Deans Speak About Education in 2012
Dean Mary Brabeck, NYU Steinhardt School of Education
As the city has reached an agreement to create an applied sciences and engineering institute on Roosevelt Island, NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development is ready to participate in transforming New York City into a hub of science and technology. To achieve its goals for innovation and job creation, the city, the state, and the country need students deeply informed by science, mathematics and technology. At the Steinhardt School, we are creating leaders who will educate the next generation of innovators. Teachers who graduate from Steinhardt will help ensure that K-12 students are ready and able to engage in problem finding and problem solving within their communities.
We are currently building a STEME Education and Research Center where faculty in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and environmental education will research how teachers learn to teach STEME subjects and how children and youth, especially those in underserved communities, come to master these subjects. Furthermore, our master’s degree program, called Culturally Rich Integrated Science Program (CRISP) is funded under New York State’s Race to the Top grant. With this funding we are preparing aspiring educators to teach science in urban public schools. Finally, Steinhardt has heard the call to action to help train 100,000 effective STEM teachers in the next 10 years. With our partners such as NYU-Polytechnic Institute, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Jhumki Basu Foundation Science Education Innovators, the Steinhardt School is committed to mentoring and retaining 3,000 STEM teachers over the next five years.
We are very pleased by the latest developments, which will be important for the city’s economic future, and we remain committed to ensuring that our students are well-equipped to tackle the ever-changing landscape of education.
Mary Brabeck is the dean of the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development
Dean Alfred Posamentier, Mercy College
The School of Education at Mercy College of New York is in an encouraging upward trajectory. To complement the new Roosevelt Island project recently initiated by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, we are moving ahead in the areas of mathematics and science education in a robust fashion.
In the past year and half we have grown nicely in the these areas by winning a “Race to the Top” grant of $2.4 million that will allow us to offer a clinically rich teacher training program for future mathematics teachers. In addition we have had several grants that permitted us to support New York City schools through providing enrichment to mathematics supervisors and by working with large high school math departments in general. We are committed to improving mathematics and science education at all levels.
The student body at Mercy College will also be enriched with a federal grant of $3.7 million that we just received to provide support for undergraduates in the science, technology, engineering and math areas. Mercy College’s commitment to enhancing mathematics and science through the education of our youth is consistent with the mayor’s initiative to support research in the STEM areas. Mercy College’s strides in STEM education is complemented by strong programs in all areas of teacher and supervisor training. We welcome further collaboration. #
Alfred Posamentier, Ph.D. is the Dean of Education at Mercy College and the author of numerous books and articles on mathematics.
