Where is Superman?
Testing Obsession Should End Now
By Michael Mulgrew
The instructional strategy of the New York City public school system — prepping children for a now-discredited series of state tests — has failed....READ MORE

Where is Superman?
McGraw-Hill Holds First Education Summit
By Judith Aquino
In a nod to the rising demand for school reform, the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation recently held its first Innovation in Education Summit, which emphasized the need for ideas to help drive student achievement....READ MORE

Where is Superman?
The Perils and Possibilities of Teacher Evaluation
By Aaron Pallas, Ph.D.
In the film Waiting for Superman, Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada talks about his experiences as a beginning teacher in Boston....READ MORE 

COLLEGES & GRAD SCHOOLS

COLLEGE PRESIDENTS SERIES
President Lisa Staiano-Coico, The City College of New York
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Introducing Dr. Lisa Staiano-Coico, the newly appointed president of The City College of New York, the first-ever CUNY alumna to assume this office at the 163-year-old college, Matthew Goldstein, the CUNY chancellor, reiterated the “crucial” importance in having “visionary, energetic” people in top positions at CUNY....READ MORE

COLLEGE PRESIDENTS SERIES
President Mitchel B. Wallerstein, Baruch College
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
In office for only four months, Dr. Mitchel B. Wallerstein, the seventh president of Baruch College of the City University of New York, talks confidently and with humor about the pleasures and challenges (“surprises I call them”) of his new position....READ MORE

An Interview with Acting Dean Robert Greenberg, Hunter College
Transcribed by Marissa Schain
Dr. Robert Greenberg is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Hunter College. He is one of the most unusual deans in the nation. At the age of 13, he suffered retinitis pigmentosa, which rendered him legally blind....READ MORE

THE DEAN'S COLUMN
Treasures in the Pythagorean Theorem
By Alfred Posamentier, Ph.D.
When the Pythagorean theorem is mentioned, one immediately recalls the famous relationship:  a² + b² = c²....READ MORE

Benno Schmidt Honored
Benno Schmidt, chairperson of the Board of Trustees of The City University of New York, will receive the sixth annual Philip Merrill Award of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Arts Education. The presentation took place at a gala dinner at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia....READ MORE

Mens Sana En Corpore Sano
Physical Fitness and Academic Success
By Brooks O’Brien
When was the first time you heard praise for the concept of “a sound mind in a sound body”? Like me, however, maybe you listened more to the drumbeat of media advertising for junk food while reclining in the couch potato position....READ MORE

Intercultural Open University: Alternative Education
By Sandra Hurlong, Ph.D.,
President of the Intercultural Open University Foundation
I am committed to Intercultural Open University Foundation. I am a product of traditional and non-traditional higher learning in the U.S. I received my B.A. and M.A. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, and I received my Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio, the first university without walls in the U.S....READ MORE

My College Application Experience
By Anthony-Michael Harris
I am a senior at Robert F. Kennedy Community High School in New York City, and for the past four years I have been working on various aspects of the college application process....READ MORE

City Tech Marks Kristallnacht, End of WWII Anniversaries
New York City College of Technology marked the 72nd anniversary of Kristallnacht and the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II recently with Ann Kirschner, Ph.D., author of “Sala’s Gift: My Mother’s Holocaust Story,” and the presentation of humanitarian awards to Nobel Prize winner Günter Blobel, M.D., Ph.D., and Interfaith Committee of Remembrance founder and chairman Jerry Jacobs....READ MORE

Harvard Makes Case for Closing Gender Gap
New and compelling evidence documenting the economic benefits of gender equality took center stage at a recent two-day conference at Harvard University....READ MORE

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Exclusive Interview with Dr. Harold Koplewicz, CEO, Child Mind Institute
Transcribed by Marissa Schain
Education Update caught up with Dr. Harold Koplewicz, president of the Child Mind Institute, to discuss the latest issues in children’s mental health care and what makes the Institute an unusual center....READ MORE

