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The Graduate School of Education • University of Pennsylvania Spring 2007 MAGAZINE ANDANDYY PPORTERORTER STEPS IN Meet Penn GSE’GSE’ss new dean Education in Wartime: GSE prof looks at Israel & America From excellence to eminence— With these words, Penn President Amy Gutmann articulated her vision for the University’s future. Called the PENN COMPACT, President Gutmann’s vision is built on principles integral to the mission of the Graduate School of Education— ® increasing access to education ® integrating knowledge across disciplines ® engaging locally and globally A GIFT TO THE PENN GSE ANNUAL FUND SUPPORTS ® access for students through needs-based financial grants ® faculty research that cuts across disciplines and schools ® engagement with partners across the street and around the globe MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY and help Penn GSE rise from EXCELLENCE TO EMINENCE 1. Charge your gift to Visa, American Express or MasterCard. 2. Send a check or money order made payable to: Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. 3. Give appreciated securities. For details about how to transfer securities to Penn GSE, call the Office of the Treasurer at (215) 898-7254. FOR MORE INFORMATION: 4. Matching Gifts: If you or your spouse/partner is affiliat- Office of Development and Alumni Relations ed with a company that has a matching gift program, Penn Graduate School of Education you can obtain a matching gift form from the personnel Office of Development office and include the completed form with your gift. 3700 Walnut Street, Suite 223 Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216 (215) 898-6962 www.gse.upenn.edu The Graduate School of Education • University of Pennsylvania MAGAZINE FEATURES 8 14 Introducing Andy Porter One Leg in the Future Penn GSE News sits down with Andy Porter Thriving democracies accommodate diversity for a candid conversation about our soon-to- and dissent. But in times of war, when stark dis- be dean’s career, his research interests, tinctions are drawn between “them” and “us,” and what brought him to Penn. how can they sustain such civic ideals? Searching for answers, Penn GSE Assistant Professor Sigal Ben-Porath looks at the role education can play. By Ann de Forest 8 18 A Call to Work An international roster of experts share their thoughts on educational opportunities for women in the Middle East and North Africa. By Shiva Vakili On the cover: 20 Learning from History’s Andrew C. Porter will start as Penn GSE’s tenth dean in August 2007. Darkest Days He comes to GSE from Vanderbilt Penn GSE teams up with Facing History and University, where he serves as a professor Ourselves to teach tolerance through the historical in the Peabody College of Education and lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides. as the director of the university’s Learning Sciences Institute. 22 Best Practices Credit: Trevor Dixon Penn Alexander students post high test scores and attend the city’s most selective high schools. Can 14 their success be replicated for students nationwide? DEPARTMENTS 2 Dean’s Letter 3 Noteworthy 26 Alumni Notes Spring 2007 | Penn GSE | 1 FROM THE DEAN Graduate School of Education Board of Overseers Judith R. Berkowitz CW’64, Chair Lawrence C. Nussdorf, Esq. W’68, In 1914 Penn’s education program became a full-fledged School of Vice-Chair Education, with Frank Pierrepont Graves named as the first Dean. Today, 93 years later, what was a tiny undergraduate school has become one of the Madlyn K. Abramson Ed’57 GEd’60 nation’s renowned graduate schools of education. GSE works across many Dr. Benjamin M. Ashcom Gr’74 fields of education research and a leader in innovative academic programs Dr. Reina Marin Bassini CW’72 GEd’72 that prepare professionals for service in education, K-16 and beyond. Dr. Patricia Cayne CW’60 This year, we are very proud to announce the appointment of Andrew Susan Frier Danilow CW’74, G’74 Porter as Penn GSE’s tenth Dean. Without question, Andy is prepared to George E. Davis NAF’00 take the helm at this great school during this time of great opportunity and challenge. He has a stellar scholarly background, which prepares him to lead Lee Spelman Doty W’76 teaching and research initiatives that will engage the most critical issues of the Milton A. Feldman Esq. W’52, L’55 day. He has the energy and creativity to further strengthen GSE’s impressive Jay S. Fishman W’74 WG’94 local and global engagements. And he can draw on his extensive leadership John F. Gamba W’61 experience to position the School for even greater successes in teaching, Michael J. Glosserman Esq. W’68 research, and service. Emanuel A. Gonzalez-Revilla W’88 Andy will need our support moving GSE forward, and he will certainly Joel M. Greenblatt W’79 WG’80 want to hear insights and suggestions from you—our alumni, students, and Peter C. Madeja C’80 GEd’80 friends—about how GSE can best serve society