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2Graduate Studies Ad forEducation Update:Layout update ■1 3/5/10 9:23 For AM Page Parents, 1 Educators & Students ■ MAR/APR 2010Graduate Studies@w w w. c s i . c u n y. e d u / g raduatestudiesBiology(MS)Computer Science(MS)EnvironmentalScience(MS)Mental HealthCounseling(MS)BusinessManagement(MS)Education(MSEd)Childhood, Adolescence, andSpecial Education(Post-Master’s Advanced Certificate)Leadership in EducationHistory(MA)Neuroscience,Mental Retardation, andDevelopmental Disabilities(MS)Cinema andMedia Studies(MA)English(MA)LiberalStudies(MA)Nursing(MS and Post-Master’s AdvancedCertificate)Adult Health NursingGerontological(Post-Master’s Advanced Certificate)Nursing EducationCultural CompetenceDoctoral ProgramsComputer Science (PhD) Biochemistry (PhD) Biology (Neuroscience) (PhD)Nursing (DNS) Physical Therapy (DPT) Physics (PhD) Chemistry (PhD)All doctoral programs are offered jointly with The Graduate Center of The City University of New York.College of Staten Island Office of Recruitment and Admissions, 2800 Victory Boulevard, 2A-103, Staten Island, NY 10314, 718.982.2010www.csi.cuny.edu/admissions

10AA_Lit_EducUp01_ad:Layout 1 12/8/09 4:00 PM Page 1MAR/APR 2010 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update3The Teacher’s Choice forExcellentLiteracy/Reading/Language ArtsPrograms# 1VocabularyProgramin U.S.PreK–6Grades 2–12Grades 3–5Grades 6–12Grades 2–3Grades 6–12Call today for your free evaluation copies, 877-930-3336.Mention Promo Code K5.

Scientific Women:NYTEdLife copy 3/5/10 4:34 PM Page 1MAR/APR 2010 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update5BREAKINGBOUNDARIESIN SCIENCE RESEARCHPolymer andmaterialscienceVenomous toxinsfor drugdevelopmentSuperconductivityTheoreticalchemical physicsBraincancerinfiltrationFluorescence spectroscopy of complex biomoleculesSpiraling clockwise fromupper right: Dr. Myriam Sarachik,Distinguished Professor ofPhysics, City College; Dr. NeepaMaitra, Associate Professor ofPhysics, Hunter College; Dr. MarieFilbin, Distinguished Professor ofBiology, Director of the SpecializedNeuroscience Research Program,Hunter College; Dr. Lesley Davenport,Professor of Chemistry, BrooklynCollege and CUNY GraduateCenter; Dr. Vicki Flaris, AssistantProfessor of Chemistry, BronxCommunity College; Dr. MandëHolford, Assistant Professor ofChemistry, York College and CUNYGraduate Center; Dr. MaribelVazquez, Associate Professor ofBiomedical Engineering, City CollegeSpinal cord injury repairBreaking boundaries in science at The City University of New York —Distinguished women scientists at all CUNY colleges are making history all year roundby conducting pioneering research in fields that are critical to our nation’s future. ThroughCUNY’s “Decade of Science,” they are teaching and working with outstanding studentsin laboratories and classrooms in cutting-edge areas of applied and basic science. ViceChancellor for Research Gillian Small and Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning,Management and Construction Iris Weinshall are working together on the programmingand construction of the new CUNY Advanced Science Research Center at City College.World-class faculty. Breaking Boundaries. Making History. All year round at CUNY.For more information aboutCUNY women in science visit www.cuny.edu/decadeofscienceMatthew GoldsteinChancellor

y Sybil MaiminEveryone is voicing opinions about the federalgovernment’s response to the economicrecession. The Campaign for Educational Equityat Teachers College, Columbia University gotinto the act at their fifth annual symposium,“Stimulating Equity? The Impact of the FederalStimulus Act on Educational Opportunity.”The American Recovery and Reinvestment Actof 2009 (ARRA) is giving states the enormoussum of $100 billion to be spent on education overa two-year period. After one year, the goal ofstabilization, or helping states maintain their prerecessionlevels of funding and service, has mostlybeen met. According to Michael A. Rebell, anattorney and executive director of the Campaignfor Educational Equity, who spoke at the symposium,the problem is how the funds are beingspent. His research shows “negative effects” ondisadvantaged children as promised programsto encourage reform and equity arebeing neglected in favor of closingbudget gaps. This not only defiesthe “adequacy and equity” provisionsof ARRA, charges Rebell, it is alsounconstitutional. He explains that,repeatedly, courts have declared thatchildren have the constitutional rightto a good education, and that theserights must be respected, even in timesof fiscal cutbacks. Acknowledgingthat Governor David Patterson is in“a difficult situation” and is requiredby law to balance the state budget,Rebell insists that the constitutionalmandate to provide a “sound basiceducation” to all children is equallybinding. To address the problem ofshortfalls, Rebell points to “proverbialwaste and inefficiency” and proposescutting costs. He notes constitutionalcompliance need not be at a set priceas long as core services for a sound,basic education are provided. Rebellsuggests cost studies to determinehow much is needed for core services.He wants rainy-day funds establishedin good times, zero-based budgetingthat requires justification for everyprogram, multi-year budgeting toavoid financial surprises and instability,and school district consolidationfor greater efficiency. Calling ithis most contentious proposal, Rebelladvocates teacher pension reform witha scaling back of benefits.Respondents to Rebell’s remarkssuggested difficulties inherent in proposedsolutions. Jamienne S. Studley,president of Public Advocates, Inc.and former president of SkidmoreCollege, sees “lots of confusion aboutTuesday, January 26Rebell Hosts 5th Annual Symposium6 spotlight on schools ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010what investment in education should look like,”and difficulties in talking about “shifts, likereallocating from the haves to have-nots.” Shewould like to see the media generate sustainedpublic conversation about educational equityand the political will to effect it. “This is aboutpower,” she declared, “and who gets opportunity.Parents who don’t want other people’s childrento get power stand in the way. They don’t want tochange the way the world looks.”As director-counsel and president of theNAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fundfrom 2004-08, Columbia law professor TheodoreM. Shaw litigated many education matters andlearned, “Sometimes when you lose, you win,and when you win, you lose. When politicallyyou can’t raise taxes, you can’t get a state tofund a remedy. It is always a problem, andworse in hard times.” The question is, “Howdo you make constitutional principles reality?”2009 York Prep Open House_F 7/21/09 4:53 PM Page 2www.yorkprep.orgwww.yorkprep.orgBy Adam BlochJennings explained, “because to address teacherHow much has the stimulus done for education? effectiveness and low-performing schools, youThat question drew some sharply different answers have to deal with local districts, colleges of education,just a plethora of different forces.” Mostfrom education experts and researchers at therecent fifth annual Equity Symposium at Teachers importantly, in an economic sense, Jennings estimatedthat stimulus funds have created or savedCollege. The two-day conference was titled,“Stimulating Equity? The Impact of the Federal between 250,000 and 300,000 jobs.Stimulus Act on Educational Opportunity.” Jessica Wolf and Daniel Yaverbaum, a policydirector andThe one point of unanimity among participantsRSVP Admissions Office:researcher212-362-0400at the Campaignext. 127forwas that the extra funds included in the American Education Equity, respectively, presented a surveyRecovery and Reinvestment Act, which doubled of their own that was far less optimistic. “Wefederal education spending to roughly $100 billion,have helped save thousands of jobs by clos-met,” Yaverbaum said. “They’re simply not at thedon’t believe these four assurances are beinging enormous budget gaps for schools across the forefront of district policies. When we asked hownation. But whether the funds have also spurred districts were doing with reform, we got reactionsreform remained up for debate.ranging from laughter to disappointment.”Jack Jennings, President and CEO of the Center The survey looked at 20 states and, accordingon Educational Policy, presented a study that to Wolf, revealed that stimulus money was largelysurveyed governors and state school superintendentsin 44 states and the District of Columbia. money was often applied to Title I and Individualssuccessful in maintaining educational funding. TheBased on his findings, he concluded that theordualemail:withadmissions@yorkprep.orgDisabilities Education Act requirements.purposes of saving jobs and creating change are Other uses included new hardware, new softwarebeing met. “The federal government has gotten the and expanded professional development. Most ofattention of the states when it comes to reform,” the funds, however, were used to avoid layoffs.Jennings said.“It not clear if this will have long-term effects,”Jennings said that 41 states are applying to Wolf said.the Race to the Top Fund, and 33 are consideringadopting common standards. Of the four a professor at Rutgers University, and DavidThe final study was presented by Bruce Baker,“assurances” sought by Race to the Top, schools Sciarra, the executive director of the Educationhave had the easiest time implementing new data Law Center. They focused primarily on fundingsystems and rigorous standards and assessments. formulas and also reached worrisome conclusions.Ensuring reform of low-performing schools and According to their findings, stimulus funds hadthe effectiveness and equitable distribution of no impact on the fairness of state formulas andteachers has been harder. “It’s common sense,” may have enabled disproportionate cuts in povertyareas. Moreover, fiscal years 2011 and 2012 willprobably require large budget cuts in most states.Governor Patterson did not come to office wantingto cut education, Shaw explained, but “he their funds to high-poverty areas worse,” Sciarra“Many states used this to make the distribution offaced a different reality.” Politics and legalities said. “Congress had no idea what they were gettingare in conflict. How do we reconcile them? To into and no idea how bad, how regressive some ofRebell, even in difficult times, we “must establishthe principle that core constitutional rightsthese funding formulas were.” #continued on page 28are sacrosanct.” #York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6-12.York Preparatory School40 West 68th StreetNew York, NY 10023www.yorkprep.org“An Intimate Place to Learnin the Heart of a Great City”5:30 PM - 7:00 PMTeachers College Conference on Educational EquityProfessor Michael A. RebellTC President Susan FuhrmanDear York Parents: Prep is a co-educational collegeYoupreparatoryare cordiallyday schoolinvitedofferingto attendaonetraditionalof ourOPENcurriculumHOUSESfor gradesat York6-12.PreparatoryIn the beliefSchool.Wednesday, that every student September can 30succeed, 5:30 PM we provide - 7:00 PMWednesday, a supportive October atmosphere 7 9:30 that AM reflects - 11:00 and AM isWednesday, enhanced by October the diversity 14 and 5:30 richness PM - 7:00 PMTuesday, of New October York City. 20 5:30 PM - 7:00 PMWednesday, October 28 9:30 AM - 11:00 AMWednesday, York Prep recognizes November 4 the student 5:30 PM as - the 7:00 PMWednesday, November 11 9:30 AM - 11:00 AMfocus of the educational process. EachTuesday, November 17 5:30 PM - 7:00 PMstudent is challenged to think criticallyWednesday, December 2 5:30 PM - 7:00 PMTuesday, and creatively January in 12a structured 5:30 environmentPM - 7:00 PMTuesday, where excellence January 26is rewarded 5:30 and PM - 7:00 PMindividuality is encouraged. We strive toRSVP develop Admissions responsible Office: citizens 212-362-0400 by reinforcing ext. 127or respect email: for admissions@yorkprep.orgself and others.York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6-12.

New York City • MAR/APR 2010 • 7NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital President andCEO Dr. Herbert Pardes Speaks on Health Care ReformDr. Herbert Pardes has shared his thoughtson national health care reform and PresidentObama’s health care summit. Dr. Pardes leadsNewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, ranked amongthe nation’s top hospitals by U.S. News & WorldReport. He is a nationally recognized expert onhealth care reform who has provided his insightto The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, TheNew York Times, CNBC, MSNBC, NPR and FoxBusiness News.“I think what is going to be involved here is acollective responsibility, and I think we as individualcitizens throughout the country have torealize that we play a role in health care reform,”says Dr. Pardes. “We need to improve our ITsystem, strengthen quality and safety, implementmalpractice reform, streamline billing practices,and work with health care consumers to improvethe health of the population.”He addressed several topics related to healthcare reform:What are the top priorities for health carereform?• Provide access to health coverage to allpeople in the U.S.• Maintain the highest quality of medicine thatis available in the U.S.How can academic medicine improve overallquality?• Evaluate best information technology toimprove care and hold down costs.• Test quality measures to make sure our standardsfor care maintain best practices of qualityin health care.• Train more physicians and nurses to meethealth care demand.What should be changed in health carereform bills?• More resources should be used to train newdoctors and nurses to care for the 30 millionmore people who will have health insurance.• Disproportionate Medicare funding should beamended so the nation cuts funds only after thenumber of underinsured drops.• Regional differences in Medicare costsshould be studied to better reflect true costs forhealth care by region as well as quality differences.How can health care reform hold downcosts?• Reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs byreforming medical malpractice and standardizinginsurance forms, which alone can eliminate $500million to $700 million in health care costs.• Health care costs vary regionally, so costs inthe Northeast will be different from the Midwest.How can health care policy make the publichealthier?• A tremendous amount of the expense ofhealth care in this country is related to behavior;we can save money by helping people to eathealthy, quit smoking and exercise.• Schools can improve health care by raisinghealth education to the importance of scienceand math, and coordinating health education,gym and school nutrition programs.• Incentives should be implemented by insurancecompanies and employers to encouragehealthy behavior.#Herbert Pardes, M.D., is president and chiefexecutive officer of NewYork-PresbyterianHospital and NewYork-Presbyterian HealthcareSystem, and is nationally recognized for hisbroad expertise on health care reform, healthpolicy, hospitals, health care technology, mentalhealth, research, education and clinical care.He has been named one of Modern Healthcare’s“100 Most Powerful People in the HealthcareIndustry” and Modern Physician’s “50 MostPowerful Physician Executives.” Prior to joiningthe hospital in 1999, Dr. Pardes served asdean of the faculty of medicine at ColumbiaUniversity College of Physicians and Surgeons.Prior to that, he served as director of theNational Institute of Mental Health and as U.S.assistant surgeon general during the Carter andReagan administrations, and was also presidentof the American Psychiatric Association.Childhood Obesity and Its Effect on Self-EsteemSHH_EdupdateAd_5x6.75_v1:Layout 1 1/13/10 11:32 PM Page 1Help for Your Troubled Teen.Peace of Mind for You.If your teenager is struggling with a psychiatric, substance abuseor eating disorder, don’t let it tear your family apart.We offer an advanced specialty in Adolescent Care, at oneof the finest psychiatric hospitals in the country.Learn more at silverhillhospital.org or call us at(800) 899-4455By Margaret Lewin, MD, FACPMore than 30 percent of American childrenare overweight (50 percent in African-Americanand Latino communities), and more than twothirdsof obese children over the age of 9 willbecome obese adults. The resulting medicalproblems of diabetes, premature heart disease,stroke, gallbladder disease, degenerative arthritis,breathing problems and sleep apnea, as wellas cancer of the uterine lining, breast, prostateand colon are well-known, but the psychologicalproblems surprisingly less so. Societyin general responds negatively to obese individuals.Obese children in particular are oftensocially stigmatized and face discriminationfrom their peers, teachers, and even physiciansand nurses — often leading to poor self-esteem.Self-esteem refers to an individual’s sense ofhis or her value or worth — a favorable orunfavorable attitude toward one’s self. Formalstudies show that parents’ and peers’ acceptanceweigh most heavily on many children’s sense ofself-esteem. In a country with very thin celebrityrole models and where it is common to say,“you can never be too thin,” being obese canbe devastating to self-esteem, especially duringchildhood and adolescence.Children can be cruel, especially to overweightpeers who are often teased about theirweight. Although any child whose physicalappearance or intellectual capacity differs fromthe norm often is subjected to merciless teasing,it can be worse for obese children — who areblamed for their “different-ness” and closelywatched (and criticized) in their eating andexercise habits. Studies have shown that obesechildren tend to have a smaller circle of closefriends, leading to isolation and loneliness.Parents often join in the torment even if theyare also overweight. It can be difficult to escapefrom the self-image of unattractiveness andbody dissatisfaction.Formal studies suggest a relationship betweenself-esteem and health. Whether obese or not,adolescents with poor self-esteem are morelikely to engage in early sex, less likely to usebirth control, have higher rates of teen pregnancies,are more likely to use tobacco, alcohol andillicit drugs, and to attempt suicide. Obesity canalso lead teenagers into binge-eating, sometimespurging as well. In 2007, a study reporteda 20-year research of obese adolescents inUpstate New York. They found that obese girlswere nearly four times more likely than normalweight girls to suffer major depression andanxiety disorders as adults.Obese children can have a brighter future.This year, Sacher published the results ofa randomized, controlled British trial of theMEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, DO it) program,a family-based community interventionfor childhood obesity. Parents and their obesechildren attended eighteen 2-hour group educationaland physical activity sessions held twiceweekly in sports centers and schools, followedup by a 12-week free family swimming pass.Compared to the controls, the study children notonly reduced their weight and waistlines andincreased their cardiovascular fitness and physicalactivity levels, but they also had significantimprovement in their self‐esteem.Doing something about childhood obesityand related issues of self-esteem is a kindness,but we also need to do so in our ownself-interest. The economic consequences ofchildhood (and subsequent adult) obesity arestaggering and threaten to overtake our healthcare system and national budget. For these reasons,Michelle Obama, Surgeon General ReginaBenjamin, The Centers for Disease Controland Prevention, Federal Trade Commission,Food and Drug Administration, Department ofAgriculture, and the nation’s mayors and otherlocal leaders are placing a high priority oncombating this growing problem. It will requireenormous investing in education, availabilityof food in schools, making healthy affordablefood more accessible in low-income neighborhoods,building schools within walking distanceof residential areas, and building playgroundsand walking and biking paths. It will involvesetting standards for marketing food to childrenand reconsidering the nutritional value offoods available on supermarket shelves. Theseinvestments are worth it — both to us and ournation’s children. #Dr. Margaret Lewin is chief medical directorof Cinergy Health.

8 Special Education ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Our Center uses an integrated model thatOurcombinesCenterpsychological,uses an integratedbehavioral,modelspeechthatcombines and language psychological, and occupational therapy behavioral, speechand techniques language to form and effective occupational pathways therapy forOur techniques learning and attention.Center uses to form an integrated effective pathways model that forcombines learning and psychological, attention. behavioral, speechand language and occupational therapytechniques to form effective pathways forlearning and attention.Individual Education Programsenter uses an integrated model thatnes psychological, behavioral, speechnguage and occupational therapyiques to form effective pathways forng and attention.We offer the following services: Developmental AssessmentsWe Our Center uses an integrated model thatoffer Individual the following Education Programs services:combines psychological, behavioral, speech Program Developmental Supervision Assessmentsand language and occupational therapy ABA Therapytechniques to form effective pathways forlearning Speech/Languageand Program attention. SupervisionTherapyOccupational Therapy Developmental ABA Therapy Assessments Sensory IntegrationWe offer Individual the following Education services:SchoolSpeech/LanguageVisitsTherapy ProgramsDevelopmental Assessments Program Occupational Supervision TherapyIndividual Education ProgramsFor more ABA information Sensory Therapy Integrationabout our program,Program Supervisionplease visit ABASpeech/Language School our website atTherapyVisits Therapywww.mccartoncenter.com.Speech/Language Occupational TherapyOccupational Sensory IntegrationTherapyContact: Carolynn Barnesplease visit Sensory School our Integration Visits website at School Visits350 East 82 nd Street, New York, NY 10028We offer the following services:fer the following services:Developmental AssessmentsIndividual Education ProgramsProgram SupervisionFor more information about our program,ABA TherapySpeech/Language www.mccartoncenter.com. TherapyFor more information 212-996-9019 about our program,please visit our website atwww.mccartoncenter.com.Occupational TherapySensory IntegrationSchool VisitsFor more information about our program,Contact: please visit cbarnes@mccartoncenter.comCarolynn our website Barnes atwww.mccartoncenter.com.350 East 82 nd Street, New York, NY 10028Contact: Carolynn Barnes212-996-9019350 East cbarnes@mccartoncenter.com82 nd Street, New York, NY 10028350 East 82 nd Street, New York, NY 10028212-996-9019ore information 212-996-9019 about our program,cbarnes@mccartoncenter.comcbarnes@mccartoncenter.comvisit our website atConnect with the Bloggers onwww.EducationUpdate.comVisit our preeminent scholars to find out thelatest in news and views in education, specialneeds children, psychology, psychiatry,writing, scholarships, music and art,books, colleges, careers and more.Our bloggers now include:•Ernest Logan, President, Council of SchoolSupervisors and Administrators•Dr. Allen Frances, former Chief of Psychiatry,Duke University School of Medicine•Dr. John J. Russell, Head of WindwardSchool•Dean Jerrold Ross, St. John’s UniversityGo online with our bloggers and interact withthem. Their responses will amaze you!Rebecca School Looks atthe Big PictureBy McCarton AckermanIt’s difficult enough for many parents withspecial-needs children to find an appropriateeducation for them, yet one school is not onlylooking to do that, but to educate the entire family.The Rebecca School, located in the MurrayHill area of Manhattan, has quickly become oneof the primary centers for autism education andtraining in New York City. Now in its fourth yearof operation, the school works with 109 childrenfrom ages 4–18. Its primary focus is on childrenwith neurodevelopmental delays in relatingand communicating.“We’re always looking at the child holistically,”said Tina McCourt, program director atthe Rebecca School. “We believe every behavioris a communication. They’re doing it for a reasonand it’s our job to make it functional. Instead ofsaying ‘hands down’ if they’re flapping, we’retrying to understand why they do it.”The 68,000-square-foot, six-story facility isthe largest school in New York City specificallydevoted to autism. Facilities include twoart rooms, which include a pottery wheel andkiln, a large gym featuring a rock climbingwall, and a rooftop playground. Classes have a2:1 student-teacher ratio, with eight children,one teacher, and three teacher assistants in eachclassroom. Children work individually and insmall groups throughout the day. Classes at theRebecca School are year-round and also include asix-week summer program, but the school closesearly on Fridays to allow time for continued staffand parent training.In addition to offering activities found in traditionalschools such as art, science and reading, allstudents receive services in areas such as speech,occupational therapy and physical therapy. Theschool also focuses specifically on sensory integration.Each classroom has a sensory cornerwith items such as a beanbag chair and trampolinethat children may use at any time. “If I needcoffee, I know that I need to get up and get some,which is a skill that some of our students don’thave,” said McCourt. “We want them to get sensorybreaks throughout the day instead of whenthey become disregulated, and we want them tobecome self-regulated. Many of our students willsay when they need a break now. They’ve beengiven the tools to read their own bodies.”The Rebecca School also places an emphasison activities outside of the classroom. Studentsregularly take part in field trips and communityoutings, giving them the chance to practice newlylearned skills in different settings. “We want theseto be skills that they can use in an outside environment,”said McCourt. “We’re looking at the wholechild and not just the child in the classroom.”The primary model used for the school isthe Developmental Individual DifferenceRelationship model (DIR), which utilizes thecore belief that relationships are the foundationof learning. Each child has a specific programtailored to his or her academic and social needs.“There is no one-size-fits-all model for childrenwith these types of delays, so I wanted to incorporatethe DIR model so we could deal with thesecore issues,” said McCourt. “We’re trying tounderstand where the delays in development are,because our kids don’t develop in typical stages.”In addition to the child receiving treatment, TheRebecca School incorporates the whole familyinto the process. Social workers are assigned toeach family, and the school provides additionalservices such as parent training in the DIR modeland family counseling. “We know that the familyneeds a ton of support,” said McCourt. “Manyparents don’t know where to begin in terms offinding resources for their children, and if thefamily has other children, those siblings oftenhaven’t had the chance to talk about what it’s liketo have a brother or sister with autism.”All of the children at Rebecca School havebeen able to make progress in their developmentduring their time at the school, and in somecases, some of the students have been able tobe transferred into traditional school settings.McCourt said that because the school is relativelynew, she expected to see many more of herstudents making that transition within the nextyear or two. Perhaps most importantly, thesechildren have now found a place where they feelcomfortable learning and interacting with others.“Almost all of our kids come to school happy,”said McCourt. “The majority of kids say this isthe first time they’ve ever had a friend. If youwalk around here, it’s not a quiet school, andwe want that. We want the kids talking, to havechoices available to them, and for them to maketheir own decisions.” #

