great minds that don't think alike

64 Pages·2015·9.63 MB·English

TC
SILICON VALLEY’S
VANESSA COLELLA
(M.A. ’96)
HOW POVERTY
SHAPES YOUNG
Today
CHILDREN’S BRAINS
JACK MEZIROW: HE
T H E M A G A Z I N E o f TRANSFORMED LIVES
AND LEARNING
TEACHERS COLLEGE,
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
SPRING/SUMMER 2015
GREAT MINDS THAT
DON’T THINK ALIKE
right combination
TC seeks the as it builds a faculty for the future
{ }
spring + summer 2015
Table of Contents
10
FRESH PERSPECTIVE
Meet a group of new
faculty and staff who —
like their colleagues — are
redefining fields or shaping
new ones. Here, neurosci-
entist Kim Noble, who is
probing the impact of poverty
on brain development (p. 22),
with her daughter, Lucy.
Fe ature s
10 24
Great Minds that Don’t A Longtime Advisor
Think Alike Says Farewell
TC seeks the right combination as Scott Fahey, Chief of Staff and
it builds a faculty for the future Secretary of the College, is leaving
22 after two decades at TC
How Poverty Shapes 26
the Brain Learning About the
Research by Kim Noble could Next Big Thing
suggest new policies for supporting
Vanessa Colella (M.A. ’96) has moved from
families with young children
education to venture capital, but teaching
remains at the heart of her work
Photographs: Above, Don Hamerman
departments
TC
3 PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Today
As faces and fields change at TC,
we’re still asking the right questions
The magazine of Teachers College is
produced by the Office of Development
5 and External Affairs at Teachers
@TC
College, Columbia University.
Teacher tenure on trial, new partnerships
Suzanne M. Murphy
with New York City and more vice president, development
& external affairs
(ed.m. ’99, m.a. ’96)
30 UNCONVENTIONAL WISDOM James L. Gardner
Paradigm-changing work and commen- aexstseorcniaatle avfifcaei rpsresident,
tary by Warner Burke, Lena Verdeli, Sara Clough
Carmen Martinez-Roldán, Marie Miville, senior director, strategic
communications
TC’s aphasia group and the College’s
Center on History and Education TC TODAY STAFF
Joe Levine
35 EARLY RISERS e ditor
In this issue, young alumni making Heather Donohue
business operations & marketing
their mark as leaders in business and initiatives manager, external affairs
the nonprofit world contributors
Paul Acquaro, Gifty Agyapong,
Linda Colquhoun, Harriet
60 FUTURE LEADERS Jackson, Patricia Lamiell, Mindy
Liss, Nikki Marenbach, Urania
The Last Word Why Ph.D. candidate Mylonas, Kelsey Rogalewicz,
Basil Smikle, seasoned in real-world Scott Rubin, Sally Sweeney,
Matthew Vincent, Hua-Chu Yen
politics, is studying education policy
Class Acts Twin sisters and new Nina Ovryn
art director
graduates Alaa and Dalal Alhomaizi are
mental health advocates in Kuwait
TC Today Spring/Summer 2015
Volume 39, Number 2,
Copyright 2015 by Teachers College,
alumni news Columbia University
Articles may be reprinted with
the permission of the Office
48 of External Affairs. Please send
INBOX
alumni class notes, letters to
Readers recall their favorite TC professors the editor, address changes and
other correspondence to:
40 49 NEWS, PROFILES & NOTES TC Today
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News Goldie Hawn at Academic New York, NY 10027
In the Home Stretch 212-678-3412
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TC nears the $200 million mark
Profiles Preston Green (Ed.D. ’95); www.tc.edu/tctoday
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Jane Katz (Ed.D. ’78, M.E. ’72); Maritza
the work they support
Macdonald (Ed.D. ’95); Joyce Rafla (M.A.
