committed to education as a mer training sessions. students and faculty from a profession, but I was also wondering if independent schools broad spectrum without being were really the place I would remain. Are these the kinds of bound by geographic limitations. They can put together com- schools I want to serve? Should I be in a major urban area serv- munities that reflect racial, religious, socioeconomic and cogni- ing a more diverse community in a public school where there tive diversity—and a diversity of students’ talents, too. Indeed, are many more students of color and certainly many more kids Kane says, even private schools that might once legitimately that look like me? However, my time in Klingenstein pushed have been called elitist no longer fit that description. me to think more critically about why, where and how to do “Private schools are changing to be more representative of the work we do in independent schools. society in general—for example, Andover has 40 percent of its “At Klingenstein, I learned more broadly about how students on financial aid. That’s a lot more diverse than a pub- academic and learning environments could be designed for lic school in Scarsdale, where, with very few exceptions, classes schools that truly engage questions surrounding educational

26 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 My time at Klingenstein pushed me to think more critically about why, where and how to do the work we do in independent schools. -nigel furlonge

excellence, educational access and educational equity,” he says. do walk away with a sense of the critical, substantive or “To be part of such intentional conversations really changed salient questions that then help you, hopefully, to make more my thinking about what role I could play as an educator.” thoughtful, reflective decisions.” So much so, in fact, that three years later, Furlonge agreed The result can be life-changing. For example, when Eileen to work with the Summer Institute as a co-lead teacher for Neville left the Williston Northampton School, she knew she both diversity programming and the history curriculum group, wanted to find a new opportunity, but thought it would be in and five years later, he was back as a Klingenstein Fellow for student services. During the course of her time at Klingenstein, the year-long Private School Leadership program. In the mean- she discovered her heart lay in faculty development and in time, he had moved on from Holderness to the St. Andrew’s thought and strategy about curriculum. School in Delaware (known to many people as the Dead Poets By March of her year-long program, she had interviewed Society school). And he has since moved on again to become for a job as Upper School Director of Studies at the Charlotte Academic Dean at the Lawrenceville School near Princeton, Country Day School, a K–12 school in Charlotte, North New Jersey, where, not incidentally, the Klingenstein Summer Carolina. She had her new job pinned down by spring break, Institute takes place. she says, proudly. In each of these roles, Furlonge says, he found that his “You come in there knowing you want to get to the next Klingenstein experiences have given him the ability to navi- level, but then this whole other side of education is revealed gate everything from pedagogical challenges to legal issues to you,” she says. “I was passionate before, but Klingenstein to questions of health and wellness. “We spent time think- helped me to see where my passions lay.” ing and learning about all these things through case studies, Aimeclaire Roche also worked at St. Andrew’s, first as a through readings, through essays,” he says. “It’s not that you teacher of classical languages, then in academic administration, become an expert in every area. That’s not possible. But you and then as Director of College Counseling. The work was

p h o t o g r a p h o f n i g e l f u r l o n g e b y s a m a n t h a i s o m TC TODAY l FALL 2008 27 rewarding, and after some years in the latter role, Roche began your mind to the disparity of resources, which then highlights considering a next move. the necessity of social justice in education,” she says. “That, for When she heard that the Klingenstein Center was start- me, was a real complement to my being from well-endowed ing its Summer Leadership Program, she quickly applied. “So boarding school campuses—having my shades opened a bit.” many of my St. Andrew’s colleagues and friends from through- For their final project, Roche and other members of her out the field of education had been through Klingenstein pro- cohort followed a head of school for two days and analyzed the grams that I knew the Center by reputation,” she says. ways in which that leader’s work conformed to or departed The reality did not disappoint. She cherished her class- from various leadership modes and frames. That turned out mates (“We all lived together, and we all worked togeth- to be particularly fortuitous, because right before her second er—even our individual work always had a collaborative summer at Klingenstein, Roche was offered the job of Assistant component.”); she respected the work ethic (“Because of the Head at Groton School in Massachusetts. condensed academic schedule in the summer terms and the “I don’t know how I would have made that move without way we pursued our research projects while back at our own my leadership academy colleagues,” she says. “They were the schools, for a year and a half we worked 18-hour days and got wise constant in the midst of a large transition. If I went back to keep only one carefully chosen personal hobby.”); and she to my phone bills that first month, I’m sure they reflect numer- especially valued the alternative perspectives on education. ous calls across the country and to Canada.” For one of her first assignments, Roche shadowed a stu- dent at a vocational high school. In an American educational Leading the leaders history course, she dug into the federal No Child Left Behind By all accounts, two constants have defined the Act: “You begin to weigh the benefits of having that kind of Klingenstein Center throughout its three decades of existence. benchmark. What are the challenges? And how can indepen- The first is John Klingenstein, whose vision the Center dent schools and public schools work together in some way?” was, and who has since struck a balance of supportive involve- And throughout it all, there was the backdrop of New York ment and hands-off forbearance that may be unique among City. “You go out, visit different kinds of schools and open wealthy benefactors.

28 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 “John’s humility and respect for educators and teachers Of course, models characteristics we aim to develop in our students,” it probably says Kane. “John knows what we’re trying to accomplish and doesn’t hurt he trusts me and the College to make sound decisions. He is morale for edu- a supportive advocate and great source of strength. He also cators, however makes an effort to visit classes and meet with our students experienced, to directly so he sees what we are doing firsthand.” (Read more attend a pro- about John Klingenstein at www.tc.edu/news/5876.) gram that can The second is Kane, a seemingly tireless woman with connect them a dazzling smile who still teaches in every session of every with an influen- Klingenstein program, and who, at the Center’s many parties tial network of and outings, can usually be found at a table with students, teachers selected laughing as loudly as any of them. on the basis of following the leaders Above: Kane herself was in the first class of Fellows the Center a national com- Klingenstein Center Director Pearl Rock graduated. She had been teaching at Dalton, a top New York petition; that has a summer Kane (left), founder John Klingenstein City private school, following stints in the City’s public school program housed at the and Kathleen Pomerantz, Vice President system and teaching in Smith College’s model school. Lawrenceville School cam- of The Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Her experience as a Klingenstein Fellow left her wanting pus, and that has great food Fund. Left: The summer 2008 Klingenstein more. “The program at that time was being run in a very casual and more built-in perks cohort at TC. way,” she says—a view her thesis advisor, then-TC President than most professional Lawrence Cremin, shared. It was Cremin who offered Kane development programs the Klingenstein directorship. for educators. Kane sees all of it as being part and parcel of a “I said, ‘You don’t really want me—you want someone who message Klingenstein delivers to its participants—a genuine has been fully immersed in the private school sector,” says Kane, respect for the value of educators and the importance of the who herself is a product of public schooling and earned her work they do in society. undergraduate degree at City College. But Cremin assured her “The ultimate purpose of the Klingenstein Center,” she she was exactly the kind of person he wanted—an educator com- says, “is to develop leadership as a behavior, not necessarily as mitted to equity and educational excellence for all students. a position. The attraction of leadership is the opportunity to Over the years, Kane has sharpened the Center’s empha- influence change. You take a leadership role because you want sis on social justice and defined “leadership” to include both a to be the kind of educator who doesn’t just make changes that pedagogical focus and an administrative one. are episodic, but who also strives to foster continuous improve- “We want our graduates to be highly knowledgeable ment as a way of life.” about the work of schools, which is teaching and learning, so At Groton, where she became Assistant Head not so we require applicants to have a minimum of three years experi- long ago, Aimeclaire Roche has kept that idea firmly in mind. ence in the classroom, and they study cognitive development Recently she served as a member of a Groton faculty com- and curriculum when they get here,” Kane says. “An assistant mittee that recommended holding the rate at which faculty head or an admissions director with 20 years of experience compensation was increased in order to raise the amount the would not be accepted without teaching experience.” school spends on scholarships. “Another thing we’re doing The Klingenstein Center also responds to emerging this year is looking hard at classism,” says Roche, who in July needs in the field. For example, the Summer Institute for 2009 will become the 11th Head of School in the 100-year Early Career Teachers was created to focus on teachers history of the Bishop’s School in La Jolla, California. “What who have reached the two- to five-year mark in their jobs, is Groton like for a student who comes without resources? because research has shown that to be a key make-or-break How imposing a place is this? How welcoming? How not? period when many of the most capable educators are likely And when we chose to do a professional development pro- to leave the profession. The program’s stated goal is to gram at the beginning of the year that was our focus. So the encourage successful young teachers to commit to teaching ethos of the Klingenstein Center really does imbue the way as a long-term career. you look at the decisions you make.” z