By Anne Marie Benitez& Gina MarangaToys are the “tools of the trade” for workingwith children with special needs. Through guidedplay, children with special needs learn skills thatare the basis for of development. Here’s a shortlist of great toys organized by age:Children Under 1:Toys that demonstrate cause-and-effect relationshipsand object permanence — the conceptthat objects exist even if they are out of sight, liketouch- or voice-activated toys that play music.Large manipulative toys like activity mats, snapbeads, and stacking rings help babies to learnbody awareness and eye-hand coordination.Children 1 – 3 :Encourage labeling and pretend play withshape and color sorters, baby dolls, animals andobjects like play foods. Toys to encourage grossmotor skills like tunnels, push/pull and ride on.Toys for oral motor development such as horns,whistles, harmonicas, bubbles, and pinwheels.Children 3 – 5:Pretend play and expanded language skills toys— puppets, dress-up sets, Mr. Potato Head, dollhouses, cooking sets, barns, and garages. Toysthat encourage fine motor skills — chunky crayons,chalk, paints, puzzles, Play-Doh, peg boards.Foster early literacy through big books, audiobooks, matching games, bingo/lingo. Toys thatdevelop focus and attention — rain sticks, storybooks, basic computer games. Toys that promotegross motor skills like sit and spin, hop alongballs, bean bag toss and toys that encourage earlylearning concepts like sand and water play toys.Children 5 – 7:Encourage fine, visual and perceptual motorcoordination to promote literacy and writingskills, and games that require focus, vocabularyand rhyming to promote expressive and receptivelanguage and concept development. Examples:MAR/APR 2010 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ Special EducationSpecial Toys for Special KidsEtch-a-Sketch, interconnecting blocks, feltboards, finger puppets, large magnets, musicalinstruments, word games.Children 7+:Continue encouraging concept development,scientific exploration, math skills, money skills,and creative thinking with toys like a play cashregister, 3-D models, balance scales, magnifyingglasses, binoculars, bug boxes, gear toys.Tried and True Classics:A jack-in-the-box is a great toy for 6-month- to1-year-olds. It provides that element of surpriseto elicit a response and model early language forbaby to imitate such as “Uh-oh!” “Pop!” “Byebye,”and open/close. It also provides an opportunityfor baby to indicate by gesture, vocalizationor verbalization a request for “more.”Wooden blocks of different shapes, colors andsizes are good for stimulation of cognitive skills.Children, develop age appropriate play skillswhen they use the blocks to represent thingsfound in their environment, and expand their playschemes when they use other toys in conjunctionwith the blocks. For example, making houses fordolls, tracks for trains, roads for cars. Blocks canhelp teach shape and color concepts, enhancecreativity and stimulate and conversation aboutwhat they are building.Finger-painting provides a multi-sensory experience.For young children we recommend “edible”paints like puddings. For older children,shaving cream offers an olfactory and a tactileexperience. For school-age children traditionalfinger-paint lets them mix colors while experiencingthe tactile and visual stimulation of theactivity. Finger-painting in the bath tub makes foreasy clean up. #Anne Marie Benitez is school psychologist atBlock Institute School in Brooklyn, N.Y., andGina Maranga is director of program operationsat Block Institute School.Jewish Guild for theBlind Awards CollegeScholarshipsThe Jewish Guild for the Blind recentlyannounced that it will award scholarships of$10,000 to each of 16 college-bound high schoolseniors who are legally blind. The GuildScholarProgram scholarships will be awarded prior to theacademic year that begins September 2010. Therecipients are currently enrolled in high schoolsin the states of California, Connecticut, Florida,Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina,Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin andWyoming. The GuildScholar Program was created,in part, through a generous grant from theJeannette A. Klarenmeyer Trust.A former teacher of one of the winners is alsobeing acknowledged for his role in encouragingand bringing out the best in his student. Eachapplicant was asked to write an essay about ateacher who is of great importance to him or her.The teacher chosen from among the applicants’essays will receive a prize of $5,000.“We’re mindful of the often unexpectedly largesums of money needed to accomplish a successfultransition from high school to a college or universityand we think that this scholarship moneycan be put to excellent use during this phase,”said Dr. Alan R. Morse, president and CEO ofThe Guild. “At The Guild, we are committed toworking toward a more inclusive society. TheGuildScholar program will help assure that moreblind students are able to enroll in colleges oruniversities that might otherwise be beyond theirreach financially. We’re not concerned with theirfields of study, but we are eager to help in theeducation of this country’s next generation ofleaders, a group that must include persons withvision impairment,” he concluded.The recipients were chosen by a selectioncommittee not only experienced in overseeingprograms for blind and visually impaired persons,but also knowledgeable in matters of studentfinancial aid and the non-profit organizations thatfund educational programs. The members of the2010 selection committee were: Allen C. Harris,director of the Iowa Department for the Blind;Patricia N. Lewis, Ph.D., executive director ofthe AIM Foundation, Houston, Texas; Alan R.Morse, Ph.D., president and CEO of The JewishGuild for the Blind; Frederic K. Schroeder, Ph.D.,research professor, San Diego State University,Jeremy Morakformer director of the Professional Developmentand Research Institute on Blindness, LouisianaTech University, Ruston, La.The committee chose the 13 winners after arigorous application process that included criteriasuch as academic excellence, communityinvolvement, legal blindness, financial needand U.S. citizenship. The 2010 GuildScholarProgram scholarship winners are: Ryan Alsmanof Normal, Ill., University High School; CarlosBaeza of Rockport, Maine, Camden HillsRegional High School; Nathaniel Book of WestSuffield, Conn., Suffield High School; KyleCoon of Jacksonville, Fla., Paxon School forAdvanced Studies; Matthew Cooper of Durham,N.C., Charles E. Jordan High School; JameyanneFuller of Concord, N.H., Concord High School;Marcus Meyer Goldberg of Austin, Texas,McNeil High School; Dillon Hawley of EastArlington, Vt., Arlington Memorial High School;Claire Elizabeth Johnson of Portland, Ore., St.Mary’s Academy; Cord LaBarre of Hayward,Wis., Hayward High School; Ashleigh Ladnerof Slidell, La., Northshore High School; AndrewLuk of Chino Hills, Calif., Diamond Barr HighSchool; Duncan McLaurin of Jackson, Wyo.,Jackson Hole High School; Jeremy Morak ofHewlett, N.Y., George W. Hewlett High School;Helen Georgie Sydnor of Lynchburg, Va., E.C.Glass High School; Daniel White of Watertown,Mass., Watertown High School. The teacherchosen to receive a prize is David Eckstrom ofHayward, Wis., Hayward High School. #School Closings MeetWith Disapproval9By Yuridia PenaMore than 2,000 teachers, politicians, studentsand community organizers gathered recently ata Panel for Educational Policy meeting as theyheard hundreds speak against the city’s plan toshut down 20 New York City public schools.The marathon session, which took place at BrooklynTechnical High School, lasted well into the nextmorning. All speakers were heard, and the panelreached a decision to close 19 of the 20 low performingschools, including the charter East NewYork Preparatory School and large high schools likeJamaica High School and Beach Channel High Schoolin Queens, Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn,and Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx.Alfred E. Smith, a vocational high school in thecontinued on page 31

10 Special Education ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Caring For SpecialNeeds Children:Lucina Clarke Honored2009 Brooke Russell Astor Award recipient Lucina Clarke with Dr. Paul LeClerc,President of the New York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library’s 2009 BrookeRussell Astor Award has been presented to LucinaClarke, founder and executive director of MyTime, a not-for-profit parent support center foradvocates, grandparents, and parents of childrendiagnosed with developmental disabilities andautism. The $10,000 award was established in1987 through a gift to The New York PublicLibrary by David Rockefeller, and recognizesunsung heroes who have substantially contributedto improving the quality of life in New YorkCity. Clarke was presented with the award byDr. Paul LeClerc, president of The New YorkPublic Library.“The Brooke Russell Astor Award is given toan unsung hero of the community that has contributedgreatly to the improvement and enrichmentof New York City as Ms. Astor has,” saidLeClerc. “I am enormously pleased that we haverecognized Ms. Clarke, whose tireless work anddedication has improved the lives of countlessfamilies in New York caring for a loved one withautism or a developmental disability. The missionpreached by My Time, to provide a nonjudgmentaland supportive environment, is one of genuinekindness and nobility, traits that are reflective ofwhom Ms. Clarke is and well worth rewarding.”“Giving parents of children with autism anddevelopmental disabilities a supportive environmentthat is more sensitive and empathetic totheir needs is the mission of My Time,” saidClarke. “If I can touch these families’ lives bydoing this, then I am doing my calling. I wantto thank The New York Public Library and Mrs.Astor, whose spirit is looking down on us, for thiswonderful award.”In 2004, Clarke, a certified special educator,established a parent support group for familiescaring for an individual with autism and developmentaldisabilities in the Canarsie area ofBrooklyn. Clarke wanted to provide parents withsupport and a place where they could discussissues relating to themselves and their childrenand not be judged or criticized for being a parentof a child with special needs. The groupmet on a monthly basis to discuss issues, sharetheir stories, and exchange information relatingto autism and other related developmental disabilities.They provided support and networkedwith other families, conducting workshops ontechniques to assist parents in developing functionaland social environment at home and intheir community. Today My Time continues itsgoal of giving appropriate strategies and skillsto parents and caregivers of children with autismand developmental disabilities. Clarke is continuingto develop relationships with public andprivate schools, churches, universities, and thecommunity to ensure the awareness and diversityof individuals with special needs are respected,acknowledged and accepted. Clarke was nominatedby New York City Councilman Lew Fidler.Honorable Mentions were awarded to IngridFloyd of Iris House and Cynthia Maurer ofVisiting Neighbors; each received a $2,000 prize.Ingrid Floyd, executive director of Iris House, thefirst community based organization in New York— and in the country — with services designedspecifically to meet the needs of women withHIV and AIDS and their families. Iris House is aHarlem based organization named after Iris de laCruz, a pioneer in the fight against HIV and AIDSWindward School Summer ProgramCharting the Course for Summer SuccessOur exciting four-week program is designed for students enteringgrades 4-9 who desire to improve their skills and enrich theirknowledge in reading, writing, math and science. There is alsoan opportunity in the afternoon for socializing and fun through sports, art anddrama. All students receive instruction from teachers trained in Windward’smultisensory approach to learning.• Book Club for Reluctant Readers• Study Skills • Organizational Skills for Writing • Mathematics• Science • Sports • Art • DramaTuesday, July 6 - Friday, July 30, 2010Academic program: 9:00 am - 12:15 pm Full Day: 9:00 am - 2:45 pm40 West Red Oak Lane, White Plains, NY 10604For more information and a brochure, contact Christopher Eberhard at(914) 949-6968, Ext. 1250 or visit our website at www.windwardny.org.Herb ScherFailure to LaunchBy MacLEAN Gander, Ph.d.In the last few weeks, some of the brighteststudents attending Ivy League and other eliteschools received failing notices and had to makealternate plans for the semester. For many, it wastheir first experience of academic failure — andit left them and their parents scrambling for whatto do next.Many of these students were tops in their highschool classes and earned high SAT scores. Incollege, they were working hard but they justcouldn’t seem to get any traction. They struggledto wake up in time for class, left long-termassignments until it was too late, and neglectedto complete written work without the kinds ofreminders and cues that their parents used toprovide. Unlike high school, where performanceis closely tracked and notice is quickly taken, itwasn’t until the very end of the semester that thefinal reckoning came due — failing grades andacademic probation or suspension.These are not isolated cases. The reality is thatthere is a large and growing group of bright kidswhose brains aren’t wired right for a demandingcollege routine. The strategies and supports thatworked in high school when they were livingat home are not adequate to the new demandsthat college places on the executive functions ofthe brain.According to current theories of the brain,executive functions are located in areas of thefrontal lobe, and they serve as a kind of orchestraconductor, regulating other areas that controlplanning, goal-setting, language production, andmotor activity. Often unconscious, they operatebeyond the control of will and motivation— even though the behavior that results whenthey fail to operate effectively is often judged inmoral terms.Researchers believe that executive functioncapabilities vary widely, and many also believethat in about 10 percent of cases the difficultiesare severe enough to be classified as AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), a learningdifference that is increasingly seen as lyingin the self-regulation systems of the brain. Buteven those not having an AD/HD diagnosis canand do have significant challenges, especially ina demanding academic environment.Executive functions are challenged in anysignificant life transition, from arriving in a newcity for the first time, to taking on a new jobor experiencing the birth of a first child. Whileresearch is not yet conclusive, many believethat first-generation college students, or studentsand in women’s advocacy. Floyd was nominatedby Jennifer Klot, a board member of Iris House.Cynthia Maurer is the executive director ofVisiting Neighbors, an organization ensuring thatover a thousand seniors maintain their independenceand stay connected to their communities.from different cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds,experience the same kind of executivefunction challenges that students with AD/HDface in college.Unfortunately, colleges have not yet learnedhow to deal with the mismatch between the wayssome students’ executive systems have developedand successful management of college coursework.Even the best college support systems areoften inadequate to the challenge, and the numberof students who slip through the cracks is veryhigh. More important, even students who manageto muddle through by using support systems andgetting extra help from instructors may still notdevelop the kinds of executive strategies essentialto success in the workplace.Psychiatrists and other physicians can prescribemedications that do have positive effects,although many students report that meds alsocarry a cost. I would rather see more collegesaddress the problem by working directly withstudents to develop self-management and academicstrategies. It works beautifully here, wherestudents learn to develop strategies to use theirstrengths and overcome their challenges.Every year, about half of the students whocome to Landmark College have failed at otherpostsecondary institutions, including some of themost selective colleges in the country. Eighty percentof the students who entered this past Januaryhad left other colleges. Their stories are nearlyalways the same: good grades in high school,good SATs, and a failure to launch when it cameto the new demands of college work. By learningto master “executive functioning skills,” thesesame students can go on to achieve academicallyand take their place in the world feeling a senseof pride in their accomplishment.The Obama administration is using stimulusmoney to increase college access for studentsfrom low-income families. This is certainlymoney well spent. At the same time, the questionof college completion is equally important.Perhaps some of the stimulus money should beused to improve results on that score. Unless anduntil we address the causes that lead to one outof two students dropping out before receiving adegree, opening higher education’s doors widermay be an empty victory. #MacLean Gander is a professor of English atLandmark College, Putney, Vt., which servesstudents with learning disorders, with a primaryfocus on executive function challenges.This article was originally published in the February 2010issue of University Business (Volume 13, Number 2, page 44).Over 400 volunteer visitors help seniors alleviateloneliness, provide emotional security, andoffer mental stimulation. Visiting Neighbors hasenriched the lives of both seniors and volunteersfor three decades. Maurer was nominated by NewYork State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick. #

By Allen Frances, M.D.Our country is in the midst ofa 15-year “epidemic” of attentiondeficit disorder. There are sixpotential causes for the skyrocketingrates of ADD, but only fivehave been real contributors. Themost obvious explanation is byfar the least likely: that the prevalenceof attention deficit problemsin the general population hasactually increased in the last 15years. Human nature is remarkablyconstant and slow to change,while diagnostic fads come andgo with great rapidity. We don’t have more attentiondeficit than ever before; we just label moreattentional problems as mental disorder.The “epidemic” can be traced to a complexinteraction among five other contributors: 1)wording changes in DSM-4 (published in 1994);2) heavy marketing and advertising from drugcompanies to doctors as well as the generalpublic; 3) extensive media coverage; 4) pressurefrom parents and schools to control unrulychildren; and 5) the use of stimulants for performanceenhancement.There is controversy about whether the resultingincreased prevalence of ADD should be thecause for celebration, concern, or perhaps both.Some believe that the higher rates mostly reflectthe useful identification of ADD in patients whowere previously missed. No doubt, increaseddiagnosis has been helpful for many people whootherwise would not have received appropriatetreatment with stimulus medication. But this gainmust take into account the serious costs to manyothers. Some of the increased prevalence of ADD(no one can tell for sure what proportion) resultsMAR/APR 2010 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ Special EducationShould DSM-5 Expand the “Epidemic”of Attention Deficit Disorder?from “false positives,” peoplewho would be better off havingnever received a diagnosis. Therapid expansion of stimulant usehas undoubtedly led to unnecessarytreatment with medicationsthat sometimes cause harmfulside effects and complications.There is also a large problemwith stimulant abuse for purposesof performance enhancementand intoxication; both leadto the development of a large,illegal secondary market forstimulant drugs.DSM-5 will become the official manual forpsychiatric diagnosis when it is published in2013. The recently posted first draft contains anumber of suggestions that would make it eveneasier to get a diagnosis of ADD: 1) raising theage before which onset of symptoms must occur,from age 7 to age 12; 2) dramatically reducingthe symptom threshold for adult ADD; 3) removingthe requirement that there be accompanyingclinically significant distress or impairment; and4) allowing the diagnosis of ADD in those whoalso have the diagnosis of autism.In developing DSM-4, we hoped to be carefuland conservative. We believed that the diagnosticsystem should remain stable unless there wascompelling evidence that change would be morehelpful than harmful.We performedan extensive fieldtrial that predicted(it turned out incorrectly)that ourwording clarificationswould notchange the rates of ADD. Our experience provedthat even small changes in the diagnostic criteriacan have large unintended, and often unfortunate,consequences (particularly if the drug companiesfind a way to amplify the effects of their medications).The changes suggested for DSM-5 are radicaland could add fuel to the fire of the already raging“epidemic” of excessive diagnosis and treatmentof ADD. I would suggest there be a careful risk/benefit analysis, which should include input fromthe public and consideration of public policyimplications, before any of these changes aremade official.11Peggy Fogelman (center) is welcomed as the new Metropolitan Museum of Art Frederick P.and Sandra P. Rose Chairman of Education by Joyce Cowin (L) and Peggy Ogden (R).Have questions about ADHD or autism?Visit Dr. Frances’ BLOG atwww.educationupdate.com/allenfrancesProblems with attention and hyperactivity arevery common in the general population. There isno clear boundary to determine when these canbe considered as no more than normal variationand when they are best labeled and treated asmental disorder. There are also many causes fordistractibility other than ADD, including moodand anxiety problems, substance use, insomnia,stress, overextended scheduling, and many more.If the requirements for diagnosing ADD are toostringent, true cases will be missed. If they aretoo loose, innocent bystanders will be captured.Right now the criteria are, if anything, too loose,and I fear the results if DSM-5 makes themeven looser. #Dr. Allen Frances is professor emeritus atDuke University, where he was previously chairof its department of psychiatry and behavioralsciences. He was also chair of the DSM-4 TaskForce. See Dr. Frances’ full review of the DSM-5drafts at http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/home/content/article/10168/1522341.Is your child Dyslexic or experiencing school failure?If so, we may be the solution.We strive to help childrennot only have the skills needed to learn, but want to learn.TheSterlingSchoolWe take our commitment seriouslyOrton Gillingham trained staffSmall classes withindividualized attentionArt, music, culinary arts andcomputers for a rich educationNOW AcceptING ADmISSIONScall 718-625-3502www.sterlingschool.comRuth Arberman, Director of the Sterling School299 Pacific Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201

12 spotlight on schools ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Education Update’s Middle School Journalism InitiativeRobert KennedySchool P.S. 169Principal: Susan FinnTeacher: Siobhian McNulty•How AreTextbooks Made?by Felipe PauWe recently visited William H. Sadlier, Inc., aneducation publisher, at 9 Pine Street in Manhattan.This company publishes textbooks. They havebeen doing this for over 175 years. WilliamS. Dinger is the president of the company. Heexplained that making the textbooks starts withan idea. After the idea, they do research. Theresearch tells them if the idea works. My favoritepart of our visit was taking the tour of the art,design and production department. It was reallycool to see how designs are made and created.Book ReviewThe Ruins ofGorlanby Marquis BrownFor my review, I read The Ruins of Gorlan, thefirst book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series, byJohn Flanagan. This book is about a 15-year-oldboy named Will. He wants to be a Ranger in theRanger Corp. Rangers are people with bows andarrows. The Rangers battle Morgarth, Lord ofthe Mountain. My favorite character is Horace.He is an apprentice knight. He is a very goodfighter. Horace is Will’s best friend. The best partof the book is when Will and Horace train in thebattleground. I recommend this book because it isexciting. It is a good story about friendship.Movie ReviewThe Wolfmanby Brandon DeJesusThe Wolfman was an excellent movie. Myfavorite character was Lawrence Talbot, playedby Benicio Del Toro. He was bitten by a werewolf.Two days later he changed into a werewolf.This movie has a lot of action scenes. My favoritescene was when Lawrence and his father changeThe Young Women’s Leadership School students cheerfully pose with their teacherMs. Courtney Fenner (L) and Giovanny Pinto (center), Education Update internBy Giovanny PintoFor the latest session of the Education Update’s Middle School Journalism Initiative,students from our two classes traveled to Hunter College to meet with crossword puzzledesign expert David J. Kahn, who creates puzzles for The New York Times as well asEducation Update. The students first brushed up on their crossword skills by tackling aprevious national science contest crossword. After impressing Kahn by easily filling inthe blanks, the session turned to Kahn teaching the students how to create their ownpuzzles that will be featured in their soon-to-be-published newspapers.Other sessions included trips to the dialysis unit at the Children’s Hospital atMontefiore Medical Center and the Animal Medical Center. Please visit www.educationupdate.comto see their writings about these trips. #into wolves. I recommend this movie because itis really exciting.Music ReviewDrakeby Timothy MillanAubrey Drake Graham, a.k.a. Drake, is a singerand rapper. His parents divorced when he wasfive. He was raised by his mother in Toronto,Canada and spent summers with his father inMemphis, Tennessee. He started writing songswhen he was ten years old. However, he beganhis career as an actor. He played Jimmy onDegrassi: The Next Generation. My favoritesong by Drake is “Forever.” It is a song forthe LeBron James movie More Than A Game.LeBron James is my favorite basketball player.We Love Justin!by Catia AlvarezJustin Bieber is a great young singer that thousandsof girls love. Justin Bieber is 16 years old.He grew up as an only child. He started singingby accident when he entered a singing contest.He was only 12 years old, and he won secondplace. He started putting videos of himself singingonline for family and friends, but otherpeople started watching them too. One of thosepeople is his manager now. Justin knows howto play the drums, guitar, and trumpet. His newalbum is called “My World 2.0.” My favoritesong is “Baby.” It is about his first love and it isreally sweet. I love it and so will you.Master of theMoonwalkby Zain AdamsMichael Jackson was a pop singer and masterof the “moonwalk.” He was part of the JacksonFive, which was made up of his family. He wasthe singer of the group. He moved on to a solocareer. One of his best songs is “Beat It” becauseit teaches you to stand up to bullies. I also like thesong “Black or White” because it is about racism.The Young Women’sLeadership AcademyPrincipal: Dr. Althea TysonTeacher: Courtney Fenner•School Lunch 411By Tyler CoxWhen most people think school lunch the lastthing that comes to their minds are 5 star meals.This is a reasonable idea; school has been knownas a pretty gross meal for generations. For example,macaroni and cheese that stays on the traywhen you turn it upside down; liquid mashedpotatoes;breaded fish with orange cheese. ButI want to make something EXTREMELY clear.School lunch has really nothing to do with thecooking abilities of lunch ladies. Lunch ladiesshould get more appreciation then they do. AtTYWLS lunch ladies can serve up to 450 girlsa day. That’s a lot of meals and a lot of rudegirls. So, instead of being rude towards the lunchladies, appreciate the meals they serve you daily.Utada Vs. BoAby Naomi White.Utada or BoA? Many fans of the Japanesemusic culture ask themselves this question probablymany times a day. Whether it be when readinga Utada or BoA blog, or fansite on these dominatingdivas. Who are Utada and BoA? That’s whatyou’re about to read.Utada Hikaru had made her debut in 1999,this being her 11th year as a singer and one ofJapan’s top since then. First Love was her debutalbum and was the country’s largest-selling albumof all time, also three of her albums have beenranked above the Top ten best sellers. She hashad 5 albums, one at the Top of the Charts andone of those albums is her most recent (that Ihave heard), Heart Station. Utada is Japanese-American, growing up right here in Mahattan. Afew years back, Utada was diagnosed with breastcancer, but thankfully after a long time fighting it,she was cured of it.Her mother, Keiko Fuji was a enka (ballad)singer, a popular one at that in her time. Utada hasalso followed in her mothers footsteps and singsJ-Pop, Ballad, R and B, some Rap. Also her father,Teruzane Utada was a very well known musicianand producer.OPEN HOUSETuesday May 11, 20108:30 - 9:30amAre you looking for a superior,affordable education for your child?Philosophy Day School provides a richclassical education with an emphasis onexceptional character development at anaffordable price.12 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10075Visit us online at: www.philosophyday.org t. 212 744-7300 info@philosophyday.org

