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The
Newsletter of the School of Education, Brooklyn College 
Volume 1 Number 1
Summer 2000 |
Message from the President Brooklyn College has a proud history of preparing teachers. Our graduates have left their mark in the classroom, in counseling and advising students, and in administering and supervising schools in New York City and beyond. In the seven decades since the College was founded, we have established ourselves as the intellectual center of public education in the borough. Today, once again, we face interesting challenges. New regulations adopted by the New York State Education Department offer new opportunities for strengthening our offerings and for improving the quality of education in our local schools. We can respond with original programs shaped by a vision of teacher education steeped in experience yet open to new ideas, informed by practice as well as by research a vision that integrates a strong liberal arts orientation into the curriculum and leads to intellectually vital, aesthetically rich, and professionally rigorous outcomes. As we move forward to replenish and rebuild its faculty ranks, the School of Education is poised to develop an exemplary standard of urban teacher education that defines teaching as both an art and a profession. This new direction, part of an extensive effort to transform Brooklyn College into a model urban public liberal arts college, will ground the School of Education as a force for reform and renewal in the school system. Christoph M. Kimmich |
| Greetings
from the Dean I am pleased to bring you the inaugural issue of The Chalkboard, a quarterly newsletter of the School of Education for students, faculty, alumni, and staff as well as the entire Brooklyn College community. The newsletter is designed to present the diverse programs and notable accomplishments of the faculty of the School of Education. Each issue will also highlight the achievements of the school’s alumni and students. This issue includes a feature story on innovative approaches to math and science education practiced by the New York City Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (NYCETP). The collaborative embraces educators from five CUNY colleges and New York University in a pioneering program for promoting excellence in teacher preparation and for attracting more qualified students to a teaching career. The collaborative has been working to change college teaching by changing pedagogy in individual courses, modifying existing curricula, and developing new models of instruction for technology-oriented learning environments. In addition, this issue describes a range of exciting programs, evidence of the School of Education’s role in designing new approaches to teacher education in cooperation with liberal arts and science faculty and in partnership with local schools and cultural institutions. These collaborations play a major role in taking teacher preparation out of the "ivory tower" and into the community. Our goal is to prepare educators who will serve, lead, and thrive in the schools and agencies of New York City and beyond. We embrace our mission to develop students’ capacities to create socially just and compassionate communities that value equity as well as excellence. Our collective work is shaped by scholarship and animated by a commitment to educate our students to the highest standards of professional competence. At the core of this rewarding work is a profound responsibility to the children of New York City. Effective development of future educators is vital to uncovering the potential of young learners in every classroom. Therefore, we seek to equip our students with a solid understanding of content and pedagogy, a passion for social justice, and a lifelong love of learning. We hope our accomplishments will inspire you to join us in creating the best possible learning environment for our future leaders. We hope to hear from you. Deborah A. Shanley |
New Developments In Math, Science, and Technology Education Rosamond Welchman, professor of education; project coordinator, NYCETP Eleanor Miele, assistant professor of education; project director, Dwight D. Eisenhower Title II Professional Development Program Barbara Freeouf, citywide coordinator Brooklyn College is alive with exciting
developments in teacher preparation in math, science, and technology. Brooklyn College is the lead institution of
a multi-campus project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The New York Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (NYCETP)
aims to systemically reform the way in which teachers are prepared to
teach mathematics and science. This year the Brooklyn College Mathematics
and Science Consortium began offering tuition-free courses to teachers of
grades K to 9 in local school districts that have made a commitment to the
new standards and inquiry-based curricula in math and science. The
co-directors of this five-year project are Professors Rosamond Welchman
and Eleanor Miele, of the School of Education, and Professor John
Chamberlain, of the Geology Department. Funded by the New York State
Education Department through the Dwight D. Eisenhower Title II
Professional Development Program, this project builds on a previous
three-year project in which faculty from mathematics, geology, and
education taught courses for middle school and secondary teachers that
incorporated interdisciplinary teaching, extensive use of field trips, and
new forms of assessment. These funded projects have nurtured a
thriving partnership with the American Museum of Natural History. Brooklyn
College graduate and undergraduate students have been invited to consider
the museum an extension of their classroom. During the fall 1999 semester,
students in science methods courses received a behind-the-scenes welcome
by Maritza MacDonald of the museum’s education department. In February,
faculty and students participated in the Educator’s Extravaganza, a
special evening for educators at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, the
new home of the Hayden Planetarium. A recent survey of New York City teachers
reports more than half the respondents as being either poorly or not at
all prepared to use or teach technology in the classroom. Funding from the
NSF and Dwight D. Eisenhower Title II has allowed the School of Education
to employ the Internet in science, mathematics, and technology methods
courses. Eleanor Miele, assistant professor of science education, has been
developing Web pages for use in courses for both graduate and
undergraduate students.