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 29 TC Today Alumni News

AThe latest on alumni lumnevents, services and other goings-on i News Global Awareness through “Edutainment” Finding an effective means by which to spread global awareness among today’s youth is a daunting task, but Jenna Arnold set out to make it a reality…show

by Margaret Fuller ety,” she recalls. “I thought, enna Arnold (M.A., ‘Wow, they don’t care.’” International Education Arnold’s indignation JDevelopment, 2005) was developed into a mission: born with a fascination for far- “How do I make them care?” away places. Inspired to pursue edu- The Pennsylvania native cation at the graduate level, was so intrigued by outer space Arnold had little trouble decid- that she minored in astrophys- ing on where: “I always knew I ics at the University of Miami. would go to TC for the prestige But ultimately, earthly exploits of the name and the people beckoned more than celestial who had come before me. The ones: Arnold is currently on a fact that Dewey used these mission to bring cultural aware- handrails—there was a sense ness to people around the world of legacy that drew me to the through a phenomenon aptly school,” she says. Supportive ON LOCATION Jenna Arnold travels the world for her reality show called: “edutainment.” peers with diverse perspec- “Exiled!” Above: On location in India. Arnold attributes her tives “brought the world into passion for global issues to an Horace Mann,” says Arnold. tion in global causes through “surface compassion” among early experience. Troubled by After she worked at the media. Her reality show young Americans by encourag- the socioeconomic issues she United Nations as a media and “Exiled!” began airing on MTV ing them “to learn about things encountered on a school trip education specialist, Arnold in summer 2008. outside their borders” and to Mexico, she grew frustrated began developing a vision Chronicling the lives of “challenge stereotypes.” by a friends’ dismissive reac- for “popping the bubble.” In American teenagers who are Thus far, as befits some- tion to what she had wit- 2006, she founded Press Play temporarily immersed in dif- one who once pursued astro- nessed. “I was taken aback by Productions to inspire cultural ferent cultures throughout physics, the sky appears to pose the bubble in American soci- awareness and youth participa- the world, Arnold hopes to no limit to her success. z

30 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 Teachers College Alumni Council

The Teachers College Alumni Council consists of 35 members who represent all 90,000 gradu- ates. The Council partners with the Department of Development and External Affairs to advance the goals of the College by pro- viding alumni with opportuni- ties to remain involved in the life of the College through social Alumni News activities, volunteer efforts and financial support. alumni Council President’s Message

Dear Fellow Alumni, ties for alumni; however, this year, we Executive Committee Alice Wilder, President Welcome back to Teachers College! are striving to engage you in that pro- • cess. The twin themes of my tenure as With fall semester now in full swing, TC Standing Committee Chairs is—once again—teeming with activity. president have been: (1) collaboration and (2) collaboration, so: Awards Committee And the Alumni Council is in the midst Adam Vane, Co-chair of planning several months of activity • If you live abroad or out of state, Jeffrey Putman, Co-chair with the support of an exuberant new join us for a virtual lecture and discus- team in the alumni office, staffed by Chris Greaves, sion (sans wine and cheese). Dean’s Advisory Committee Elaine Heffner, Co-chair our newly appointed Director of Alumni Relations; • If you have suggestions for Academic Lindsay Brennan, our new Associate Director of Homecoming (e.g. speakers, programming International Committee Alumni Relations; and Marlene Tucker, our new concepts, etc.), email the Office of Alumni Patrick McGuire, Chair Alumni Relations Liaison. • Here’s a glimpse of Relations at [email protected]. what we’re planning for the upcoming year: If you’d like to nominate someone for the Program Committee • Michael Passow, Chair • Nine regional events, including receptions in “Alumni of the Quarter” award, email mtucker@ Westchester, Bergen County, New York City, tc.edu. Student Relations Committee Jeffrey Putman, Chair Washington, D.C., Miami and South Florida. • To ensure that your former classmates and col- leagues are being invited to College events, visit • Six appearances at academic conferences, TC Annual Fund including the American Association of School www.tcinvite.com and add their addresses to our Terri Nixon, Chair Administrators (AASA) conference in San email listserv. Historian Francisco, February 19-21; the American To volunteer your home for an event, contact us • Christopher Scott Educational Research Association (AERA) at 212-678-3215. conference in San Diego, April 13-17; and the With nine academic departments and more than 75 Members-At-Large Comparative and International Education programs, your alma mater was virtually designed Constance B. Green Society (CIES) conference in Galveston, South to cater to your evolving pursuits and interests, so Kate Moody Carolina, March 22-26. you have every excuse to come back and visit your Madelon Stewart Two “virtual” Web forums to engage our out- old haunts: Russell Courtyard, Everett Lounge, the • Andre McKenzie, of-state and international alumni population Gottesman Library! And never forget, you’ll always Immediate Past President directly in lectures and panel discussions at have a home on 120th Street, between Amsterdam the College. and Broadway. Joyce Cowin, Trustee Representative to the • Academic Homecoming, slated for April 2009. Sincerely, Alumni Council • An “Alumni of the Quarter” contest to recog- nize our outstanding alumni for their achieve- ments on a public and ongoing basis. For more information about the As always, the Alumni Council is taking a leadership Alice Wilder, Alumni Council, please visit our role in planning programs and volunteer opportuni- Alumni Council President Web site: www.tc.edu/alumni

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 31 Teachers College Annual Fund 2008-2009

THE POWER OF Why Give to the Annual Fund: TEACHERS COLLEGE • Your gift supports the interdisciplinary Brilliant minds coming together research that will ignite change in to transform lives. education, health and psychology. • Your gift puts more TC alumni in the field, We all work better together. where their research is transforming lives. Teachers College works better • Your gift helps TC maintain its premier with you. position among its peer graduate schools of education. • Your gift ensures that TC has the resources Make a secure donation online at necessary to support current students www.tc.edu/givetotc or call 212-678-4067. through meaningful financial aid packages.

