COVER STORIES

First Lady Laura Bush, Secretaries Rice, Spelling & Hughes Co-Host College Presidents’ Summit on Language Initiative
A first-of-its-kind U.S. university presidents summit, recently held in Washington DC co-hosted by Secretary Rice and Secretary Spellings, with First Lady Laura Bush as guest speaker focused on a National Security Language Initiative. READ ARTICLE

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Higher education has always been special in my family. And in fact, we all have our heroes. My particular hero, or one of my particular heroes, is my paternal grandfather and he is my hero because he was actually the one who decided, as a sharecropper’s son, in Ewtah, Alabama that he was going to get book-learning. READ MORE

Secretary Margaret Spellings
In the last 50 years, American ingenuity has put a man on the moon, a rover on Mars, and computers in our businesses, our homes, and even our pockets. READ MORE

First Lady Laura Bush
I know that the universities that are represented here, the ones that you represent, are uniquely situated to foster connections between people in our country and people around the world. READ MORE

SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS

Profiles in Education:
Vartan Gregorian Carries on the Heritage of the Carnegie Corporation
By Joan Baum, Ph.d.
Assuming the presidency of the Carnegie Corporation eight years ago seems to have been inevitable for this much-celebrated scholar and chief administrator who had already made his mark in the education and corporate worlds. READ ARTICLE

Profiles in Education:
Kurt Landgraf, ETS Pres. & CEO Refocuses Premier Testing Organization
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
It seems to be not just his job but his “profession,” a matter of passion and faith: Kurt M. Landgraf, the president and CEO of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world’s largest private testing and research organization, is talking about the ETS mission to advance “quality and equity in education.” READ ARTICLE

Dr. Martin Florsheim: Visionary in Educating Deaf & Hearing Children
By Liza Young
Great strides are being made in the field of special and general education, at School “47,” American Sign Language and English School. READ ARTICLE

Comptroller William Thompson Highlights Jewish Heritage
By Liza Young
Scores of people recently gathered at City Chambers for a spiritually rich evening—sponsored by NYC Comptroller William  C. Thompson as well as the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty—celebrating Jewish Heritage and honoring the contributions of leaders in the world of education, theatre, journalism and publishing. READ ARTICLE

Preparing Young Leaders for the Global Economy 
By Michael Levine
Our nation’s future competitiveness depends on preparing young people to be engaged citizens in an era where knowledge of the world’s interconnections is becoming a new basic skill. READ ARTICLE

The Dean’s Column:
A Juicy Math Problem
By Alfred Posamentier, Ph.D.
When students are challenged by a problem, they often set it aside if it involves too much reading, for fear that the concentration required would be too exhausting to make the problem pleasurable. READ ARTICLE

WNBC and WNJU Donate Grants to Six Non-Profits
By Liza Young
WNBC and WNJU recently gave $400,000 in grants to six leading non-profit organizations in recognition and support of their devotion and dedication to the future of youth. Checks were officially presented at WNBC studios at Rockefeller Plaza to the following non-profit organizations: ASPIRA, NAACP NYC ACT-SO, Learning Leaders, Abyssinian Development Corporation, and ThinkQuest, Inc. READ ARTICLE

COLLEGES & GRAD SCHOOLS

College Presidents Series:
President Judson Shaver:
Marymount Manhattan College
By Marylena Mantas
Four years ago when Judson Shaver assumed the presidency of Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) he was eager to learn what it would be like to be responsible for an entire institution. READ ARTICLE

Chancellor Matthew Goldstein Initiates the Decade of Scientific Research
Confronting a national crisis that finds U.S. students falling behind in the sciences and mathematics, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein has called for the creation of an advanced computer simulation center on Governors Island, the building of new state-of-the-art research centers at the CUNY colleges, and a Teacher Academy, inspired by the CUNY Honors College, to train a new generation of math and science teachers. READ ARTICLE

Online Learning vs. The Classroom:
Which Works Better For You?
By Laura Jeanne Hammond
Today, over 75 percent of traditional colleges and universities offer virtual courses, with more than 4 million students involved in “distance” or online coursework. But before you join the ranks of those online, there are many issues and considerations that should first be addressed to help you decide if online learning is the right choice. READ ARTICLE

