SPECIAL EDUCATION
Blackman Lecture at Teachers College
by Adam B. Kushner
If it was just another dreary and wet pre-spring day
outdoors, the scene inside Grace Dodge Hall at Columbia
University’s
Teacher’s College was something else entirely. READ
MORE
Hooray for the ERBs
by Sloan Roberts
At two -years old, I noted my daughter’s somewhat scattered
language that was not in keeping with her other skills. READ
MORE
An 11 Year-Old Boy Wonder Wins State Science Fair
Andrew Hsu, age 11, became the youngest winner ever of the
grand prize in the 46th annual Washington State Science
and Engineering Fair. READ
MORE
Resources, Referrals and Help
Parents of learning disabled children often need information
on resources. READ
MORE
TEACHERS OF THE MONTH
Outstanding
Teachers of the Month - May 2003
READ
MORE
FEATURED STORIES
Mothers Day
A Tribute To Grandmothers on Mother's Day READ
MORE
Multi-Generational Story-Telling Program Celebrating Mother
On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11, the Eldridge Street
Project will host a multi-generational storytelling program
celebrating the extraordinary efforts and sacrifices made
by immigrant women on behalf of their families— all
over America and specifically on the Lower East Side. READ
MORE
Grandparents
Council at NYU Child Study Center
READ
MORE
SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS
European Teachers Take On Challenge
of NY Schools
by Sybil Maimin
“Everything after this will be a walk in the park,” exclaimed
Karin Hammer, a bright-eyed woman from Vienna, Austria who
teaches at Alfred E. Smith Vocational High School in the
South Bronx as part of an educational exchange program sponsored
by the Austrian-American Educational Cooperation Association
(AAECA). READ
MORE
The Need For Financial Literacy
by William C. Thompson, Jr.
As Comptroller, my primary responsibility is overseeing
how the City manages its finances. READ
MORE
Take Your Daughter To Work: A Priceless Experience
by Pola Rosen, Ed.D.
Recently, the waiting room in Dr. Richard J. Mackool’s
office was crowded with patients requiring procedures for
eye ailments ranging from cataract removal and lens implants
to lasik and treatment for conjunctivitis. READ
MORE
Secrets at Tweed
by Jill Levy
A year ago I testified before the New York State Senate Majority
Task Force on New York City School Governance. READ
MORE
Mothers Are Special People
by Matilda Raffa Cuomo
From the beginning a mother knows that satisfying her child
needs to be her number one priority, that nurturing, caring
and parenting are essential for the child’s development.
READ
MORE
Helen Lieberman: Education Reformer in South Africa
by Sybil Maimin
With the end of apartheid in South Africa, a new war—one
against AIDS, HIV, poverty, and an unprepared society—is
being waged, explains Helen Lieberman, legendary, long-time
activist in the country’s black townships. READ
MORE
President’s
Advisory Commission Reports
on Education for Hispanic Americans
The President’s Advisory Commission on Educational
Excellence for Hispanic Americans released its final report
recently. READ
MORE
North Carolina
Outward Bound
Helps Parents & Teens Bridge
Generation Gap
Imagine addressing issues such as communication, personal
responsibility and conflict resolution while backpacking
and rock climbing in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
READ
MORE
Curriculum on Death Penalty
An award winning Internet-based curriculum on capital punishment
is offering educators the opportunity to take this timely
topic from the headlines of the evening news into their
classrooms. READ
MORE
Mayor Bloomberg Celebrates
Take Our Children To Work Day
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today hosted children at City
Hall for the second consecutive year to celebrate Take
Our Children to Work Day in the spirit of the Ms. Foundation
for Women. READ
MORE
Manhattan
Borough President’s
Cup Chess
Draws 250 Students
Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields and Chess-in-the-Schools
hosted a chess tournament recently at the Cathedral of St.
John the Divine for nearly 250 Manhattan borough elementary
and middle school students. READ
MORE
Take Your Child to Work at NY-Presbyterian Hospital
“Take Your Child to Work Day” at NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital showed children of healthcare professionals the day-to-day
functions performed by their parents at the hospital. READ
MORE
City Hall Academy Opens in Tweed Courthouse
City Hall Academy, a first-rate educational center at Department
of Education headquarters in the Tweed Courthouse, is open.
READ
MORE
COLLEGES
Presidents Series:
President David
Rhodes:
School of Visual Arts
by Jacob M. Appel
A visit to the office of David Rhodes is a crash-course
reminder that our lives have become increasingly oriented
to the visual... READ
MORE
Deans Series:
Dean Jon Snyder, Bank Street College
by Joan
Baum, Ph.D.