TCtoday_TC AnnualFund_Ad_8.187x10.875_Final.indd 1 10/17/08 5:52:34 PM for the past three years. She years in New York. The com- writes, “My educational expe- pany is recognized by the U.S. rience at TC has been rich and Department of Education as a fruitful. Thanks TC!” “gold standard” evaluation firm Class Notes and has completed more than Connecting alumni far and near with Philosophy & Education 200 evaluations in the field of Teachers College and each other Stephanie Mackler (Ph.D., learning technology. 2004; M.Phil., 2002) authored Religion & Education moved into a newly reno- Toward the Hermeneutic Arts & Humanities Fr. Kenneth P. Paulli (Ed.D., vated, 1700-square foot facility University: Learning for Meaning’s Applied Linguistics (Sense Publishers, forth- 1999) was named Executive in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, Sake coming). She is in her fifth Assistant to the President of Bora Sohn (M.A., 2008) with a gallery, photo studio, year as Assistant Professor of Siena College, where he is returned to Korea and is a multi-media lab, silk-screen Education at Cornell College an alumni. He taught high researcher at E-public. He is workshop and offices. SA in Mount Vernon, Iowa. school before joining the writing an English reading benefits under-served youth Franciscan order. He has a book for Korean children in Brooklyn through hands- master’s in theology from and producing an English on training in the arts and Philosophy & the social sciences the Washington Theological test Web site. Sohn says he entrepreneurship. She writes Dale Mann (Ph.D., 1971) Union and was ordained a loves his job, but misses his to thank the TC students and relocated his company, priest. Paulli joined the Siena TC friends, who are now “all faculty who “supported me Interactive, Inc., to Ashland, College faculty in 1999 and around the world trying to on the journey to turning this Virginia, after more than 40 later became Chair of the make a difference in our field.” dream into reality.” Art & Art Education Mark Gilbert (M.A., 2001) is mr. snyder goes to washington Sherry Mayo (Ed.D.C.T., now the Director of the Julia 2004) wrote several articles for Morgan Center for the Arts Jason Snyder, a TC student pursuing the art education journal, Art in Berkeley, California. After a doctorate in education leadership, Education in the Third Millennium: leading his board through has been selected as a 2008-09 White Art Technology Integration (www. a year-long strategic plan- House Fellow for Leadership and Public smayo.net). She will present a ning process, Mark is now Service. • Snyder is also an inaugu- media aesthetics session at ISEA implementing the board’s ral Fordham Scholar at the Thomas 2008 in Singapore. Her work new vision to become the B. Fordham Institute, a Washington is currently on view in a group west coast’s first youth per- education think tank. The program exhibition, “Love Without forming arts center. Gilbert funds doctoral candidates and faculty studying education. Borders,” in Brighton, was formerly a director with Currently, Snyder teaches social studies at Wakefield High School United Kingdom. the national arts manage- ment consulting firm AMS in Arlington, Virginia. But he previously taught history and gov- Barbara (Henkin) Planning & Research. ernment in public schools in his native Los Angeles and at the Rothenberg (M.A., 1956) had China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing. Prior to becoming an a retrospective of her painting, Music & Music Education educator, Snyder practiced education and appellate law at Hogan collage, drawing and print- Michael Epperhart (M.A., & Hartson LLP, where he represented various school districts on making, entitled “Timelines,” 2001) has played bass for the issues like school desegregation. Snyder also served as a law clerk on display at the Flinn Gallery last five years for national tours for the Honorable Richard J. Leon at the U.S. District Court for the in Greenwich, Connecticut. of Cats, Evita and Joseph and the District of Columbia. Snyder earned his B.A. in public policy Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. • Arts Administration from Stanford University in 1994, an Ed.M. from UCLA in 1995, and Marisa Catalina Casey (M.A., Anitra C. Hampton a J.D. from the University of California Berkeley School of Law in 2007), as TC student, founded (Ed.M., M.A., 2000) has 2002. Snyder has also spent his free time volunteering with edu- Starting Artists (SA) (www. been Instructor/Coordinator cational initiatives and has served on the board of trustees for startingartists.org), a nonprofit of Music Education at Miles a public charter school and as a consultant for a nonprofit legal arts organization that recently College in Fairfield, Alabama, educational organization, Street Law.

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 33 TC Alumni News Class Notes

Education Department. He teaches fifth grade ESOL at physical education previously worked in audiol- recently received an award of Norton Park Elementary in Phebe Scott (M.A., 1946), ogy at various hospital-based appreciation from the state- Smyrna, Georgia. is 85 years old and was “sur- speech and hearing centers, wide association of Advocacy prised” to win a lifetime and was a consultant at The Kent Doehr McLeod for Gifted and Talented achievement award by the Jewish Home & Hospital in (M.A., 2000) completed Education and a TrustCo National Association of Manhattan for 25 years. a doctorate in curriculum Bank Award for Excellence. Collegiate Women Athletic and instruction, with an Administrators for helping Gabriela Simon-Cereijido Teaching of English emphasis on ESL and mul- women “step up to the plate.” (M.S., 2000) was awarded Alison (Warren) Chernin ticultural education, in the the Trailblazer Award of the (M.A., 2008) married Saul Teaching, Learning, and Speech & Language Pathology Latino Alumni Association Chernin in her hometown of Culture Department at Texas Susan Friess Goldman of Columbia University. She Montgomery, Alabama, in July. A&M University. The title (M.A., 1967) has been has received three consecutive She teaches at the Academy of his dissertation was “A Executive Director of Love Minority Biomedical Research for College Prep and Career Qualitative Examination Me Tender School for Child Support Program grants from Exploration in Brooklyn. of Culture Shock and the Development, a special educa- the National Institute of Influential Factors Affecting tion preschool in Riverdale, General Medical Sciences at the Deirdra Grode (M.A, 2006) Newly-Arrived Korean New York since 1992. She National Institutes of Health. was awarded the Association Students at Texas A&M for Supervision and University.” He has been two of the best Curriculum Development’s a lecturer in the English 2008 Outstanding Young Language Institute at Texas Educator Award. She is a A&M since January 2004. seventh and eighth grade social studies and language arts teacher at Hoboken Charter Biobehavioral Sciences School in New Jersey. Neuroscience & Education Paul Li (M.S., 2008) is an tesol instructor at University of Rebecca Ladner (M.A., 2007) California-Berkeley Extension married Aaron Sayler in and writes he is “still paying off Atlanta, Georgia, in June. She those loans.”

one of the best

TC alumna Talia Javid Scot Alan Hovan (M.A., Science Education, 2005) and Dave (M.A., Science Education, Kukla (M.A., Teaching of Social Studies, 1990) both received 2005) has received a 2008 the annual Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Siemens Science Teacher Science Teaching for 2007. Hovan teaches science at Mahtomedi Initiative Award from the New High School in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. Kukla teaches calculus York Hall of Science and the at Sabino High School in Tucson, Arizona. • The award is given Siemens Foundation. • The annually to math and science teachers who make outstand- award is given each year to 10 ing contributions to their students and schools. Awardees are New York City educators who selected from all 50 States and Washington, D.C. For 2007, the have shown exceptional com- White House recognized the nation’s best seventh through twelfth mitment to children, demon- grade teachers. • Both Hovan and Kukla received a $10,000 edu- strated leadership in science teaching, and worked closely with cational grant to be used at their discretion over a three-year the Hall to enrich the lives of others. Javid is a physics teacher period, and an all-expense-paid trip for two to Washington, D.C., who was a Petrie Fellow while at TC. She was featured in the spe- to accept the certificate and take a photo (above) with Vice cial Fall 2005 issue of TC Today on “The Making of a Teacher.” President Dick Cheney.