Sisyphus & the Problems in Special Education
By Mark Alter, Ph.D. & Jay Gottlieb, Ph.D.
Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he could reach the top of the hill, the rock would always roll back down, forcing him to begin again....READ MORE

MEDICAL UPDATE

Dr. Bertrand Bell: Champion of Graduate Medical Education Revisits The Bell Commission
By Jacob Appel, M.D., J.D.
Most medical educators are interested in what their students know.  Dr. Bertrand M. Bell, a leading professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is just as interested in what they don’t know....READ MORE

NYU COLLEGE OF NURSING:
“Feeling Good In Your Neighborhood”
The NYU College of Nursing has been awarded a $ 2.9 million, five (5) year, Federal Health Resources and Administration (HRSA) grant to fund its Mobile Health Van Program (MHVP), “Feeling Good in Your Neighborhood” announced Dr. Terry Fulmer, Dean, NYU College of Nursing....READ MORE

Dr. Eve Kurtin Honored in Los Angeles
Eve Kurtin Steinberg was honored recently at Friends of Sheba Medical Center’s annual Women of Achievement Luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California....READ MORE

Cancer Research Fund Honors Dr. Charlotte Frank
The Israel Cancer Research Fund held an evening of breast cancer awareness at the home of Acting Consul General of Israel in New York, Ido Aharoni....READ MORE

80th Birthday Celebration
Dr. David Globus celebrated his 80th birthday surrounded by family, friends and colleagues of more than 50 years at the Harmonie Club in New York City. Dr. Globus practices internal medicine at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center....READ MORE

SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS

The Missing Voices
By Vicki Abeles & Sara Truebridge, Ed.D.
Discussions about quality education and adequately preparing students for the future have become deafening. Yet the voices from those on the front lines - teachers, students and parents – are often missing. What would they be saying if we could hear them?...READ MORE

MOVIE REVIEW
Race to Nowhere Exposes Destructive Impact of Academic Pressure
By Gillian Granoff
In her documentary “Race To Nowhere,” Vicky Abeles takes a courageous look at the destructive impact of today’s excessively rigorous academic climate on our children....READ MORE

NYS Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch Announces Plans for Education Funds
By Judith Aquino
New York State Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch shed light on plans to improve the state’s public education system, including how it will spend the nearly $770 million allotted to the state by the “Race to the Top” federal school-improvement competition....READ MORE

Personal Genomics for Maine High School Students
By Shannara Gilman, MDIBL
Fifteen high school students from across Maine learned how to analyze human DNA samples during the new, one-week “Summer Academy of Genomics” at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL)....READ MORE

Teachers College Calls Attention to Nutrition Education
By Judith Aquino
This year’s Dewey Circle Reception — a ceremony honoring donors to Teachers College, Columbia University — shined a spotlight on healthy eating and the value of nutrition awareness....READ MORE

Young Ambassador Student Exchange Program
By Maya Tadmor-Anderman
As part of a month long exchange program sponsored by the America-Israel Friendship League (AIFL), forty Israeli high school students traveled to the United States recently on the Youth Ambassador Student Exchange Program (YASE)....READ MORE

Wallace Foundation Finds Out-of-School Programs Are a Success
By Adam Bloch
Over the past several years, the Wallace Foundation has undertaken major projects in five American cities to improve and monitor out-of-school time (OST) activities....READ MORE

Students Shine At Voyages Prep H.S.
By Richard Kagan
To fully appreciate Voyages Preparatory High School in Elmhurst, Queens you need to talk to the students....READ MORE 

MARYMOUNT SCHOOL NEWS
Youth and Philanthropy Initiative
Last year Marymount School of New York was the first U.S. school to take part in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI), an international program that includes participants from over 250 schools in Canada and the United Kingdom....READ MORE

CHILDREN'S CORNER

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT'S CORNER
Make Time For Your Kids, Especially When It’s Tough
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Brian Sutch
One of the most significant challenges modern families face is finding the time to actually be together as a family....READ MORE

