www.EDUCATIONUPDATE.com AwardAward Volume XVI, No. 1 • New York City • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 Winner CUTTING EDGE NEWS FOR ALL THE PEOPLE EDUCATION INITIATIVES 2010-2011 PRESORTED STANDARD PRESORTED UPDATE THE EDUCATION THE PAID U.S. POSTAGE U.S. 2 EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FPOR ARENTS, Educators & Students ■ SEP/OCT 2010 GUEST EDITORIALS The Path of Education Reform Education’s Transformative Power By DAVID STEINER, Ph.D. By MATTHEW n their important work GOLDSTEIN, Ph.D. “Tinkering Toward Utopia,” n June, Sonia Sotomayor, authors Tyack and Cuban the newly appointed U.S. pointed out a persistent his- Supreme Court associate torical pattern in American education justice, addressed gradu- reform — our tendency to swing from ates at Hostos Community College, one polar position to its opposite. The her mother’s alma mater, saying that result, they pointed out, was often the a Hostos education “gave me and my worst of both worlds: one reform move- brother a powerful example of the ment would just be getting underway on value of education and of family. My the ground when it would encounter the family is a testament to the contribu- arrival on the policy stage of its oppo- tions that community colleges make to site, with predictable chaos too often our society.” Looking to the future, she the consequence. told graduates, “You will breathe life Let us try to learn from this history into the dreams of the next generation. so as not to repeat it. Today there is an Together we’re going to make this a important reform movement underway better world.” with the support of unprecedented fed- As a new academic year begins, eral dollars. The entirely sound premise Justice Sotomayor’s words are a timely of this wave of reform is that unless reminder of just how powerful a col- we know how students are doing as lege education is. A rigorous education measured against a high standard of transforms lives and can transform our learning, and unless we hold ourselves collective future. accountable for bringing ever more stu- More and more students understand dents to that standard, we will con- the power of a CUNY education. In tinue to be building educational policy fact, our record enrollments are pro- on guesswork. Thus the unprecedented jected to climb even higher this fall. emphasis on developing national academic stan- lenging intellectual standards based on a demand- Our students know that studying with the univer- improving student performance and graduation dards, on building the databases for analyzing ing, rich, and engaging curriculum that teachers sity’s world-class faculty in innovative academic rates. The university recently appointed Scott student performance, and the push for new poli- will be excited to teach. Teachers are given an programs can make all the difference to their Evenbeck, professor of psychology and dean of cies that hold teachers and principals account- extraordinary responsibility: we should honor personal and professional advancement. University College at Indiana University-Purdue able for students’ academic growth based on that responsibility by recognizing our best teach- Serving a projected 267,000 degree-seeking University at Indianapolis, as the college’s found- annual assessments. ers with professional advancement and, after students is not without its challenges, however. ing president. Evenbeck will lead the implemen- But there is a strong “counter” movement, appropriate efforts to support them, not retain This year, CUNY sustained $84 million in state tation of the college’s design, which includes supported by many teachers, the schools of our weakest teachers in the classroom. Finally, budget cuts to its senior colleges, which have full-time enrollment in the first year, a common education that support them, and a sizable group we should wherever possible embrace common experienced more than $205 million in reduc- first-year curriculum, intensive advisement, a of parents. Skeptical that multiple choice tests sense: the time we provide in this country for tions since 2009, while adding thousands more limited number of majors, and a professional can capture the rich skills and knowledge that learning is simply too short and the length of the students. At our community colleges, where studies component. And to further the university’s children should encounter, persuaded that the summer break is especially destructive for under- enrollment has increased by more than 20 per- efforts to reinvigorate community-college educa- most effective learning often occurs in project privileged students. cent since 2005, base aid per FTE has been cut tion — the fastest-growing segment of higher and team-based environments, and doubtful that I am naturally very pleased that, thanks to fund- by $285, resulting in an operating budget loss education — Eduardo Martí, who has served with mathematical equations based on tests can ever ing from the Race to the Top program, New York of about $20 million. In addition, the state did great distinction as president of Queensborough be an adequate way to measure teacher perfor- state will have important new resources to devote not reach any resolution on the proposed Public Community College, has been appointed CUNY’s mance, there is a profound belief that we are on to education reform. The Board of Regents and Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation vice chancellor for community colleges. the wrong track. What we need is to focus on I are determined to use these resources in ways Act, which recommended a number of tuition Over the coming year, CUNY will also cel- critical thinking, metacognitive skills, and get that will have the most impact. We will not and regulatory adjustments, including differential ebrate two significant milestones: the 40th away from test-prep. choose between a Scylla or a Charybdis, but tuition rates by campus and program. anniversary of Medgar Evers College and the Often these two positions become further polar- rather work with parents, teachers, principals, CUNY is not alone in trying to manage the per- 10th anniversary of Macaulay Honors College. ized and politicized. At its extreme, the current superintendents, college faculty and our com- ilous combination of declining state budgets and Having grown from an enrollment of 1,000 stu- national reform agenda can sound as if it believes munities to build an outstanding curriculum, to increasing enrollments. Like public colleges and dents in 1970 to more than 7,000 students today, that measuring something is, in itself, the answer provide both the clinical skills and the content universities across the country, the university is and boasting an acclaimed faculty and a host to making education reform happen. But that is to knowledge our teachers need to be effective, to deeply committed to its historic mission of access of new degree programs and facilities, Medgar mistake a thermometer for both a diagnosis and create better assessments grounded on the cur- and quality but faces difficult questions about Evers will fete the college’s rich history and its a treatment. Likewise, the anti-testing anti-data riculum and linked directly to national standards, maintaining that mission in tough economic graduates’ promising futures. Macaulay will also viewpoint risks embodying the view that children and to encourage districts to adopt new models of times. That’s why this fall CUNY will host a salute the achievements of its graduates as it can teach themselves, and that any form of stan- schooling that better serve their diverse popula- national summit of seasoned public higher edu- marks 10 years of building a creative curriculum dardized evaluation is, by definition, “inauthentic.” tions. We will create the data systems we need cation leaders to discuss the pressing issues we that offers students an individual academic pro- For the sake of our P-12 students, we need to tell us how we are doing, data designed to share: shrinking state support for operating bud- gram and global learning opportunities. strongly to resist the temptation to reify these dis- measure real academic achievement. We will gets and financial aid programs; growing depen- Two of the seven CUNY colleges in which tortions. What is wrong is surely not testing per broaden the range of subjects that are given equal dence on tuition, paid by students of limited Macaulay students enroll are joined by new lead- se, but narrow tests in only a couple of subjects support through the K-12 years. We know that means; and increased pressure to develop other ers this fall: President Lisa Staiano-Coico at City that do not probe for real understanding. Building opening the door of learning for each and every funding opportunities. This is clearly a time for College and President Mitchel Wallerstein at on the pioneering work done by Chancellor Klein child in our state is an extraordinary responsibil- bold new approaches to postsecondary education. Baruch College. We welcome them to a commu- in New York City, we should surely give our ity — worthy only of our best thinking and most This kind of enterprising approach is exempli- nity of educators passionately engaged in shaping teachers, parents and students accurate informa- determined efforts. # fied by the continuing development of our new graduates ready to “make this a better world.” # tion about their academic progress, yet be equally Dr. David Steiner is the New York State community college in Manhattan. The college Matthew Goldstein is chancellor of the City sure that we define that progress against chal-