A S P E C I A L N E E D S C A M PThe Buddy-Building Camp is a six-week summer, day programdeveloped by Dr. Lesli Preuss to help families who have young boyswho struggle in more mainstream camp programs.The philosophy of the program, developed from her 14 years ofexperience as a child psychologist, is to use sports, arts and natureto help children with social and emotional delays overcome someof their difficulties. We enjoyed significant success over last fouryears and are excited for the upcoming summer.This camp serves twice-exceptional boys, aged 8-12, with Asperger Syndrome,Attention Deficit Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Autism (HFA),Emotional Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, Pervasive DevelopmentalDisorder (PDD), Speech/ Language Disabilities, and other disabilities.Buddy-Building Camp120 W. 76th StreetNew York, NY 10023MAR/APR 2010 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ CAMPS & SPORTSPhone (917) 697-2227Fax (818) 506-8094BuddyBuildingLLC.comCalifornia Eye DiseaseResearcher Martin FriedlanderWins National Vision AwardA national leader in the development of newapproaches to the treatment of neovascular eyediseases, Martin Friedlander, M.D., Ph.D., hasbeen awarded The Jewish Guild for the Blind’s2010 Alfred W. Bressler Prize in Vision Science.Dr. Friedlander is currently full professor in theDepartment of Cell Biology and the GraduateProgram in Macromolecular and CellularStructure and Chemistry at The Scripps ResearchInstitute, one of the world’s largest independentbiomedical research facilities. He is also staffophthalmologist and chief of retina service atScripps Clinic and Green Hospital, both locatedin La Jolla, Calif.The Bressler Committee chose Dr. Friedlanderbecause of his extraordinary work with cellbiological research and clinical issues of retinaldisease, subjects he has pursued from his earlydays as a junior faculty member in Nobel laureateGunter Blobel’s lab at The Rockefeller Universityin New York. He trained as a clinical ophthalmologistafter building a strong background inprotein chemistry and cell biology, a part of hiscontinuing concern for the consequences of retinaldisorders for which no therapy existed at thattime. His commitment to a career of research andpatient care at the highest level brought him to thecommittee’s attention.At The Scripps Research Institute, Dr.Friedlander’s interests focus on the use of biochemical,cell biological and stem cell approachesto understand basic underlying mechanisms ofocular angiogenesis and to identify therapeuticapproaches to treating ocular neovascular andneurodegenerative diseases such as age-relatedmacular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.13He has also had a long-standing interest intranslocation and integration of polytopic membraneproteins including rhodopsin and sodiumcalciumexchangers. The two research programsare joined by their application to the treatmentof neovascular eye disease and inherited retinaldegenerations such as retinitis pigmentosa.The Scripps Research Institute received a majorgrant in 2007 from The National Eye Institute forpre-clinical research on the use of adult bonemarrow-derivedstem cells in the treatment ofdiseases and disorders of the eye. The goal of theresearch team, under Dr. Friedlander’s leadership,is to develop new, cell-based approachesto treatments for patients who are losing theirsight because of neovascular and retinal degenerativediseases. More recently, Dr. Friedlanderand Scripps were awarded another large grantfrom the California Institute for RegenerativeMedicine for the use of chemical biologicalapproaches and induced pluirpotent stem cells togenerate autologous grafts of retinal tissue for thetreatment of atrophic macular degeneration.Dr. Friedlander received his M.D. from theState University of New York Downstate MedicalCenter, his Ph.D. from the University of Chicagoand his A.B. from Bowdoin College. He completedhis residency in ophthalmology and retinafellowship at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. Beforejoining the staff at The Scripps Research Institutein 1993, Dr. Friedlander served on the facultiesof The Rockefeller University and UCLA. TheBressler Prize in Vision Science at The Guild wasestablished in 2001 through a generous bequestof Alfred W. Bressler (1905-1999). #Attention.That’s what kids with ADHD want.And that’s exactly what they’ll get at NYU Summer Program for Kids,the only seven-week therapeutic summer program in New York,specifically tailored to meet the needs of children between the agesof 7 and 11 with ADHD.· Behavioral techniques used to promote positive behavior· Development of social and academic competence· Nurturing and fun atmosphere· Swimming and group sports daily· Highly qualified staff of psychologists, teachers, and psychologyundergraduate and graduate students· Excellent staff/child ratio of 1 to 1-2NYU Summer Program for Kids prepares children to start the schoolyear as better adjusted and more socially skilled students. Parentsalso receive specialized training to make the most of their child’ssummer experience.For more information, please call 212 263 0760.UsdanThis Summer:Music, Art, Theater, Dance, Writing, Chess, Nature & Ecology,Swimming, Tennis. • Air-conditioned buses from most NYareaneighborhoods. • Weekdays: 4 or 7 weeks.Tuition: $2,675-$3,575 plus transportation & fees.www.usdan.com 631-643-7900AboutOurKids.org

14 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ MAR/APR 2010Empowering Educators &Students Through DigitalTransformationsBy Charlotte K. Frank, Ph.D.As an educator for nearly a half-century, I’veexperienced many changes in the world of educationto improve teaching and learning. Nowmore than ever, we know that education is trulybeginning a profound change worldwide, incorporatingnew technologies and preparing studentsto participate in today’s knowledge-basedglobal economy.This transformation, which includes new digitaltools in education, more collaborative learningmodels, data-driven instruction and formativeassessment, is trying to change the way teachersteach, students learn, and parents/caregiversengage in classrooms around the world. Withoutquestion, it’s a different world today and we mustadapt with the times to survive and succeed.America’s economic growth and vitalitydepend on our ability to develop and maintain astrong, educated workforce rooted in the masteryof 21st-century skills, like creativity, collaboration,adaptability, critical thinking and problemsolving, as well as the basics. To develop such aworkforce and drive student achievement, withlearning a mouse click away, we must acceleratethe use of technology in the classroom.Today’s students are digital natives who aresurrounded by technology in all forms. For educators,this presents an unprecedented opportunityand challenge to develop increasingly digitalresources to reach millennials with the tools theyalready use outside the classroom and empowerthem to become self-directed and collaborativelearners.Newly developed all-digital and hybrid digitalprintlearning solutions provide teachers withgreater customization opportunities to personalizeinstruction and help students acquire the skillsthey need to learn subject matter, learn how toBy Joan Baum, Ph.D.When Patricia Grodd says she supports “poetryfor everyone,” she means everyone. For over adozen years, as a Kenyon College trustee, shehas been the sponsor of the annual Patricia GroddPoetry Prize for Young Writers. The contest isopen to high school sophomores and juniorsfrom all over the country. Selected by DavidBaker, the editor of the Kenyon Review, winnersreceive a full scholarship to the two-week residentialsummer Young Writers Workshop held atKenyon College, and publication in the KenyonReview — not bad company considering that thisprestigious 70-year-old literary magazine haspublished, among others, John Crowe Ransom,Robert Lowell, Boris Pasternak, Bertolt Brecht,Dylan Thomas, Maya Angelou, Derek Walcottand Woody Allen. The advisory board, alone,suggests putting on sunglasses. But not to dismissthe young prize winners: as Ms. Grodd pointsout, their poetry is publishable, as is. One of herprompts in initiating the program was her dismaythat too few people felt comfortable with poetry;she even met some who actively disliked it, feeling,no doubt — and with good reason — that itwas not always accessible. By instilling a loveof poetry in the young, says Ms. Grodd, she feltshe could turn the situation around, especially inshowing how poetry directly serves emotions.“Didn’t Freud say that it was the poets who discoveredthe unconscious?”A trustee also of the Council of LiteraryMagazines and Presses (the impressive listincludes most of the nation’s best known periodicalsand independent presses), Ms. Groddrecently instituted a downtown annual SpellingWOMEN SHAPING HISTORYGUEST EDITORIALSthink critically and acquire 21st-century skills.Starting early is key. McGraw-Hill Education’sCenter for Digital Innovation, for example, developedPlanet Turtle, an imaginative and fast-pacedmathematics instructional system for K-3 studentsthat utilizes engaging graphics, social interactionand continuous advancement to higherlevels as the student masters each challenge. WithPlanet Turtle, students become engaged in buildingcomputational fluency early on, getting ahead start on developing skills crucial to success.As learning solutions evolve to become morecustomizable and adaptive, so do instruction andassessment. Recent digital innovations enableteachers to use student data, obtained fromonline activities and assessments, to informinstruction and develop and continually refinethe most effective teaching methods for eachindividual. For example, Acuity, an all-in-oneassessment system, provides classroom-basedinterim and formative assessments designed toadvise teaching and improve student learningand achievement. By measuring proficiencyand tracking progress, these assessments allowinstructors to target instruction and predict studentperformance.Information, as we all know, is power, and providingreal-time access to it on both the teachingand learning sides of the equation can only maketeachers and students smarter.Naturally, transformations as massive as a digitalrevolution in education can be daunting andintimidating especially for digital immigrants.Change is a scary proposition. But we owe it toour current and future generations to be leadersand change agents every step of the way. #Dr. Charlotte K. Frank, is senior vice presidentof research and development for McGraw-HillEducation of The McGraw-Hill Companies.Patricia Grodd, Poet & TrusteeBee for Pulitzer Prize winners,“a hoot,” she says thatshe started “just for fun.”It’s led by the editor of theOxford English Dictionary,and would you believe — ofcourse you would — that eliminations start withthe most famous Pulitzer Prize authors? TheOctober event is attended by students, teachers,and professional writers.Despite all this involvement it’s her work withadults that particularly delights her, Ms. Groddsays, and that involves her as teacher and psychotherapist.For some time now she has beenan active group leader in poetry workshops forschizophrenics. We use “the real stuff,” shepoints out — Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron,Shelley, Keats — the Romantics are favorites andreflect in part her graduate studies at Columbia(her undergraduate degree is from KenyonCollege). As opposed to contemporary poetry,some of which tends toward the oblique and thearcane, the “emotionally laden” Romantics —and Victorians — seem to address immediatelythe kinds of sentiments with which her adult studentscan readily identify and feel a “healingcontent.” Such poetry can prove “redemptive,”“transformative.” “Poetry can’t be wrong.” Itsmeaning can change with each reading, and overtime may deepen significantly, but there is nodoubt: as release, is effective.Ms. Grodd says she began to get interestedin the therapeutic aspects of poetry when shewas working at the Lenox Hill women’s sheltersome years ago. One prize student, she recalls,went on to write for Hallmark greeting cards.Charting A 21st Century VisionBy DEBORAH SHANLEY, Ed.D.DEAN, BROOKLYN COLLEGEThe wonderful aspect of a month devoted to“something special” is an opportunity to reflecton what special is. As someone who had access toincredible women from an early age, it has givenme pause to reflect on a recent experience thatchanged my life. As an invited Commissioner,to the independent, bipartisan National ParksSecond Century Commission, it became apparenthow previous lessons learned shaped my participation.Our charge, to chart a 21st century visionfor the National Parks Service http://www.npca.org/commission/.You can imagine how excited I was to learn ofmy appointment and to join recognized names ofwomen that brought so many riches to the discussionsbased on who they are and what journeythey have traveled and continue. There was a(Ret.) Supreme Court Justice, CEOs, a senior correspondentfrom PBS, chief scientists, explorersof the deep blue oceans, Board Chairwomen andacademics. Wow!As we visited a range of parks over the year,held public hearings to capture the voices ofAttendance at all her sessions has gone up dramatically.Groups of 12-14 students have becomegroups of 40, and are then divided into smallercircles. Students are urged, first, to read therecommended poems to themselves — at leastten times — and then, in the group, to read themout loud. Heat the Voice of the Bard, as WilliamBlake once wrote.Ms. Grodd has also worked with adult studentsat Y’s, in prisons and at various service organizations,treating the mentally ill. She is especiallypleased, however, with her work at Gilda’s Club,the public, other stakeholders,including NPS representatives,a visionary reportemerged calling for “dramaticenhancements to the NationalParks System.” One of the most exciting recommendationswas expanding the National Parksidea to nourish place-based life long learning,enhance civic engagement and begin the introductionof stewardship at an earlier age in ourschools.Join us in thinking about our recommendations,how we collectively as a nation can “providemeaningful new opportunities for Americans— especially young people and diverse communities,to become connected with our sharednational heritage.”Devote some time this month, to explore ourreport and envision the limitless potential that isyet to be realized. Let’s work together to ensurethat this report does not sit on a shelf but ratherhelp us think of new ways to braid our resources,help strengthen our democracy and protect theland we love known as our National Parks —America’s Best Idea.#Jamienne Studley: Attorney & AdvocateBy Joan Baum, Ph.D.The etymology of “advocate” reminds us ofthe link between mission and process. The wordcomes from Latin advocare, to summon, to call,in the sense of pleading a cause before a tribunal.In the romance languages, of course, an advocateis a lawyer. And so it is with Jamienne S. Studley,a graduate of Harvard Law School, who is enteringon her sixth year as the president and CEO ofPublic Advocates Inc., a nonprofit organization inCalifornia “that challenges the systemic causes ofpoverty and racial discrimination by strengtheningcommunity voices in public policy and achievingtangible legal victories advancing education,housing and transit equity”; in short, advancingcivil rights and community voice. All things beinginterdependent but not being equal, it seems fairto say that the most all-embracing of civil rightsand community issues these days is education.And, arguably the most recalcitrant. And the mostchallenging, especially in tough economic times.A former college president (Skidmore College)and deputy and acting general counsel of theU.S. Department of Education under PresidentClinton, with a resume that testifies to a richcareer in education, Ms. Studley is a magna cumlaude graduate of Barnard College. She nowholds an adjunct faculty position at StanfordLaw School, teaching Public Interest Law andLawyers, and serves as chair of the San FranciscoEthics Commission. This past December she wasnamed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan tothe National Advisory Committee on InstitutionalQuality and Integrity, advising on matters ofaccreditation and accrediting agencies. It is herwork at Public Advocates, however, that realizesa dream about promoting equity and responsibilitythat began a long time ago, “at the dinnertable,” to be exact. Educational opportunity forall was engrained in her upbringing.Her father had been a school board presidentback in Fallsburg, N.Y., a positionhe occupied for 46 years,having come to the board onlyone year earlier. During histenure, he created one centralschool district out of five andmoved to ensure that all childrenin the Fallsburg CentralSchool Distinct received the best public educationpossible. It was in the family where Ms. Studleyfirst learned that knowledge must be leveragedand that alliances are essential at local, state andnational levels. Applied to education in California,this hard-won appreciation of strategic alliancesmeant that her organization would seek alliesto advance “making rights real.” It’s a difficult,ever renewable charge, not that impossible forSan Francisco, perhaps, where advocacy is afamiliar enough genre, but much more challengingfor outlying areas. Nonetheless, “we have aresponsibility to all children,” she says, “even as adisproportionate amount of money is going to themost advantaged schools.”Regarding education, Ms. Studley notes thatPublic Advocates proceeds generally in threeways: gathering important information that canbe committed to efforts toward “tangible change”;publicizing “opportunities to learn” that wouldmitigate if not erase disproportionate fundingby districts and individual schools; and tryingto influence both the public and political will toprovide more funding by working with all constituencies,union leaders, community leadersand political leaders. If a blanket is too short towarm all the bodies in bed, she points out, simplymoving it around or stretching it will do nothing.A bigger blanket is needed. Public Advocatesseeks to “shine a strong spotlight on areas ofinequity and unfairness.” It has been at this missionfor 40 years. “We’re still looking for a way tocrack through.” #the nonprofit support network for cancer patients(mostly women) and their families, started inmemory of Gilda Radner (d. 1989). So muchof what is done for cancer patients is restrictedto the medical side, including physical therapy,Ms. Grodd notes, but what about the mind, thesoul? Many of her students tell her that they takepoetry with them to read during chemo sessions.For someone who started out long ago in fashion,Ms. Grodd credits a poetry teacher, GalbraithCrump and the novelist Ian McEwan in pointingher toward rewards of the inner‐life. #

MAR/APR 2010 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update15Arleen Auerbach, Ph.D.Scientist, Rockefeller UCareer Choice: When I was in college in themid 1950’s, I decided I wanted to go to MedicalSchool and become a physician. I knew thenthat I wanted to specialize in Pediatrics and doresearch on genetic disease.I didn’t have a single mentor who thought it agood idea for a woman to become a physician ifher life goals including marriage and having kids.I was advised instead to go to graduate schooland study for a Ph.D.I eventually had a chance to finish my PhDin human genetics, and became most interestedin genetic predisposition to cancer, which wasa very new field at the time. I stumbled uponthe rare genetic disease “Fanconi anemia” as agraduate student, which is a recessive syndromethat results from genomic instability leading toboth birth defects and cancer. I decided thatfocusing on this very rare condition might leadto a broader understanding of these major healthproblems.Challenges: Among the greatest challengesI faced was the problem of being marginalizedas a woman with a family trying to lead aresearch program at a major research institution.Although it is a lot more common now forwomen to finish medical school, it is still verydifficult for women to to meet requirements toobtain tenure in the time frame allowed, whichcoincides with the years that women need to getpregnant and raise young children.Accomplishments: I am most proud of thefact that my research made a major contributionto the development of banking of umbilical cordblood saved from the placenta at the birth of achild, which has stem cells that can be used fortransplant to cure aplastic anemia and leukemia.Children with Fanconi anemia were the first tobe treated with this life-saving technology, whichdemonstrated that it could have wider applications.These studies eventually led to the idea ofusing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)along with in vitro fertilization (IVF) to conceive“savior siblings”, who were disease-free and hadthe identical tissue type to the sick child in needCareer Choice: At this time I am a tour guide atthe Edgar Degas House in New Orleans. The greatFrench Impressionist, Degas, was my great-greatuncleso this is a natural fit for me. My intereststarted in 1999 with the “Degas in New Orleans”exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art. I realizedhow little I really knew about my family andbegan studying at that time. I am lucky to havebeen able to turn this into a career for my retirementyears. My job here began in 2003 upon myretirement from teaching.Challenges: The challenges in education arewell-known. I spent many years dealing with theseproblems. Now that I am retired, I have more freedomto enjoy less-high-pressure pursuits. I am gladnow to be able to concentrate on giving enjoymentto others and further educate in a relaxed manner.Accomplishments: Feeling that I have made adifference in people’s lives has been my greatestaccomplishment, be it the children I have taughtor those whose interests lie in history, art, etc. Ifeel grateful that I have furthered the culture of ourunique city and the legacy of Degas. Also, just givingenjoyment to these visitors is a great reward.Turning Point: The greatest turning point in mylife has been my retirement from teaching in 2003.At that time I knew I would continue to educate.I considered going back into the tour guide businessin the city. The Degas House was looking forguides at the time, so this was a perfect fit. A wholenew career was born.Another turning point for me as well as everyoneelse in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina. Afterlosing almost everything, I have begun to realizeWOMEN SHAPING HISTORYof a transplant. I am veryproud that this work lead tothe saving of lives of bothchildren and adults. I recommend a book that waspublished this week by one of our Fanconi parents,Laurie Strongin, “Saving Henry, A Mother’sJourney”, to better understand why I am proud ofthis accomplishment.Turning point: In 1958 I dropped out ofgraduate school after obtaining a Masters degree,although I was in a PhD program at the time, toget married and raise children. But I felt somethingstill missing from my life, and had a strongdesire to obtain more knowledge in the relativelynew field of human genetics, finish my degreeand have the opportunity to do research thatwould contribute to society drove me to return tograduate school.Mentors: I felt a great lack of encouragingmentors as a student. I consider my husbandan influential mentor, who encouraged me toreturn to graduate school and has always beensupportive of me to go as far as possible withmy research career. My most influential scientificmentor was a research collaborator, Dr.Hal Broxmeyer, who I met early in my researchcareer when he was at Memorial Sloan-Kettering,working on hematopoietic stem cells. An importantthing that he told me, which encouraged mewhen I faced great challenges in my career, wasthat “the trouble was that I was always 5 yearsahead of my time” and the trouble wasn’t withme, but with the understanding of others.Advice: Women should get as much educationas they can, in a field that really interests them. Ialso advise women who want to have a family aswell as a career not to delay having children fortoo long while they advance their career. I haveseen first hand in my work with families tryingto have more children, how a woman’s fertilityoften drops off at a younger age than they expect.For me now, one of the greatest joys of life isbeing young enough to enjoy playing with mygrandchildren, while having had the satisfactionof a challenging career in Medical Research. #Joan Prados, Great-Niece of Edgar Degasthat it is important to concentrateon what is most importantin my life. How do I want tospend my life now?Mentors: Several peoplehave been important in myselection of careers. My motherinfluenced me because shewas vitally interested in the welfare of children.Aside from teaching school, she also ran her ownballet school, established a day camp in the summerat a time when access to such programs wasvery limited, and she volunteered as an art teacherin a children’s home. These were some of the waysI was guided toward education. During my teachingcareer I had several administrators who werevery encouraging and gave me confidence whenit was lacking.An interest in the life of Degas also originallycame from my mother, Degas’ great niece. Sheworked closely with the museum when the portraitof her grandmother, Estelle, was purchasedin the 1960s. Of course she was always anxiousto see the Degas works of art wherever possible.David Villarrubia, director of the Degas House,Historic Home, Courtyard and Inn, has been amentor for the past seven years. His dedication tomaking it “America’s most treasured masterpieceof Impressionist History” has been an inspirationto me.Advice: My advice to young people would beto identify what is really important in life. Find apassion and pursue it. It makes life exciting to goto a job you love each day. #Ulli Kotanko, M.D.: Overcoming AdversityCareer Choice: Throughout my high schoolyears I was always interested in biology andscience and felt a strong need to care for peopleand I therefore continued on to medical schoolin Innsbruck, Austria. During my studies, Ideveloped an autoimmune disease affecting myvision, resulting in a gradual decline of myvisual acuity. The condition was treated withlaser therapy and high doses of steroids, andI was forbidden to read for weeks and wasordered to sleep sitting upright. Nevertheless Imanaged to finish medical school a year afterI got married and later moved to Graz, Austria,where in the following years our two wonderfuldaughters were born. Naturally, by then Iwould have started as an intern in a hospital,but realized that my vision had deteriorated to adegree that I was unable to work as a physicianand therefore focused my energies on my familyand strived to adjust to this new situation.Some years later I began to study NLP (NeuroLinguistic Programming), and despite my disabilityI completed the training and became acertified NLP health coach. I work with peoplefrom all walks of life who suffer from varioushealth problems or are experiencing existentialissues in their lives.Challenges: One of the biggest challenges Ihave faced in my life was to realize that I wouldnever be able to work as a physician after allthe effort and time devoted to medical school.My visual acuity dropped by more than 90 percent,thus requiring technical aids for reading,compromising my ability to follow the visualaspects of lectures and training courses, notDeborah Eldridge, DeanLehman CollegeCareer Choice: I came to education through theback door, having been a student of child developmentwho did extensive study and research onchildren’s development in a laboratory school. Iwas certified as a teacher as an outcome of mycourse of study, provided I completed studentteaching. It was then that I fell in love with thechallenge of teaching and the opportunity it gaveme to make a difference in the lives of others. Asa child of the ’60s that was an important componentof our thinking — to make a difference anda better world. And as women we had yet to realizethe full platter of opportunities that are opento women today. I was then, and still am today,motivated by making a difference and energizedby the possibilities of the future, rather than thelimitations of the past.Challenges: My greatest challenges have beento overcome/resist/educate others regarding thestereotypes associated with being in the fieldof education (“if you can’t do, you teach” wasthe old saying and mindset) and overcoming thestereotypes of being a woman in higher educationadministration. In both cases I have resolvedthose issues through hard work, reasoned critique,and personal commitment to excellence.Accomplishments: I am proudest of the studentsI taught who have accomplished greaterto mention the challenges ofeveryday life — the inabilityto read labels and price tags,to simply cross a city street,and finally, needing to askfor help.Currently, I am in the processof relocating to NewYork City to join my husband, who heads a medicalresearch institute, and I look forward to settingup my coaching practice in the Big Apple.Turning Point: The day I received the officialdocument telling me that I was disabled andunemployable as a physician left me deeplydepressed; nevertheless I was convinced thatI would somehow succeed in life. The secondturning point was when I discovered NLP, whichis now opening several professional opportunitiesfor me.Mentors: The most important people at myside are my husband, Peter, and my family. Theyhave always supported and positively influencedme. Dr. Gundl Kutschera, the founder of theNLP center where I was trained, is a positiverole model for me. Her attitude towards life hashelped me to discover my inner resources andmy own personal power. I have learned how tothink positively and change my attitude towardsmany old beliefs and overcome resentment.Advice: Everyone can cultivate the innerresources and the personal power requiredto lead a successful life. By recognizing andacknowledging your own values, you can alignyour goals and attitudes with them to navigatetoward a fulfilling future. #things than I have; of thewritings I have authored orspeeches I have given thataddressed the “heart” as well as the mind; andof the two children I have raised who are goodpeople to have on earth.Turning Point: My turning point came longago, when I lived in Colombia, South Americafor three years as a Peace Corps volunteer. Ilearned to speak another language fluently andI learned to listen to multiple perspectives withenthusiasm. I also learned to dance. All threethings changed my life and the enjoyment I’vehad living it.Mentors: My second grade cooperating teacher,Carol, who mentored me in how to be agreat teacher who cared about the achievementof every student in her class; my Peace Corpssupervisor in Colombia, Beryl, who recommendedme to take her job when she left (my firstadministrative position); my thesis supervisor atthe University of Texas, Tug, who saw in me thethings I didn’t yet see in myself; and a few peoplehere in the New York City area who might notappreciate it if they saw their names in print, butthey know who they are.Advice: Live the dream — your dream — andreach out to those who can help you do it! #Visit our archives of Outstanding WomenShaping History on our websitewww.EducationUpdate.comRead about Dr. Janet Alperstein on ourwebsite on March 12th.