MOVIE & THEATER REVIEWS

MOVIE REVIEW
Race to Nowhere Exposes Destructive Impact of Academic Pressure
By Gillian Granoff
In her documentary “Race To Nowhere,” Vicky Abeles takes a courageous look at the destructive impact of today’s excessively rigorous academic climate on our children....READ MORE

METROBEAT

Ruth Messinger, President of AHWS is Honored
Recently, a gala was held by the venerable American Jewish World Service (AJWS),  a faith-based international human rights organization that works to alleviate poverty, hunger and disease in the developing world....READ MORE

Marcy Syms Among Honorees at Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Awards
By Dr. Pola Rosen
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, headed by President Nancy Ploeger, held its annual distinguished Business Awards Breakfast celebrating excellent entrepreneurs....READ MORE

U.S-Israeli Program Promotes Good Sportsmanship
The U.S.-Israel Citizenship Through Sports Exchange is a program sponsored by the America-Israel Friendship League, a non-profit organization....READ MORE

MUSIC, ART & DANCE

Playwright Uses Theater to Educate
By Lisa K. Winkler
Sitting five to seven hours every day in Starbucks can be hazardous to one’s health, playwright Layon Gray discovered — but it can also provide the ideal atmosphere for writing....READ MORE

Trio con Brio
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Trio con Brio Copenhagen is well named: the group plays “con brio,” with great vigor and enthusiasm, and the Danish capital is home base, though the three musicians met in Vienna in 1999 and achieved prominence first in Germany....READ MORE

The Boston Conservatory:
President Richard Ortner
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Richard Ortner, at the helm of The Boston Conservatory for twelve years, sounds as though he’s just sailed in to realize his life’s passion — to be at the center of one of the most remarkable institutions in the country devoted to music, theater and dance....READ MORE

Juilliard String Quartet Welcomes New First Violinist Joseph Lin
Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi announced recently that 32-year-old violinist Joseph Lin, an alumnus of Harvard and The Juilliard School Pre-College, will join the Juilliard String Quartet as first violinist beginning in 2011....READ MORE

Town Hall Honors Merryl Tisch and Elaine Stritch
Marvin Leffler, CEO of Town Hall, has done a spectacular job of revitalizing this venerable venue for music performances and education programs for school children....READ MORE

BOOKS

BOOK REVIEW
A Young-Adult Pirate Story That Entertains and Educates
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Arguably, books for young adults are difficult to conceive and market because the age range 12 to 20, as defined by the American Library Association, covers such a wide period of physiological and psychological change....READ MORE

Parent to Parent:The College Search
By Sybil Maimin
Students involved in the “craziness” of the college application process get lots of sympathy and advice....READ MORE

Logos Bookstore’s Recommendations
By H. Harris Healy, III, President, Logos Bookstore
As November and December come to pass, it becomes the time of year for holiday gift shopping, and Logos Bookstore is the place to come. Logos has attractive 2011 wall and desk calendars of New York City, the world, art, flowers, spirituality and religions as well as children’s favorites such as Peanuts, Curious George and Dr. Seuss’ zany characters....READ MORE

BOOK REVIEW
That’s Like Me!
By Merri Rosenberg
A trapeze artist, fire fighter, veterinarian, inventor, event producer, dancer, award-winning illustrator — there’s not much that would seem to link these disparate people....READ MORE

MUSEUMS

Holocaust Center Makes a Difference in Life of Community
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Coincidentally, the very day Education Update paid a visit to the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, a leading regional newspaper with national reach ran a front-page piece on bullying in schools....READ MORE

Exhibit Dramatizes Insulin Discovery
By Jan Aaron
Since the hormone insulin was first isolated in Toronto and produced in Indianapolis, I wondered why the New-York Historical Society chose to feature an exhibit called “Breakthrough: The Dramatic Discovery of Insulin.”...READ MORE