34 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 She has presented her theories Imam Syed Sayeed (M.A., tional alumni representative and dined with fellow alumna on bilingual language develop- 1972) spoke on a panel of reli- in the Netherlands, traveled Patricia (Patsy) Davies, ment and assessment at profes- gious leaders on “Spirituality to London in April for the Suzanne Murphy, TC’s Vice sional conferences around the in the Face of Serious Illness.” TC Alumni Reception at the President for Development world, and she has been pub- Sayeed is the Religious Life University Women’s Club and External Affairs, and lished in several peer-reviewed Advisor to the Muslim scientific journals, including Campus Ministry, Office of three co-authored articles. the University Chaplain at reciprocity in mentoring Columbia University. Lois J. Zachary (Ed.D., Adult Counseling & Clinical Mindy R. Schiffman (Ph.D., Education, 1986; M.A., 1985) believes Psychology 1985; M. Phil, 1984; M.S., 1982) mentoring was written in her DNA. counsels patients undergoing Clinical Psychology “My connection to mentoring isn’t an assisted reproductive techniques John Aramini (Ed.M., accident,” she says. “My maiden name in the Ob/Gyn department at M.A., 1975) is owner and is Menter, with an ‘e.’” Coincidences the NYU School of Medicine. senior counselor of Aramini aside, she grew up watching her She also has a small, general pri- Management, a management vate practice with a subspecialty mother mentor many people in her counseling firm that provides in sex therapy. community and followed her example. hands-on industry focused Zachary, who received her doctorate in adult education at TC, solutions to business owners counseling psychology believes mentoring is “a responsibility of leadership”—one she and senior management in Mary Lou Bernardo (Ph.D., takes very seriously. “I’ve always had mentors along the way, customer and business reten- • 1993; M.Phil., 1983; M.A., and sometimes they raised the bar, modeled the way or pushed tion, sales, marketing and 1983) received the 2008 organizational development me beyond my limits,” she says. Since Zachary believes men- Will Solimene Award (www.araminimanagement.com). toring is a reciprocal relationship, it’s easy to understand why for Excellence in Medical He also volunteers as a she loves what she does. Zachary developed her style while Communications in the • mentor for TC’s Office of in graduate school. “It really was a confluence of what I was Professional Interest Category Career Services. learning at Teachers College and the idea that adult learning from the New England chap- was so central to leadership,” she explains. “The model of men- Nelly Alia-Klein (Ph.D., ter of the American Medical toring that people had been using had really been pediatric. It 2002; M.Phil., 2001; M.S., Writers Association for her 2001) is an associate scientist continuing education mod- needed to be looked at from the point of view of adult learners. engaged in neuroimaging ule, “Social Anxiety Disorder It requires a shift in thinking.” • Zachary found her calling in research into the underly- Restricts Lives,” published by 1992 when she started Leadership Development Services, a ing mechanism of aggressive Nursing Spectrum in 2007. mentoring and leadership consulting company in Phoenix. Since behavior at the Brookhaven then, the company has worked with everyone from Ikea to the National Laboratory’s psychological counseling U.S. Navy—including educational institutions from Chicago to Center for Translational Christine Fischer (Ed.M., Ontario. Specializing “in building the leadership capacity of Neuroimaging. M.A., 1999), TC’s interna- organizations and their leaders,” Zachary has cemented the company’s reputation for developing custom leadership and mentoring programs and raising standards of quality for what Contact us. We want she calls “mentoring excellence.” • Her words of wisdom can be found in numerous publications and several books, includ- to hear from you! ing the bestseller The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships. Her latest book, The Mentees Guide: Let us know what’s happening in your career and your life. Send Making Mentors Work for You, will be released in the spring news of your promotion, books you’ve written or new family mem- of 2009. It focuses on how mentees can use mentor relation- bers to: Office of Alumni Relations, 525 West 120th Street, Box ships and transition into being a mentor. Zachary’s innovative 306, New York, NY 10027, or call us at 212-678-3215, or e-mail: approach to adult learning was recognized in 2007 when she was [email protected]. named to the Top 100 Thought Leaders on Leadership List.

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 35 Fixed Income FOR LIFE?

Earn Income for Life and Give Back to Teachers College

Many people may not be aware that they can guarantee a generous lifetime income for themselves, while supporting Teachers College now.

A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) allows you to receive either immediate lifetime payments or to defer your payments to a future date and receive a higher rate. In either case, you will receive favorable tax consequences.

Here’s how it works: • In exchange for your irrevocable gift of cash, stock or mutual funds, you receive a fixed payment each year for life. • Your annuity rate is determined by your age (at your nearest birthday) when your gift is made. • Sample single-life rates follow for individuals age 65 and older:

AGE 65 70 75 80 85 90+

RATE 5.7% 6.1% 6.7% 7.6% 8.9% 10.5%

The Office of Planned Giving would be happy to prepare personalized gift calculations at no cost or obligation to you. If you are interested, please call Louis LoRe, Director of Planned Giving at 212.678.3037, toll-free at 866.782.4438, or email us at [email protected]. Christopher Greaves, Director on improving educational Dianne Nelson Watkins Carina Celesia Moore of Alumni Relations, at Rules, opportunities for the disen- (M.A., 1969) started the non- (M.A., 1985) is the Director of London’s oldest restaurant. franchised in Brazil. profit organization Bells for Staff Development and Work Peace to raise money to restore Life at the University Myrtle McDaniel (M.A., Michael J. Passow (Ed.M., the chimes on the currently of California, Davis. In 1962) was honored by the 1987; Science Ed.: Ed.D., 1974; hollow bell tower at Virginia addition, she teaches a Girl Scouts of Eastern South M.A.T., 1971; ) was named Union University, one of graduate seminar at California Carolina as a 2008 Women of the 2008-2010 President of the country’s first historically State University, Sacramento, Distinction for her contribu- the National Earth Science Black universities. The bell in the Department of tions to education. McDaniel Teachers Association (www. tower’s carillon was removed, Counseling Education. spent 40 years as an educa- nestanet.org). A teacher for leaving the bell tower mute, tor in Georgia and South 39 years, Passow teaches when it was transferred to the Carolina before retiring as at Dwight Morrow High university from the 1939 Health & Behavior Assistant Superintendent of School in Englewood, New Studies New York World’s Fair Instruction and Curriculum at Jersey, conducts Earth2Class grounds in 1941. Watkins applied development & the Orangeburg Consolidated workshops at the Lamont- was raised at the university— Language School District Five. She has Doherty Earth Observatory her uncle, Dr. John Malcus Felicia Lebewohl Rosen received many honors for her of Columbia University (www. Ellison, was its first African- (Ed.M., 2005) is a school contributions to education earth2class.org) and serves on American president. psychologist at Westchester and serves on the board of TC’s Alumni Council. Fairfield Hebrew Academy in several education and Sylvia Rini (M.A., 2000) early Childhood Education New York. arts organizations. is now a first grade head Paula Davis-Hoffman (M.A., 2007) gave birth to a son in applied educational Psychology PSYCHOLOGY IN EDUCATION teacher at Harlem Success April. She resides in Miami, Lynn R. Schechter (Ph.D., Felicia Corbett (M.A., 2007) Academy Charter School #3 Florida, where she has taught 2001; M.Phil., 1999; Ed.M., is pursuing a doctorate in in East Harlem. third and fourth grade. She 1997; M.A., 1992) authored a clinical psychology at St. Mishelle Ross Owens (Ed.D., says she would love to hear children’s book, Jenna’s Big Fat John’s University and expects Ed.M., 1978; M.A., 1974) from friends with whom she Secret (American Psychological to graduate in 2012. was elected to the Board of has lost touch. Association’s Magination Adrian A. Fletcher (M.A., Directors for the California Association of Private Special 2004) is enrolled in an APA- existential author accredited clinical psychology Education Schools, a statewide program at the American professional association of TC Alumni Council member Schools of Professional nonpublic schools, agencies Richard Campagna (M.A., Psychology at Argosy organizations and individuals. Developmental Psychology, Owens has been a special edu- University where she is a stu- 1991), who in 2004 ran as cator for more than 30 years dent representative and mem- the Libertarian Party’s and teaches several courses for ber of the diversity committee. candidate for the U.S. Vice UCLA Extension. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, Presidency, has authored and works for a behavioral Bill Varney (M.A., 1966) To Play Along the Path: health hospital. is a writer-producer and The Multifarious Ps of Vice President of Feature Existential Philosophy and Animation at Craig Murray Curriculum & Teaching Practice. The book, which Productions, producing pro- brings together essays by Curriculum & Teaching motional trailers and TV spots an array of people from different fields, bills itself as “a low- Lauri A. Francis (Ed.M., for Disney and Pixar theatrical 2007; M.A., Comparative features. “I’ve been in sunny key, workable philosophy of life (replete with DOs and DON’Ts) & International Education, Southern California for 30 drawing from traditional existential philosophy, pop psychol- 2002), developed and over- years” he writes, “but I’ll never ogy from the 60s and 70s, and novel practical approaches as sees www.blessings4brazil.com, a forget the kids and faculty at well as personal, professional and political counsel, developed humanitarian project focused P.S. 36-125 Manhattan!” for the new millennium.”