16www.EDUCATIONUPDATE.com | MAR/APR 2010 Women ShapingNancy Ploeger, PresidentManhattan Chamber of Commerceareer Choice: I fell into it, as I havedone my entire working life. Onething just led to another and I wasvery lucky to have met great peoplewho mentored me and gave me a chance. I amfrom St. Louis and have always believed in thecommunity, which is what was appealing aboutthe chamber position.Challenges: I left a high-level, well-paying jobto start my own business, representing commercialphotographers, with one partner. It was a verychallenging business, and while I was trying toget the business off the ground I took a part-timejob to bring in extra income. I learned how hard itis for small businesses. After one year of trying toget advertising agencies to use my photographersand break into the business, we finally gave up,as it is not an easy sell no matter how good yourphotographers are. So I stayed with the part-timejob, which turned out to be a 12-year career witha growing company. I think always you mustkeep your eyes open and stay flexible in thecareer department!Accomplishments: In my career, I’m proudestof helping to grow New York Sports Clubsfrom 5 clubs to over 30. In the chamber, I’mproudest of the support we have given to smallbusinesses struggling to stay alive in this city andthe support we have given to the non-profit andeducational community to support quality of lifeissues and educational initiatives. A communityconsists of all these components, and I think wehave been doing great work to create a win-winfor everyone.Turning Point: My turning point was clearlymoving to New York after college and living inthe collage of this great international city.Mentors: Both my parents, for teaching me thevalue of hard work, teamwork and community,and my mentors at Federated Department Storesand New York Sports Clubs.Advice: Stay flexible, network, never think youare set for life, and keep trying new things! Andvolunteer in your community to make it a betterone for you and all city denizens! #Pat WinchesterThe Good Dog FoundationBy Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.hen Pat Winchester was recentlytransplanted from Virginia with herhusband, James, who was offered thejob as chief of nephrology at NewYork City’s Beth Israel Medical Center, shequickly set about making herself useful in theBig Apple. With her good-natured, fluffy goldenretriever, Dougal (as a Scot, she has given all herdogs Scottish names), she enrolled in The GoodDog Foundation training program to become aGood Dog Team, and within a matter of weeks,the pair had become certified to provide dogtherapy services. Offered her choice of placements,she accepted assignment at Beth IsraelMedical Center’s in-patient drug rehabilitationprogram, assisting addicted patients and familieson the road to recovery from substance abuse toenhance their relapse prevention skills.At first, the rehab patients were skeptical: “Halfof them thought Dougal was a drug-sniffing dog,”joked Ms. Winchester, whose calm, unassumingmanner, combined with Dougal’s docile nature,soon won over the patients’ hearts. “The doggives them unconditional love. They don’t haveto live up to anyone’s expectations,” she added.Ms. Winchester and Dougal are one of hundredsof human/dog teams who have been trainedto provide therapy in New York, New Jersey,Connecticut and Massachusetts since The GoodDog Foundation was created in 1998. Underthe premise that every dog inherently has thepower to heal, the nonprofit Good Dog providesa mandatory six-week training period devotedto instruction for both dogs and handlers duringwhich adult volunteers learn not only to worktherapeutically with their dog, but also to interactcomfortably and confidently with all typesof patient populations in a variety of situations.Dogs are trained, through positive reinforcementonly, to hone their temperaments and gain thenecessary mannerisms and skills to navigate ahealth care environment and become therapeuticagents.The Good Dog Foundation was foundedsomewhat fortuitously by film and TV producerRachel McPherson, who was doing research fora documentary that would feature therapy dogswhen she realized that it was against the law totake dogs into a New York hospital. She promptlyswitched gears, pouring her energy into creatingThe Good Dog Foundation and successfullychanging New York state law to allow therapydogs into health care facilities. McPherson, alongwith her papillon, Fidel, subsequently helpedto escort families of victims to Ground Zeroin the days after 9/11, recalling, “I knew thattherapy dogs would give the gift of unconditionallove, which all of the traumatized familymembers so badly needed. Fidel helped peoplewho couldn’t be consoled in any other way.”Good Dog’s highly regarded work at GroundZero (the organization received awards from theASPCA and the American Red Cross) led her tocreate a disaster response course for Good Dogvolunteers, and shortly thereafter the MississippiDepartment of Mental Health enlisted Good Dogteams to assist grieving families in the aftermathof Hurricane Katrina.The program has gained strong paw-hold sinceits inception over a decade ago: currently moreVeronica KellyDir. Special ProjectsThe Bowery MissionBy Joan Baum, Ph.D.oubters, cynics, stand aside. VeronicaKelly, volunteer extraordinaire forThe Bowery Mission, is The RealThing: a dedicated, deeply committedadvocate of The Bowery Mission’s specialprogram for women, a former medical sales representativewho, on retirement in 2000, began toturn her skills to helping establish and then servingthe 131-year-old institution’s Upper East Sideresidence for homeless women. Retired? “I’mworking longer and a lot harder,” she says witha knowing laugh. Purposeful, with a tenaciousenergy offset by modesty and a sense of humor,Ms. Kelly recalls how the mission’s now-thrivingfive-story brownstone came into being.A familiar figure at Bowery Mission holidayevents, Ms. Kelly recalls how at one, she wasasked if she would consider being a “personalshopper” for women who came to the shelter forclothing. She said yes and found herself workingwith another woman, checking Dress Barndonations and trying to assure that the womendid not get odd-sized ensembles. She and herpartner hit it off and between them felt that theyhad done a good job. Only when the event wasover did she learn that her teammate was herselfhomeless. It was, says Ms. Kelly, one of those“life changing moments” you hear about, but thistime it had happened to her. The woman had beenliving in a church, but clearly performing — “wewere equals.” That realization — there but forthe grace of God — made Ms. Kelly feel “veryblessed … we could all be in her place.”She soon found herself scouting for a buildingwhere such women, homeless and alone, manynewly released from prisons or rehab centers,might live while they received assistance —Christian guidance as well as vocational andsocial assistance. She got into gear, gathering tenlike-minded philanthropically disposed womento work with her, a volunteer group that includeda decorator who would ensure that the quartersthey settled on would be appropriate and attractive.Ms. Kelly remembers how when they met,they held hands and said a prayer — another“life changing moment.” And thus was born theBowery Mission’s special home for women, nowin its sixth year — the only faith-based live-inshelter for women in the city and a house “createdwith work and love.” And Veronica Kelly becameits PR operations guru, with an indefatigablerefusal to accept No.Designed to accommodate 20 women, mostlyminorities of an average age of 49, the building,once acquired by the mission, underwent extensiveand costly rehabilitation. Ms. Kelly went intocold-calling mode and outreach. The results, shesaid, were wonderful, though she never hesitated,and still does not hesitate, to say with humorand charm that generous donations by businessescould be even more generous. The ownerof Gracious Home, for example, after sendingwhat Ms. Kelly gently called a “hodgepodge” ofwonderful items, himself came to see the missionpremises and then invited the shelter board toshop directly from the store. Home Depot wasalso one of the first to respond, as were Bed, Bath& Beyond and a major floor company. Some ofthe acquisitions were inspired, including a bookcaseto contain photos of the women who live inthe house at the time. The women, 40 or so whocome through each year, have stays of betweennine and fifteen months, with two to three womensharing a bedroom and with each woman takingon various monthly management assignments inthe house.But The Bowery Mission already ministersto women and to children “caught in the cyclesof poverty, hopelessness and dependencies ofmany kinds” and offers numerous programs thatprovide compassionate care. So why this newfacility? Women have needs that differ fromthose of men, Ms. Kelly points out, and thusthey need special attention, wardrobes and stafftrained to deal with anger management, communityliving, and accepting responsibility. It costsapproximately $400,000 a year to run the house,a number that includes sleepover staff, teachers,administration, three meals a day for 20 women(medical and dental needs are also provided),double of what it costs to minister to the men atthe mission downtown.The Bowery Mission Board has been fullysupportive, though at first it was skeptical thatMs. Kelly and her volunteer group could find thefunding to turn a decrepit building into a warmand welcoming shelter, with a garden no less,and to maintain it. They did it, of course, and thesite now contains a Tree of Hope, where donationsmay be made in a woman’s name. Fundsthat are not used directly for the garden go tocontinuing restorations and repairs and acquisitions— elevators, second-generation computers,utility upkeep.How successful has the house been? Thewomen get jobs, saving approximately 75 percentof their salary, and some of them —remarkably successful — have already givenback. It’s a “true and honest place,” Ms. Kellysays, but she still pushes for more, at galas andgraduation ceremonies. #than 800 Good Dog volunteer teams work in over200 facilities throughout New York, New Jersey,Connecticut and Massachusetts. Volunteers havetheir choice of settings, which can include hospitals,schools, community facilities and disasterresponse sites. Autistic children as well asyoungsters who are coping with bullying, learningdisabilities, and illnesses show dramaticimprovements after canine therapy, while human/dog volunteer teams help thousands of adultscope with AIDS, Alzheimer’s, heart disease,cancer and depression. Indeed, Ms. Winchesterhas just embarked on a new initiative with BethIsrael cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapyand radiation treatments, a 50 patientstudy investigating whether animal-assisted visitsimprove adherence, quality of life, and symptomsduring patient treatment. “These patients are indire situations. Sometimes their care feels dehumanizing,”explained Ms. Winchester. “[Dogtherapy] is a way of escaping from the momentyou’re in.”To help spread the word about the healingpowers of dog therapy, Ms. McPherson has justwritten a book, titled, Every Dog Has a Gift: TrueStories of Dogs Who Bring Hope & Healing IntoOur Lives. It’s about “the joy, healing, and lovethat blossoms when dogs and people interact.” #

18 COLLEGES & GRADuate Schools ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Hunter College Celebrates200th CommencementBy Jan Aaron“Look, there he is,” a young woman seated nearme said to her friend as she recognized one ofthe cap-and-gowned among the graduates filinginto Hunter College for commencement. “Wayto go,” she called out, clicking her camera as heglanced at her.The exercises marked Hunter’s 200th commencement;out of approximately 1,300 candidatesfor graduation, about 600 participated in theceremonies. Jennifer J. Raab, Hunter’s president,congratulated them. “You’ve reached a mostsignificant milestone in your life,” she said. Shemade special mention of some graduates whohad persevered and, despite their hardships, economicor personal, earned their degrees.“Your Hunter education has equipped you tomeet the challenges of a world that is rapidlychanging politically, economically, and technologically,”she said. She urged the graduatesto be part of the next generation of responsibleleaders who will make a difference whereverthey apply their knowledge and skills. “Endlessopportunities lie before you,” she said. Shecharged them to carry on Hunter’s commitmentto community diversity and service to others.“You’ll always be part of the Hunter family,” shesaid, as at least one student was glimpsed wipinga tear from her eye.Commencement speaker Kerry Kennedy, oneof the nation’s foremost human rights activistsand leader of more than 100 human rights delegationsaround the world, sent graduates forthto make a difference. Citing apartheid in Africa,she said, “People overturned this oppression —people, not the government.” She mentioned aSouth African woman who was forbidden to visither imprisoned son. “She went through a doorto see him,” she said, urging students to openReflections on HunterBy Giovanny PintoIn the days before graduation, as I busiedmyself with trying to get more than my allottedtwo tickets for the more than 20 family memberswho wanted to attend the ceremony and finda nice, affordable restaurant where we couldcelebrate, I stopped, took a breath and it hit me:College was over.Hunter was not my first choice for college.I had intended to go to Johnson and WalesUniversity in Providence and become a chef.When the cost of tuition materialized, I realizedit was a lost dream that a single mother from theBronx couldn’t afford. Luckily my high schoolhad required all students to apply to CUNY. I wasaccepted to Hunter, a shock to many kids and,later, myself, “How did you get accepted to thatsmart school?”The summer before classes started I was introducedto the school by an orientation program. Imet new friends and even and caught up with anold middle school buddy. I felt better; althoughnot my first choice, Hunter was the right choicein the end.When I entered, I was a film major. During mytime at Hunter I have at some point unofficiallybeen a psychology major, history major and sociologymajor. Officially, I graduated with a doublemajor in media studies and creative writing.One stand-out moment that summarizes myexperience at the college was when one journalismprofessor who, after embarrassing me in frontof the class because I did not do the assignment,called for a 10-minute break. He then led me tothe cafeteria and, after buying me a soda, told me,“You know, you remind me of myself. We comefrom the same place. Where we come from peopledon’t necessarily care and we aren’t given thesame opportunities as other people so it’s easy tomess up.” Having come from the New York Citypublic school system, I wasn’t used to this levelof individual attention. The conversation endedPresident Jennifer Raabnew doors.Prominent philanthropists Barbara and DonaldJonas received the President’s Medal for focusingtheir philanthropic giving on nursing through theJonas Center of Nursing Excellence. Speakingfor the couple, Mr. Jonas celebrated the occasion.“This is an extraordinary afternoon. It’s the firstday of the rest of your lives,” he said. Touchedby the award, he added, “Nursing has alwaysbeen among our passions, and it always needssupport. We have tremendous respect for thosein this field.”Renata Vaysman, valedictorian, thanked Hunter“for all the tools they have given us.” She urgedher classmates to look forward, never to lookback, and also to remember to have a little funalong the way. “You earned it,” she said. Cheersrose, diplomas were distributed, and a blizzardof sparkling confetti fell, drawing the day to afestive finish. #with my professor telling me I had something inmy writing and that I was going to face biggerobstacles than an assignment I didn’t want to doalong the way to success.That’s how it has been at Hunter. Teachers areinvested not only in the quality of your work,but also in your well-being. Sure I took somerequired classes that had hundreds of kids, likeWeather and Climate or Film 101, but where elsewould we meet college sweethearts in labs andlifelong friends from other majors?I’ve had esteemed, published, award-winningprofessors in the media department as well asin the creative writing department. They alwayspushed and encouraged me to do better whileacknowledging the talent I do have. Through myclasses I’ve had experiences that have shaped andmolded me: I helped my fellow Bronxites in givingthem a voice in the Hunts Point Express, andattended a range of events, from a Golden Glovesboxing match to a rally organized by a familyfighting to name a street after their grandfather.It was through Hunter that I made the numerousPRESIDENT DARIO CORTESBerkeley College’sFast-Growing AppealBy Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.The Berkeley Advantage: It’s a term manyNew Yorkers have heard, if only subconsciously,as the rapidly growing Berkeley College, whichstarted as a secretarial school in 1931 but noweducates some 8,000 students on seven campusesin New York and New Jersey, broadens its appealthroughout the greater metropolitan area.President Dario Cortes, who has been atBerkeley’s helm for only 16 months but admitsto being a fast learner, was only too happy todiscuss his ambitious goals for the college whenEducation Update caught up with him at hiscolorfully appointed Midtown office, an invitingspace that is adorned with sculptures and artworkfrom his travels to Argentina, Mexico, China, andBrazil and is often filled with students who areencouraged to stop by and talk. “We give opportunitiesfor those students who probably neverthought they could get a B.S. or an A.A,” heexplained, noting that two-thirds of Berkeley’sstudent body is African-American and Latino,and that many come from economically disadvantagedfamilies and must work either full- orpart-time while attending school. Many studentsare fully funded through Pell Grants and financialaid, or they take out student loans (the collegealso provides $28 million in annual grantsand scholarships to qualified students). Withthese demographics in mind, Berkeley offers aflexibility that allows students to “graduate in atimely fashion and in the right field of study sothey can get jobs,” according to Dr. Cortes. Topromote flexibility and expedite career preparation,Berkeley offers early curricular concentrationin a pre-professional field of study (“theytake courses in their major from Day 1”), easeof scheduling (“our last class ends at 10 p.m.so they can fit us into their work schedules”),a full complement of online courses that theycan take anywhere in the world (there’s even aMemorandum of Understanding with the Navyallowing sailors to take online coursework), andon-the-job internships that impart real world jobexperiences. “We seek out professors who arepractitioners — they are people who can bring tothe classroom the practical applications within agiven field,” he summed up. More than 20 careerservices professionals collectively specialize ineach field of study and actively pursue job opportunitiesfor every student, and the results speakfor themselves: Berkeley’s graduate employmentrate is a staggering 90 percent.As a proprietary institution, Berkeley is proudof its corporate ethos. “It’s a very simple model,”explained Dr. Cortes. “We look at the bottomline very carefully. We benchmark everythingwe do. We have no tenure. We do student satisfactionreports. These are the things adults areconnections that continue to this day, even after Igraduate. I got my current job through the careerdevelopment office in my sophomore year. Theyhave been my second family throughout school,encouraging me through each final and paper.Through the CUNY Journalism and Media JobFair I got my current internship at EducationUpdate and met a great mentor, Dr. Pola Rosen.President Dario Corteslooking for today!” Faculty receive recognitionawards in a variety of areas, including innovation,adaptability, and leadership, while corporationswho choose to partner with Berkeley(called Corporate Learning Partners) receivetuition discounts for their employees.Among his many goals for the future, Dr. Cortesis committed to enhancing Berkeley’s academicrigor, expanding globalization initiatives (studyabroad opportunities, global curricula, facultyexchange programs, and more), strengthening“green initiatives” that support the Bloomberginitiative of reducing the carbon footprint by 30percent in ten years, developing more programsfor the military, and supporting more communityresponsibility initiatives. He’s just presided overa sweeping administrative change whereby thefive major schools — Business, Liberal Arts,Professional Studies, Continuing Education, andGraduate Studies — will be headed by deans (“itallows for a sense of identity and recognition”),and he’s breaking ground on a new campus inBrooklyn while putting the finishing touches onan MBA program that will begin in 2011.“I transform an institution because of mydesire to innovate,” summed up the energetic Dr.Cortes, who — with seven campuses to oversee— added with a touch of well-deserved pride,“I walk around a lot.” The peripatetic president,who has a Ph.D. in Latin American studies fromthe University of Illinois and a cadre of academiccredentials from some of the top schoolsin the U.S., credits his mother with being oneof the most significant mentors in his life. “Weall need people to encourage us to move to thenext level,” he reflected thoughtfully. Indeed,Dario Cortes is proving that many times overas he provides the tools, resources and vision tolead 8,000 Berkeley students into the 21st centuryworkplace. #David J. Kahn, who writes the EU crossword puzzle, will be hosting a fun-filledcrossword puzzle program at the 92nd Street Y in April. A crossword enthusiast'sdelight! Learn to think outside the box while you're working inside the boxes.Work your way through a crossword especially written for the Y.Date And Time:Thursday, April 22, 2010 At 7:30 P.M.Location:92nd Street Y (Lexington Avenue At 92nd St.)Tickets Can Be Purchased At The Box Office or Online at www.92Y.orgAnd these are all aside from the numerous friendsI’ve made from all walks of life.Although writing papers deep into the night,snapping jokes on the bridge, sleeping on thecouches, partying in Thomas Hunter, and survivingoff of curly fries are all over, I leave HunterCollege equipped with the tools and connectionsto chase my dreams. #

MAR/APR 2010 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ COLLEGES & GRADuate Schools 19About Russia With LoveBy Katarzyna Nikhamina“What is the Russian equivalent for ‘Lifesucks,’” asked a classmate in my Intro to Russianclass at Columbia University. “You can’t saythat,” said our teacher, Nina, “because it’s nottrue.” Three years later in Moscow, a talkativestranger on the Arbat pedestrian mall told methis aphorism: “Just when you think you have hitbottom, you notice a knocking from below.” Suchmoments are characteristic of the Russia I know:frank realism with inroads of rosy optimism.My obsession with all things Russian has itsorigins at Stuyvesant High School, where I metIlya Nikhamin, now my husband. We almostdidn’t meet, let alone marry: back when I wasan applicant to the school, I arrived at the admissionsexam as the doors were closing. My father,who drove me there, had decided to try outa shortcut.Stuyvesant did not offer Russian, so I studiedSpanish and French and dreamt of college. Inthe meantime, Ilya lent me CDs of VladimirVysotsky in concert. Vysotsky was famous forhundreds of witty and satirical songs about lifein the Soviet Union. I hunted for the lyrics onlineand spent hours listening to his garrulous voice,deciphering vocabulary, references.In the spring of 2003, I attended Days onCampus, Columbia’s accepted students event.I went to a Russian III class taught by AllaSmyslova. I knew I wouldn’t understand much,but it was the only class that met that day. IFor a wonderful retreat from city life,come to Riverview Bed and Breakfast and Wellness Center.Feels like it's worlds away yet just next door.Only 45 minutes from Manhattan, easily accessible by bus(Port Authority or 178th St).Two locations: picturesque Piermont and Nyack, both on the river.Visit our website to discover places to eat and things to do:w w w. r i v e r v i e w b n b.c o mFor reservations:347- 744- 9322 reservations@riverviewbnb.comloved the professor’s teaching style, the grammarhandouts she made to explain the elaborate casesystem, the rules for verbs of motion. I could livelike this, I thought.In order to study abroad junior year through theC.V. Starr-Middlebury program, I had to crammost of the required core classes into my first twoyears at Columbia. The program also required ayear of Russian literature in the original, so in thesummer of 2004, I went to Middlebury Collegefor an intensive nine-week immersion program.I placed into the third-year class, with only oneyear of formal training. Vysotsky had not sung invain. At Middlebury, we all lived by the famouslanguage pledge, agreeing not to speak anythingbut Russian. We tinkered with Cyrillic, watchedfilms, sang, cooked and hiked, all in Russian.HELP! CHEMISTRY,PHYSICS TESTSOVER 100,000 BOOKS SOLD!HIGH MARKS: REGENTS CHEMISTRYMADE EASY - BY SHARON WELCHER $10.95(College Teacher, Chairperson &Teacher of High School Review Courses)Easy Review Book with hundreds ofquestions and solutionsNext Book in the SeriesHIGH MARKS: REGENTS PHYSICS MADEEASY - BY SHARON WELCHER $12.95Teaches Physics ProblemsEasy Methods • Get High MarksAvailable at leading bookstoresor call 718-271-7466Upon returning from the summer program,I continued Russian at Columbia. Finally,in September 2005, I went to Moscow. TheMiddlebury program let me take all my classeswith regular Russian students in the literaturedepartment at the Russian State HumanitiesUniversity, which meant I enjoyed all the frustrations(and rewards) of unnumbered classrooms,inscrutable reading lists, and terrifying fourpersonseminars about Dostoevsky at 8 a.m. —sometimes I was the only student there, but theshow went on.In the fall of 2005, there were nine Americanstudents studying in Moscow with the Middleburyprogram; in the spring there were five. I was theonly one who stayed for two semesters. I wasimpressed by how well we adhered to the languagepledge. We even playedScrabble in Russian. We spokein English only in our finaldays. My friends told me Iwas the same in English, as inRussian. That I had conveyedmy personality in a foreign languagewas a testament to howmuch I had learned. I owe thatsuccess largely to my host family.Every night I would sharethe day’s events with whoeverhappened to be in the kitchen.I had to find words to describeevery impression — or lose it.“Welcome back to the freeworld,” a friend told me whenI returned to New York in June2006. It did not seem so free.The subway was subject toendless service changes —unheard of in Moscow, wherethe state-of-the-art Metro featurestrains every 30 secondsduring rush hour. Food priceswww.HighMarksinSchool.com continued on page 20The Cahn Fellows Programfor Distinguished New York City Principals atTeachers College, Columbia University wishes tocelebrate the 2010 cohort of exemplary leaders…Randy Asher, Brooklyn Technical High SchoolRoshone Ault-Lee, MS 296Melessa Avery, PS 273William Bassell, Long Island City High SchoolLinda Beal-Benigno, PS 312Jaynemarie Capetanakis, PS 69Monique Darrisaw, Academy of Urban PlanningKathleen Elvin, Williamsburg Preparatory SchoolWilliam Fiorelli, PS R037Ann Gordon-Chang, PS 85Marc Harris, PS 04Liset Isaac, PS 192Brett Kimmel, Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning SchoolRafaela Landin, PS 08Giselle McGee, PS 58Rosemarie Nicoletti, PS 197Kathleen Peknic, PS 18Yvrose Pierre, PS 753 KMyrna Rodriguez, PS 206Patricia Tubridy, Channel View School for ResearchDavid Vazquez, Urban Assembly Bronx Studio School for Writers and ArtistsAlicja Winnicki, PS 34Erica Zigelman, MS 322To find out more about the programor nominate a New York City publicschool principal with three ormore years of experience, visitwww.cahnfellows.org/nominate.phpor contactus at cahnfellows@tc.edu.It takes more than an apple to reach today’s teachers.It takes...New York TeacherThe most widely-circulated bi-weeklyin the field of education in theUnited States.The official publication of the NewYork State United Teachers.Read by 600,000 professionals ineducation and health care.An alert, perceptive andinfluential audience.New YorkTEACHERNYSUT REPRESENTS MORE THAN 600,000 PROFESSIONALSIN EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE • NOVEMBER 20, 2008SETTING ANEWCOURSETeachingmigrant childrenreaps rewardsPages 14-1625 terrific tipsfor new teachersPage 23Visiting nursestravel a mapof healingPage 26Page 10www.nysut.orgUnionchallengesmidyear statebudget cutsPage 3Health officials:Take no chanceswith swine fluPage 4New York TeacherNYSUT REPRESENTS MORE THAN 600,000 PROFESSIONALS IN EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE MAY 7, 2009AudacitytoLeadHow to negotiatea contract in adownturn economyPage 9WWW.NYSUT.ORGESF professors aimfor ultimate energyefficiency by 2015Page 14Union raises red flagwhen school districtmisuses stimulusPage 4AFT launchesInnovation Fundto inspireexcellence,createchangeCHECK OUTNYSUT’s newCareer CenterPage 3To make your media plan theapple of a teacher’s eye, call(800) 448-4237 orsallen@nysutmail.orgNew York Teacher800 Troy-Schenectady RoadLatham, New York 12210Page 5