Talk about speed and interdisciplinary reach! It’s
been only a little over a year since Education Update caught
up with the then relatively new dean at the Graduate School
of the Bank Street College of Education, Jon Snyder, but
in this short period of time, the energetic administrator
has moved on three new initiatives... READ
MORE
Thoughts on Middle Level Education
by Jerrold Ross, Ph.D.
It is not often that faculty authorize a Dean to speak for
them, but I am representing the adolescent education faculty
and Department chairs of St. John’s University’s
School of Education to address one of the most critical
issues in American education today—what to do about
our middle schools... READ
MORE
New School Announces $7 Million Gift
from Sheila C. Johnson
New School University President Bob Kerrey and Parsons School
of Design Dean, H. Randolph Swearer, recently announced
the largest single gift in Parsons’ 107-year history...
READ
MORE
New Grants
This column is intended to help schools in a time of shrinking
budgets... READ
MORE
Marymount Manhattan College: Literary World pays Tribute
to Evan Hunter, aka Ed McBain
The Columbus Club was the setting for the March 12th Eighth
Anniversary celebration dinner of Marymount Manhattan College’s
renowned Writing Center... READ
MORE
Barnard Introduces Innovative Environmental Science Curriculum
to Eight Colleges
Barnard introduced its innovative, multimedia environmental
science curriculum Brownfield Action to eight colleges on
April 11-13 in a seminar aimed at helping other schools adopt
the program.
READ
MORE
Distinguished New Yorkers Honored At Marymount Manhattan
College
Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) will present the 2003 President’s
Medal to Dr. Stephen B. Colvin, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery
at New York University Medical Center and Kate McEnroe, President
of AMC Networks. READ
MORE
The Protein’s
in the Mail
A busy urban post office daily sorts thousands of letters
and parcels, guiding each to a particular mailbox somewhere
in the city.
READ
MORE
PARENT GUIDE
Are Parents Informed About School
Choice?
by Tom Kertes
The City Council Education Committee, chaired by Councilwoman
Eva Moskowitz, recently held a well-attended emergency
public meeting on the subject of school choice. READ
MORE
Post-Separation Divorce:
Facilitating Child Development
by Gary Direnfeld, MSW
Meaningful parental involvement provides for a lifelong relationship
with children. READ
MORE
Keeping Calm In Troubling Times
by Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
These are troubling times for all of us. READ
MORE
Celebrate
Everett Children’s Adventure
Garden’s
5th Birthday
The Everett Children’s Adventure Garden celebrates
five years of educating children, their families, and their
teachers with a wide range of fun and engaging programs and
exhibits. READ
MORE
McLaughlin
and Cuomo Protest Cuts
for Pre-K Education
A recent press conference with Assemblyman McLaughlin and
Matilda Cuomo denounced the Governor’s budget cuts
to pre-K and early childhood education. READ
MORE
MEDICAL UPDATE
The Barnard
Summit: Women and Health
by Kim Brown
Barnard College hosted a daylong forum on women’s
health trends worldwide, The Barnard Summit: Women and
Health. READ
MORE
NY Presbyterian Hospital Launches Science Education for
Teens
NewYork Presbyterian Hospital has joined forces with philanthropist
Eugene M. Lang to create a pilot program designed to both
foster academic success for low-income neighborhood youth
and to facilitate their entry into health careers. READ
MORE
LANGUAGES
Problems
with Standardized Testing
by Diane K. Trumbull
I have been haunted by some clearly wrong assumptions about
educating children in some local newspapers; but I decided
to write this only after I read a journalist quote that “standards-based
education reform assumes that every child should possess
a basic set of knowledge and that there is an objective
standard for judging whether a child has acquired that
knowledge.” READ
MORE
MUSEUMS
Lessons
from the Holocaust Launch Museum’s
10th Anniversary
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum begins its
10th anniversary with a special program recognizing people
representative of those whose lives have been deeply
affected by the Museum, and who use those lessons in
their work as they guide others. READ
MORE
The Studio Museum of Harlem
Public programs are presented in conjunction with exhibitions
on view and in tandem with various cultural conversations
that address concerns and ideas relevant to art and artists
of African descent. READ
MORE
BOOKS
Jonathan
Kozol’s Ordinary
Resurrections:
Children In The Years Of Hope
by Merri Rosenberg
Much has been made in recent months of the problem of
fiscal inequality in school spending. No matter who raises
the issue—parents,
educators, school reformers, or politicians—the concept
that spending $5,200 on a child in the South Bronx, while
a Great Neck child receives up to $18,000 on his education,
makes any sense is difficult to reconcile. READ
MORE
The Fight for City and Suburban Homes:
A Model For Successful
Community Action
by Anne Ashby Gilbert
(Coalition to
Save City & Suburban
Housing, $10)
As I write this column, I realize that it has been five years
since I began writing this column. So for this issue in the
way of celebration, I will feature some of my book reviews
from this period of time.
