GUEST EDITORIAL
Join Us As We Speak Up for Kids By Harold S. Koplewicz, MD More than 20 years ago I had a patient named Jesse. He was a textbook case of adolescent depression — withdrawing from friends, failing at school, not living up to his considerable potential — but he had another answer. “I’m not depressed....READ MORE
OP-ED
Leading from Within By Dave Barger, President & CEO, JetBlue Airways Day after day, we hear about the challenges confronting public education. While it might seem easier to leave the hard work of improving our schools to the scores of committed educators and other individuals working tirelessly on behalf of today’s students, I choose not to....READ MORE
Icicles and Polar Bears Up Close in Frozen Planet Documentary Exclusive Interview with Producer Vanessa BerLowitz
By Joan Baum, Ph.D. At times it may seem to TV watchers as if all nature shows were one — breathtaking photography of forbidding environments, striking images of animals in survival and play mode, memorable shots of human beings challenged....READ MORE
Learning Leaders Holds Debate: Randi Weingarten and Steven Brill By Rachel Gellert Learning Leaders, a nonprofit volunteer program in New York City, recently held its annual Education Forum at the Kimmel Center at New York University. The forum featured a panel discussion about reforming public school education between Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Steven Brill, author of “Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Save America’s Schools.”...READ MORE
Middle School IS 62, Bklyn Trains Student Leaders By Dr. Rose Cherie Reissman A newscaster reports on the closing of a Kensington Pizza shop. Another newscaster stands in front of a local branch of the public library which has been closed. Students work with teen students from IVDU a special needs parochial school to survey views on financial literacy....READ MORE
MIDDLE SCHOOL HAPPENINGS Beating the Odds: Lesson from Turnaround Middle Schools By Adriana Villavicencio In New York City and around the nation, there is intense interest in trying to answer the question, what does it take to turn around a struggling school?....READ MORE
MIDDLE SCHOOL HAPPENINGS Parents, Council Members Debate Best Middle School for Upper East Side By Yuridia Peña Upper East Side parents came in droves to a Community Education Council District 2 (CECD2) meeting recently to advocate for one of two resolutions that would decide what type of middle school will open when space at P.S. 158 becomes available: a school for general education students or for the gifted....READ MORE
Higher Education In and After Prison By Barbara Martinsons Counting all the people in jail and on probation or parole you get over 7.2 million people under the supervision of Corrections....READ MORE
THE ETHICS COLUMN
Resetting the Artificial Biological Clock By Jacob M. Appel, M.D., J.D. Since the birth of the first “test tube” baby, Louise Brown in 1978, in-vitro fertilization has become increasingly widespread. More than four million children have now been created as a result of the process. In New York City....READ MORE
MARCH/APRIL 2012
COVER STORIES : WOMEN SHAPING HISTORY 2012
Michelle Obama’s Legacy: A Healthier Generation By Adam Sugerman Diet and exercise. To lose weight, we need to burn more calories than we consume. If we eat 2,500 calories, but only burn 2,400, we’re going to get heavier. Simple math, right? The people of our nation, and of the Western world for that matter, are increasingly becoming heavier....READ MORE
Carla Markell: First Lady, Delaware What inspired you to pursue your current career?
My “career” as First Lady found me, more than I found it. I wasn’t sure how active of a role I wanted to play when Jack first got elected. I heard Michelle Obama speak on her own transition and she said she was getting started by going around visiting various federal agencies....READ MORE
Christine Quinn: City Council Speaker Growing up, I was only interested in one thing –government and politics – my father always said it was my curse. At the library, I would only check out biographies of important leaders or important women. This gave me, from a very young age, a real sense of the potential that government has to make people’s lives better....READ MORE
Carole Berotte Joseph:
President, Bronx Community College My father who was a teacher, principal and entrepreneur inspired me to become an educator and take leadership positions. Since childhood, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. Today, as I lead, I teach. I have faced many....READ MORE
Tisa Chang: Founder,
Pan Asian Repertory Theater After many years as a dancer and aspiring actress I became a creator and director at LaMama ETC in the early 70’s when I asked Ellen Stewart to direct an adaptation of a famous Chinese Peking opera, Return of the Phoenix, into a 5 character, intimate comedy with music using both English and Chinese. This work was a tribute to my mother....READ MORE
Dr. Maria Mitchell: President, AMDeC When I had the good fortune to witness first hand the depth and breadth of the research resources available in the medical research institutions in New York, I realized that so much more could be accomplished through a better coordinated, collaborative effort. Working with AMDeC offered a unique opportunity to work....READ MORE
Joan Kretschmer, Ph.D.:
Musician, Creator My love of music has been the driving force of every aspect of what I would call a variegated career in music. As a musicologist, critic, performer, teacher, interviewer, as well as the founder and artistic director of the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York, I have had a life-long passion for — and interest in — music of all kinds....READ MORE