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 37 TC Alumni News Class Notes

Press, forthcoming) to help for men and women at Pike retired after 24 years as a Achievement Award at the overweight children. She also Harvard University. professor at the University of Council for Exceptional authored an article for the Toronto. She was also a visit- Children Convention. His TC journal Traumatology (Sage Guidance ing scholar at TC, Hebrew dissertation was titled, “The Publications). Schechter is Robert Harcourt (M.S., University in Jerusalem, Use of Normal Peer Models Director of a new early child- 1961) was honored by the and the Tokyo Institute to Increase Social Interaction hood assessment and treat- Institute of American Indian of Technology. She now in Socially Withdrawn ment center for children with Arts in Santa Fe, New chairs the Senior Scholars Non-Assertive Physically prenatal alcohol and substance Mexico. His name was added Committee of Retired Handicapped Children.” exposure, the first of its kind Academics and Librarians at to the institute’s Wall of Corrine R. Donley (Ed.D., in Louisiana. the University of Toronto. Honor, and he was presented 1990; Ed.M., 1989) practices She is also a board member with a traditional Pendleton privately as a behavior analyst Applied Physiology for the Elizabeth Fry Society blanket of recognition for his in Wisconsin and is Professor Sandra Lotz Fisher (M.A., of Toronto. service and contributions to Emeritus at the University of 1983) teaches a professional the community. Wisconsin Oshkosh. She has development seminar at the Special Education four children, ten grandchil- International Summer School Sheila Amato (Ed.D., 2000; Nutrition dren and one great-grandson. of the University of Oslo, Ed.M., 1996; M.A., 1975) Joyce (Mae Sarat) White Her hobbies include garden- Norway. She has written received the Clarissa Hug (M.A., 1970) is a counselor in ing, music and home décor— extensively for newspapers and Teacher of the Year Award at private practice at Weighty she is currently restoring a magazines about Norway and, the Council for Exceptional Issues, where she teaches 115-year-old home. in 2006, founded the Norway Children Convention. and counsels individuals and International Network (www. Her TC dissertation was Kimberly K. Mockler (Ed.M., groups on weight issues. She ninside.org) for foreigners titled, “A Descriptive Study M.A., 2004) is a fifth grade also consults, teaches pro- studying, working or living in of Standards and Criteria classroom teacher at St. fessionals and has written Norway, and for Norwegians For Competence in Braille Francis de Sales School for the numerous articles for national interested in meeting people Literacy within Teacher Deaf in Brooklyn. and local publications. from different cultures. Preparation Programs in the Dianne (Perreira) Quinn United States and Canada.” Jason Saretsky (M.A., 2001) Ruth Pike (M.A., 1937) was (Ed.D., 1988) recently retired recently completed his second named to a 15-member coun- Michael Behrmann (Ed.D., from the University of year as the Director of Track cil to oversee the practice of 1978) received the J.E. Arizona, where she directed and Field and Cross Country traditional Chinese medicine. Wallace Wallin Lifetime the Strategic Alternative

PLAN AHEAD FOR YEAR-END GIVING TO THE ANNUAL FUND

You can help both Teachers College and yourself You can also use appreciated securities to establish a by making a charitable contribution before charitable gift annuity with Teachers College that will December 31. provide you with a fixed income for life, as well as a charitable deduction. Cash and securities are deductible charitable contribu- tions. If you give a gift of appreciated securities that you If we can be of any assistance as you plan a gift of have held for longer than one year, you can deduct the stock, please see the stock transfer instructions on full fair market value on your 2008 tax return and avoid our giving web pages at www.tc.edu/supporttc or capital gains tax. contact Mary Amoon-Hickey at 212-678-3392.

If you wish to give a gift of appreciated securities or mu- Please note that a stock transfer can take up to tual fund shares, contact your investment advisor soon seven business days to complete, so remember to be sure your gift is completed by December 31. to plan early.

