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Bank
Street Commencement Explores Ways to Improve Education
by
Tom Kertes
Everything
at the Bank Street College of Education originates from the belief
that education is the most essential process in people’s lives
and has an unmatched impact on our society as a whole.
The lineup of speakers at the school’s commencement ceremonies,
who all received honorary doctorates, reflected this belief. They
covered the entire spectrum of education: a writer who has enriched
lives with her books, a teacher famous for getting her point across
in the most meaningful way, and a politician who’s had the integrity
and know-how to improve education, and provide quality instruction
for the poor and disadvantaged throughout his career.
To the 258 graduates and their friends and family in attendance,
Richard W. Riley, former Secretary of Education, asserted that
“we are in a great time of transition in American education.”
“The
only way to ever give up the tyranny of low expectations is to
raise the bar for all of our children,” he said. “We are, in fact,
at the moment of truth in defining the standards movement in America.
We must do it correctly, or all our effort in the last decade
and a half will be for naught.”
Raising standards, however, is much more than just one make-or-break
test. “It’s making sure that every child has the opportunity to
attend a quality pre-K class, that every child is reading well
by the end of the third grade, that every high school in America
is offering Advanced Placement classes and the arts, and making
sure that all of our children can speak English well and be fluent
in at least one other language,” he explained. “I believe—and
I believe this very strongly—that a quality education should be
the basic civil right of every child here in America in this 21st
Century.”
Joan W. Blos, a children’s book author and a member of the Bank
Street Writers Workshop during the 1950s and ‘60s, discussed the
chief concerns of every artist in this age of commercialization:
How to continue writing “wonderful, profound and educational children’s
books in an era when everyone is a customer.” And how to “take
your time” in your art when children are inundated with the questionable
values of immediate gratification. Blos helped to conceptualize
and write the Bank Street Readers, the first-ever, multicultural
texts for and about children in urban settings.
“Reading
aloud to students should receive a new emphasis in schools,” she
said. ”It gives students and teachers a chance for that extra
layer of understanding. Through books we reflect on the fundamental
question ‘what does it mean to be human?’ Books stretch our imagination
and enrich our life experience.”
Bank Street graduate Dr. Suzanne Carothers, now a Professor of
Education at New York University, talked about “teaching summer
school to the neighborhood kids in my North Carolina backyard
when I was 9 years old.”
One of the nation’s leading authorities in the area of early childhood
education, Carothers was clearly born to be a teacher. “I am a
teacher,” she emphasized, and re-emphasized. “I am most passionate
about my work. To me, there can be no greater compliment in the
English language than when someone calls you his or her teacher.”
“The
heart and soul of a quality education is good teaching,” said
Riley. “But teachers can’t do it alone. We will raise achievement
levels only if we involve the entire community. In fact, our schools
need to be seen as centers of community. Helping children reach
new high standards must be a community-wide effort that involves
parents, mentors, tutors, and senior citizens as well.”
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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