COVER STORIES

WOMEN SHAPING HISTORY 2006
Women have come a long way since the days of our grandmothers who were content to raise children, stoke the proverbial fire in the hearth, and be the ballast in the family, maintaining a sense of equilibrium and security. READ MORE

UFT President Randi Weingarten Speaks Out:
A Family-Friendly Agenda
for Teachers and Child Care Workers
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
There’s hardly a New Yorker today who is not intimately familiar with United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Randi Weingarten and her passionate crusade for fair salaries and benefits for the 140,000 teachers and other non-supervisory educators who work in the city’s public schools. READ MORE

Jill Levy, CSA President:
From Behind the Scenes to Center Stage
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
When Jill Levy was in high school, her drama teacher taught her that she didn’t want to be on stage. “My best work was behind the scenes,” recalls Levy. READ MORE

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Diane Ravitch:
Educator, Writer, Great American Thinker
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
Diane Ravitch is not afraid to say what she thinks. And why not? As one of the leading scholars in the field of education today, in the parlance of the erstwhile T.V. ad for E.F. Hutton, when Diane Ravitch talks, people listen. Her list of credentials is legendary and spans work in government, academia, think tanks, boards and task forces too numerous to detail. READ MORE

Dr. Temple Grandin:
Veterinarian, Advocate for Autism
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
Temple Grandin was not your typical student. Growing up as an autistic child in New England in the fifties, at a time when little research had been done into this fast growing developmental disability affecting social interaction and communication, she encountered powerful learning barriers and painful social stigmas. READ MORE

Dr. Kathryn Anderson:
First Woman President
of the American College of Surgeons
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
A striking photo of two hands clasped over a third graces the cover of a recent bulletin of The American College of Surgeons (ACS) which carries the presidential address of Kathryn Anderson, M.D., FACS, FRCS. The picture simply and elegantly suggests the quality of this premier organization’s 2006 advocate of “humanity,” Dr. Anderson, the College’s 86th president and its first woman to hold this prestigious position. READ MORE

Commisioner Yolanda Jimenez:
Combating Domestic Violence
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Yolanda B. Jimenez, a long-time public servant devoted to crime prevention policies and programs, is cautiously optimistic about the initiatives she has been advancing since the Mayor appointed her in 2002 to serve as Commissioner of the Office to Combat Domestic Violence. READ MORE

Katie Haycock:
Director of the Education Trust
How did you choose your career?
Most of the time, I feel like my career chose me, rather than the other way around. READ MORE

Professor Yaffa Eliach:
Ardent Advocate of Humanity
in a Post-Holocaust World
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Like Purim, the March holiday that celebrates one of Judaism’s favorite heroines, Esther, an orphan who daringly, and with charm and determination, went, unsummoned, to Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to tell him of a plot to destroy the Jews, the story of Yaffa Eliach recounts the heroic deeds of a woman who would save her people by enlisting besides other Jews the aid of non-Jews, as she did Pope John Paul II, to keep alive the trials and spirit of the Jewish people in a world with short memory and continuing anti-Semitism. READ MORE

Conductor Marin Alsop
by Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Although she is quoted as having said on her appointment last July as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony that she was not only “thrilled” and “honored” at the opportunity to lead one of the country’s largest orchestras, and that she hoped being the first woman to head a major American orchestra would point the way “for the women who follow me,” Maestro Marin Alsop does concede that progress so far has been slow. READ MORE

Mary Brabeck, Dean,
The Steinhardt School of Education, NYU
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
The offices of Dr. Mary Brabeck, Dean of NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education, reflect her incredible passion for interdisciplinary fusion: colorful artwork fights for space on the walls, a complex yet subtly mirrored sculpture demands careful inspection, and a “constantly changing” collection of faculty-written books on all subjects adorn the shelves. READ MORE

Kathryn Wylde: CEO, NYC Partnership
by Joan Baum, Ph.D.
If ever there was a turning point in her life, it was the summer after her sophomore year at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, when she first visited New York. READ MORE

Peggy Williams:
Making a Difference Through the Circus
By Liza Young
Talking with Peggy Williams the catch phrase “greatest show on earth” takes on deeper meaning. Williams’ career began in 1970 when, through a serendipitous turn of events, she joined the circus, becoming, to her own surprise, the first female clown. READ MORE