38 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 Learning Techniques Center 1993) has, for nine years, Mathematics, Science & where she manages the for nearly 15 years. She now taught the course “Gender and Technology Information Center. concentrates on her coach- the Role of Schools,” which, Computing in Education ing and consulting practice, she writes, “has taken on new instructional technology Barbara (Ludwig) Greer which specializes in work meaning as, a month before and Media (M.A., 2005) presented at with ADHD, ADD, and LD the semester began, I brought Nancy (Kim) Lin (M.A., the annual MICCA confer- clients (www.quinncoaching.com). my newly adopted son, Max, 2002) is the Director of ence in Baltimore. She is the Quinn is also working on a home from Guatemala. He is Technology at Saint David’s Lower School Technology book that will help parents of now 11 months old.” School in New York City. She Coordinator at McLean ADHD students survive the completed her school admin- School of Maryland, teach- transition to college. istration and supervision International & ing K–4 students, supporting certification two years ago, and Roberta Solar (Ed.D., 1983; Transcultural Studies faculty in classroom technol- is working on a doctor- ogy integration, and when Ed.M., 1982; M.A., 1978) is Comparative & International ate in Math, Science and Head of Lower School at the Education she “escapes the lab,” coaches Technology. She previously Windward School, an inde- Carrie Brown (M.A., 1995), a middle school girls’ soccer. taught math in a suburban pendent school for children speaker and author, received Adrienne A. Wilkins (M.A., public school. with dyslexia and language- seven national awards for her 2003) is taking classes to based learning disabilities in book, Soul Sunday: A Family’s become an adjunct professor Mathematics Education White Plains, New York. Guide to Exploring Faith at John Tyler Community Magnus Wenninger Roberta writes: “I work with and Teaching Tolerance. She College in Chester, Virginia, (M.A., 1961), a monk and fabulous, knowledgeable col- resides in Summit County, leagues and feel very grateful Colorado, with her husband to be a part of this wonderful, and three children. playing in tune highly regarded school.” Al Balkin (Professional Diploma, International Education Bernice Stukes-Mose (Ed.D., Development M.A., Music & Music Education, 1963) 1973; Professional Diploma, William Cardenas (M.A., is a Western Michigan University 1970; M.A., 1962) wrote an 2006) is a loan consultant in Professor Emeritus who has taught autobiography, The Guiding the San Francisco Bay Area music at every level from nursery Inspiration of Bernice W. Stukes- and recently approved a loan school to graduate school. He’s also Mose, an account of life’s trials to finance a start-up preschool. written for “Captain Kangaroo,” and triumphs. She taught adult, Cardenas writes that he enjoys performed on NBC’s “Today” show, regular and special education West Coast living and invites classes for years, including as won ASCAP awards for his children’s TC alums visiting the Bay songs and been honored when his a professor and Coordinator Area to get in touch with him. of Special Education at South “Learn to Read” became the theme song for RIF (Reading is Carolina State College from Diane Dobry (M.A., 2001) Fundamental), the nonprofit children’s literacy organization. 1965 to 1999. is Director of Marketing at Balkin’s “The Midnight Ride of Prescott and Dawes” was fea- The Center for Educational tured on Charles Osgood’s CBS radio show “Newsbreak,” and his Susan Scibran Zwiazek (M.A., Outreach and Innovation at “The Musicians of Bremen,” a full-length musical, has been per- 1983) is a special education TC. Spurred by doing research teacher for Passaic County formed by opera companies, community theaters and schools. in Hungary, she has started Balkin also is the co-author of the textbook Involvement with Elks Cerebral Palsy Treatment importing Hungarian wine Music. Now Balkin has created a new teaching program, Center in Clifton, New Jersey, under the label Kristof Wines • where she and her husband “Tune Up to Literacy,” that uses songs he’s written to develop (www.kristofwines.com). live with their two sons. children’s language and literacy skills. “Tune Up to Literacy” Elida Martinez (M.A., 2007) includes a four-volume set of over 90 original songs, along with was promoted to Program “Rhyme-a-Ton,” a speed-rhyming dictionary of one-syllable human Development Coordinator and Academic words children are likely to encounter through speech, listen- Sociology & Education Adviser for The Collegiate ing and reading. To learn more about Balkin and “Tune Up to Janet F. Alperstein (Ph.D., Science and Technology Entry Literacy,” visit www.tuneuptoliteracy.com. 2001; M.Phil., 1999; M.A., Program at Barnard College.

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 39 TC Alumni News Class Notes

mathematician, retired and Continuing Education at of Science and Technology politics & education as Head of the Math Purchase College. She was for- Advising at Williams College. Benjamin Bolger (M.A., Department, Accountant and merly Director of Enrollment 2001), who has overcome Comptroller at St. Augustine’s Management at TC. Julie Goldman (Ed.D., Ed.M., dyslexia, received his 11th College in the Bahamas and is 2000) founded Original advanced degree, a Ph.D. now in residence at St. John’s Educational Administration Runners Co. in 2003, a small in design from Harvard business that designs aisle run- University. Abbey in Minnesota. He for- Frank Alvarez (Ed.D., 1993; merly served as Accountant ners for weddings, which was M.A., 1980) received an Carter Stewart (M.A., 1995), in Liturgical Press in the featured in the New York Daily honorary doctor of letters an associate in the Columbus, Order of Saint Benedict in News in June. degree from Montclair (New Ohio, office of Vorys, Sater, Minnesota. Jersey) State University. He is Stephen M. Gross (Ed.D., Seymour and Pease LLP, and the superintendent of public member of the American Bar Science education 1975; M.A., 1969) received schools in Montclair. Association, was awarded the Brian Baldwin (Ed.D., an honorary doctor of sci- John Mercer Langston Bar 2005) is Assistant Professor ence degree in May from Education Leadership Association’s Emerging Leader and Coordinator of Science Long Island University Louis O’Prussack (M.A., Award, awarded to lawyers Education at the New Jersey after more than 30 years 2007) is now Director of who show promise as young Center for Math, Science and of service, including 23 as School at Spring Street attorneys and community lead- Technology Education. Dean of the LIU Arnold International School in Friday and Marie Schwartz ers. He received his J.D. from Natasha Yates (M.A., 1989), Harbor, Washington. A College of Pharmacy and Harvard Law School and his a freelance writer, is raising an teacher and administrator Health Sciences. LIU B.A. from Stanford University. eight-year-old daughter and for more than 18 years and established the Stephen M. six-year-old twin boys. with roots in the Northwest, Gross Endowment Fund social-Organizational psychology O’Prussack says he enjoys for Pharmacy Policy and Jamie Cohen Klein (M.A., being back on the West Coast. Program Development in 2006) launched Inspire Organization & his honor. Leadership Higher & Post Secondary Human Resources—a consult- Education Shannon Hitchcock (M.A., ing firm that helps organiza- Adult & Continuing Education Jane Cary (M.A., 1981) was 2006) is the new Assistant tions hire, train and retain tal- Christine L. Persico (Ed.D., named Associate Director Dean of Residence Life ent (www.inspirehumanresources. 1988) was named Dean of in the Office of Career at Rensselaer Polytechnic com). Cohen formerly worked the School of Liberal Studies Counseling and Director Institute. for American Express.

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN ESTABLISH AN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP AT TEACHERS COLLEGE WITH FUNDS FROM YOUR IRA ? The Pension Protection Act, which was just • You make the gift to Teachers College to establish an renewed by Congress, provides for tax-free gifts endowed scholarship in your name or in honor of a to charities made directly from one’s Individual loved one or esteemed professor. Retirement Account (IRA). Please note that these gifts cannot be used to To take advantage of this opportunity, establish a charitable gift annuity or a charitable the following must occur: remainder trust, and these gifts are not eligible for • You must be 70½ or older and required to take a charitable deduction. a minimum distribution from your IRA account. • You transfer funds directly from an IRA or Rollover For more information, please visit the giving pages IRA with the help of your plan administrator. on our Web site at www.tc.edu/supporttc or call 401(k)s and 403(b)s are not eligible giving vehicles. the office of Development and External Affairs at • The gifts are not more than $100,000 in total. 212-678-3231.

40 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 Gloria M. Stevens (M.A., level of Practitioner, Educator Mina Janusz McKiernan Maximum Management, a 2004) is developing a new and Researcher. (M.A., 1996; Ed.M., boutique staffing firm spe- course titled “Interpersonal Psychological Counseling, cializing in the placement of Conflict.” A business consul- Brienne Tinder (M.A., 2008) 1995) has been a recruiter human resources professionals tant for more than 20 years, she relocated to Charlotte, North for the last seven years at in the tri-state area. z graduated summa cum laude Carolina, to work at the head- from Marymount Manhattan quarters of Bank of America in 2002 and holds a Certificate as a leadership development In Memoriam consultant supporting Global in Conflict Resolution from For the present, information regarding TC alumni who have ICCCR at TC. Stevens is a Wealth and Investment passed away is available exclusively on the TC Web site. To view member of the Association Management, and, she writes, for Conflict Resolution on the is “really missing NYC.” In Memoriam, please visit: www.tc.edu/inmemoriam.