Dora B. Schriro: Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Correction My inspiration to go into the field of corrections goes back to my grandparents. From the earliest age, they exposed me to ideas and experiences that opened my eyes to the urban landscape and rural America, and to see firsthand the struggles of good people everywhere. I continued to think about those people and places throughout....READ MORE
Deborah Strobin:
An Uncommon Philanthropist By Joan Baum, Ph.D. Sounds cinematic: immediate departure, Vienna overrun by Nazis, comfort gone, friends gone, borders closed, last boat out, but to where? Italy it was rumored. But the destination was a city in eastern China. Between 1938 and 1945 Shanghai was haven, the sole haven....READ MORE
Alice Weiss:
Teacher, Lawyer, Poet Since I have had at least three of what are usually considered careers, I have had to think through what was consistent throughout the 50 years it took me to make my way through them. Teacher of English and American literature (my last teaching job ending in 1974 was at Colgate University), Louisiana civil rights attorney and public....READ MORE
Cindy Sherman: Photographer, Innovator By Jan Aaron All of us fuss about our hair, makeup, hemlines, and home décor. But few are as compelling as artist Cindy Sherman. In her 170-work retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, she astonishes with unforgettable images. Sherman, aided by wigs, makeup techniques, props, masks, and occasionally prosthetic body parts....READ MORE
The MET project: Measures of Effective Teaching Teacher Evaluation Systems Under Scrutiny By Mohammad Ibrar In the fall of 2009, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiated the two-year long Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project, which is a research project designed to help determine what teaching and classroom management methods, skills, and techniques can be measured and how they affect a teacher’s effectiveness....READ MORE
Diane Ravitch Speaks at Barnard College By Leah Metcalf Diane Ravitch, professor of education history and policy at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development delivered a speech entitled “Is Education a Public Good or a Shoestore?” to a full auditorium at Barnard College....READ MORE
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION: INDIA Up Close and Personal: Schools in India By Andrew Gardner The magazine advertisement made a bold claim: India needs 20,000 new schools each year for the next 10 years. Wow! Ask yourself, how would you build them? How would they be funded? How would you find the teachers? How would you control quality? In light of a newly enacted law asserting all children the right to education, this challenge is reality for the largest democracy in the world....READ MORE
PASE Awards Honor Leaders in Afterschool Education By Jennifer MacGregor The Partnership for After School Education (PASE) honored five outstanding leaders in afterschool education recently who have made a difference in their communities and the lives of children they have impacted....READ MORE
Dr. Timothy F. Lisante Prepares for Changes to Juvenile Justice System By Joan Baum, Ph.D. The timing could not be better for Dr. Timothy F. Lasante, former principal of The East River Academy for incarcerated youth on Rikers Island, and newly appointed director of the city’s reorganized education initiative for children in the juvenile justice system....READ MORE
Grab the Torch: Leadership, Ethics and Philanthropy Dave Aldrich is shaping the next generation of altruists with Grab The Torch, a nonprofit he founded in 2007; its hallmark program — Leadership, Ethics and Philanthropy Summer Camp Institute — equips teens with the skills necessary to become the next generation of leaders, volunteers, non-profit executives and well-rounded young adults....READ MORE
Superintendents Receive Books from McGraw-Hill Superintendents from the United States who visited school systems in Israel a few months ago have each been given wonderful books for their fourth grade classes in appreciation....READ MORE
The Dean's Column Enriching Mathematics Instruction, Rather than Teaching to the Test By Dean Alfred Posamentier With the impasse about teacher evaluation dominating our thinking about education, and the controversy over using test results to determine a good teacher, it might be time to take a step back and consider another way that one of America’s most tested subjects — mathematics — can be more effectively taught....READ MORE
Hunter College Audience Enthralled By Dr. Pola Rosen Before a large and enthusiastic audience recently, cultural icons Steven Pinker and Rebecca Goldstein appeared as the first speakers in the Hunter College Writing Center’s 2012 “Great Thinkers Of Our Time” series....READ MORE
Queens College Program Helps Abused Start Anew By Richard Kagan Dr. Carmella Marrone is the founder and executive director of Women and Work, a 15-week course taught under the auspices of Queens College, that serves disadvantaged women and gives them a new start....READ MORE
Greek Games at Barnard College By Kirstyn Crawford We are approaching the second year of the revival of the Barnard College Greek Games, a long-standing tradition that brings pride to our students....READ MORE
Education Update
Intern
Wins
Prestigious Award Dominique Carson, a journalism and Italian major at Brooklyn College and intern at Education Update, was recently inducted into the Brooklyn College Wall of Fame. She was the only student selected for the prestigious honor this semester....READ MORE
SPECIAL EDUCATION Join Us As We Speak Up for Kids By Harold S. Koplewicz, MD More than 20 years ago I had a patient named Jesse. He was a textbook case of adolescent depression — withdrawing from friends, failing at school, not living up to his considerable potential — but he had another answer. “I’m not depressed. I’m just tired and lazy.”....READ MORE