46
’13); Willie C. Robinson (Ed.D. ’76) ON THE COVER
On Board
Nanedw R Tervuesttae eBso Awnedrsré asr eA lgoinasnots on the 52 CLASS NOTES TTCTSTOEPHLRAEUICNo MHMGBE/AISRAdUGSC UM ACNMOZIaVELIERNLR yE2ES0GI 1ToE5Yf, T RCVAJHSAANIICNLLSASKIDEFHCHN OSRMOOADSREEWNAP MNLZE CV’EPEISS(RAOOA D MBYOLLRV OR.LWALENEAUIE.LRVI: I ’NNYHL9NTE6’GGAEYSSS)
education landscape 58
IN MEMORIAM
Barbara Barnum, Charlotte Cremin
(M.A. ‘75), Irene Dalis, Jack Mezirow,
GREAT MINDS THAT
DON’T THINK ALIKE
Douglas Williams TC seeks the right combination as it builds a faculty for the future
ICloverl No Supine_v5.indsd 1tration by James St5/29/15e 9:04 AMinberg
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president’s letter
The More Things Change…
C
hange is continual in any insti- decades of invaluable service to TC as Secretary of
tution. But periodically there the College and Chief of Staff, both to me and to Pres-
comes a moment — a tipping ident Arthur Levine before me. And we introduce
point in the number of new Scott’s successor, Katie Conway (Ed.D. ’12, M.E. ’07,
faces in the hallway; a profusion M.A. ’06), a product of Teachers College’s program
of unfamiliar names on office in Higher & Postsecondary Education who has previ-
doors — when long-timers ously served as my Deputy Chief of Staff.
think: This is not the same place it used to be. Our students and alumni are also taking us into
That moment has arrived at Teachers College new realms. In this issue, you’ll
where, since 2007, we have recruited 50 new ten- meet Alaa and Dalal Alhomaizi,
ure-track professors — about one-third of our current Kuwaiti twin sisters who are
faculty. As they arrive they force us to question: How championing the rights of people
do we move new ideas forward and advance the with mental illness and estab-
lifecycle of TC itself? How do new colleagues who lishing psychology as an acknowl-
look at the world in new ways join us in a community edged and respected discipline in
that is “still TC?” their home country; Basil Smikle,
You’ll find our answers in this issue of TC Today. a Ph.D. student in Politics & Edu-
We introduce a cross section of new faculty members cation who is Executive Director
who are challenging basic assumptions in their fields of New York’s Democratic Party;
and sometimes creating new fields entirely. They and donors who are shaping new
include the hearing daughter of two deaf parents who programs in areas ranging from
“
uses “visual phonics” and other alternative forms of movement sciences to psycholog-
HOW DO WE MOVE
literacy to reach special-needs children; a learning ical services for returning military
new ideas forward and
theorist who explores technology’s influence on veterans. They typify the creativity
students’ perceptions of nature; a neuroscientist who and generosity that have carried advance the lifecycle of TC?
is revealing how poverty shapes the brain; and others us to the two-thirds mark in our How do new colleagues who
whose work ranges from engaging teens through mul- historic $300 million campaign.
look at the world in new
ticultural literature to helping children with autism Clearly TC is not the place we
succeed in school. Several earned their degrees at were five years ago, nor even five ways join us in a community
TC, and all teach here because they feel a connection months ago. But to quote Professor that is ‘still TC? ”’
to our work, past and present. And stay tuned: in the Hope Leichter: “What’s important
fall, we’ll showcase our growing expertise in learning is to keep raising questions about
analytics and other areas of quantitative analysis. fundamental premises — and to think beyond disci-
Nor is it only our faculty that’s changing. Since plines to identify the questions that are pertinent to a
2007, 13 new Trustees have joined our Board. Here given focus of research.”
you’ll meet the two newest: Andrés Alonso, a well- TC has always done that better than anyone
known education leader; and Reveta Bowers, a TC else, and we don’t plan on changing now.
Klingenstein Center alumna who has devoted her
career to leading one of the nation’s top independent
schools. We bid a heartfelt “thank you” and a fond
farewell to Scott Fahey, who rendered nearly two SUSAN FUHRMAN (PH.D. ’77)
Photograph: Lofi Studios tc today spring + summer 2015 3

tc
@
Short takes on big news at the College
Defining the Conversation
T
he big topics continue to be debated @TC. In this issue:
the future of teacher tenure, factors associated with gun violence
by young people, why diversity matters in pre-K classrooms,
the importance of “cognition in the wild” and more.