remembranceS

Rita Gold (M.A., English Education, passed away in February 2008. Hagen 1962), whose generosity (together with was the Edward Lee Thorndike Professor that of her husband, Herbert) enabled in Psychology and Education, a ranking TC to create its Rita Gold Early Childhood she retained as Professor Emeritus. She Center and Rita Gold Scholarship Fund, also served as TC’s Dean of Academic passed away in May 2008. • A teacher, Affairs from 1972 to 1976, Director of poet and lover of music, Gold, in later the Division of Health Services, Sciences life, wrote songs to help young children and Education, and Program Coordinator with behavior, self-esteem and matura- of the Nurse Scientist Training Program. tion. Published as Songs for a Head Start (Gold served as a Head Start • With Robert L. Thorndike, Hagen co-authored Measurement and volunteer), they have titles such as “Try, Try Again,” “Chase Your Evaluation in Psychology and Education, which evaluated the useful- Dream” and “The Secret of Success.” Gold graduated from Teachers ness and limitations of all types of tests then commonly employed College in 1962 with a master’s degree in English Education. in education, counseling and employment. In retirement, she co- authored the fourth edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale Willis Henry Griffin (Ed.D., and forms 4, 5 and 6 of the Cognitive Abilities Test. Educational Administration, 1952), TC faculty member from 1949 to 1965, passed Barbara A. Principe, former TC away last spring. • After earning his M.A. faculty member, passed away in May from the University of Michigan, Griffin 2008. She earned her doctorate in became a high school principal and then psychology from Columbia University came to TC, staying on after earning his and was a therapist at the Interfaith doctorate to work as a research associate Medical Center in Brooklyn. She served on the national Citizen Education Project. for 10 years as Coordinator of Reading He later became an administrator of overseas development projects in Services at TC’s Dean Hope Center Afghanistan and India. • From 1965 until his retirement in 1986, Griffin for Educational and Psychological was a professor of comparative and international education, Associate Services, which provides low-cost reading assessment and inter- Director of the Center for Developmental Change and later the Director vention services to children, adolescents and adults. • After being of the Office for International Programs at the University of Kentucky. diagnosed with the cancer that eventually took her life, Principe Upon his retirement, Griffin was recognized by the state as an Honorary spoke out against a health care system that she believed inimical Kentucky Colonel. to dying patients. In a blog entry written for the Huffington Post in November 2007, she wrote: “It’s time to fix our broken healthcare Elizabeth Hagen, an authority on educational and psychological system so that it works for me and for everybody else who is living— measurement and evaluation who taught at TC from 1950 through 1981, but no longer able to work—with terminal illness.”

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 41 Bottling the Magic (Continued from page 23)

students’ answers under pre-determined “There’s so much richness of detail to be stories, characters go on journeys that category headings for different problem- revealed just by asking and observing, are both external and internal. (“They solving strategies. And they can also use and the beauty of this technology is that go somewhere physically, they change the mCLASS handheld device to upload it can capture that richness.” emotionally,” Calkins says.) And by fifth such information onto a Web site main- grade, children think about not only the tained by Wireless Generation where Real-world concerns major characters as they read, but also they can view assessment results and Work like Ginsburg’s and Calkins’ the minor characters. analyses. The reports graph students’ is impressive—but can it really be imple- Calkins and her team meanwhile progress and milestones over the course mented on a mass scale? work weekly with principals, literacy of a year and recommend new instruc- One question mark relates to learning coaches and teachers to bring curriculum tional activities targeted to what each progressions—the sequenced approach to to life. The Project staff may think about individual student can do and how he or organizing course content that CPRE is how to provide different levels and kinds she thinks mathematically. championing. In a recent funding proposal of support to learners moving at different For example, in one mCLASS: Math to the Hewlett Foundation Education paces, or how to ensure that each year, assessment, a child is asked to solve an Program, Fritz Mosher and Tom children’s work stands on the shoulders addition problem—say, 6 plus 3—and is Corcoran concede that while some people of what they accomplished the year given a choice of how to go about it. He see learning progressions as “the primary before. It’s an astonishing effort to raise can count piles of chips, or make figures on solution to our teaching and learning prob- the game of entire school systems, and it a piece of paper, or count on his fingers— lems, others see them as prescriptive and has created communities of professional whatever he likes. Some kids who count threatening—another attempt to teacher- study—and yes, even helped boost read- chips will make a pile of six and a pile of proof the curriculum. Some believe that ing scores—in places as far flung as New three, and then count all of them from the they are simply a dressed-up version of a York City, Seattle and Chicago. very beginning: “One, two, three,” and so ‘scope and sequence,’ while others want But are the curriculum calendars on, straight through to nine. Others will them to be scientifically validated before rooted in scientific knowledge? make a pile of six and then “count on” the they are used.” “No,” Calkins says with a cheerful next three: “Six… seven, eight, nine.” The Mosher and Corcoran “hold to shrug. “It’s not as if someone said to me, latter strategy obviously is more economi- a more pragmatic view” that effective ‘Kids think about journeys when they cal and sophisticated than re-counting all learning progressions will most likely reach age seven’ or anything like that.” the chips from the beginning. emerge from trial and error. Still, the curriculum calendars are Teachers can also record assess- Lucy Calkins’ work shows the a product of Calkins’ three-plus decades ments of children’s “metacognition”—that wisdom of this approach. Calkins and of observing and working with children, is, kids’ own explanations of how they her colleagues have created a series of and of the hard work done by literally know what they know. That’s important, “curriculum calendars”—recommended thousands of other contributors. They because research by Ginsburg and others stepwise units of study that “sup- have a carefully structured internal logic, has shown that a child who can describe port students’ progress along a spiral and they have met with widespread a good problem-solving strategy, even if of work,” Calkins says. These are, in approval and validation from teachers it has resulted in a wrong answer, may essence, de facto learning progressions and other educators around the country. be on firmer ground than one who has for students in grades one through eight. And of course, the curriculum calen- simply memorized a procedure and can’t In the Project’s first grade curriculum dars provide a very clear framework for explain a correct answer. calendar for November 2008, teachers assessing children’s progress. “We’ve built our product based are encouraged to help children realize “In literacy and in writing, on Herb’s methodology of really talk- that when they read, they come to know I’m pretty convinced that learning ing and listening to kids as a way to get the characters they meet in books. Jump cumulates,” Calkins says. “First a young at their thinking,” says Doug Moore, ahead a grade level and teachers help writer learns to chronicle an event, mCLASS: Math Product Manager. seven-year-olds realize that in fictional then to imbue that event with special