Women and Music
By Jerrold Ross, Ph.D.,
Dean, School of Education, St. John’s Univ.
Reading the New York Times “Arts and Leisure” section of Sunday, February 19, I was reminded of just how far women still have to go to be fully recognized in the music profession. READ MORE

EDITORIAL & LETTERS

Guest Editorial:
Lucy Sprague Mitchell:
A Pioneer in an Age of Pioneers
By Dr. Augusta Souza Kappner
President, Bank Street College of Education
Lucy Sprague Mitchell came of age at a time of great changes in the United States. READ MORE

Letters to the Editor (March 2006) READ MORE

SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS

Views on All-Girls’ Education:
Convent of the Sacred Heart
by Mary Blake, Ed.D.
Do you believe academic achievement is higher for girls in an all-girls academic setting?
There is a growing consensus, based on an increasing amount of solidly researched data from around the world, that single sex-schools allow children to achieve greater success. READ MORE

SPECIAL EDUCATION

New $200 Million Child Mental Health Facility at NYU
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Although the recent announcement of a new $200 million-dollar child mental health facility to be built at New York University (NYU)—which will be the largest such center in the world—was major news, the political and educational movers and shakers who envisioned and put into motion this extraordinary, much-needed initiative, to open in 2009, put their own personal mark on their investment when they gathered at the NYU First Avenue and 33rd Street Child Study Center recently, which Mayor Bloomberg formally proclaimed Child Mental Health Day. READ MORE

Group For ADHD: Ask the Clinician
My child has just been diagnosed with ADHD. After consulting with the psychologist treating my child, I realize that I had many of the same difficulties growing up and still have many of the same issues. Can adults have ADHD? READ MORE

COLLEGES & GRAD SCHOOLS

College Presidents Series:
President Mark Schulman, Goddard College
By Pola Rosen, Ed.D
& Timothy Brunner
Q. How is Goddard different from other schools?
Goddard is not a traditional undergraduate residential college. READ MORE

The Dean's Column:
The Worthless Increase
By Alfred Posamentier, Ph.D.
Suppose you had a job where you received a 10% raise. READ MORE

Dr. Pola Rosen Appointed To
New Position At Barnard College
Education Update Publisher Dr. Pola Rosen was just named director of Project Continuum at Barnard College, as well as Director at Large on the Associate Alumnae Board of the College. READ MORE

Conference — PDK
On April 1st the International Phi Delta Kappa President, JoAnn Fujioka, will be the keynote speaker at PDK’s Leadership Conference being held at Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue, NYC, 9 A.M. -1 P.M. READ MORE

CHILDREN'S CORNER

From the Superintendent’s Seat:
Challenges of Motherhood
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
We are now celebrating Women’s History Month. It brings to mind a conversation I used to have with my own children. READ MORE

BOOKS

Logos Bookstore’s Recommendations
As the winter winds it way down, a good cure for those winter blues are Ruth L. Williams’ prints and original paintings of hearts and flowers and angels. READ MORE

METROBEAT

What 20/20’s Vision Didn’t See
By Randi Weingarten, President, UFT
Recently, the ABC News program “20/20” devoted an hour-long broadcast to the subject of public education. In a segment called “Stupid in America,” commentator John Stossel purported to analyze what’s wrong with our nation’s public schools, choosing to focus, in part, on New York City. READ MORE

Let Albany Know Schools Matter
By Mayor Mike Bloomberg
Over the last four years, we have made great progress in reforming our public school system because teachers, parents, principals and elected officials have joined together to ensure that every child receives a sound education. READ MORE

New York Bird Club
Wildlife Presentations and Parrot Toy Making Workshop, Sat., March 11, 1-4 pm READ MORE

MUSIC, ART & DANCE

Theater Review
Pineapple Soup: Paper Bag’s New Treat
By Jan Aaron
Got a recipe for “Pineapple Soup?” As concocted by The Paper Bag Players and the title of the group’s newest fun show, it’s spiced with giggles, dancing and cheers from 3-to-8-year olds. READ MORE