Photograph: Don Hamerman tc today spring + summer 2015 5
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@TC
Teacher Tenure on Trial (EPSA) hosted the first non-partisan, scholarly
consideration of that question.
Should seniority and dismissal be courtroom matters? “We’re seeing a shift in strategies — what polit-
ical scientists call ‘venue shopping’ for arenas where
achieving victory appears more likely,” said EPSA
Chair Jeffrey Henig.
The courts have dictated education policy in
the past, but are there “principled ways to deter-
mine when judicial intervention in educational
policy-making is proper?” asked Jay Heubert, TC
Professor of Law & Education.
The courts must take on teacher tenure, argued
Stanford University’s Eric Hanushek, because
teacher effectiveness is paramount in shaping life
outcomes. Hanushek said a class of 35 students
taught for one year by a teacher in the 75th per-
centile for quality would go on to earn the current
equivalent of $430,000 per year more than if taught
by a teacher of only average quality.
Harvard’s Susan Moore Johnson predicted
that if the California decision is upheld, “effective
teachers will leave or avoid their schools” because
measures such as ending seniority-based layoffs
simply signal to teachers that they are expendable.
And TC Professor of Law & Practice Michael
Rebell, who helped establish that many states
guarantee quality education as a constitutional right,
said courts shouldn’t weigh in on teacher tenure
I
n june 2014, a california trial court found the because the return won’t justify the cost. Relatively
state’s procedures on teacher tenure and dismissal few ineffective teachers will likely be weeded out on the basis
unconstitutional because they expose low-income and of tenure, Rebell suggested, compared with gains wrought by
minority students to “grossly ineffective” teachers. Suits improving teachers’ salaries and working conditions.
are also claiming that New York statutes on teacher “There may be a constitutional right [in New York] for
tenure and dismissal violate a constitutional guarantee of a students to have an effective teacher, but if there is, it goes
“sound basic education.” well beyond tenure to retention, supports, salaries, etc.,”
Are the days of teacher tenure numbered? In Decem- Rebell said. “We have to think through if there are manageable
ber, TC’s Department of Education Policy & Social Analysis standards where a court can intervene.”
CLIMATE GAMES
D
igital games are effective in educating and getting the public to care about climate change,
according to a study published by TC researchers in April on the Nature Climate Change
website. Jason S. Wu, Science Education doctoral student, and Joey J. Lee, Research
Assistant Professor and Director of TC’s Real-World Impact Games Lab, argue that because
games allow players to “simulate complex models or provide a level of control that is not possible
in the real world,” players experience “the complexities of climate systems…participate in decisions
affecting climate change and immediately see the resulting outcomes.” Also, games are fun.
6 spring + summer 2015 TC.EDU/TCTODAY Illustrations: Above, Bill Butcher; Below, Hein Nouwens/Shutterstock
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@TC
HONORS &
DISTINCTIONS
Judith Burton, Professor
and program director of Art
& Art Education and Dir-
ector of TC’s Macy
Art Gallery, received
the Eisner Lifetime
Achievement Award
of the National Art Educa-
tors Association (NAEA).
In late March, Burton gave
the keynote address at
the NAEA national conven-
tion in New Orleans.
Janet Miller, Professor of
English Education, re-
ceived the Mary Anne
Raywid Award from
REFLECTIVE LEARNERS the Society of Profes-
sors of Education. The
Amarion Wilson (top) and Christopher Townsend, students at the Harriet Tubman
award recognizes individuals
Elementary School (PS 154), prove themselves to be snap students at the
“Healthy Selfie” workshop during a spring Community School Kick-Off & Health Fair who have made outstand-
event to celebrate the school’s partnership with Teachers College. ing contributions to the study
of education.