through education and col- Gregory A. Milken C’95 laboration. As I look forward to working with him in the years ahead, I am Diana Riklis C’76 GEd’77 happy to report that GSE’s future is in extremely capable hands. Nancy Horwich Rothstein CW’75 With best regards and expectations for the brightest possible future for Leonard A. Shapiro W’64 Penn GSE, Molly D. Shepard GEd’79 Ellen Cohen Stein CW’69 Dr. Susan Taylor C’79 Merryl Tisch NAF’00 Seth T. Toney II WG’88 Amy Gutmann Allison Weiss Brady C’93 Jennifer Saul Yaffa C’92 The Graduate School of Education • University of Pennsylvania MAGAZINE The Penn GSE Magazine is produced bi-annually by the University Nondiscrimination Statement of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, 3700 Walnut The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216. Reproduction of these talented students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds. articles requires the written permission of the editor. ©2007 by The University of Pennsylvania does not discriminate on the basis the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. Please contact the of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, color, editor for references. national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or status as a Vietnam Era Veteran or disabled veteran in the administration of educa- Stanton Wortham Ann de Forest tional policies, programs, or activities; admissions policies; Interim Dean Janice Rafferty scholarship and loan awards; athletic, or University administered Shiva Vakili programs or employment. Questions or complaints regarding this Alexis Beshara Wolson Contributing Writers policy should be directed to: Assistant Dean, Development & Alumni Relations Kathy Downey Executive Director Elizabeth Hill Nancy Brokaw Office of Affirmative Action Production Assistants Editor Sansom Place East, Suite 228 3600 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6106 voice: (215) 898-6993; TDD: (215) 898-7803; fax: (215) 662-7862. 2 | Penn GSE | Spring 2006 NOTEWORTHY Citizenship 101 arris Sokoloff, executive director of Penn then propose questions for the debate that HGSE’s Center for School Study Councils, night. The project will culminate with the has been working with university and city delivery of a citizen-generated Agenda for partners to give Philadelphia some valuable the Next Great City to the new mayor and lessons on civic engagement this year. council in 2008. As the city’s 2007 election year gets At the same time, Sokoloff was hard at underway, Sokoloff has been teaming up work on another civic engagement project— with the Project on Civic Engagement, based this one spearheaded by the School of at the Fels Institute, and the Philadelphia Design’s Penn Praxis. Called PlanPhilly, the Inquirer on a project titled “Great Expecta- project focused on the development of the tions: Citizen Voices on Philadelphia's city’s Delaware River waterfront. With Penn Future.” This collaborative effort initiated Praxis Director Harris Steinberg handling civic conversation about how to build on the the design issues, Sokoloff oversaw the civic city’s considerable strengths and how to engagement pieces of the project, including change a political culture all too often char- the series of public forums held throughout acterized by corruption. the winter to solicit citizen input. The project is sponsoring a series of In March, PlanPhilly sponsored a three- major election-related events – including day brainstorming session with citizens, city online, radio, and televised debates. Two planners, and architects to forge a new vision weeks before the May primary, Great for Philadelphia’s waterfront. Their conclu- Expectations sponsored “Deliberation Day,” sion was virtually unanimous: bury Interstate an all-day series of events culminating in a 95 and reestablish the connections between candidates’ TV debate. Questions for that city and river. debate were generated at ten neighborhood sessions where citizens had the chance to quiz representatives of the candidates and AMY SIANO Can We Talk? he 2007 GSE Faculty Research Fund for the Study of Race in Education will be supporting a project, directed by THoward Stevenson, to promote the academic engagement of black high school students through racial socializa- tion. Stevenson will be working with Penn GSE faculty members Vivian Gadsden and Duane Thomas on the project. Stevenson’s two-year project, called “Can We Talk?” will start with an in-depth survey and a series of focus groups designed to help researchers understand how black students make sense of racial dynamics at school and home. Students will then be randomly assigned to a six-week Race Relations Psychology mini-seminar, adapted for high school students from Stevenson’s GSE course on African-American psychology. To determine the efficacy of the course, researchers will administer a battery of measures to students from both the intervention group and the control.