SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010

EDITORIALS

GUEST EDITORIAL
The Path of Education Reform
By David Steiner, Ph.D.
In their important work “Tinkering Toward Utopia,” authors Tyack and Cuban pointed out a persistent historical pattern in American education reform — our tendency to swing from one polar position to its opposite...READ MORE

GUEST EDITORIAL
Education’s Transformative Power
By Matthew Goldstein, Ph.D.
In June, Sonia Sotomayor, the newly appointed U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, addressed graduates at Hostos Community College, her mother’s alma mater, saying that a Hostos education “gave me and my brother a powerful example of the value of education and of family...READ MORE

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Fixing Special Education — 12 Steps to Transform a Broken System
By Miriam K. Freedman
The special education law has outlived its purpose. It has accomplished its mission. We are now well into the quagmire of its unintended consequences...READ MORE

What Leaving No Child Behind Really Means
By Lynda Katz, Ph.D
As our government seeks input on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, educators need to emphasize the critical importance of arming teachers with not only the freedom to support each child’s learning style, but also the knowledge to properly educate students in America with learning disabilities...READ MORE

Child Mind Institute Can Be Destination for Kids, Parents, Educators
By Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D.
It’s always challenging for children to navigate through the first several weeks of a new school year...READ MORE

A Kafkaesque Proposal
By John J. Russell, Ed.D.
In an article titled “For City Schools, A Mainstreaming on Special Needs,” that appeared in the April 29 edition of The New York Times, Jennifer Medina reported that in New York City approximately 17 percent of the students are classified as needing special education services and that only 25 percent of these students received a regular diploma last year...READ MORE

A Bright IDEA: Improving Special Education in New York City Schools
By Michael Best
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that students with disabilities have access to public schools, so that they can be educated with and receive the same educational opportunities as their non-disabled peers...READ MORE

Designed With The Best of Intentions: The Fault Line in Support For Special Education
By Jean Johnson
Over the past 35 years, the United States has attempted to close a callous gap in its education system by requiring public schools to teach children with special needs, just as they must teach all other students...READ MORE

SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS

Students at the Kennedy School Celebrate Their Own Newspaper
By Marissa Schain
Getting published in a newspaper isn’t easy, but don’t ask the students of Robert Kennedy School, who have been publishing their work since the sixth grade...READ MORE

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT’S DESK
Letting the Small Things Go
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin  with Brian Sutch
The start of a new school year presents a variety of exciting opportunities for your child. As with any new situation, however, there are also challenges to be met, and these can be stressful for the child if he or she doesn’t receive support and guidance along the way...READ MORE

Lowering The High School Dropout Rate
By Sybil Maimin
As high school dropout rates reach 50 percent in low-income communities and the global economy becomes increasingly competitive, College Summit, a national nonprofit that strives to reverse dropout trends by empowering high school students in poorer areas to aspire to college, is showing success in dramatically improving graduation numbers....READ MORE

The Importance of Marine Education
By Meghan Marrero
This summer’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has brought the ocean and ocean-related issues to the forefront of our collective consciousness. Unfortunately, most Americans do not know much about our blue planet’s most significant feature or adequately understand its complex processes...READ MORE

Putting Today’s Democracy Into Perspective
By Rich Monetti
It’s been said that there is no present and future, just the past happening over and over again....READ MORE

School of One: A More Active Approach to Learning
By Yuridia Pena
At I.S. 228 in Brooklyn, a large classroom is filled with boisterous middle-schoolers, some sitting, others standing, huddled by tables and desks, busily working in groups independently or with a tutor....READ MORE

Childhood Excursions Provide More Than Just Fun
By Giovanny Pinto
Days after attending a speech at the Schomburg Center on the challenges facing adolescent boys of color, particularly in education, I was still fixated on what was said....READ MORE

Closing the Opportunity Gap
By Dr. Danielle Moss-Lee
I hate the term “achievement gap.” Words have power, and I think “achievement gap” fails to provide the context necessary for transformation for all our children....READ MORE

CAREERS

Cesar Parra: Equestrian Professional
By Adam Sugerman
What is the fastest growing sport in the world? If you answered soccer, you would have been incorrect. Ditto for basketball, rugby, cricket, wrestling, ice hockey, baseball, and football...READ MORE

MEDICAL UPDATE

Dr. Joseph Fins: A Leader in Brain Research
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Dr. Joseph J. Fins, newly elected president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (he assumes the position in 2011), is in the forefront of one of the most timely and controversial emerging medical fields....READ MORE

MUSIC, ART & DANCE

The Muller Technique Introduces East to West
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Jennifer Muller, the award-winning artistic director of a world-renowned dance company, The Works, has the distinction of having a signature style named after her....READ MORE

Salzburg Festival 2010
Ninety years old… and still going strong!
By Irving Spitz
This year the elitist Salzburg festival celebrated its 90th anniversary. The festival is probably one of the last remaining bastions of old world elegance...READ MORE

Tenor Placido Domingo Takes On Baritone Role of Simon Boccanegra at La Scala
His Repertoire Now Includes Over 130 Roles — And Counting!
By Irving Spitz
Veteran tenor Placido Domingo, having recently recovered from abdominal surgery only a few months ago, was back in the international limelight and gave his dramatic portrayal of the Doge in Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” at La Scala in Milan....READ MORE

Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’ and Janácek’s ‘Katya Kabanova’ at the English National Opera
Both the delightful comedy and gloomy tragedy are unqualified successes
By Irving Spitz
Jonathan Miller’s entertaining production of Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love” originally premiered in Stockholm, was seen subsequently at New York City Opera, and has now arrived at the English National Opera....READ MORE

You Cannot Start Without Me:
A Portrait of the Eminent Russian Conductor, Valery Gergiev
By Irving Spitz
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Allan Miller has put together a fascinating DVD documenting the life of Valery Gergiev, who is unquestionably the world’s busiest conductor....READ MORE

MOVIES & THEATER

Enticements for Educators: Oceans is a Dazzling Disney Documentary
By Jan Aaron
“Oceans” opens with a young boy staring in wonder at the ocean and turns all of us into children of wonder with 103 minutes of eye-popping underwater exploration of the world’s oceans....READ MORE

CAMPS & SPORTS

Preparing & Packing for the Perfect Camp Experience
The countdown to camp is fast approaching, and the American Camp Association has the following tips to help families prepare and pack for a fun-filled camp experience...READ MORE

City Wrestlers Compete In Mayor’s Cup Tournament
By Richard Kagan
An outstanding citywide wrestling event took place recently at the 369th Regiment Armory in Harlem....READ MORE

Cardozo Senior Andrew Nunez Shines On and Off the Field
By Richard Kagan
It is a chilly, overcast spring day, and it doesn’t seem like baseball weather....READ MORE

BOOKS

BOOK REVIEW
Review of UNEQUAL FORTUNES: Snapshots from the South Bronx
By Merri Rosenberg
Many of us (especially, I suspect, those of us who grew up in the somewhat grittier neighborhoods of New York City), are tempted to return to our childhood homes to see what’s remained the same, what’s changed, and measure the distance we’ve traveled....READ MORE