20 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ MAR/APR 2010Hilton Head Symphony OrchestraBy Joan Baum, Ph.D.At a time when organizations everywhere,particularly those in the arts, are suffering fromthe effects of the current economic downturn, theHilton Head Symphony Orchestra is enjoying acontinuing crescendo of support and recognition.The past year, the prestigious International PianoCompetition, under the aegis of the symphony,garnered the kind of attention marketing mogulsenvy. The orchestra itself has set a number ofrecords — an increase in returning and new subscribers,an expansion of its outreach programswith local schools, and an allegro-paced commitmentto strategic planning. Needless to say, MaryBriggs, executive director and chief operatingofficer of the orchestra, is delighted and sanguineabout the future.Located on Hilton Head Island off the SouthCarolina coast, the 14-year-old symphony, underthe direction of conductor Mary WoodmanseeGreen, has established itself as a key player inthe $1.5 million budget category, a level definedby the League of American Orchestras, but thatfact alone hardly explains the organization’s successin attracting and keeping subscribers For acommunity of only 36,000 to 37,000 full-timeresidents, Hilton Head has managed to engagea relatively large number of individuals — asdistinct from corporations or businesses — to supportthe orchestra’s mission. One reason may bethat Hilton Head has a good number of financiallycomfortable retirees “used to excellent music,”says Ms. Briggs. But imaginative marketing hasalso played a major role.Approximately 70 percent of the orchestra’ssupport comes from individuals who like its“more flexible scheduling.” Where many organizationsoffer full-season subscriptions to a fixednumber of concerts, Hilton Head offers sets ofthree, six or nine concerts, a “mix and match”selection that has proved popular, especially withthose watching their wallets as well as with the“snow birds” who go away for the winter but wantto remain part of the “family.” Also “helpful” tothe organization in keeping costs down is its Payfor-Servicepolicy, whereby musicians, many ofwhom play in Charleston and Savannah, augmenttheir income and love of music by being recompensedfor rehearsal and performance time only.Though affiliated with the orchestra for onlya couple of years, Mary Briggs had a long andsuccessful career in arts education and arts administration.A student of piano and voice from childhood,she spent 25 years as a teacher and thenadministrator in Alaska, working in programs forgifted and talentedyoungsters. Inher brief tenureat the orchestra,she has alreadystrengthened twoeducation ventures:1) a localboys and girlsafter-school clubfor over 200 childrenin gradesK-4, startingwith theMary Briggsrecorder, and 2) a strings program for schools thathave lost their funding in this area. Ms. Briggs hasalso been instrumental (pun intended) in expandingcamp programs during vacation time. “It’s soimportant to support the young and encourageconcert competitions.” Winners of school competitions,such as a high school freshman who wonthe concerto competition last year for violin, areinvited back to perform.Because so many subscribers choose the threeorsix-concert series, the orchestra is able tosurvey them about preferences and forward findingsto relevant committees. Not surprising, popsconcerts come out on top, and were sure-fire hitslast year at holiday time. A two-night Gershwinconcert also sold out fast. Those who preferonly classical, however, will be amply rewardedthis year and next, Ms. Briggs notes. Duringthe week-long round of the piano competition,approximately 12-17 of the 20 competitors go intothe schools as “music ambassadors.” The 2009winner, Michail Lifits, will return this year to playwith the orchestra and will go on, as many semifinalistsdo, to win other prestigious competitionsaround the country and globe.In 2011 the International Piano Competitionwill inaugurate a Young Artists Competition foryoungsters ages 13 to 17, and the winners ofearlier rounds will receive cash prizes and summerscholarships. The regular piano competition,where the average age of competitors is 25 to 26,so grew in stature last year that 40 percent of theaudience came from out of the area, a boon tolocal businesses to be sure.The orchestra pays attention not only to itssubscribers, but to other arts disciplines as well.Last year, the theme Art in Music resulted in aprogram book with original art, some of it reflectiveof artists’ interpretations of performers andrehearsal performances. In 2011 the theme Musicand Dance should prove equally inspirational. #SAT Grammar Tips: Common Conundrumsby Frances Kweller, J.D.Accept: “verb/to agree”: I accept the fact that Imust take the SAT.Except: “Apart From”: I love everything abouthigh school except the SAT!Effect: “Result”: The effect of studying relentlesslyfor the SAT will hopefully be the obtainingof a very high score.Affect: “To Influence”: Kweller Prep SATaffects many people positively.Fewer: “Countable number”: She scored fewerpoints than I did on the SAT (because she didn’tgo to Kweller Prep).Less: “not a countable number”: She studiesless than I do.Then: “time”: First you study, and then youpass!Than: “compare”: She studies more than I do.To: “place”: I go from home to Kweller Preptutoring.Too: “also”: After studying, I make time forfun too.It’s: “It is”: It’s hard to get a perfect score on theSAT without practice.Its: “possession”: Despite its complicated questions,the SAT is a coachable test.Farther: “physical distance”: My home is fartherfrom Alaska than it is from Kweller PrepMUSIC, ART & Dancetutoring.Further: “a degree”: With Kweller Prep tutoring,you will go further than your friends will inpreparing for the SATs.Could of / should of / would of / might of areINCORRECT. Instead, use could have/shouldhave/would have/might have.Incorrect: I could of scored higher on my SAT.Correct: I could have scored higher on my SAT.Their: “possession” Kweller Prep students scorehigher on their SAT’s.They’re: “they are” The SATs are hard, butthey’re not impossible.There: “a location”: You’ll find your practicetest over there, on the desk.Theirs: “possession”: Can you tell your SATscore apart from theirs?There’s: “there is”: There’s no reason why youcan’t get a good SAT score with practice.That: “restrictive”: The test that you prepare forbest will feel the best.Which: “nonrestrictive, by the way” The SATs,which were always hard for me, seem easy now.SAT Tips By Frances Kweller, J.D. founder ofKweller Prep SAT, Intense Prep for Intense Kids;visit www.KwellerPrep.com for more or call1800-631-1757CUNY Chancesllor MatthewGoldstein Addresses CEI-PEAThe remarks below areextrapolated from a speechgiven recently byCUNY Chancellor GoldsteinWelcome to 2010: what I’m calling the Year ofthe Community College.This country’s community colleges are the largestand fastest-growing sector of higher education.They enroll almost half of all undergraduates.And they are the focal point of nationaland state economic recoveryefforts; they provide affordabledegree and training programsfor the country’s skilled workforce.But most of the countryprobably knows next to nothingabout community colleges.CUNY’s six community collegesserve more than 88,000degree-seeking students. Overthe last decade, we have seenenrollment increase by anastounding 43 percent at ourcommunity colleges. CUNY is not alone.In2008, the share of young people attending collegein the United States hit an all-time high. And it’san increase that took place entirely at communitycolleges. More and more students, especially inthis economy, understand the incredible value thata community college education offers: qualityplus accessibility. In fact, almost 20 percent ofAmericans who earned doctorates in 2008 attendeda community college at some point.So who goes to community colleges? AtCUNY, three out of five community-college studentsare women. About two-thirds are black orHispanic. About 46 percent say that their nativelanguage is not English. And three-quarters comefrom families earning $40,000 or less. These studentscome from diverse backgrounds and have arange of aspirations. They need, and deserve, thebest education we can offer. And we need theirskills and talents. As the nation’s economy continuesto become one requiring more sophisticatedskills, advanced degrees are increasingly necessary.A new report indicates that jobs for thosewith associate degrees are expected to grow twiceas fast as the national average.Yet at a time when our country needs more collegegraduates, we are instead losing ground. Ifour country is going to compete globally, it musteducate locally, by helping more students succeedto the highest levels possible. It has been gratifyingto see that recent national and local initiativesrecognize this fact. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s“Gateway to the Middle Class” initiative pledges$50 million over the next four years to CUNY’scommunity colleges to increase the city’s skilledlabor force. The goal is to graduate 120,000 NewYorkers by 2020.These are promising and welcome initiatives.But a troubling reality remains: the nationalthree-year graduation rate for urban public communitycolleges is about 16 percent. Poorer studentsand students of color are not only under-representedin higher education nationally but are alsoless likely to graduate with a degree. A significantreason is the disconnect between students’ skilllevels and what is expected of them in college.This is why improving students’ preparednessfor college is so important. Many students don’ttake enough college-preparatory courses in highAbout Russiacontinued from page 19seemed exorbitant — I kept converting dollarsinto rubles. It felt like a transgression to go intothe Butler Library stacks at Columbia — inRussia most stacks are not open to the public. Imissed reprimands from strangers in the street fornot wearing a hat. I missed the smoky Internetcafes where I earned suspicious stares from gamersby virtue of my lightning typing. For a longtime I took extra napkins at Starbucks: in Russia,Sy Fliegel, Pres., CEI-PEA &CUNY Chancellor Goldsteinschool. One well-known researcher put it thisway: “The academic intensity of the student’s highschool curriculum still counts more than anythingelse…in providing momentum toward completinga bachelor’s degree.”No one knows that better than my friend andcolleague Joel Klein. Almost 70 percent ofCUNY enrollees come from New York Citypublic schools. So it’s imperative that we workclosely with the schools to ensure that students areprepared. CUNY has in placeseveral collaborative programswith the DOE to encourage collegereadiness and participation.These include College Now, adual enrollment program thatserves about 20,000 public highschool students, as well as amiddle grades initiative and 11early-college schools.One of our newest and mostpromising partnerships withthe DOE is called the CUNY-DOE College Readiness and Success WorkingGroup, which grew out of conversations I’vehad with Chancellor Klein. The initiative bringstogether both systems to find the specific factorsthat determine college readiness and success andto improve both. Representatives from CUNYand the DOE are combing through research topinpoint stumbling blocks and identify curriculumalignment issues between high school and college.The group will be able to tell high schoolshow their graduates have performed at CUNY—apiece of information every teacher should have—and to identify promising programs that can bescaled up.We set out in 2007 to create a new program specificallydesigned to help community-college studentsgraduate in a timely way and gain employment.The ASAP initiative—which stands for theAccelerated Study in Associate Programs—wascreated with the support of Mayor Bloomberg,in partnership with the New York City Center forEconomic Opportunity and the New York CityCouncil. It began with just over 1,000 studentsand is now under way at all six CUNY communitycolleges. ASAP students receive financialincentives, such as tuition waivers for eligiblestudents and free monthly Metrocards and use oftextbooks. They agree to attend full-time in orderto immerse themselves in the academic material.They are grouped together in cohorts to take smallclasses in convenient scheduling blocks, in orderto better concentrate their time, develop a supportnetwork, and complete their assignments. All ofthem receive comprehensive academic, advisement,and career development services to helpmaintain their focus. Taken together, the program’scomponents are designed to reduce uncertaintyand create clear pathways.Our goal for ASAP is ambitious: a three-yeargraduation rate of 50 percent, substantially beyondthe national average.Our most recent data show that 46 percent ofASAP students are projected to graduate in justtwo and a half years—well above a comparisongroup’s 16.9 percent projected rate. And based onall predictors, we expect a three-year graduationrate of 60 percent for our ASAP students.We must be willing to try new ideas, to reconsiderwhat we thought we knew.#you can’t assume there will be toilet paper.Ilya and I got married a year after I returnedfrom Russia — mere weeks after my graduationfrom Columbia. The party was held at Pirosmani,a Georgian restaurant at Avenue U. The guestschanted “Gorko, gorko,” Russian for “Bitter, bitter,”a traditional cue to the bride and groom tokiss and make the bitter, sweet. #For more prose by Katarzyna Nikhamina, andfor announcements of upcoming performances,please visit http://www.themayorshotel.com.

Careers: SPORTS REFEREEKerry Fraser of NHLKnows the ScoreBy Richard KaganWhat is it like to be a referee in the NationalHockey League? What does it take to get there?Once you are there, how do you stay sharp andon top of your game, despite the many obstaclesone faces? Education Update was afforded anup close and personal view of a day in the lifeof Kerry Fraser, who, at age 57, has workedan astounding 30 years in the league and holdsthe current record of games worked as a referee(over 1,860, and still counting). We saw himofficiate a recent hockey game between TampaBay and the host New York Rangers at MadisonSquare Garden.Every time Fraser steps on the ice to work agame, he sets a new record. Including the StanleyCup playoffs, he has officiated more than 2,000games, a record that likely won’t be broken for along time. At 5-foot-7 and 156 pounds, Fraser’swell-honed physique belies his inner strength— his character, which has made him of the topofficials in the game.Fraser said he has 30 home offices, the hockeyrinks that are spread all over Canada and theUnited States. He flies in and out with other officials,does the game, and flies off to another city.Recently, he flew back and forth from WesternCanada to Philadelphia 3 times in a row. He hasflown over 150,000 miles — and gets to keep allthe frequent flier miles; as a result, he has each ofhis seven children fly around the country to meethim and stay with him while he works games.Fraser’s rise to the NHL is a unique story. Eachreferee or player has his own version of how hegot to the big time. Fraser learned to skate whilehe was learning how to walk. He played hockeyas a youngster, making the All-Star team withthe Sarnia, Ontario Minor Hockey Association.His team won All Ontario Minor HockeyChampionships four times. Then he played injunior hockey as captain with the Sarnia Jr. Beesfor three seasons. Fraser then became interestedin officiating and refereed some IndustrialLeague games when he was 15 with players mucholder than he was. It was there he learned to beassertive in dealing with players. Following the1972 season he was not drafted into the NHL, anda family friend advised him to get serious aboutbecoming a professional referee. Fraser attendedan officiating school in August 1972 and wasscouted by the legendary Frank Udvari, a hall-offamereferee. He was invited to the NHL trainingcamp for referees and was signed to an NHLcontract and assigned to the American HockeyLeague to work as a linesman.That was when it all began. He became a minorleague referee in 1973 and didn’t make it to theNHL until 1980. Fraser left the game for two anda half years to try a career in retail clothing, buthe missed the game and came back. He did hisfirst NHL game, the Minnesota North Stars vs.the Colorado Rockies, in October 1980. “WhatI learned from that first game was that I had alot to learn!” said Fraser. He had been at the toplevel of the minor leagues, and now he was in theNHL. “You slipped to the bottom of the ladder atthe next level, and I had to work hard to establishmyself at the highest level of the game,” Fraseradmits. He made an effort to work on establishingrelationships with players and coaches and graduallygained a reputation for being fair and honest,gaining their trust. He was there to stay: “I didn’twant to just enjoy a cup of coffee, but planned onsticking around to eat the entire buffet.”Now, some 30 years later, a poll of NHLplayers has rated him the best in the league.“They like to see me not because I backslap.It’s because they know what to expect.” Frasersaid. “I’ve established a certain standard, credibility,and rapport. I have worked in developingrelationships in a profession where often we aretreated with disrespect, the ‘Kill the Ump’ sortof mentality. I have attempted to treat disrespectNHL/Getty Imageswith respect.” Indicative of the respect he tries toshow players is his routine at faceoffs. Wheneverhe has to drop the puck he states, “Players, willyou put your sticks down please.” If they swing,he repeats, “No, I need your sticks down please.”The game changed for the better for Fraserand other referees when the NHL instituted atwo-referee system before the 2000-2001 season.Before that year, Fraser would often skate eightmiles per game; now, with two referees, he skatesonly between three and four miles a game. Hesays the game is improved by having another setof eyes. The officials work as a team, patrollingcertain zones of the ice, one facing the oncomingaction, the other trailing it.In the game we attended, Fraser showed greatcommunication and chemistry with his fellowofficials, referee Francois St. Laurent and linesmenDerek Manson and Brad Lazarowich. TampaBay took an early 2-0 lead, but the Rangers camestorming back, scoring 4 goals in the secondperiod to take control of the game, which theywon 5-2. The game was highlighted by a rarepenalty shot when New York’s Sean Avery waspulled down from behind while trying to scoreon a breakaway. St. Laurent had the best viewand made the call. During another play, a TampaBay defender shot the puck out of the ice intothe stands, an illegal play, causing the referees toconference and then call a delay-of-game penalty.For those interested in playing hockey orbecoming an official. Fraser recommends thatyou play to the highest level you can to learn thegame, the players, and the coaches; be a studentof the game, learn from the veterans, do a lot oflistening, and analyze what you could have donebetter. “If you come in thinking you know morethan someone who has been around a long time,you are not going to survive, you are not goingto succeed,” Fraser said. You need to officiateas many games as you can. Join USA Hockey,which has a grading level in place. Start at gradeone and work your way up. Then you can enterinto their database. Play hockey at college, or inthe junior ranks, and officiate games while youplay. If you are good, the NHL will find you.They scout for talented refs, and the good onesare spotted readily. Have the drive to be the bestyou can be. Love the game. Fraser admits he stillloves the game. He comes to rink with a boyishenthusiasm and a determination to see that thegame is played fairly.Before the end of this season, his last, Fraserwill work another game at Madison SquareGarden, where he officiated both his 1000th,and 1,500th games. It will be a fitting end to agreat career, one that will surely lead him to theHockey Hall of Fame. #MAR/APR 2010 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ SPORTSJeridore Heads To Iona CollegeAfter Stellar Play at Francis LewisBy Richard KaganFrancis Lewis’ girls’ high school basketball isover. The Lady Patriots (19-5) of Fresh Meadows,Queens lost to Manhattan Center 42-36 in thePSAL quarter-final round, ending the year forone of the city’s powerhouse teams. Regularlythey would make it to the championship gameat Madison Square Garden at the same time thatMarch Madness was dominating college basketballworld.This year the team will have time to pause andreflect. But Sabrina Jeridore, 18, a 6-foot-3 seniorwho played center for Francis Lewis, is stillpracticing. She received a four-year basketballscholarship from Iona College and will play forthe Lady Gaels as a freshman in the fall. That’squite a feat for someone who went to three highschools in three years and made the adjustment atFrancis Lewis to maintain her grades, all whileplaying solid, strong basketball.Jeridore, who averaged 10 points and just under11 rebounds a game, a double-double, was highlyrecruited by colleges during her junior year. Shechose Iona because of its proximity to New YorkCity, the size of the school, the school’s competitiveprogram, and because she liked the coachesand players. As she completes her senior year,Jeridore seems to have a promising future.When she landed at Francis Lewis fromBayonne High School in Bayonne, N.J., it tookher a while to adjust, but then she settled in. “Iwas always a good student,” said Jeridore. Shefound that her favorite subject is math, althoughshe does well in English. When asked how shefinds time to study and play a varsity sport,Jeridore said, “You have to have discipline. Imanage my time. I’m not quite there yet. It doestake a lot of hard work. I’m able to stay on topof my game.” She takes that same approachwith basketball. “I’m a gym rat, working on mygame,” she said. “There is always somebodyBy Giovanny PintoJohn Singletary shifts through a few racks ofsuits, looking for something that will catch hiseye. Already dressed sharply in a beige suit, whitecollared shirt and red tie, he stops mid-rack whenhe sees something that is to his liking. Maintainingthe swag and smoothness of a jazz player fromthe Duke Ellington era, he picks up a solid bluedesigner suit and wails, “Woo this one right here,it’s sharp boy.”A few seconds after picking out his suit, the manattending to him suggests a light blue shirt with amatching striped tie. Singletary happily nods hishead in agreement. Minutes later he is trying oneverything in front of the mirror as his attendeemeasures his hem. He arrogantly but playfullyadjusts his collar and glances a smile right backat himself.“The mirror don’t lie man,” said Mr. Singletary,“I’ll take it.”What seems like an ordinary occurrence indepartment stores and tailor shops across thecity is in fact happening at an office located 36floors high in the heart of financial district. Mr.Singletary is in the offices of Career Gear, a nonprofitorganization that helps disadvantaged menfind clothes for job interviews, as well as with jobretention and advancement skills. Its motto is: “Asuit — a second chance.”The suits are all brand new, donated fromcompanies such as Men’s Wearhouse and BrooksBrothers. The organization also boasts a warehousebigger than the men’s department at Macy’sHerald Square, with over 15,000 suits. “There isa misconception that Career Gear just gives outclothing,” said Michael Obertacz, program directorat the organization.Career Gear works hand-in-hand with job developmentagencies, which help men who are unemployed,homeless, formerly incarcerated, or formerCareer Gear21working on their game. There is always someonebetter than you. If you want to be number one,to be the best, you have to work hard. That’s mymotto,” Jeridore said.Her basketball coach, Steven Tsai, in his firstfull season pacing the court, said Jeridore providedmuch-needed senior leadership after one ofthe team’s starters, point guard Kelly Robinson,injured her knee. “Besides being one of the betterplayers, she is a force,” Tsai said. “Emotionallyshe is one of the main leaders on our team.” Tsaisaid she was active both on the offense and ondefense. In one game against St. Michael’s H.S.,Jeridore scored a rare triple-double, scoring 13points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and blocking 10shots. She ranks it as one of the best games ofher career. St. Michaels’s is one of the best teamsin the metro area, and the Lady Patriots came upshort in that game, but Jeridore’s play stood out.Now she works out with her trainer, BruceBishop. They work on all aspects of basketball:speed, endurance, shot selection, and breakingdown plays that come up in a game are some ofthe elements she’s been focusing on.“It’s gonna be different,” Jeridore says of playingat Iona. She has attended many games of herfuture team and likes what she sees. “I’m preparingfor it now. I’m definitely up for the challenge.” #substance abusers; these agencies help with careerplacement and job placement. Once set up withan interview, they are then given a referral toCareer Gear.Mr. Singletary, 57 from Brooklyn, was referredto Career Gear through Contract EmploymentAgencies, which works with his parole CEO. “Iwill never be stagnant again,” said Mr. Singletary,when asked how Career Gear has altered his life;he was also referring to a rough patch he hit in hislife in the ’90s when he got involved in drugs thateventually led to other things and into jail.When the men are successful on their interviewsthey are invited back to be part of the ProfessionalDevelopment series. The program is an eveningworkshop that meets once a week. Here the menlearn valuable skills, such as financing and budgeting,how to deal with workplace conflicts, andhow to build their resume, among others. For everyworkshop the men attend they obtain a voucher foranother article of clothing, such as a shirt, shoes,or tie. After 6 months in the retention programthey get a voucher for a brand new suit. The ideabehind it is to build a wardrobe as you build workplaceskills.Another mission of the company is to help themen’s families and communities as you help themen themselves. Giving the men a fresh start helpsthem be better fathers and help their families bypaying child support payments, bringing incomeinto the family, and bringing food onto the table.They become more responsible adults and helptheir community, which in turn makes New Yorka better place.William Simms, 68 from Brooklyn, found CareerGear through the V.A. Hospital and left retirementto work at the organization. He often gets lettersback from men he has helped telling him thankyou for helping them get the job. “I Love it here,”said Mr. Simms, “I’ll be here as long as possible.”#

