Education Update - July 2002

JULY 2002 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ COLLEGES & GRADUATE SCHOOLS25An Ongoing Series of Interviews with Deans of EducationEDUCATION DEAN JERROLD ROSS HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTESBY JOAN BAUM, PH.D.If music be not only the food of love, asDuke Orsino proclaims in Twelfth Night, butalso the sustenance of culture and civilization,as Dr. Jerrold Ross believes, then we must all“play on.” To Dr. Ross, who has a Ph.D. inMusic Education from NYU and is Dean of theSchool of Education at St. John’s University,educational improvement is music to his ears.How do the arts fit in? “Music is the mostabstract of the arts,” requiring a high developmentof thinking,” he says. It commands attentionfor content and “is not dependent on whatsomeone else says.” In fact, the dean is supportiveof all the arts and concerned that education,already “badly hurt” by a diminution ofsupport from the Annenberg Foundation, maybe cut to the detriment of the arts. Next year,when the new budget kicks in, category allocationsper capita will be obvious. The arts arecentral to the education program at St. John’s,he points out, “a complete turnaround” fromyears ago. Every undergraduate now is giveninstruction in performance, and in select coursesgets to interact with faculty from the LincolnCenter Institute.Of course, as dean of the School ofEducation at St. John’s, a post he has held forseven years, not to mention as a member of theboard of the Teacher Education AccreditationCouncil, a nation-wide higher education group,Dr. Ross has wide vision and interests. Senioramong education school deans, he heads agroup committed to the idea that higher education,public and private, must be involved inserving the schools of the city. Soon after heconceived of such an association, he met withTouro Collegewww.touro.eduDon't miss a golden opportunity!The TIME is now to join us at TOURO where we arecommitted to academic excellence and personal attention!Associate & Bachelor Degrees• BUSINESS MANAGEMENT• COMPUTER SCIENCE• HUMAN SERVICES• HEALTH SCIENCES• EDUCATION• LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCESESL CLASSESCERTIFICATE PROGRAMSGraduate & Professional Programs (212)463-0400 ext.500Financial aid for qualified studentsDay and evening classesOnline courses availableTransfer students welcomeJob Placement assistance for all graduates(718)265-6534 ext.1003BROOKLYNBensonhurst, Brighton, Boro Park, Starrett City,Sunset Park, Kings HighwayOther sites are located in Manhattan, Queens, BronxMEDICAL CODING & BILLING CERTIFICATE(718)871-7292CISCO & MICROSOFT NETWORKING CERTIFICATES(718)265-6534 ext.1002MICROCOMPUTER SUPPORT TECHNICIAN(718)871-7292Open HouseJuly 24at 6:30 p.m.Deputy Mayor Dennis Wolcott and foundstrong support. “Everyone wanted to jump in,”and so a first and private meeting was held onJuly 2, which will be followed in the near futureby one open to the public.“Every university dean ofeducation is on board,” notto mention CUNYChancellor MatthewGoldstein. The days ofpolitical competition seemto be over, Dean Ross suggests.There is united feelingthat higher educationmust have “more voice” inhelping the city’s schools.Certainly, Dr. Ross will beplaying a major role in recommendingpolicies andprocedures, as will St.John’s.The St. John’s programalready boasts impressive figures, including anundergraduate retention rate of 80-90 percent.Even before students are graduated, Dean Rosspoints out, they are offered jobs “sight unseen,”such is the program’s reputation. Surprisingly,it is a large program – 2500 students on threecampuses – Queens, Staten Island and Oakdale,LI. The dean has no problem meeting the needsof affiliated districts —14 in Brooklyn and 24and 27 in Queens. He does, however, concedethat many St. John’s graduates wind up in lesschallenging schools, a problem that will beaddressed, he hopes, by the Teaching Fellowsprogram. In this area, too, St. John’s can takepride. Of 44 Teaching Fellows this year, theOpen HouseJuly 11at 6:30 p.m.PHYSICAL & OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANTPROGRAMS (718)265-6534ext.1003dean points to an almost 100 percent retentionrate and a designation by the state as a “model”program. He is particularly pleased with thisachievement, given the fact that private universitiesreceive only 50percent of their fundingfrom governmentand so must subsidizethe rest, a “real problem”for some privateinstitutions. Next yearthe number ofTeaching Fellows atSt. John’s will be 70.What is it that St.John’s seems to doparticularly well? Thedean, modest, direct,reflective, quietly suggeststhat the answerlies in “close collaboration”between the universityand the district principals, an associationthat focuses on mentoring at both the universitylevel and the receiving schools. St.John’s teachers work on research projects in theschools, not from a distance. They bring backto the classroom “reality,” such as the challengesfacing those who are teaching in a boroughthat has been called the “epicenter ofimmigration in the United States.” St. John’shas a 132-year-old “mission to invest in newpopulations,” especially where others havebeen slow to do so. St. John’s, the dean adds, isalso a “caring” university, where educationmajors are more than social security numbersor application test scores. “Economically poor”Jerrold RossSTUDIES IN EDUCATIONBACHELOR OF ARTS MASTER OF ARTS MASTER OF EDUCATIONCERTIFICATE OF ADVANCED GRADUATE STUDYWhatdo you wantto study?Individualized StudyBrief ResidenciesLicensure Optionsis not automatically equated with academicallyand socially disadvantaged, though for surethere are reasons to make such connections.Instead, St. John’s accepts education majorswho, despite various hardships, manifest acuriosity for learning and a commitment toteaching. No fall-back majors need apply.Are there overall education goals the deanwould like to see realized some day? Yes.Nation-wide standardization in certification,though he knows, of course, that state and localpolitics are likely to override common cause.He looks to a time when the most experiencedteachers go into the neediest schools; whenthere are more principals; when principals aregiven “more authority”; and when principalsare better educated about how to deal with localcommunities, parents, the media, and socialagencies. He is pleased that the New York StateRegents mandated professional development(175 hours of continuing education after 5years of certification) and points to courses inthe St. John’s curriculum that respond to theneed for the social education of principals.Dr. Jerrold Ross, who in 1965 was theyoungest college president in the nation (NewYork College of Music); who when he wasDirector of Town Hall was described by TheNew York Times as a “Man Full of Ideas”; whowas the country’s first government-fundeddirector of a research center for the arts in education– feels hopeful that as the newly formedorganization of university deans of educationproceeds with its work the city’s schools aregoing to benefit. As they say in music, let thepace and mood be allegro.#36 College Street, Montpelier, VT 05602 • 800.336.6794vcadmis@tui.edu • www.tui.edu/vermontcollege