A. Lin Goodwin delivered
her inaugural lecture in March
Pre-K Takeaway: Diversity Matters as Evenden Professor of
Education. Goodwin,
A who is also TC’s Vice
n april report by jeanne l. reid and sharon lynn kagan of tc’s national
Dean, titled her talk
Center for Children and Families finds racial, ethnic and economic disparities in
“From Teaching…to
U.S. preschools and calls for increased diversity. n “The research on classroom
Teaching Teachers…to
composition and peer effects in early childhood education suggests that segregating Teaching Teacher Educators:
children limits their learning,” Reid and Kagan write in “A Better Start: Why Class- A Journey through the
Diversity Matters in Early Education.” “Yet much current preschool policy effectively segregates Profession from Singapore
children by income, race or ethnicity.” n Funded by The Century Foundation and the Poverty and Back Again.”
& Race Research Action http://bit.ly/1GuptrV
Council, the report urges
increased funding for Ernest Morrell delivered
Head Start to enable his inaugural lecture in
enrollment of children March as Macy Pro-
from families above the fessor of Education.
His talk was titled
poverty line without
“Can Outstanding Public
jeopardizing services to
Schools Be the Rule in Our
low-income children.
Cities?” http://bit.ly/1F1DNmf
Photograph: Above, Heather Erny; Below, © Kameleon007/istock by tc today spring + summer 2015 7
Getty Images; Illustrations: Danny Schwartz
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@TC
Youth and Guns: It’s Not Just Mental Illness
IN BRIEF
M
“ ultiple risk behaviors, beyond more commonly discussed
indicators of poor mental health…are associated with gun possession
among youth,” finds research co-authored in PLOS ONE in November
by TC health educa-
n To prepare non-U.S. students tor Sonali Rajan.
for the rigors of graduate work Rajan and Kelly Ruggles
in the United States, Teachers of NYU Langone Medical
College is launching a new Inter-
Center strongly linked more
national Pre-Graduate Program,
than 40 different behavioral
this summer. Just under 20 percent
factors with gun possession,
of TC’s students are international,
including heroin use, having
up from 11.8 percent in 2009.
been injured in a fight, and

n TC’s Columbus Day “Sympo- having been a victim of sexual
sium on Math Education in Latin violence. The researchers
America” highlighted the region’s drew on data amassed
growing prominence in mathe- between 2001 and 2011 by
matics and launched Mathematics the U.S. Centers for Disease
and Its Teaching in the Southern
Control and Prevention.
Americas, an anthology co-edited
“It is our hope that this
by symposium chair Bruce Vogeli,
study will help shift the rhet-
Clifford Brewster Upton Professor
oric around gun violence,
of Mathematical Education.
identify potential points of
n Delivering TC’s second annual intervention, and help re-
Edmund Gordon Lecture this frame research priorities,” the
past fall, Emory University histor- researchers write.
ian Vanessa Siddle Walker hailed
leaders of black schools in the
Jim Crow South who established
a vibrant professional community
and prepared the generation African Education Center
that won civil rights.
Renamed for Bond
n A story in Nature in March TC
has renamed its center for african
described the application of
Education as the George Clement Bond
dynamical systems theory by
Center for African Education in honor
TC psychologist Peter Coleman
to understand persistent vio- of the College’s great education anthropol-
lent conflict in nations such as ogist, who passed away in May 2014.
Colombia, Sri Lanka and the Bond, the Center’s founding director, was an authority
Democratic Republic of Congo. on the African diaspora who was widely credited
with identifying and representing the historical nar-
n Schools must adapt to reflect ratives of indigenous African peoples.
out-of-school “cognition in the
“We are excited to continue the work and vision
wild,” said 2014 Tisch Lecturer
of Professor Bond,” said Interim Director S. Garnett
Reed Stevens of Northwestern
Russell, Assistant Professor of International &
University, because students
Comparative Education. “I see the Bond Center as a
spend just 18.5 percent of their
waking hours on formal school means for faculty with common interests to come
subjects but nearly 50 percent together to develop new research projects. It’s sur-
using various forms of media. prising how much work at TC relates to Africa.”
8 spring + summer 2015 TC.EDU/TCTODAY Illustration: Pep Montserrat; Photograph: John Emerson