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| Program
Notes
Day of the Poet In December the School of Education, in conjunction with the Wolfe Institute for the Humanities, will host the annual Day of the Poet, a spectacular celebration of poetry, student writing, and Brooklyn high schools. Student poets from public, parochial, and independent schools in Brooklyn spend the day on the Brooklyn College campus writing poetry in small groups led by poet-teachers, while their teachers meet to discuss teaching poetry with guest poets and Lou Asekoff, assistant professor of English and head of the M.F.A. program in poetry. At the end of the day, students receive books of poetry and other literature donated by various publishers and poetry organizations in New York. Following the event, students receive a magazine in which their poetry appears. This year more than two hundred of their poems will be included. Since its inception in 1996, the Day of the Poet has grown, and for many students it has become one of the most eagerly anticipated days in the school year. The number of participants in this year’s event is expected to surpass last December’s, which included 180 students from forty schools. A grant from the Office of the Borough President has enabled the School of Education to continue to host and expand the Day of the Poet, and plans are under way to create other opportunities for students to read their poetry. Carleton Washburne The Carleton Washburne Early Childhood Center programs, the lab school of the School of Education, will embark on a significant expansion program this fall. Major grant funding of approximately $1 million over the next four years will support the development of a new Infant and Toddler Center Program and enlargement of the Preschool Program. The programs provide opportunities for Brooklyn College students and faculty to engage in research and to work with young and school-age children. In addition to a full-day program for children ages 2 years 9 months to 5, the center offers flex-time after-school/evening and weekend programs for children ages 3 to 12. Tuition scholarships for eligible Brooklyn College students are available. The center is currently engaged in a collaborative research project with the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education, which explores the impact of the arts on learning and development in young children. This work will provide a springboard for research and writing in the arts and the preparation of early childhood educators. Faculty and alumni are invited to join the center in ongoing projects and to develop new proposals. To learn more about research opportunities, contact the faculty director, Professor Carol Korn-Bursztyn. For information about field placements or registration, call Charlene Kohler-Britton, director of programs, 951-5431; stop by the center office, 1604 James Hall; or visit the Early Childhood Center Web site: http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ecc. The Brooklyn
College/National Center for Disability Services The collaborative with the National Center for Disability Services-Smeal Learning Center addresses the learning needs of persons with disabilities and the expressed need by practitioners for more preparation at the master’s level in the area of collaboration and multidisciplinary teaming. The collaborative facilitated a number of learning experiences over the past year: Principals and administrators from Brooklyn high schools video-teleconferenced with their counterparts from Long Island school districts having inclusionary programs or interest in creating such programs. Video-teleconferenced teaching modules on assistive technology and curriculum adaptations using technology were introduced into three graduate-level special education courses presented by professionals from the National Center for Disability Services-Smeal Learning Center, the Kornreich Center, and Brooklyn College. The use of the case study as a teaching and learning tool was piloted in one of the graduate courses. Students developed solutions to the problem of including a severely disabled child in a general education classroom. These were relayed via video-teleconference to a panel of experts at the National Center for Disability Services-Smeal Learning Center for immediate feedback. Students praised this innovative use of technology. Together with the graduate program in speech pathology at Brooklyn College, the collaborative is exploring new methods of creating shared courses for students in special education and graduate students in speech and language pathology. The Center for
Educational Change The Center for Educational Change (CEC) provides professional development for educators from grades pre-K to 12 in the New York City public school system. The program aims to narrow the gap between theory and practice in the classroom by promoting a continuing collaboration between Brooklyn College and participating schools. Each school defines its own needs; each partnership is as individual as the school itself. What’s HOT? Administered by CEC and funded by the New York City Board of Education, HOT (Higher Order Thinking) Mathematics is an in-service, in-depth thirty-week program for high school mathematics teachers that offers twelve combined credits in math education and math content. The HOT Math Leadership Institute, funded by the Cisco Foundation, seeks to upgrade teachers’ computer skills and train them to become professional developers in their own schools. A summer institute for Cisco leaders will be held at Brooklyn College to prepare teachers for leadership roles in the fall. In addition, ongoing HOT classes in mathematics education meet once a week for approximately five hours, offering twelve graduate credits per year. CEC is working with two Brooklyn school districts to train professional developers to align the New York State mathematics curriculum instruction and assessment with the new national standards. This program is delivered on-site by CEC professional development staff members Vincent Altamuro and Brenda Strassfeld. CEC professional developers are currently working on-site in more than forty-eight schools in the five boroughs, as well as providing full-day professional development conferences to more than 760 teacher-practitioners in all areas of primary and secondary education. Lincoln Center Institute
for the Arts in Education Addressing the dearth of art classes in public schools, the School of Education has emerged as a leader in aesthetic education. Brooklyn College was the first institution of higher education to develop a successful partnership with the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education in order to enrich teacher preparation in this area. The collaborative shifted the institute’s emphasis on school-based arts education and in-service training of teachers to a new focus on undergraduate teacher education programs. Now, faculty and teaching artists work closely by observing and making interdisciplinary connections based on selected works of art and performances. By integrating aesthetic education through required course work at the "pre-service" level within education and liberal arts and sciences classes, School of Education faculty members developed curricula that enrich the experiential worlds of students and prepare them to participate in and lead school reform efforts. The project, now in its sixth year, has expanded to include all areas of teacher education (early childhood, elementary, and secondary). This model has inspired the development of the Lincoln Center Institute’s Higher Education Initiative with other CUNY campuses and private institutions. More information about the initiative will be included in the next issue of The Chalkboard. News and Notes Alumni Sandra Feldman, ‘60, has completed
a three-year tenure as president of the American Federation of Teachers.