READ
MORE
Add Wonder And Inspiration To The
Life Of A Young Reader
With Biographies
by Selene S. Vasquez
PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHIES: AGES 6 THRU 10
“Just sign me up, Coach...And as sure as ‘Strike
Out’ is my middle name, I guarantee you’ll sell
lots of tickets. Folks are curious to see a girl play.” A
vivid biographical tribute to seventeen-year-old Alta Weiss,
first female pitcher for a semipro all-male team. READ
MORE
BUSINESS OF EDUCATION
Vendors
Address Widening Achievement Gap
by Matt Stein
Despite the billions of federal dollars that have been poured
into education in the U.S. since the enactment of the Elementary
and Secondary Act (ESEA), there is a still widening gap
between the achievement levels of students, which generally
occurs along the lines of socioeconomic status. READ
MORE
MUSIC, ART & DANCE
Teaching
Choral Music
by Joan Baum, Ph.D
The heavens may be “telling the glory of God,” as
Haydn declares in “The Creation,” but an inspired
delivery of that message depends upon voices on earth. READ
MORE
The Young
People’s Chorus
Of NY
by Stu Dunn
Education has many facets. One of the most interesting and
satisfying is the Young People’s Chorus of New York
(YPC). READ
MORE
Arts in Education
by Scott Noppe-Brandon
As Executive Director of Lincoln Center Institute, an arts
and education organization of Lincoln Center for the Performing
Arts, I appreciate this opportunity to invite, challenge
and promote dialogue among the many readers, print and
web-based, around issues pertinent to everyone involved
in education—teachers, school leaders, artists, arts
organizations, parents, community members and policy makers
of all ilks. READ
MORE
MOVIES AND THEATER
Kid-Friendly
Broadway Show A Year With Frog & Toad
by Jan Aaron
New at the Cort Theater, A Year With Frog and Toad is
a charming musical based on the books by the late Arnold
Lobel. READ
MORE
Terrific Latino Teens: Raising Victor Vargas
by Jan Aaron
Worth seeking out: Here’s a modest feature full of
heartfelt emotion and human foibles. Raising Victor Vargas
marks an impressive writer-director debut for Peter Sollett.
READ
MORE
METROBEAT
Need Help From City Government? Call
311
by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Getting help from the City shouldn’t be a chore.
It should be as easy as picking up the phone and dialing
one number to get in touch with any service you need. READ
MORE
Public Education is not a Private Corporation
Bloomberg and Klein Must Accept Debate and
Dialogue and Adhere
to State Law
by Assemblyman Steven Sanders
In late April, I chaired an important oversight hearing of
the Assembly Education Committee to review how Chancellor
Klein and City Hall are doing now that the first school year
under the new governance system is drawing to a close. READ
MORE
New Beginnings for Disruptive Students
by Tom Kertes
Although school crime has decreased eight percent in 2002,
important issues of school safety remain. READ
MORE
May in
History
Compiled by Chris Rowan READ
MORE
Literary Riddles
by Chris Rowan READ
MORE
CAREERS
Tad
Crawford: Publisher & Founder
of Allworth Press
by Michelle Accorso
Have you ever wanted to make your own movie, publish
an article, or exhibit your art, but not know how to
start? READ
MORE
CAMPS & SPORTS
Helping Children Become Better Citizens
Through Summer Camps
by Jessie Marshall
“The original summer camp is the most important step
in education, in the broadest sense, that America is giving
the world,” said Harvard University President Charles
W. Eliot, over seventy years ago.
READ
MORE
TECHNOLOGY
Product Review:
Tuff
Cases Portable Workstation
by Mitchell Levine
Long-time readers of Education Update’s Technology
and Education section already know that mobile computing
has been a major concern for New York City schools for
some time. READ
MORE
Pittsburgh Steeler Brings
Technology to Brooklyn School
by Sybil Maimin
Brady Keys, Jr., former All-Pro Defensive Halfback for the
Pittsburgh Steelers, is determined to replace the ubiquitous
student backpack as main means of communication between parent
and teacher.
READ
MORE
Product Review:
VideoEye!
by Pola Rosen, Ed.D.
The VideoEye! was designed especially to help people with
low vision retain their independence. READ
MORE
EDITORIALS
The
Next Battle in the War Over School Reform
by Stuart Dunn
The sniping has begun. Both sides are rolling out their
think tanks and their big guns. Coalitions are forming.
The next war in the Middle East? READ
MORE