22 BOOK REVIEWS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Logos Bookstore’s RecommendationsDavid Copperfieldby Charles Dickens(Penguin Classics, $9)It is better than television. It is a novel I neverwanted to put down. The characters are largerthan life and it is one of this novelist’s most cohesivenovels. It is David Copperfield by CharlesDickens. With such characters as Mr. Micawber,Uriah Heep, Dora, Aunt Betsy and Peggottyamong others, Charles Dickens has created a colorfulworld of the past and yet one of the presentin his presentation of human nature through thethoughts and actions of his characters.Dickens’ use of first person narrative to produceDavid Copperfield’s memoir makes for a focusedstory as the subject of the book is Copperfield, histhoughts, actions and the people he encounters inhis life. Much of what he writes is autobiographicalas shown in an excerpt from John Forster’sLife of Dickens which relates Dickens early lifeand shows the parallels with Copperfield’s.In addition to this excerpt in the penguin classicedition of David Copperfield ($9) there areextensive footnotes, a comprehensive introductionto the novel as well as appendices on chapteroutlines and draft titles.David Copperfield was the subject of muchlively discussion at a recent Kill Your TV ReadingGroup (KYTV) meeting. KYTV will discuss the2009 National Book Award Winner for Fiction,Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCannon Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 7 P.M and willBy H. Harris Healy, III,President, Logos Bookstore1575 York Avenue(Between 83rd and 84th Sts.)New York, NY 10028(212) 517-7292Fax (212) 517-7197www.logosbookstorenyc.comdiscuss The Mayor of Casterbridge by ThomasHardy on Wednesday, May, 5, 2010 at 7 P.M.Sit-n-Knit will meet, Tuesday, March 16, April6 and April 20, 2010 at 7 P.M. The Sacred TestsGroup led by literary agent Richard Curtis willcontinue its discussion of The Gospel of John andthe Talmud on Monday, April 12, 2010 at 7 P.M.Children’s Story Time led by Lily continues everyMonday at 11 A.M. People who participate inthose groups will receive 20 percent off all in storepurchases made at the time of those meetings.Meanwhile, Logos Bookstore has greetingcards, music, books and gift items for St. Patrick’sDay, Lent, Easter and Passover. Come on over.Upcoming Events At Logos• Sit-n-Knit will meet Tuesday, March 16, April6 and 20, 2010 at 7 P.M.• KYTV Reading Group will discuss Let TheGreat World Spin by Colum McCann, Wednesday,April 7, 2010 at 7 P.M.• KYTV Reading Group will discuss The Mayorof Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, Wednesday,May 5, 2010 at 7 P.M.• The Sacred Texts Group led by literary agentRichard Curtis will continue its discussion of theGospel Of John and The Talmud, Monday, April12, 2010 at 7P.M.• Children’s Story Time led by Lily is everyMonday at 11 A.M.Transit: 4.5.6 Subways to Lexington Ave and86th St. M86 Bus (86th St.), M79 Bus (79th St.),M31 Bus (York Ave). M15 Bus (1ST and 2ndAves.)Review ofLooking at Art in the Classroom‘Catcher in the Rye’ Standsthe Test of TimeBy Joan Baum, Ph.D.With the death of J.D. Salinger on January27, almost 60 years after the first publication ofCatcher in the Rye, it was inevitable that a majorquestion would be how Catcher has stood the testof time, both as recommended or required readingin high schools, and as a source of continuingcritical comment in the academic community.Reportedly, the paperback is still selling over aquarter of a million copies a year.Not too long ago I re-read Portnoy’s Complaint(1969) to see how that iconic American novel hasheld up (it has), along with suggesting that thevoice of Roth’s alienated comic protagonist owesa debt to Holden Caulfield. Regardless, Catcherhas over time consistently figured in claims ofAmerica’s literary triumvirate, along with HuckFinn and The Great Gatsby, all first-person narratives.Adam Gopnik, in a recent New Yorkertribute, goes even further, saying of Salinger that“no American writer will ever have a more alertear, a more attentive eye, or a more ardent heartthan his.” (Where do the ducks in Central Parkgo in the winter!)Holden’s distinctive voice is heard in the firstsentence: “If you really want to hear about it,the first thing you’ll probably want to know iswhere I was born, and what my lousy childhoodwas like, and how my parents were occupiedand all before they had me, and all that DavidCopperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel likegoing into it, if you want to know the truth.” He’srecently been expelled from school (again) andhe’s talking to someone (revealed at the end),looking back on his recent experiences. Theseinclude the book’s opening account of his havinglost his team’s fencing equipment on the subway.Catcher is very much a New York City book.Of course, today’s adolescents have their ownvocabulary and idioms — f- and s-inflected verbaltics — but Holden’s own mannered expressions(“no kidding,” “Oh, I don’t know,” “vomity,”“goddam,” “hell,” “phony,” “Chrissake”) capturea timeless sense of adolescent anger and defensiveposturing. He’s bright and self-deprecating,charming and argumentative, shy and defiant,manic and thoughtful. A more than moderatedrinker and smoker at 16, he’s depressed, but notto navel-gazing effect. He intuitively sympathizeswith misfits and children. When his belovedyounger sister “old” Phoebe questions him aboutwhat he wants to do or be, he invokes an image of“little kids playing some game in this big field ofrye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’saround — nobody big, I mean — except me. AndI’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.What I have to do, I have to catch everybody ifthey start to go over the cliff — I mean if they’rerunning — and I have to come out from somewhereand catch them. That’s all I’d do all day.I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.” Phoebepoints out that in “Comin through the Rye” byRobert Burns, the expression is, “If a body meet abody,” not “catch a body.” Holden says he knowsthat now. The difference is telling. Burns’ bold,lovely lyric is about sexual readiness. Holden, aromantic and still a virgin (he stops when girls sayNo!), may not “give the time” to the girls he dates,but he shares with today’s active, if not promiscuous,youngsters an ambivalence toward sexuallycharged expectations in a vulgarizing culture.A former English teacher, who allows a distraughtHolden to visit at 3:00 a.m., writes outsomething for him, a quotation from the analystWilhelm Stekel: “The mark of the immature manis that he wants to die nobly for a cause, whilethe mark of the mature man is that he wants tolive humbly for one.” Sounds good, and yet,and yet… Oh, the bliss of heroic yearning whenwe are young! (How terribly ironic that Stekelcommitted suicide, which of course Salingerknew.) Salinger wonderfully captures the voice ofyoungsters of any ethnicity — they want to standout, to be, to do, to prevail.Catcher in the Rye is a book that is loved, andnot just by adolescents. “What really knocks meout is a book that, when you’re done reading it,you wish the author that wrote it was a terrificfriend of yours and you could call him up on thephone whenever you felt like it.” God knows howmany tried with Salinger! Too much continues tobe written about Salinger’s reclusive nature andwhat Holden may share with his author — a fascinating,perhaps inevitable, pursuit, but one thatis finally irrelevant to the book’s ability to engagegeneration after generation. English teachers towhom I have spoken have universally supportedits presence in schools. #Looking at Art in the Classroom: ArtInvestigations From the Guggenheim Museumby Rebecca Shulman HerzPublished by Teachers College Press, Columbia University,New York and London, 2010: 160 pp.By Merri RosenbergIn these economically challenging times, subjectslike music and art are often at risk as schooladministrators seek to trim budgets. Here’s sometimely ammunition to help art teachers — andclassroom teachers who are reluctant to see artgiven short shrift — make a compelling casefor art’s contribution to their students’ intellectualand creative development: Looking at Artin the Classroom: Art Investigations From theGuggenheim Museum.Author Rebecca Shulman Herz, who managesthe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’sLearning Through Art program and has ledworkshops for art educators, classroom teachersand museum educators, presents in this compact,well-designed text (especially the appendicesat the back, with a checklist and useful Websites) an exploration of precisely how the “ArtInvestigation” works.The basic idea is that the teacher prepares threeto five open-ended questions designed arounda particular theme that will enable students tosuggest interpretations of a specific work of artand support their ideas with evidence from theartwork. As Herz writes, “It assumes that informationhelps to deepen one’s understanding of anartwork, but the ultimate goal of these conversationsis less to learn in depth about a specificwork of art than to learn how to look at and makesense of art more generally.”And these encounters and experiences, suggestsHerz, offer strategies that students canapply across the curriculum. Close observationof a piece of art may translate to careful descriptionsof a leaf in a science lab, for example,while students exploring ancient Egypt undoubtedlygain further insight by analyzing pyramidsor hieroglyphics.Just as computer classes aren’t designed toproduce the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, artclasses aren’t about developing the 21st century’sVan Gogh or Renoir. “Art Investigations can helpstudents better understand the choices that artistsmake, while preparing them to make their ownchoices as artists,” explains Herz. What this particularmethod offers students is a way of perceivingand acting in the world. She continues, “Thegoal of most art education programs and classes,particularly at the elementary and secondaryschool levels, is not to create 30 new artists whowill one day see their art displayed at a museum.Rather, it is to teach the students the process of anartist — manipulating media, exploring questionsand ideas about the world, careful observation,meaningful choice-making related to the expressionof ideas and feelings, and reflection — manyof which are the same processes engaged in bynon-artists who are curious, engaged and reflectivepeople.”Most educators would, I imagine, consider thedevelopment of “curious, engaged and reflectivepeople” the ultimate end product of what they doin the classroom. This book offers another wayto get there. #Review of I Signed as the Doctor:Memoir of a Cancer DoctorSurviving CancerI Signed as the Doctor: Memoir of a CancerDoctor Surviving Cancerby Laura Liberman, M.D.Published by Booklocker.com, Tennessee, 2009: 219 pp.By Merri RosenbergReceiving a cancer diagnosis upends mostpeople’s safe and familiar worlds. The uncertaintyof how to handle the bewildering medicaltests and procedures, make decisions about thepossible course of treatment — even what totell family members and friends — can be overwhelming.Doctors aren’t immune to this upheaval, evenwhen they’re cancer specialists themselves.Laura Liberman, author of this moving and honestmemoir about her experience with an aggressivelymphoma that offered her a 50-50 chanceat survival when first diagnosed, unflinchinglyshares her bafflement, frustrations, fears andindignities in a way that would resonate withanyone who’s gone through a similar experience.Liberman was a radiologist specializing inbreast cancer imaging, as well as a medicalprofessor and researcher at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, when she was plungedLaura Liberman, M.D.into the world of “patient.” Being on the receivingend of painful injections, coping withchemotherapy-induced nausea, and sometimesuncaring staff enhanced her empathy for herpatients. That led Liberman to consider and putinto practice even more compassionate protocolscontinued on page 29

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24 Education update ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ MAR/APR 2010MUSEUMS AS EDUCATORSThe National World War IIMuseum: Teaching the Lessons ofThe Greatest GenerationPaul Hilliard flew many missions in this Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive BomberBy Paul Hilliard& Kenneth HoffmanThe dream of noted historian and authorDr. Stephen E. Ambrose, The National D-DayMuseum opened in New Orleans in 2000. Themuseum focused on the “D-Days” of World WarII — the amphibious invasions made possibleby the unique Higgins landing craft designedand built in New Orleans. General DwightEisenhower said that these Higgins boats “wonthe war for the Allies.” In 2003, the museum wasdesignated by Congress as “America’s WorldWar II Museum,” subsequently changed its name,and embarked on a visionary expansion to reflectthat honor as well as a broader mission: to tellthe whole story of World War II — every service,every campaign, every hero.Dr. Ambrose and current president and CEODr. Gordon “Nick” Mueller were history professorstogether at the University of New Orleansand best friends for three decades. It is no surprisethat education was one of the museum’sfounding principles and remains at the core ofits mission.The museum’s education department producesa comprehensive and creative range of learningopportunities through educational, thought-provoking,and entertaining programs that exploreand bring to life the history and lessons of theWorld War II era. There are bimonthly, freeLunchbox Lectures on varied topics, from battlesand biographies to an exploration of World WarII-era high school yearbooks and a comparisonof D-Day to the Norman conquest of 1066. Otherpublic programs include the annual World WarII High School Quiz Bowl, televised by CoxCable and even nominated for a regional Emmyaward, and World War II Pub Quizzes for adultsin the museum’s new Stage Door Canteen. Themuseum is a teaching resource for educatorsand students, a community resource for the localarea, and a learning resource for a wide variety oflocal, national and international audiences.More than 350,000 students have visited themuseum since 2000. Whether on a docent-guidedtour or self-guided with the aid of an educationalscavenger hunt, students understand the meaningof World War II through object-based learning,audio-visual inspiration, and kinetic stimulation.In addition to touring the museum’s galleries,they can experience a screening of Beyond AllBoundaries, the museum’s new 4-D, multisensoryfilm created with Tom Hanks as executiveproducer and narrator. Pre- and post-visit materialsprepare students for their museum visit andreinforce the lessons learned there.But learning is not limited to actual museumvisits. Virtual Field Trips utilize the technologyof videoconferencing to provide live, interactiveprograms directly into classrooms across thecountry, and even internationally. These one-hourprograms illuminate the lessons of World WarII with artifacts and documents, music, maps,speeches and age-appropriate analyses and discussionsof the decision-making of the war years.The education department offers professionaldevelopment workshops for teachers on subjectsranging from all theaters of the war to explorationsof the diversity of the American experienceduring the war. Workshops are offered bothon-site and via videoconferencing. The museumpartners with the Anti-Defamation Leagueto offer area teachers a Holocaust curriculumworkshop developed by the ADL, the ShoahFoundation, and Yad VaShem. Other workshoppartners have included the Memorial de Caenin Normandy and the United States MemorialHolocaust Museum.In addition, the museum has created a series ofOnline Lesson Plans, classroom-ready and availableto teachers on our Web site. These lessonsconform to national educational standards. Whileall of the lessons can be used in social studiesclasses, many are cross-curricular, coveringmath, science, English/language arts, and evendrama. All lessons include creative enrichmentactivities that make the historical lesson relevantin students’ lives today.Operation Footlocker provides schools acrossthe country with the unique hands-on opportunityto learn about World War II by handling actualartifacts. These travelling trunks include rationbooks, V-mail letters, dog tags, sand from thebeaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima, wartimemagazines, toys, and other artifacts both commonand surprising. No weapons or ammunitionare included. Footlockers come complete withwhite cotton gloves for handling artifacts and ateacher’s manual that describes each object andcontains directions for conducting artifact “reading”sessions.Each year, the education department conductsan Online Essay Contest for high school studentsand an annual Art Contest for middle schoolstudents. There is a unique theme each year,and submissions are accepted from 500 studentsacross the country for each contest. Winnersreceive cash prizes and their entries are postedon the museum’s Web site. Beginning this year,the museum also serves as the state sponsor ofNational History Day in Louisiana.The museum continues to expand educationalprograms and outreach so that all future generationswill understand the history, lessons andvalues of the war that changed the world.Paul Hilliard is a trustee at The National WWIIMuseum, and Kenneth Hoffman is educationdirector at the museum.Sharpen your PENCILBy Michael HabermanAs everyone from President Obama on downis talking about “jobs, jobs, jobs,” every day weare seeing new proposals for tax cuts, stimulusspending and other important — but shortterm— fixes. Just a few years ago, everyonewas focused on a very different problem.Businesses complained that they could not fillall of the positions they had available becauseyoung Americans didn’t have the skills requiredto do the job. At that time, other short-term fixeswere proposed, such as increasing caps on visasfor foreign workers.It’s time we stop looking for short-term fixesand start investing in long-term solutions. Howdo we ensure that, for decades to come, ouryoung people are prepared for the workforceand the business community can get the help itneeds? Study after study has shown that the mostimportant factor in determining an individual’scareer success is education. Yes, the solution tohigh unemployment begins in the classroom.That’s why hundreds of business leadersthroughout New York City, and beyond, havejoined with PENCIL to help ensure that everychild gets the education he or she needs — anddeserves. PENCIL provides private sector leaderswith results-driven opportunities to participatein improving public education and experiencefirsthand how their involvement can affect realchange in public schools.Through the PENCIL Partnership program,business leaders bring their skills and expertiseinto the school community to help principalsaddress their most pressing challenges. Withguidance from PENCIL staff, these customizedpartnerships are helping principals becomestronger leaders, engaging more parents in theirchildren’s education, increasing the effective useof technology in the classroom, and providingmeaningful career and college awareness andpreparedness training to thousands of students.Together, they are providing the learning environmentstudents need to succeed in school —and beyond.The PENCIL Fellows program provides highlymotivated high school students with paid summerinternships in some of the city’s most excitingcompanies across industries — from the Fortune500 to small and mid-size businesses and consultancies.Through this program, students getinvaluable training and hands-on experience,while businesses get affordable, high quality helpand play a valuable role in preparing the workforceof tomorrow.Rather than focusing solely on a quick fix,working together, the education and businesscommunities can, and are, creating systemicchange that will impact the workforcefor decades.The solution to tomorrow’s employment problemsbegin in the classroom — today. #Michael Haberman is president of PENCIL,a New York-based nonprofit organization thatinspires innovative solutions to the challengesfacing public education by creating results-drivenopportunities for the private sector to participatein transforming schools. To learn how youcan play a part in the effort, visit http://www.pencil.org.Education Update salutes Paul Hilliard, benefactor of the Paul & Lulu Hilliard Univ. ArtMuseum at Univ. of Louisiana at Lafayette, and trustee of the WWII Museum.Hunter College PresentsTalking Movies is the exciting film series, now in its 14th season,showing Hollywood, independent, foreign films and documentariesbefore they open. Screenings are followed by a Q&A with filmmakersor guests associated with the film.Talking Movies moderators Jeffrey Lyons and Roberta Burrowspresent major motion picture artists in conversation after screeningsof their films (including previews of eagerly awaited releases).Spring 2010 Dates:March 18, 25, April 8, 15, 22, 29, May 6 and 13.Screening and Q & A: 7-9:30pm$335 per person for the seriesTalking MoviesWith Jeffrey Lyons and Roberta BurrowsFor more information, please call 212-650-3850or visit www.hunter.cuny.edu/ce

26 COLLEGES & GRADuate Schools ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Touro College Mourns the Passing of Founder & President, Rabbi Dr. Bernard LanderTouro College mourns the passing of its founderand only president, Dr. Bernard Lander, who died inNew York City at the age of 94. The cause of deathwas congestive heart failure.Dr. Bernard Lander was a builder. Through hisyears as rabbi, scholar, teacher and administrator, hebuilt his reputation as a man of genius, an advisor topresidents, a sociologist of distinction, a man whomoved easily from the Jewish world to the secularworld — but above all, as a builder. In the last fourdecades of his life, starting at the age of 55, Dr.Lander built one of the most extraordinary institutionsof higher learning in the world, Touro College,which grew from a single college of 35 studentswhen it opened in 1971 in midtown Manhattan to 29schools, educating 17,500 students at undergraduate,graduate and professional programs in New York,California, Nevada, Florida, Israel, Russia, Germanyand France. He trained rabbis, doctors, lawyers,accountants, computer programmers and technicians,and he trained them all well. Speaking to a filledballroom in New York City in 2007, where over1,400 guests had gathered to celebrate Touro’s 36thanniversary, Dr. Lander said: “One should live a longlife, but a life of meaning, purpose and creativity.This is the purpose of life and the purpose of Touro.”“I’ve lost a friend, I’ve lost a partner, I’ve lost theman who built this great monument to education, acitadel of learning,” declared Dr. Mark Hasten, chairmanof Touro’s board of trustees and a colleague overmany years in building the institution worldwide. “Aman like Dr. Bernard Lander comes along once in ageneration, or perhaps once in many generations,”Dr. Hasten said.Even as a youth, it was clear that Bernard Landerloved personal interaction and connected easily withpeople. Throughout his life and into his nineties, peoplewere in awe of his ability to multi-task — conductingmeetings in his conference room at Touro’scentral office on West 23rd Street, while taking callson his cell phone and receiving an endless stream ofvisitors. Until the end of his life, Dr. Lander continuedto put in full work days and travel for businessand pleasure around the world.Dr. Lander said he was inspired to launch TouroCollege after completing a study for Notre DameUniversity of student unrest on college campuses andconcluding that students were reacting to “becominga number rather than a face.” “We have a responsibilityto the needs of the world. To serve humanity andsociety. And so as we build Jewish institutions, weare also building general institutions, irrespective ofthe background [of the student].”With Dr. Lander’s initiative, Touro College waschartered by the Board of Regents of the state of NewYork in June 1970. Following the opening of its firstcollege for men in 1971, a women’s division wasadded in 1974. Dr. Lander opened branches in LosAngeles and Miami Beach. In addition, Dr. Landeralso organized a school of general studies, whichcatered to new immigrants and underserved populations.Alan Kadish, M.D., who joined Touro in Septemberas senior provost and chief operating officer, hasbeen selected to succeed Dr. Lander as president.“Although I was only able to work with Dr. Lander fora few months, I was overwhelmed by his talent andhis passion for education and for fellow Jews. He wasa unique leader who carried forth a vision that builtTouro into a remarkable institution,” said Dr. Kadish.“I look forward to continuing his work and hope that Ican justify the faith that he showed in me. #ASSOCIATE AND BACHELOR DEGREES:BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION • SOCIAL SCIENCESHUMAN SERVICES • HEALTH SCIENCES • SPECIAL EDUCATIONPSYCHOLOGY • COMPUTER SCIENCE • DESKTOP AND WEB PUBLISHINGLIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES • AND MORECERTIFICATE PROGRAMS:• DMX - Digital Media Arts | 212.463.0400 x5588• Desktop and Web Publishing | 718.336.6471 x119New!Bachelor of Science/Doctor of Osteopathic MedicineScience Honors Track | 212.463.0400 x5440a 7 year track leading to B.S. and D.O. Degrees at NYSCAS divisionof Touro College and Touro College of Osteopathic MedicineOther Professional Opportunities: • Pre-Law • Pre-Medical • Pre-Dental212-463-0400 x5500718-265-6534 x1003www.touro.edu/nyscasNYSCASNew York School of Career and Applied Studies, a division of Touro CollegeTouro College is an equal opportunity institution