Bank Street School for Children to Co-Host National Conference in March
Bank Street and The School at Columbia University will co-host The National Association of Laboratory Schools (NALS) annual national conference in March. READ ARTICLE

GUEST EDITORIAL

The Struggle For Smaller Classes in Urban Districts
By Noreen Connell
The evidence of a relationship between class sizes in the early grades and student achievement, especially for boys from low-income, urban families, is so strong you would think that urban school systems would have adopted this strategy a long time ago. READ ARTICLE

MetroBEAT

An Act of Defiance and Core Values:
Remembering Rosa Parks As An Icon of Civil Rights
By CSA President Jill levy
It was December, 1955. The media reported that Rosa Parks, a young and tired seamstress, returning home from work in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. Although some of the media painted Ms. Park’s actions as “defiant,” the thrust of most stories was that she was simply tired after a long day’s work. READ ARTICLE

CHILDRENS CORNER

From the Superintendent’s Seat:
Facing the College Financial Aid Challenge
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
If you are a high school senior, you should be about finished sending off those applications by now. Deciding which schools to apply to is a difficult choice to make. That is certainly a relief to have that done. READ ARTICLE

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Resources for Parents & Teachers of Hearing Impaired Students
READ ARTICLE

CAREERS

New Surveys Show Improved Job Market, Increased Income for Physical Therapists
Physical therapists are experiencing virtually no unemployment and are reporting overall increased salaries, according to a series of surveys recently conducted and released by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). READ ARTICLE

FEATURES

In Memoriam:
A Tribute to Joan Constance Croft
by Mr. Rodney Croft
Joan Constance Croft was born February 25, 1921 and died December 30, 2005. She was a great lover of the English language and particularly the way in which it could be used to convey to the reader or listener not just a verbal message but especially a message affording an added instant visual impact particularly when concerning a humanitarian matter. READ ARTICLE

MUSIC, ART & DANCE

An Exclusive Interview with Sir James Galway: Flutist Divine
by Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Special to Education Update from Switzerland
Of course he’s the greatest flute player in the world  (some wag having remarked that Jean Pierre Rampal, who died in 2000, now rules Flute Heaven), but Sir James Galway could also easily make it as a stand up comic. READ ARTICLE

Wolf Trap Institute Teaches through Playacting
by Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
If you pass by a public school classroom and hear young children eagerly engaged in a plot to escape an evil wizard and fix the alphabet, chances are you’ve stumbled onto a Wolf Trap program that is teaching basic academic, literacy and life skills to students using interactive drama strategies. READ ARTICLE

MOVIE & THEATER REVIEWS

Movie Review:
Giant Treat – King Kong;
Suspense Scenario: Munich    
In the wonderful opening scenes of the new King Kong, director Peter Jackson recalls the Depression era of the original 1933 movie and he follows the basic story line. READ ARTICLE

Theater Review:
The Color Purple Brightens Broadway
By Jan Aaron
The Color Purple is good family entertainment while not fully accomplishing the daunting task of putting the huge novel on the stage. READ ARTICLE

CAMPS & SPORTS

Helping with Homesickness
What is it?
Homesickness is the natural result of separating from home and loved ones. In a recent study, nearly 96 percent of all boys and girls who were spending two weeks or more at overnight camp reported some homesickness on at least one day. READ ARTICLE

Sports in Schools:
A Senior Guards Helps Make Francis Lewis HS a Winner
By Richard Kagan
A basketball team is not just one star player. It is a collection of players who come together for a common purpose. READ ARTICLE

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Review:
Review of Atlas of the World
by Joan Baum, Ph.D.
READ ARTICLE

Books As Presents All Year Long
By Selene Vasquez
READ ARTICLE

TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION

Product Review:
Westjam’s Curriculum Mapper
By Mitchell Levine
Scheduling curricula in a large school is a major strategically undertaking – with several classes running parallel and standards to be met, balancing classroom focus and a timetable requires extensive juggling. READ ARTICLE

MEDICAL UPDATE

Union Settlement Home Care Services, Inc. Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Union Settlement Home Care Services, located at 174 East 104th Street, New York, NY celebrated its 25th Anniversary Year celebration with a community Open House series. READ ARTICLE