42 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 significance—to bring out the meaning of the problem (i.e., “The problem is tell- around?’” Chatterji says. “We were also she decides to highlight. So, first, it’s ‘I ing me to multiply five by 175” (wrong) interested in determining if their atti- went to Grandma’s house,’ and later versus “Find out how many groups of tudes towards tests and testing would it’s, ‘My visit with Grandma made five are in 175” (right)) to demonstrate change. Would they come to believe me realize I’m getting older.’ And as that they understand the concepts more in diagnostic tests as an aid to the teacher, it’s helpful to see where involved. A little further on, they would teaching and learning? And the answer someone is and to figure out where to be given a choice of an appropriate first to both questions was ‘Yes.’” take them next.” question to ask to start actually solving Andrea LaMantia, a sixth grade The work of Calkins and the the problem (i.e., “How many times teacher at Hillcrest Intermediate School Reading and Writing Project is a rare does 5 fit into 1? And if not, how many in East Ramapo, was one of the converts instance of mass-scale change being times does 5 fit into 17?” (right) versus to PALD. “When they first came to us and proposed the study, it all seemed very The work of Calkins and the Reading overwhelming,” she says. “But my and Writing Project is a rare instance of principal is always telling us to work smarter, not harder, and that’s really the mass-scale change being successfully concept here. “In the past I’d give a whole implemented in education today. test—10 questions—to see if kids understood a concept. That’s very time successfully implemented in education “What is 5 divided by 17?” (wrong).) consuming, because I have to make up today. Thus, despite these accomplish- Chatterji, with funding by the the quiz, give it and then grade it—and ments, another and perhaps more National Science Foundation, followed if I have 20 kids, that’s 200 problems I immediate concern about the formative 44 teachers and nearly 1,000 students in have to correct. But with this system, assessment/adaptive instruction model four East Ramapo, New York, elemen- I could give two questions or maybe being advanced by CPRE is: With all tary schools for two years. She found even just use homework they’ve already the extra work it seems to entail, will that sixth graders taught using PALD been assigned, and by breaking down classroom teachers ever be willing—or scored significantly higher on standard- the concepts involved, I can get just as able—to adopt it? ized math tests than their peers who much information about what the kids Another hopeful sign comes from weren’t exposed to the method, and that really know. Then I can teach a smaller studies of fifth and sixth graders con- they were also stronger in long division. group of kids who don’t understand ducted last year by TC faculty member Fifth graders in PALD classrooms out- something, which is much easier to Madhabi Chatterji of a methodology performed their peers in geometry, and do. The faster kids won’t be bored, and called Proximal Assessment for Learner sixth graders taught with PALD were that decreases the potential for disrup- Diagnosis (PALD). stronger in long division than peers not tive behavior. The method requires teachers to taught with PALD. “You know, I’ve always said that break down math problem-solving—or But perhaps even more importantly, all it takes is a few days out sick or one any academic task they want students to she also found that the East Ramapo bad teacher to ruin a kid’s whole math learn—into a set of connected skills and teachers, who were initially resistant to career, because after that, he might never concepts. The teachers organize the tasks using PALD, became converts over time. catch up. But I can tell you this. At by difficulty and then assess student “The fundamental questions we the beginning of the year, during math performance at each step to understand are asking through this work are, ‘Can period, some kids would cry or put their precisely where students make errors or we teach teachers to look at children heads down on their desks. By the end show lack of understanding. and their learning processes more of the year, no more. I didn’t have one So, for example, with a long divi- diagnostically? And if teachers gain the student who was math phobic.” z sion problem that asks students to skills to conduct close-up examina- For more information on these divide 175 by 5, students are first asked tions of where children’s learning stalls, programs, please visit www.cpre.org, or to choose between possible restatements would they take actions to turn things rwproject.tc.columbia.edu.

TC TODAY l FALL 2008 43 TC End Note

Learning from the Military Education needs more teamwork to be all that it can be by W. Warner Burke

eople are often surprised to learn that the politics of why we go to war: in the tive threatens to undermine the greater Teachers College provides leadership Army, the focus is on the unit accom- enterprise of education itself. Total training to cadets at West Point. The plishing its mission, never on the indi- centralization is not the answer, but we scions of Dewey coaching the heirs vidual. In the education world, by con- must be more centralized about how of Patton and MacArthur? Yet there trast, researchers and policymakers wage we organize schools and districts, create Pare obvious points of connection— ideological warfare; teachers’ unions standards and curricula, and transmit for example, around issues of cultural battle municipal education departments; knowledge and skills. awareness and sensitivity, which, for and school board members wrangle Science may ultimately achieve today’s Army, are as that end. critical as combat Perhaps, as more prowess. For its When it comes to is understood part, TC—and working together, the about cognition public education and learning, in general—has military is one of the education will much to learn few organizations in our increasingly rest from the mili- upon a codified tary about society that walks the talk. body of knowl- how to apply edge. Until then, what we preach. with each other. Within most education we must find ways to come together Take the notion that effective lead- schools (and other academic institu- for the greater good. Otherwise, like an ership is about encouraging teamwork. tions), there is little sense of collective army that has not adapted to field con- It’s a central tenet of organizational psy- purpose. Programs and departments are ditions, we will forever stand accused of chology that the best leaders bring good as “siloed” as any fiefdom within corpo- fighting the last war. z people together to get things done. Yet rate America. while many organizations pay that idea The paradox here is that American W. Warner Burke is TC’s Edward Lee Thorndike lip service, in our individualistic society education is vital precisely because Professor of Psychology and Education, and the military is one of the few that truly it empowers the individual to think Chair of the Department of Organization walks the talk. Say what you will about independently—yet that same preroga- and Leadership.

44 TC TODAY l FALL 2008 illustration b y j a m e s y a n g Friends of the College TC A Believer in High- Stakes Education Trustee and venture capitalist Christopher Williams sees schools as the key to our economic future ducation is critical to the survival of our economy and our coun- “ try,” says financier Chris Williams, whose firm, Williams Capital, Eis among the most active underwriters of corporate debt. • Clearly the economy is also critical to the survival of education—and thus, as the U.S. financial markets verged on chaos this past fall, Williams—a TC Trustee who has been hailed by Fortune and Crain’s New York Business as one of the nation’s most powerful minority business people—found his two abiding concerns squarely in the cross-hairs. “All parts of the economy are intertwined,” he said, reached by phone in September• shortly before Congress approved a $700 billion rescue package. “I respect the concerns of many that we not simply write a blank check with no means of monitoring how the money is deployed.” Williams, who earlier in his career spent nine years at Lehman Brothers, the global finance• firm that was a major casualty of the crisis, says he believes the financial meltdown was the result of “lax regulation born of equal parts greed and inability to understand financial products and their inherent risks” and that “taxpayers should be protected and receive upside potential,” including continued investment in education. “I’ve participated in the Principal for a Day program in New• York City, and I’ve seen the challenges schools face, and are likely to continue to face with the coming bud- get cuts,” says Williams, a public school graduate who attended Howard University and earned his M.B.A. at Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business. “So many young students are bright, curious and engaged when they first enter the system, but as they become older, they become subject to environmental influ- ences such as unstable neighborhoods and lack of family structure. Over time, a decline in student engagement is inevitable. These circumstances run the risk of creating a mass of adults who are unable to be productive participants in society.” One key, he believes, is to improve teacher education• so that every classroom is run by “someone with a real commitment to reaching children and a real ability to do so. Thus his involve- ment with TC’s Board: “TC not only trains excellent teachers and works to improve the local community, it also serves as a thought leader in the improvement and development of education nationally,” he says. “From where I sit, there’s no mission of greater importance.” z p h o t o g r a p h b y d e n n i s c o n n o r s TC In Focus

Practice Makes Perfect As a scholar, this TC alumnus believes that those who teach should do t’s a fundamental TC tenet that academics and the arts are a potent mix. James Rolling, Jr. (Ed.D., 2003) has made combining them Ihis life’s work. • A dual Associate Professor of Art Education and Teaching and Leadership at Syracuse University, as well as Chair of the Art Education Department, he’s also assumed a leadership post this fall at the National Art Education Association. Yet Rolling still makes art. • “I like to keep my hands dirty,” Rolling says. “The challenge is to continue to be an academic writer, to continue to be a poet, and to continue to do the visual arts—and to try to do them all in convergence.” • Rolling credits his mentor at TC, Associate Professor of Art Education Graeme Sullivan, for his organizational framework and encouraging him to see “academic research as a form of creative practice, and creative practice as a form of research.” • It’s a concept that now underlies Rolling’s busy career. “Ideas that come to my mind can find culmination as a poem, a research article or a work of art,” he explains. “It’s all about cross-fertilization.” z

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