She was the first female president since 1930. Faculty Laura Barbanel, program head, school psychology, was elected to the board of directors of the American Psychological Association. David Bloomfield organized a meeting of city, state, and federal education officials on the New York City teacher shortage in May 2000 with a grant from Time Magazine for Kids. The Handbook for Adjunct Faculty is now available in the dean's office. Stephan F. Brumberg, program head, administration and supervision, contributed the chapter "The Teacher Crisis and Educational Standards in New York City" to City Schools: Lessons from New York, ed. Diane Ravitch and Joseph Viteritti (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000). Alberto Bursztyn presented papers at the Council for Exceptional Children, the American Association of Research in Education, and the American Psychological Association on assessment of language-minority children. Tibbi Duboys, program head, elementary education, is acting chair of the Professional Staff Congress. David Fuys, program head, elementary/mathematics, is a member of the editorial board of Teaching Children Mathematics, a journal of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Hollyce Giles, guidance and counseling, contributed a chapter, "A Word in Hand: the Scripted Labeling of Parents by Schools", in Labeling: Politics and Pedagogy, ed. Glenn Hudak and Paul Kihn (New York: Routledge Press, 2000). Carol Korn-Bursztyn, associate professor and faculty director of the Carleton Washburne Early Childhood Center, received a Brooklyn College President ‘s Performance Excellence Award in May. The annual award recognizes outstanding professional achievement by Brooklyn College faculty members. Jay Lemke, CUNY Graduate Center committee chair, was instrumental in developing a new Ph.D. program in Urban Education for CUNY and is currently working on advanced courses and student/faculty recruitment. He presented lectures on his research on multimedia semiotics and complex systems theory, most recently at University of California/Berkeley, University of California/Davis, and the International Conference on Complex Systems sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Milga Morales, Luis Reyes, and Vera Tarr wrote chapters in Sonia Nieto ‘s book Puerto Rican Students in U.S. Schools (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000). Luis Reyes presented his paper "Organic Professional Development in a Bilingual Learning Community: The Case of P.S. 24" at the AERA Convention 2000 as part of a Symposium on Collaborative Action Research in New York City Public Schools. Karel Rose presented a seminar on "Aesthetic Experience and Cognition" for the administration, faculty, and students at Bosphorus University in Istanbul. Flo Rubinson, graduate program in school psychology, was nominated president-elect of the New York Association of Early Childhood and Infant Psychologists. Barbara Winslow contributed the chapter "Activism and the Academy" to Voices of Women Historians: The Personal, the Professional, the Political, ed. Eileen Boris and Nupur Chaudhuri (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1999). In fall 1999, she delivered a lecture at the Jopie Fourie Laerskool in Pretoria, South Africa. Students Graduate honor students in the School of Education were recognized in May 2000: Stamatis Chasabenis received the Alice D. Crow Scholarship in Guidance and Counseling. Also honored was Sakeena Johnson. The Earl Graves and Barbara Graves, ‘57, Scholarship was awarded to Lorraine Mondesir, who has worked at the Carleton Washburne Early Childhood Center for the past eight years and is currently head teacher and coordinator of after-school programs. Karen Morgan, M.S. Ed., ‘00, special education, received the Barbara R. Reing Memorial Award. Marilyn Negron was honored with the Helen Brell Honors Scholarship for Excellence in English. The following students received scholarships and awards at the Dean ‘s Scholarship and Awards Ceremony on May 16:
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The
Chalkboard |