The ETHICS COLUMN Unvaccinated Children & the Duty to Warn By Jacob M. Appel, M.D., J.D. Despite a strong scientific consensus favoring the health benefits of childhood immunization against serious infectious diseases, approximately 1 in 10 American children remains entirely unvaccinated....READ MORE
Who is Your Lawyer? By Arthur Katz, J.D. A parent, a student or your school lodges a complaint against you, and you are asked to attend a hearing or meeting in connection with the complaint. Since the complaint relates to your duties in a school-related activity, you report the request to the school and ask for assistance at the hearing. Subsequently, the school’s lawyer meets with you and during your hearing sits at the table with you....READ MORE
Black Cowboy: An Educational Memoir by Lisa Winkler By Mohammad Ibrar Lisa Winkler, a former journalist and educator, has written a captivating story about an African-American man traveling on horseback across the unbeaten paths of the United States in the 21st century. She has had her share of horseback riding, country life, and civil rights activism....READ MORE
BOOK REVIEW
‘Diagnosis and Design for School Improvement' By Merri Rosenberg Scarcely a day goes by without another discussion in the public space, whether in the paper, on a local news program or the Internet, about improving student performance on high-stakes testing and ensuring that teachers are up to the task....READ REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW ‘Taking Charge: Leading With Passion and Purpose in the Principalship’ By Merri Rosenberg Pity the school principal. Buffeted by pressures from politicians, parents and teachers, and confronted by unyielding, highly public expectations to improve student performance, principals have a demanding, almost impossible role to fulfill in many school communities....READ MORE
BOOK REVIEW ‘The Politics of Latino Education’ By Merri Rosenberg The growth in America’s Latino population has been undeniably significant in recent years. According to recent data, Latino students account for two-thirds of the increase in public school enrollments between 1993 and 2005....READ REVIEW
Bank Street Children’s Book Awards By Yuridia Peña The Children’s Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education honored five children’s book authors and an illustrator for their literary works in fiction, non-fiction and poetry....READ NORE
Lifetime Achievement Award: Vicki Cobb The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) held its annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. Vicki Cobb is the winner of the prize’s Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 85 nonfiction books for children....READ MORE
John Chamberlain at the Guggenheim Museum By Sybil Maimin “Crush,” “squeeze,” “compress,” “twist,” “crumple,” “fold,” are words that come to mind when describing the work of John Chamberlain, the sculptor commonly associated with creating and exhibiting “car wrecks.”...READ MORE
SPORTS
St. John’s U.: Red Storm Women’s Basketball Team Rises Up By Richard Kagan It may be that the St. John’s men’s basketball team often gets the headlines; however, as the regular season winds down and the post-season tournaments beckon, it’s the women’s basketball team that is generating real positive buzz.....READ MORE
LIU Holds Off Bryant’s Upset Bid, 75-70 By Richard Kagan When the season is completed and hopefully the team has met some of its goals, the Long Island University Blackbirds can look back at the Bryant University game as a victory LIU will certainly take....READ MORE
An Interview with President Staiano-Coico of the City College of New York
An Interview with world-renowned Jazz Master Dave Liebman
An Interview with Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of the Folksbiene Theater
The Bronx Children's Museum Dream Big Celebration featuring US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor & Hostos CC President Felix V. Matos Rodriguez
A Visit with Danny Jaye's Summer Scholars Academy in Mathematics and Science at The City College of New York
MORE EDUCATION UPDATE VIDEOS
A NEW JOURNALISM INITIATIVE
Education Update Launches Innovative Middle School Journalism Initiative By Adam Sugerman
In September, the staff of Education Update launched the Middle School Journalism Initiative with students from two inner-city public schools: The Young Women’s Leadership School in Harlem and Public School 169, a school for special-needs children, on the Upper East Side....READ MORE
THE EDUCATION UPDATE MIDDLE SCHOOL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE
.gif)
Icicles and Polar Bears Up Close in Frozen Planet Documentary
Commissioner John King Visits with NYS Regent Christine Cea in Staten Island
Philanthropist Tina Flaherty Helps Churchill’s Words Cross the Atlantic to Hunter College & the Morgan Library
Michelle Obama’s Legacy: A Healthier Generation
Carla Markell: First Lady, Delaware
Christine Quinn: City Council Speaker
Shelia Evans-Tranumn:
Chair, Board of Trustees, Casey Family Programs Foundation
Carole Berotte Joseph:
President, Bronx Community College
Tisa Chang: Founder,
Pan Asian Repertory Theater
Dr. Maria Mitchell: President, AMDeC
Joan Kretschmer, Ph.D.:
Musician, Creator
Dora B. Schriro: Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Correction
Deborah Strobin:
An Uncommon Philanthropist
Alice Weiss:
Teacher, Lawyer, Poet
Cindy Sherman: Photographer, Innovator
Diane Ravitch Speaks at Barnard College
Interview With David Rhodes, President, School Of Visual Arts
Education Update
Education Update 
Who is Your Lawyer?
Black Cowboy: An Educational Memoir by Lisa Winkler