MAR/APR 2010 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update27LAW & EDUCATIONAnother Child Arrested forThe New York Civil Liberties Union recentlyexpressed outrage over the treatment of a 12-yearoldgirl who was handcuffed and hauled to the localpolice precinct, where she was detained by the NewYork Police Department for hours for doodling hername on her desk in erasable marker. News of thearrest comes on the heels of a federal class actionlawsuit the New York Civil Liberties Union filedchallenging the NYPD’s practice of wrongfullyarresting and using excessive force against childrenin New York City schools. Among the plaintiffs inthat lawsuit is a girl who was also arrested and heldfor hours by police for writing on her desk whenshe was only 11.“This should be a wake-up call to the mayor, theCity Council and the Department of Education:There is a crisis in our schools because they put thepolice in charge of routine discipline that ought tobe handled by educators,” said Donna Lieberman,executive director of the NYCLU. “We all wantsafe schools, but that means that our children mustbe kept safe by those assigned to protect them.There is systemic misconduct by police personnelin the schools, and our children are paying theprice. We must overhaul the way New York Cityhandles school discipline.”Alexa Gonzalez, a 12-year-old with an impeccableschool attendance record, was arrested andhauled out of Junior High School 190 in ForestHills by police for writing on her desk in lime greenerasable marker, according to reports in the DailyNews. She was detained for hours in a local policeprecinct, where she said she “started crying, like, alot.” Her mother told the Daily News her daughterhas been throwing up since the traumatic arrest.Since the NYPD took control of public schoolsafety in New York City in 1998, more than 5,000School Safety Officers, NYPD employees assignedto the schools, and nearly 200 armed police officershave been assigned to the city’s public schools.This massive presence makes the NYPD’s SchoolSafety Division the nation’s fifth largest policeforce — larger than the entire police force inWashington D.C., Detroit, Boston, Baltimore,Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego or LasVegas. The number of police personnel assignedto patrol New York City public schools has grownby 73 percent since the transfer of school safety tothe NYPD, even though school crime was decliningprior to the 1998 transfer and even thoughstudent enrollment is at its lowest point in morethan a decade.Desk DoodlingNational Urban Alliance:Who They Are and What They DoIn August 2008, the City Council introducedthe Student Safety Act (former Intro 816-A) witha majority of the City Council signed on as cosponsors.The act would require quarterly reportingby the Department of Education and NYPD to theCity Council and the public on a wide range ofschool safety issues, including incidents involvingthe arrest, expulsion or suspension of students, anda breakdown of information by students’ race, sexand disability status. This information could beused to craft more effective student safety policiesand procedures.But since its introduction and despite manyhigh profile examples of excessive policing inthe schools, the bill has been allowed to languishwithout a vote. “How unfortunate that a mayor whoprides himself on making data-driven decisionswithholds information necessary for oversight,”Lieberman said. “Speaker Christine Quinn and theCity Council must right this wrong and finally passthe Student Safety Act.”SSOs wear NYPD uniforms and possess theauthority to stop, frisk, question, search and arreststudents. While NYPD police officers must completea six-month training course before beingdeployed, SSOs receive only 14 weeks of trainingbefore being assigned to schools. School administratorshave no supervisory authority over theSSOs who patrol their schools. “Routine schooldiscipline has been ripped from the hands of professionaleducators trained to work with childrenand handed over to police personnel trained towork in the streets,” Lieberman said. “When I wasa kid, writing on the desk or being in the hallwayduring class used to get you sent to the principal’soffice. Now our kids are thrown in a paddy wagonand taken to jail, with youth of color and youth withspecial needs bearing the brunt of these policies.”From 2002 to June 2007, the NYPD InternalAffairs Bureau received 2,670 complaints againstmembers of NYPD’s School Safety Division —about 500 complaints annually — even thoughno effective or publicized mechanism exists forlodging complaints against school safety officers.Families that have lodged complaints againstSSOs have reported that, in response, the NYPDsimply transfers those SSOs to different publicschools. Additionally, according to testimony byJames Secreto, then head of the NYPD’s SchoolSafety Division, the Civilian Complaint ReviewBoard has received about 1,200 complaints a yearabout SSOs. #By Ravit Bar-Av“The National Urban Alliance has had a markedimpact on Philip Livingston Magnet Academyon a number of levels,” lauds Tom Giglio, principalof Philip Livingston Magnet Academy inAlbany, N.Y. “As we are in the midst of our thirdyear of NUA exposure and implementation, thefeedback from both faculty and students has beenconsistent in this professional development affectingour climate and culture.”Principal Giglio’s testimonial offers a snapshotof effective education reform as seen from theinside out. His experience is matched by thousandsof other educators and administrators who havehad the opportunity to work with the NationalUrban Alliance for Effective Education, a leadingorganization in systemic education reform formore than two decades. NUA’s underlying philosophy,driven by the “pedagogy of confidence,”has been implemented in urban school districtsthroughout the country with documented, lasting,and meaningful success. From Seattle to Albany,Bridgeport to Birmingham, the NUA has helpedtransform once failing urban districts into modelrepresentations for what can be achieved when takinga values-first approach to districtwide reform.NUA work is focused on learning and teaching:building toward high intellectual performance byaddressing students’ culture, language and cognition.The National Urban Alliance believes thatall students, from all social backgrounds, have thecapacity to think and achieve at high levels and toextend the current boundaries of their potential.Mentors in NUA’s network plan work withschool districts and provide ongoing professionaldevelopment activities for teachers and administratorsto improve classroom instruction and toimprove how school communities are organizedfor sustained achievement. NUA mentors arescholar-practitioners — teachers and universityfaculty who promote higher student achievementthrough structural and instructional interventionsincorporating the latest research on organizationaldevelopment, cognition, reasoning, thinking, andhigher-order comprehension skills.NUA mentors go into schools to assess how eachone is organized for instruction, examining schoolclimate and how data is used to “tune” instructionto each student by emphasizing teachers’ andstudents’ strengths. By demonstrating lessons inStudent ExpressionOutside of SchoolBy Martha McCarthy, Ph.D.Litigation is escalating rapidly involving studentout-of-school expression on the Internet.In my last column, I explored a case in whichstudents were disciplined for suggestive picturesposted on MySpace. This column addresses students’postings on Facebook and MySpace thatare critical of school personnel. The case outcomesare determined primarily by how courtsapply the landmark decision, Tinker v. DesMoines Independent School District, in whichthe Supreme Court held that private studentexpression could not be the basis of school disciplinaryaction unless it threatened a substantialdisruption of the educational process or interferedwith the rights of others.On the same day in February 2010, two differentpanels of the Third Circuit Court ofAppeals affirmed somewhat contrary lower courtdecisions regarding students’ MySpace parodiesof their principals. In Layshock v. HermitageSchool District, one Third Circuit panel ruledthat a Pennsylvania school district failed to establisha sufficient connection to a school disruptionfor it to discipline a student who posted an unflatteringmock profile of his principal on MySpace.Reasoning that schools have less control overstudents’ off-campus expression than they doover their expression at school, the panel concludedthat the student had a First Amendmentright to post the parody. However, the courtrejected his parents’ assertion that the school’sdisciplinary action violated their FourteenthAmendment rights to direct the upbringing oftheir children.A different Third Circuit panel in J.S. v. BlueMountain School District found that a student’sCoping with FailureBy Dr. Carole HankinWatching your child have an unsuccessfulexperience is always difficult,but when a child fails in front of anaudience, it can be downright heartbreakingfor parents to watch. Whetheryour son or daughter makes a costlyerror in a Little League game or playsthe wrong notes during a school concert,when he or she is stung by embarrassmentor disappointment we cannot help but empathize.But it is also up to us as parents to help themmove past that disappointment and learn fromtheir experience.For starters, it is important to emphasize toyour child that everyone makes mistakes. Thismay be common sense to an adult, but childrenneed to be reminded that the mistakes they makeare a normal part of every process, and that withoutthem, no one achieves excellence. You mightoffer some examples from your own personalexperience by telling your child about a time youfailed at something important. We can’t demandperfection form our kids, and they certainlyshouldn’t expect it of themselves either. The trulyimportant thing is that they always give their besteffort — that is something they can, and should,expect of themselves as they grow up.But what if your child failed because he or shedidn’t put the effort in? If you suspect that thismath, science, reading, and writing with groupsof students, mentors coach instructional staffto accelerate student learning. Mentors deliverresearch-based state-of-the-art theory and practiceto school communities and classrooms, creatingan environment of collaboration and support.Teaching strategies incorporate 21st century skills,which enable students to graduate with the knowledgeneeded to continue to higher education.“This academic year I have been teaching readingat our local middle school,” explains Belinda,MySpace profile of the principal, although createdoff campus, threatened a material disruptionof the educational process. This panel held thatthe school did not have to substantiate that a disruptionhad occurred as long as there was a significantthreat. The lower court had gone furtherin reasoning that a link to a disruption might notbe required if the expression invades the rights ofothers. In this student’s mock profile, the principalwas depicted as a pedophile and sex addict.The court upheld suspension of the student forthe online speech, finding no violation of thestudent’s First Amendment rights.The following week a Florida federal districtcourt upheld a student’s right to sue her principalfor disciplinary action alleged to violate the student’sfree speech rights. The student establisheda Facebook page criticizing a teacher at school,and the court held that the principal did not havea sufficient expectation that the expression wouldcreate a disruption. In Nashville, Tenn., a FirstAmendment lawsuit may be brought by a studentwho was expelled for angry Facebook commentsabout his coaches, including the assertion, “I’makill em all.” The school district contends that ithas valid grounds to discipline students for suchthreats posted on social networks.The controversies mentioned here represent thetip of the iceberg in this volatile area pertainingto online social networks. How much discretionschool authorities have to discipline studentsfor such off-campus postings that are critical ofschool personnel remains to be clarified by theU.S. Supreme Court. #Martha McCarthy is chancellor’s professorand chair of Educational Leadership and PolicyStudies at Indiana University.may be the case, it is a good idea to sitdown with your son or daughter andtry to understand what went wrong.Maybe your child is struggling tokeep up with the other kids. Maybethe activity is one he or she doesn’tparticularly enjoy. This can becomean opportunity to assess whether theactivity is a good match for yourchild’s interests and abilities, and if necessary,explore other options. You can help them findways to make it more enjoyable, such as exploringnew methods of practice, or encouragingthem to try out a new position on the field or anew instrument. Then at the end of the season orat the start of a new grade, whenever the opportunityfor change presents itself, your child maylike to try a new activity altogether.Above all, you should understand your child’slevel of commitment and encourage him orher accordingly. If children can enjoy an activityas strictly recreational, we should encouragethem to give it their all and take pleasure in theexperience of participating. If the activity isone the child has an interest in pursuing moreseriously, help him or her acquire the tools andskills to excel. Let your child’s expectations beyour guide. #Dr. Carole Hankin is the superintendent ofSyosset Schools, Long Island, N.Y.a middle school teacher in New Mexico whoseschool has benefited from the program. “Mystudents just finished taking their mid-year assessments,and out of 45 students, only 4 have notimproved their reading scores by at least 10 points.Although rural, 100 percent Hispanic, and thepoorest county in New Mexico, our students arevery similar to other under-achieving students. …There is nothing wrong with their ability, it’s alldue to behavior problems and lack of engagement.Thank you, NUA, for the strategies!” #

28 COLLEGES & GRADuate Schools ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Grace OutreachMarymount Manhattan CollegeCelebrates the Writing Center(L-R) Ann Tisch, Margaret Cuomo Maier, Margaret Grace & Cathy BlackGrace Outreach offers women a second chance to succeed by helping them earn their diploma, completecollege or vocational training and begin rewarding careers.Margaret Grace, Founder held a wonderful gala at the Metropolitan Club to celebrate the successof the program. Honoring Cathy Black, the gala was attended by Board members Margaret CuomoMaier and Ann Tisch.Teachers CollegeEquity EventBy Adam BlochCalling it “an important stopgap in avertingan education tragedy,” Pennsylvania GovernorEdward G. Rendell praised funding from theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act, betterknown as the stimulus bill, for keeping“schools from being completely brutalized bybudget gaps.”Rendell, a former mayor of Philadelphia andlongtime advocate for education, was addressing,via video link, the recent fifth annual EquitySymposium at Teachers College. The title ofthe symposium was, “Stimulating Equity?The Impact of the Federal Stimulus Act onEducational Opportunity,” but the overridingtone was one of apprehension, fear that schoolsnationwide are about to drive over a “fundingcliff” once stimulus apportionments run out overthe next two years. “The big challenge is fiscalyear 2012,” Rendell said, “because Pennsylvanialoses $2.3 billion in stimulus funding. My hopeis that the next governor understands how importanteducation is to the commonwealth. Thereare some things in America worth raising revenuefor.”The symposium came nearly one year after thestimulus bill was enacted, and the general senseamong conference participants was that fundsderived from the legislation had saved state budgetsfrom being cut to pieces as a result of drasticallydeclining tax revenue.Even though the challenges ahead were clearlyelucidated by many, Rendell reaffirmed his personalcommitment to education and emphasizedthe need for increased funding for additionalprograms. He said a catalyzing moment for himcame early in his first gubernatorial term when hevisited a high school in a poor neighborhood andwas asked by students there why they did not havethe same technology that richer schools had. “It’sour moral responsibility to see that every childregardless of zip code has the opportunity to reachhis full potential,” Rendell said. “That’s the greatmoral test for the richest country in the world.”To reach this goal, Rendell argued for increasedsupport for Head Start and other early educationprograms. He said that Pennsylvania enrollmentof children in full-day kindergarten has nearlydoubled during his term. He also said he supportsthe implementation of college-level classes inhigh schools, targeted funding for the districtsthat most need it and technological tools likelaptops and interactive whiteboards.For Rendell, the issue of education is one thatis essential for the country’s continued prosperity.“We are failing to invest in our human infrastructure,”he said. “The U.S. has always producedthe best engineers and scientists. We’re no longerdoing that. We have to maximize our opportunitiesto help kids reach their full potential. Thereis no issue which I think is going to be moreimportant for our country.” #Comments fromAround theNationThe recent fifth annual Equity Symposiumat Teachers College drew attendants fromacross the country. Along with the diversityof the audience came a diversity ofinterests and opinions on the various presentationsand discussions, especially thosethat addressed the issue posed in the symposium’stitle: “Stimulating Equity? TheImpact of the Federal Stimulus Act onEducational Opportunity.”For John Affeldt, the director of theeducation program at Public Advocates,the impact, while enormous with regardto keeping state education budgets fromdramatic cuts, was minimal in terms ofproducing change. “California got $6 billionin stimulus money, and under the statefiscal stabilization fund, all the money wasbeing used to backfill the cuts,” he said.“And even then, the cuts were greater thanwhat the stimulus could address. Therewas no money left over to do proactivereforms. While the state agreed to the fourassurances, they really didn’t do anythingproactive to deliver on those assurances.California said it was going to do somethingto address the equitable distributionof teachers; they didn’t do anything aboutit. There are still gross inequities.”For Affeldt, the main problem is posedby bad state funding formulas. “The stimulusmoney did not advance equity,” hesaid. “It merely exacerbated inequity byrelying on existing state funding formulas.For states with bad formulas, the moneywas dumped there and was distributedregressively. I think that’s a significantlesson — the administration should thinkabout how to enact funding. They shouldcondition state acceptance of funds on theequitable nature of their formulas.”Affeldt conceded, though, that somereform had come about in California,mostly as a result of Race to the Toprequirements. “They took down the firewallbetween student test scores and teacherevaluations,” he said. “California alsolifted the cap on charter schools in orderto become more competitive for race to thetop. So states have done some significantpolicy enactments.”Funding formulas were also the primary(L-R) Judson Shaver, Lewis Frumkes, Eugene Lang,David Podell, Richard Lederer & Mimi LevittPresident Judson Shaver opened the 17thAnniversary Dinner Gala, held recently at theDoubles Club, honoring philanthropist MimiLevitt and writer Richard Lederer. LewisFrumkes, the esteemed director of the WritingCenter, announced that the venerable ParkerPen Company had elected to become the officialsponsor of the center’s 2010 Writers’Conference in June.Frumkes presented awards to Levitt and toRichard Lederer, whom he described not onlyNYU Steinhardt Launches itsLatest Policy Breakfast Seriesby Judith AquinoAs the Obama administration increases fundingfor early childhood education, researchersand education practitioners focused on ways toimprove preschool education in the first partof this year’s NYU Steinhardt Policy Breakfastseries. The three-part series, “EducationalTransitions from Childhood to Adulthood:Research and Policy Initiatives,” kicked offwith a talk by Bridget Hamre, associate directorof the Center for Advanced Study of Teachingand Learning at University of Virginia’s CurrySchool of Education. “We’re at a unique point interms of educational policy reform. There’s a realpush for innovation and there’s a lot of money onthe table. Early childhood is playing a larger rolein this than it has in the past,” said Hamre at theKimmel Center for University Life.Under the new federal initiative, the EarlyLearning Challenge Fund, $8 billion would beprovided over eight years to states with plans toimprove programs serving infants, toddlers, andpreschoolers. In acknowledging the vast amountof support aimed at early childhood education,Hamre stressed it was important for researchersto “move within our space of opportunity in avery careful way.”Hamre gave an explanation of the observationaltool she and her colleagues developed, whichmeasures three distinct domains of teacherchildinteractions in a pre-K setting: emotionalsupport, classroom organization, and instructionalsupport. Known as Classroom AssessmentScoring System (CLASS), the instrument hasconcern of Janell Drone, who teaches publicschool finance at Adelphi University. “Ithink it’s critical,” she said. “People don’tunderstand the formulas of how money isallocated. They know how much is available,but they don’t understand how it’s channeledfrom the federal government to the state andthen to the classroom. It’s a difficult procedureto understand. And not enough peopleknow enough about it to ask the right questions.”Tom Begich came all the way from Alaskato the symposium in New York because hewas “curious to see how adequacy issuesare being dealt with by stimulus money.” Heas this country’s reigning king of languagebut also as having been one of the center’sfirst Best-Selling Authors. “I can’t rememberthe year exactly,” said Frumkes, “But I thinkit was the same year that we had Shakespeareand Thomas Hardy speak.” Whether it was theexquisite food, the magnificent surroundings,the hysterical remarks of the speakers, or thegorgeous Marymount students who attendedthe illustrious guests, a good time seemed to behad by all. #been validated in over 2,000 classrooms and iscurrently used by the federal program Head Startto train its grantees nationwide.Following Hamre were Steinhardt’s CybeleRaver, professor of applied psychology and directorof NYU’s Institute of Human Developmentand Social Change, and Fabienne Doucet, assistantprofessor of education. Raver discussedthe development of concrete steps that schooldistricts and programs can use to improve classrooms.She described her work with the ChicagoSchool Readiness Project, a federally-fundedmodel that provides professional developmentand coaching to Head Start teachers. In discussingher use of the CLASS measurement tool,Raver emphasized the need for more resourcesto help teachers monitor and improve theirperformance. Doucet addressed the need to promote“school readiness” between teachers andfamilies. There is often a communication gapbetween parents and teachers that has to besolved, explained Doucet. “We would like todevelop a way for parents and teachers to talkcollaboratively about the curriculum. … Howcan we build on parents’ local knowledge andbring in parents in an organic way?” Culturalawareness is a key component of bridging thatgap, added Doucet.The second part of the series will take place onMarch 4 and will focus on educational transitionsduring the middle school years. On April 16, theseries will conclude with its final section, whichwill focus on transitions to post-secondary education,careers, and adulthood. #came away concerned mainly by whetherpolitical gridlock would imperil the causeof reform. “There didn’t seem to be a clearunderstanding among the participants thatthe tenor of debate at the highest levels ofgovernment has really changed, that it hadbecome really acrimonious,” said Begich,who was representing an organization calledCitizens for the Educational Advancementof Alaska’s Children. “Republicans andDemocrats simply aren’t cooperating rightnow. The new dynamic seems like a zerosumgame. Compromise isn’t in the windsright now, and that has a direct impact oneducational policy.” #

MAR/APR 2010 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education update29Norbert Krapfcontinued from page 25The DEAN’S COLUMNAppreciating Geometry inThree-Dimensions:Euler’s Polyhedracome out with their intellects also awakened.Appreciating Geometry in Three-Dimensions: By Euler’s Dr. Alfred PolyhedraPosamentierBecause of his influence, I became an Englishmajor, a teacher, and a writer. I graduated fromhigh school in 1961, came home often to visitfamily and friends, and always visited him, untilhis death in 2000, when I flew back from NewYork to my hometown, Jasper, Ind., to serve aspallbearer. My first full-length collection is dedicatedto him and to my parents.Another important model already mentioned,William Stafford, who mentored others as well,came from Kansas and wrote of his Midwesternorigins and ordinary people. He was a poetof the people. He wrote in deceptively simplelanguage that takes the reader below the surfaceand reveals that mystery resides in the everydayworld. He saw the writing of poetry as an ordinaryhuman activity that we all enjoy as childrenbut for some reason, no doubt because of culturalattitudes, come to think is not an adult activity. Iam blessed to be a perpetual child in this respect.Favorite Works: So many I could not listthem all. Leaves of Grass for starters. We livedholds true: V + F = E + 2.for decades maybe 15 miles from the WaltWhitman birthplace, where I had the honor toread several times, and Whitman’s shadow islong in my writing life. Again, the mysteries ofthe ordinary expressed in everyday Americanlanguage — but don’t be fooled, he worked hardand discover how much young people love poetry,the compression and music of the language,the free flight of the imagination in image andmetaphor, the glory of finding spoken languagecompressed to the level of song that speaks toand for all, that gets inside our bodies and settlesinto our psyches. Don’t worry too much about“meaning” at first. People who learn how to readpoems can follow their intuitions into them andReading poems helps people learn how to write,compress their language, express their feelings,become aware of their inner lives. How can thatnot be of value? Don’t feel guilty about havingfun reading poetry. Learn from your students.That’s what I loved to do and still do when I goin to visit the schools. Be a good learner, don’tpretend that you are the ultimate authority figureon what a poem means. Students see throughthat stance.Poetry’s Future: Poetry and song always havea great future. They cannot be stamped out. Theyare expressions of the human spirit that will out!If a poetry magazine or reading series in oneplace goes under, it will sprout up somewhereelse, like mushrooms in a spring woods. Poetryis an expression of the human spirit, and as longas there are human beings alive somewhere,there will be poets and poetry. As Ezra Poundonce said, it matters that great poems get written,but it matters not who writes them. Yes,We often see geometric shapes in our dailycomings and goings. Furthermore, from a scholasticviewpoint, the New York state curriculumhas included more three-dimensional geometryinto the high school course than previously. Ourstudents can stand to be enriched by this topic— one discovered by the famous Swiss mathematician,Leonhard Euler, in the 18th century.He discovered a lovely relationship among thevertices, faces, and edges of polyhedra (which arebasically geometric solids).We often see geometric shapes in our daily comings and goings. Furthermore, from a scholastic viewpoint,the New York state curriculum has included more three-dimensional geometry into the high school coursethan previously. Our students can stand to be enriched by this topic — one discovered by the famous Swissmathematician, Leonhard Euler, in the 18 th century. He discovered a lovely relationship among the vertices,faces, and edges of polyhedra (which are basically geometric solids).You might begin by having students find various polyhedra and count the number of vertices (V), faces (F)and edges (E), make a chart of these findings and then search for a pattern.They ought to discover that for all these figures, the following relationshipIn the complete cube, the relationship holds true as: 8 + 6 = 12 + 2.polygon not a triangle can be cut into triangles,or triangular regions, by drawing diagonals. Eachtime a diagonal is drawn, we increase the numberof edges by 1 but we also increase the numberof faces by 1. Hence, the value of V ‐ E + F isundisturbed.Triangles on the outer edge of the regionwill have either 1 edge on the boundary of theregion, as ΔABC in the figure below, or have 2edges on the boundary, as ΔDEF. We can removetriangles like ΔABC by removing the one boundaryside. In the figure, this is AC. This decreasesthe faces by 1 and the edges by 1. Still, V ‐ E +F is unchanged. If we remove the other kind ofboundary triangle, such as ΔDEF, we decreasethe number of edges by 2, the number of faces by1, and the number of vertices by 1. Again, V ‐ E+ F is unchanged, This process can be continueduntil one triangle remains.If we pass a plane cutting all the edges of a trihedral angle of theto sound natural, revised more than one might poetry doesn’t sell much in our country, but it’sthink for polyhedron someone who (i.e. sounded a cube his “barbaric here), we very separate much alive one everywhere, of the vertices in classes, from in bars, the restyawp” across of the polyhedron. rooftops of the world. But, in I savor the process, in cafes, we in libraries add to and the community polyhedron centers, 1 face, in 3 Triangles on the outer edge of the region will have either 1 edge on the boundary oso many sections edges, of and “Song 3 new of Myself,” vertices. his great If V is concerts increased where by folksingers 2, F increased alternate with by 1, poets and EYouincreased themightfigurebeginby below,by3,havingthen or V havestudents- E 2 + edgesfindFvariouspolyhedra and count the number of verticeson the boundary, as . We can remove triaexperimental poem, but “There Was a Child Went and jazz trios back spoken-word poets, in slams,Forth” andremains“Crossingunchanged.Brooklyn Ferry” are high in performance poet venues. The Internet has (V), removing faces (F) and the edges one boundary (E), make a side. chart of In the figure, this is . This decreases the faceon the list. That So many is, V of + F Emily = E Dickinson + 2 = (8 and + 2) helped + (6 + poetry 1) = spread; (12 + there 3) + are 2. good poetry sites theseStill,findingsV -andE +thenFsearchis unchanged.for a pattern.IfTheywe remove the other kind of boundary triangle, suRobert Frost’s poems. Rumi, Basho, Rilke, the accessible to all. I’m a lover of the old-fashioned ought to discover that for all these figures, theauthors of the Psalms and Isaiah and Jeremiah letter who writes e-mails as if they were letters, following the number relationship of edges holds true: by V 2, + the F = E number + 2. of faces by 1, and the number of vertices byand The Song We of can Songs obtain and Ecclesiastes a similar and result the for but any I don’t polyhedral much like instant angle. messaging The new because polyhedron In unchanged, the will complete have This cube, a new process the face relationship with can be the holds continued until one triangle remains.Book of Job, same but number what about of songwriters, vertices a as great edges. it interrupts Since we my writing lose one day vertex and sometimes but gain what one true face, as: 8 there + 6 = 12 is + no 2. change in theinfluence me, the rural blues singers Robert comes in is drivel and distracts one from importantwork. But maybe there will be a resurgence trihedral angle of the polyhedron (i.e. a cubeIf we pass a plane cutting all the edges of aJohnson andexpressionSon HouseVand- ELightning+ F.Hopkinsand Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan and Lucinda of haiku because text messages must be brief and here), we separate one of the vertices from theWilliams and Patti Griffin. As I often say, poetry e-mails usually are. Anything that stresses compressionrest of the polyhedron. But, in the process, weand song We are kissing know cousins, the Euler and one Formula mission I applies tocan’ta tetrahedronbe all bad, as(along“cutasoffclichépyramid”:gets add V to the + F polyhedron = E + 21 here face, 3 is edges, and 3 newhave as IPL 4 + is to 4 = reunite 6 + poetry 2). From and song, the poetry above argument, burned out! Nothing, we can no conclude kind of technological that it applies vertices. to any If polyhedron V is increased that by 2, can F increased be byand music, derived which are by in effect passing one but a plane have been that cuts development off a vertex or trend, of can a eliminate tetrahedron the life a force finite 1, number and E increased of times. by 3, However, then V ‐ E + we F remainsseparated by the academy, a bad mistake. that poetry is. If a government tries to ban poetry, unchanged.Poetrywouldin Schools:likeI wouldit to applytell themtotoallrelaxsimpleit goespolyhedrons.underground andInflourishes.the proof,#we need toThatshowis,thatV + Fin=regardE + 2 =to(8the+ 2)value+ (6 +of1) =the expression V - E + F, any polyhedron agrees with the tetrahedron. To (12 do + 3) this + 2. we need to discuss a newbranch of mathematics called topology.We can obtain a similar result for any polyhedralangle. The new polyhedron will have a newWalter Bargen has published thirteen booksWalter Barganof poetry and two chapbooks of poetry. His four face with the same number of vertices as edges.Topology continued is a very from general page 25 type most of geometry. recent books Establishment are, The Feast (BkMk of Euler's Press- Formula Since we lose is a one topological vertex but gain problem. one face, thereUMKC, 2004), which was awarded the 2005 is no change in expression V ‐ E + F.Two figures are topologically equivalent if one can be made to coincide with the other by distortion,the better they will be at taking control of William Rockhill Nelson Award, Remedies for We know the Euler Formula applies to a tetrahedronand The a (a single doughnut “cut off triangle pyramid”: are topologically has V + 3 F = vertices, E + 2 here 3 edges, The single and 1 triangle face. Hence, has 3 vertices, V - E 3 + edges, F = 1. Constheir own shrinking, narratives and stretching, less susceptible or bending, to Vertigo but not (WordTech by cutting Communications, or tearing. A 2006), teacupdemagoguery. equivalent. Poetry is The an excellent hole in medium the doughnut West of becomes West (Timberline the inside Press, of the 2007), handle of is 4 the + 4 = 6 + 2). From the above argument, we and 1 face. Hence, V ‐ E + F = 1. Consequently,the teacup. plane figure Have obtained students from give the polyhedron by distortion. Since one face had befor stories and the sharing of stories.Theban Traffic (WordTech Communications, can conclude that it applies to any polyhedronother examples of topologically equivalent objects.V ‐ E + F =1 in the plane figure obtained fromPoetry’s Future: I think the future of poetryis strong and growing stronger. More peo-(BkMk Press-UMKC 2009). His poems have off a vertex of a tetrahedron a finite number of been eliminated, we conclude that for the polyhe-2008), Days Like This Are Necessary that conclude can be derived that by for passing the polyhedrona plane that cuts the polyhedron by distortion. Since one face hadple are writing and reading poetry than ever appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry times. V - However, E + F = we 2 would like it to apply to all dron V ‐ E + F = 2Topology has been called “rubber-sheet geometry.” If a face of a polyhedron is removed, the remainingbefore. The role of a Poet Laureate is to share East, River Styx, Seattle Review, and New simple polyhedrons. In the proof, we need to This procedure applies to any simple polyhe-his or her figure enthusiasms is topologically for poetry equivalent with the Letters. to a region He was of the a winner plane. of We the can Chester deform H. show the This figure that procedure in regard until to it the applies stretches value of to the flat any expression on simple apolyhedron, even if it is even not convex. if it is Can not you convex. see why Can yougoal of bringing plane. The poetry resulting back into figure the public does Jones not have Foundation the same prize shape in 1997, or size, a National but its V boundaries ‐ applied E + F, any to polyhedron are a nonsimple preserved. agrees with polyhedron? Edges the tetrahedron..will it cannot be applied to a nonsimple polyhedron?discourse. With 40-plus state Poet Laureates Endowment for the Art Fellowship in 1991,become sides of polygonal regions. There will be the same number of edgesToanddo thisverticeswe needintothediscussplanea newfigurebranch An alternate to the approach of distortingand a national Poet Laureate, I believe that and the William Rockhill Nelson Award in of mathematics called topology.the polyhedron to a plane after a face has beenthis is happening as in the more polyhedron. quickly than Each anyone face of 2005. the He polyhedron, was appointed except to be the first one Poet that wasAnTopology removed,alternateis a very willto thegeneral be approachpolygonalof distorting the polyhedron to a plane after a face hatype of geometry. eliminated can be named “shrinking a face to aexpected, region that is, in if my the experience plane. Each similar polygon to Laureate not a triangle of Missouri can (2008-2009). be cut into triangles, http:// Establishment ornamedtriangular"shrinkingof Euler’s regions,a faceFormula by is drawingto a point." If a face is replaced by a point, we lose the na topological point.” If a face is replaced by a point, we losethe otherdiagonals.Laureates. #Each time a diagonal www.walterbargen.comis drawn, we increase the number of edges problem. verticesby 1 Two butof figures wethealsoface, are topologically increaseand wethelose equivalentif one can be made to coincide with the other face, and we lose a face and gain a vertex (thea face the and n edges gain of a the vertex face and (the point n vertices that of replaces the thnumber of faces by 1. Hence, the value of V - E + F is undisturbed.V - E + F unchanged. This process can be continued until only 4 faces remain. Thby distortion, shrinking, stretching, or bending, point that replaces the face). This leaves V ‐ E +same value for V - E + F as does a tetrahedron. The tetrahedron has 4 faces, 4 vertSurviving Cancergram for Women Faculty Affairs.but not by cutting or tearing. A teacup and a F unchanged. This process can be continued untilLiberman is not above using the “cancer card” doughnut 4 - 6 are + 4 topologically = 2. equivalent. The hole only 4 faces remain. Then any polyhedron has thecontinued from page 22to score a dinner reservation at a hard-to-getintoManhattan restaurant, or snagging a cab of thein the doughnut becomes the inside of the handle same value for V ‐ E + F as does a tetrahedron.when she returned to the “doctorr side of theThisteacup.topicHavewillstudentsgivegivestudentsother examplesa widelyTheenrichedtetrahedronoutlookhas 4 faces,into geometric4 vertices, andshapes6in thtreatment room.when needed.of topologically equivalent objects.edges: 4 ‐ 6 + 4 = 2.The memoir unfolds through a series of What’s admirable is how Liberman chooses Topology has been called “rubber‐sheet geometry.”Dr. If Alfred a face of Posamentier a polyhedron is is removed, professor the emeritus outlook into of geometric mathematics shapes in three education dimensions. and formeThis topic will give students a widely enrichede-mails, mostly to Liberman’s close friend, Jen, to continue to live — attending theater with herwho is about to deliver her second child, but also teenage daughter, planning a surprise 50th birthdayparty for her beloved husband, helping her a region of a plane. We can deform the figure mathematics education and former dean of theremainingeducationfigureatisCitytopologicallyCollegeequivalentof NewtoYork,Dr.authorAlfred Posamentierof over 45isMathematicsprofessor emeritusbooks,ofinclto colleagues, other friends, family and physicians.Some of the entries, concerning the specificsof Liberman’s treatment, may not interest a powerful reminder that, as Liberman writes, figure 2003), does not and have The the Fabulous same shape Fibonacci or size, but Numbers author of over (Prometheus, 45 Mathematics 2007), books, and includ-member ofson navigate the college admissions process. It’s until Amazements it stretches flat and on a Surprises plane. The (Prometheus, resulting school2009)of educationMathatWondersCity CollegetoofInspireNew York,Teacherevery reader; more accessible, and often charming,are Liberman’s descriptions of hat shopping, ual day,” or “savor celebrations. It’s not all about sides of polygonal regions. There will be the (Prometheus, 2009) Math Wonders to Inspire“You have to create your magic in each individ-its Mathematics boundaries are preserved. Standards Edges Committee.will become ing: Mathematical Amazements and Surprisesexulting in a delivery of dozens of pink balloons, the cancer!” What might have sounded trite, in a same number of edges and vertices in the plane Teachers and Students (ASCD, 2003), and Theor celebrating the accomplishments of younger different context, instead is genuinely uplifting, figure as in the polyhedron. Each face of the Fabulous Fibonacci Numbers (Prometheus,women physicians and scientists whom she’d and makes the reader root for Liberman’s successfuloutcome. #will be a polygonal region in the plane. Each Mathematics Standardspolyhedron, except the one that was removed, 2007), and member of the New York Statementored through her role as director of the pro-Committee.

30 Movie & Theater reviews ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MAR/APR 2010Avatar: Amazing Movie MagicWETAMOVIE REVIEWsToe-to-Toe: A NontraditionalInterracial StoryStrand ReleasingNeytiri (Zoe Saldana, right) teaches Jake (Sam Worthington) the skills he’ll need tosurvive on Pandora.By Jan Aaronhe much-ballyhooed sci-fi spectacularAvatar has arrived, and it is astunning achievement. It is not takenfrom a novel or old mythology, buta dream in the mind of James Cameron (bestremembered for Titanic), and the American tragedyin Vietnam is recalled by his story.Cameron wrote this story many years ago,when the technology to make it did not exist, sohe was now finally able to set about creating itwith masterminds of the tech world. Avatar hasbrought motion-capture technology to its zenith:Nearly every view of the film’s gorgeous imaginarymoon, “Pandora,” populated by the blueskinnedNa’vi, light-years away from decimatedEarth, is computer‐generated.The heartbeat of Avatar is a lovely, believablelove story, which the technological wizardryserves to enhance. It takes place in the year 2154,three decades after a multinational corporationhas established a mining base at Pandora.One corporate executive refers to the locals as“blue monkeys,” and forces the conglomerateto engage in Pandora by proxy. Since theatmosphere is poisonous to humans, they dwellin oxygen-soaked cocoons, but they move outinto mines and to confront Pandora’s creaturesin heavy armor and robotics. In addition, a smallgroup of scientists is pioneering a new technologyin which a remotely-controlled biologicalbody with mixed human and native Na’vi DNA,called an “avatar,” is able to walk freely onPandora without suffering from the perils of thepoisonous atmosphere.Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegicMarine veteran, takes his slain twin brother’splace in the avatar program as a sort of guineapig in the hopes that his observations of Pandoraand its population might create a more peacefulplanet — or a more profitable scenario forthe corporation. Without any coaching, Jakemust somehow attach his consciousness to histwin brother’s avatar, which was grown fromhis twin’s identical DNA. Jake manages to beadopted by a powerful Na’vi named Neytiri (thebeautiful Zoe Saldana), and she teaches him howto live in the forest, speak the local language, andthe laws of nature.Cameron gives Jake a paradise to play in — allbrilliantly brought to life in 3-D. It’s a makebelieveworld perhaps influenced by Cameron’sknowledge of deep sea diving, a dreamscape offlying dragons, magical plants, weird crawlies,floating flowers and wild dogs, all comprising arain forest with magical, spiritual properties. Thefilm’s cast also features Sigourney Weaver ashead of the Avatar Program, and Stephen Langas Col. Miles Quaritch, the corporation’s unscrupuloushead of security. #Louisa Krause (left) and Sonequa Martin (right) in Toe to ToeBy Jan Aaronoe-to-Toe, opening in late February2010, steps over the typical teenracial themes to bring a fresh perspectiveto the story. Sociologiststell us that interracial friendships often end byage 14, but in this hard-hitting and engagingfilm from director-screenwriter-producer EmilyAbt, a friendship is forged between two highschool seniors in Washington, D.C., on their prepschool’s lacrosse team.They come from opposite ends of the socioeconomicspectrum. Tosha (Sonequa Martin) lives inpoverty in the city’s troubled Anacostia area. Sheis black and wants to rise above her surroundingsby doing things that smash racial stereotypes, likeplaying a sport black girls don’t often participatein, and going to Princeton, a school that notmany black students from the inner-city dreamof attending. Jesse (Louisa Krause), from upscaleBethesda, Md., is ignored by her workaholicmother, Claire (Ally Walker), and is essentiallywithout a family. Jesse is an exhibitionist whowill do anything to get attention. Through Jesse,the film gets frank about teenage sexuality andSTDs, a growing teenage health crisis, and directorAbt hopes the film will spawn more discussionon the topic.This interesting story also reverses the usualnotion by trouncing certain racial cliches. Here,the inner-city black girl gets nurturing guidancefrom her grandmother (Leslie Uggams), while therich girl grows up on her own.Tosha is bullied by her neighborhood peers forbeing so studious. The girls’ friendship is strainedwhen they both develop an interest in Rashid,(Silvestre Rasuk), a handsome Lebanese deejay,whose presence introduces Muslim customs to thefilm. Things unravel further when the girls fighton the lacrosse field, and racial slurs appear onTosha’s locker soon after. Jesse is expelled fromschool and spirals deeper into her self-destructivebehavior. In yet another twist, Tosha bails her outand they become each other’s salvation. #Barnard College Ribbon Cutting at Diana CenterBy Dr. Pola RosenAs a Barnard alumna, I proudlyattended the opening of the DianaCenter, named for the generous benefactor,Diana Vagelos. Roy Vagelos,former president and CEO of Merckand Diana Vagelos and their childrenattended the ceremony. PresidentDebra Spar as well as trustee AnnaQuindlen spoke eloquently of thegreat benefit to Barnard women andfaculty the new building would bring.And what’s in a name? Diana, theRoman goddess of hunting as wellas protector of the weak exemplifiesa blend of compassion and strength,Trustees, alumnae and faculty listenintently against the backdrop of theas does our patron, Diana Vagelos.President Debra Spar gleaming new buildingBenefactor Diana Vagelos

MAR/APR 2010 ■ For Parents, Educators & Students ■ Education updatePutting Old Heads OnYoung ShouldersBy Dean Jerrold RossSchool Closingscontinued from page 9Bronx, survived the ax due to the community’soutcry to keep it open. However, the city stillplans to phase out the architectural engineeringand building construction technology programs.Therefore, students will only be able to enroll inthe automotive technology program. Also, the cityis proposing to move Bronx Haven High School,an existing transfer school that serves studentsin grades 9-12, and the New York City CharterHigh School for Architecture, Engineering andConstruction Industries into Alfred E. Smith’scampus. East New York Preparatory School willbe the fourth charter school to close. The schoolopened in 2006 and has been under scrutinyfor financial mismanagement, shortening theirschool days, and its low performing students.At the meeting, council member and a longtimeadvocate of New York City public schools RobertJackson addressed the closures. “This leads ourstudents to the prison pipeline,” he said. Mr.A lot is being said these days aboutassessing the competence of teachers,especially those just entering theteaching profession. The papers aswell as our own professional journalsare filled with ways in which the city,state, and federal government plan togo about it. In similar fashion, teachereducation institutions, responding tothe call for such assessment, are collectingevidence that their recent graduates, generallyone to five years out, meet a high level ofsuch competence. While this may sound right,the problem is that those creating the means bywhich teachers will be judged are generally mucholder and (hopefully, although not always thecase) have acquired a set of skills and knowledgebased on years of seasoning. Looking back overtheir shoulders at new teachers often causes themto lose sight of the years it takes to grow from anovice teacher to an expert professional.They expect that all teachers will be able tomanage classrooms, some as diverse as includingchildren who speak anywhere from two totwenty-five different languages, and whose culturalbackground has not included exposure toAmerican, or even Western, precepts.They expect these teachers to know how tostem violence that sometimes erupts in theirclassrooms (this after two hours of preparationmandated by the state). They expect that teacherswill possess a high level of understanding ofsubject matter content related to their own fields,not to mention a wide knowledge of the sciences,humanities, the arts, and the social sciences, inaddition to pedagogy. They assume that teachersare aware of the latest literature pertaining tocurrent issues in education, obtained through themedia and the Internet, over and above traditionalbooks and journals.They assert that teachers should know the differencebetween “No Child Left Behind” and“Race to the Top,” and be aware, at the sametime, that educational slogans change every fiveyears or so. They assume that a teacher cannotbe without knowledge of the politics both intheir schools and their school systems and, inorder that they can hope to improve workingconditions, be immersed in collective negotiatingprocedures.Increasingly, it is a mandate that teachers befamiliar with the handling of data to follow theprogress of their students and, hopefully, therenewal of their own teaching strategies. It isaxiomatic that they also know both state and localstandards in each of the disciplines they teach (atthe elementary school level, as we know, theyare numerous).From the start they must be adept at workingwith parents and other stakeholders in their communities.They need to understandhow these and other forces evaluateschools. They should understandthe school report card, with all itsimplications not only for teachingbut for the value of real estate intheir neighborhoods. This is criticalto their own survival, even as thereport cards themselves have beensubject to intense criticism by thosewho have knowledge of psychometricsand, might I add, also possess a fair amountof common sense.All of this must precede, or at least be congruentwith, knowledge of children (we finally arrive atthinking about the children they teach). Teachersmust be expert practitioners dealing with childrenwho have special needs, ranging from cognitiveor emotional difficulties to those whose achievementis the product of giftedness or extraordinarytalent. Let’s not forget, as well, that teachers mustnavigate among children in classes numbering ashigh as 30 or more, must be skilled in methodsof differentiated instruction (in plain English,must be able to teach children of vastly differentabilities, levels of attention, and widely rangingphysical needs, especially in middle schools). Adeep knowledge of the developmental level ofchildren at each grade level is also imperative,particularly if the children, including those whohave just immigrated to this country, are to meetthe requirements of the grade to which they havebeen assigned. It would be nice, as well, if teacherswere able to evaluate research impinging onwhat and how they teach in order to inform theirteaching and give them the tools by which theycan evaluate, intelligently, both the curriculumand their students’ progress.Naturally, assessment of teachers, based onthese criteria, is left to those with wiser and experiencedheads (we hope). The problem is that theassessors forget how long it took them to acquireall of the above. Yet they expect that young headshave been able to assimilate all of these skills andcompetencies, if not more, within even a periodas long as five years.So we are feverishly trying to put old heads onyoung shoulders. That burden, in a professionwhich is as much an art as a science, is neitherfair nor wise, neither just nor sensible. When Iwas a beginning teacher I enjoyed the companyand the commiserations of those who were myage. I also marveled at the expertise of the olderteachers who had continued to grow, but whowere fortunate enough to have had the years ofexperience necessary to meet the challenges ofour profession. I’ve never forgotten those days,those teachers, and those truths. Others have. #Jerrold Ross is dean of The School of Educationat St. John’s University.Jackson’s testimony at the hearing questioned thefairness of closing schools whose demographicsconsist largely of high-needs students whoare from low-income households or are homeless.Furthermore, he stated that the Departmentof Education failed to provide the necessaryresources to these students. “The DOE has notrevealed what, if any, steps were taken to helpat-risk schools and did not adequately consultwith the school communities before markingthem for closure,” said Mr. Jackson in his writtentestimony.“I’m here in solidarity [with] all the teachers,students and administration who have been targetedthis month,” said Lisa Donlan, presidentof the District 1 Community Education Councilin Manhattan. Many students from the schoolsslated to close attended the meeting to showtheir support. “I will be upset, sad, miserable,because it’s not just a school; it’s a family,” saidJennifer Bamba, ninth-grade student from GlobalEnterprise, which is scheduled to begin its phaseoutprocess this spring.Put Children First inCharter School DebateBy Ernest LoganThe charter school conversationthat intelligent adults were havinghas turned into a shouting match thatdoesn’t put children first. It’s time tomodulate our voices and communicateas grown-ups. We have someanti-charter people screaming abouthow charter school advocates areprofiteers who want to leech all themoney from traditional public schools,bust unions and privatize all education. We havesome pro-charter people crowing that charterschools are a panacea for all our educational woesand have a divine right to run roughshod overtraditional public schools.None of these extreme views are helpful.Voices have risen to a hysterical pitch as statescompete for Race to the Top funds. But inNew York state, we have a thoughtful Board ofRegents chancellor, Merryl Tisch, who advocatesraising the charter school cap even though NewYork already has more than any other state. Onthe federal level, we have Education SecretaryArne Duncan, who supports charter schools whilecarefully scrutinizing the mixed data and pledgingto shut those that fail.These public officials are hardly running off therails. CSA welcomes charter schools as a supplementto traditional public schools, a sound way ofincreasing choice, and an additional spur to innovationand competition. Charter schools are publicschools that are relieved of some constraintsso that innovative methods may be tested to reachspecific academic goals. Because they receivepublic money, they are prohibited from chargingtuition and from rejecting students on the basis ofacademic achievement, special needs, or Englishlanguage proficiency. The best of these schoolsoften grow from community roots, nurtured bydevoted school leaders, teachers and parents whowant to try new ways of educating their youngsters.All charter schools may be unionized so thatadministrators and teachers enjoy fair wages andbenefits. So far, CSA represents school leadersat nine New York City charter schools, most ofwhich sprang from the community. Schools thatare not community-based, started by for-profitcompanies, are sometimes in the game to grabeasy money from the public till. For-profit charterschools are a contradiction in terms and shouldbe discouraged.Charter schools that honor the spirit of the NewYork State Charter Schools Act of 1998 and havestudent populations that mirror the demographicsof their communities should have financialparity with traditional public schools in the samedistrict. Several analyses indicate that chartersin New York City, and perhaps in the rest of thestate, do not enjoy this parity. The charter schoolfunding formula is complex and flawed, and thestate should correct it. Charter schools receiveless money per student than traditional districtschools; they receive no facilities aid. BecauseThe Panel for Educational Policy is comprisedof 13 members. The mayor appoints eight panelists,leaving the five borough presidents to eachappoint a member.The city has phased out 90 schools since MayorBloomberg took control of the New York Citypublic school system in 2002. Larger schoolshave mainly been affected by these closures.Smaller schools and charters have replaced mostof the large high schools. “The reformationmovement in New York City high schools isabout closing them,” said Michael Mulgrew,president of the United Federation of Teachers.Mr. Mulgrew threatened to sue the city if theprocess for these closures were not legal. “I willassure you, we will be seeing you in court,” headded. Just days after the meeting the UFT andthe NAACP filed a suit against the Departmentof Education.“How can you possibly be the only ones to31of how the formula works, which isbased on what district schools spenttwo years prior, charter schools facea time lag in terms of funding. Thisis especially problematic for unionizedschools, where pension and salariesare based on current contracts.Another funding freeze will financiallycripple the ability of successfulcharter schools to meet the promiseof the 1998 act to “increase learningopportunities for all students, with special emphasison expanded learning experiences for studentswho are at risk of academic failure.”At the same time, some charter schools enjoyoutrageously unfair advantages. Some districts,including New York City, provide favorable treatmentto some charters even though they breakrules and make a charade of accepting studentsunconditionally. These charters actively recruitpromising students, skimming them from traditionalpublic schools. When the time comesfor city and state tests, special needs, ELL andunderachieving students who “slipped in” areforcefully steered back to traditional neighborhoodschools, often too late for per-pupil fundingto accompany them. Such charter schools enjoyartificially inflated test scores, whereas the traditionalschools that take in the more challengingstudents at the last moment suffer artificiallylower scores. Because charter schools are a hottrend, critics suspect that they receive preferentialtreatment in terms of facilities and accountabilitymeasures. Even though research indicates disappointinglymixed results for charter schools,a school system like New York’s occasionallyseems more than willing to lace public schoolswith boutique charters and provide them with thebest space in the building, the bulk of supplies,and a ton of favorable publicity. This trend leaveswhole communities fearing that the city will closesome of their traditional schools to make way forunproven charters. According to The New YorkTimes, quoting data from Stanford University’sCenter for Research on Education outcomes, “37percent of charter schools [offer] a worse educationthan children would have received had theyremained in traditional schools.” In the end, thecharter school mania that presupposes superiorityundermines the reputation of all charters.High-quality charter schools are playing animportant role in improving our nation’s educationsystem. Toxic rhetoric and partisan tactics,both pro and con, hurt everyone. Harping on thehigh-handed or shady practices of a few charterschool organizations encourages some publicofficials to treat all charters unfairly. And presumingthat charters are superior encourages otherpublic officials to overestimate their abilitiesto the detriment of all other schools. The onlyabsolute truism is that we owe our children all thegood schools we can give them. #Ernest Logan is president of the Council ofSchool Supervisors and Administrators.decide what schools remain open,” said ScottStringer, Manhattan borough president. Schoolclosures are determined by several factors.Every year, the state releases a Schools UnderRegistration Review (SURR) list, identifying theschools that are furthest from meeting state standardsand face the possibility of closure if theydo not make improvements required by the stateeducation commissioner, David Steiner.Mr. Steiner announced this year’s removal of14 schools from the SURR list as well as theaddition of four schools to the list. His statementalso announced that starting next year, graduationrates will be added to the SURR accountabilitycriteria; schools will be identified if theircombined English language arts and mathematicsperformance places them among the lowestachieving in the state. These changes will resultin an increase in the number of schools that willbe identified as SURR next year. #

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