FOCUS ON

EducationBringing together more than 40

NYU faculty from the social, behav-

ioral, and health sciences, the Insti-

tute of Human Development and

Social Change (IHDSC) studies how

complex social forces, such as

globalization and immigration,

affect human development. The

institute is a joint initiative of the

Steinhardt School, the Robert F.

Wagner Graduate School of Public

Service, the Faculty of Arts and

Sciences, and the Office of the

Provost.

“Both IHDSC and Steinhardt

share a commitment to improving

the lives of children and families

through interdisciplinary research,”

says Steinhardt Dean Mary Brabeck.

“There is enormous potential for the

work of these talented faculty

members from across the University

to shape policy and practice.”

The work of the institute focuses

on a number of areas, with working

groups on interventions in human

development, early childhood

Addressing the huge demand in the

United States for more teachers of

Mandarin Chinese, the Steinhardt

School recently began a working

relationship with East China Normal

University (ECNU)—the NYU part-

ner school in Shanghai. The agree-

ment allows up to 10 Chinese

graduate students per year to study

foreign language education at NYU.

This past June, Steinhardt Dean

Mary Brabeck and Frank Tang, clini-

cal professor of foreign language

education, traveled to Shanghai to

formally execute the commitment

between the two schools.

Four graduates of ECNU are

beginning their graduate studies at

NYU this semester. Upon comple-

tion of three semesters of study, the

students will be prepared to teach

in public and private schools in New

York State. Steinhardt and the

Office of Chinese Language Council

International of the Chinese Ministry

of Education will offer tuition assis-

tance for the students. This is an

important incentive for students

who often cannot afford to attend

American graduate schools. In

China, students in teacher educa-

tion programs attend without pay-

ing tuition.

“This partnership affirms NYU’s

position as a truly global university,”

SPRING 2008

Hailing from Shanghai, new NYU students, from left: Bing Qiu, Li Lin Guo, Dandan Zhu, and Lu Jiang

New Interdisciplinary Institute Studies Children,Families in Context of Changing World

Steinhardt and East China NormalUniversity Forge Partnership Devoted to Language Education

continued on page 7

continued on page 5

IINNSSIIDDEE 2 National Science Foundation Grants 3 Partnering with Public Schools 7 Recycling for Art Education

School Receives $10 Million from Michael and Judy SteinhardtThe Steinhardt School of Culture,

Education, and Human Development

has received a $10 million gift from

Michael and Judy Steinhardt. The

donation matches their $10 million gift

in 2001 when the school was named in

their honor. The combined $20 million

is the largest gift in the history of the

school, which was created in 1890 as

the School of Pedagogy — the first pro-

fessional school established at an

American research university devoted to

the study of teaching and learning and the preparation of educators.

Michael and Judy Steinhardt

2 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Karen King Wins NSF Grant to StudyTeachers’ Use of Math Textbooks

The choice of which mathematics textbook works best for middle school

instruction has long been a point of argument among educators.

School district administrators tend to believe that textbook selection is the

overriding factor in improving student outcomes on math tests.

Karen King, associate professor of mathematics edu-

cation at the Steinhardt School, seeks to re-frame the

debate regarding math instruction by focusing instead

on how teachers adapt instructional materials in the

classroom. Recently, she was awarded a $998,955 grant

from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a

mixed-methods research study of math instruction

within a school district in New Jersey.

“This project seeks to move the discourse surrounding

math textbooks beyond ‘what works?’ toward helping teach-

ers effectively use high quality instructional materials,” says King. “While the

choice of textbook is important, I would argue that it is not nearly as important

as critics or advocates of certain textbooks would have you believe.”

Appiah Delivers Association for Moral Education Keynote at Steinhardt

The National Science Foundation has awarded NYU a $750,000 grant for

the creation of the NYU Noyce Scholarship Program. The program, a joint

collaboration between Steinhardt and the Faculty of Arts and Science, will

prepare 26 new math or science teachers for high-needs secondary schools

over the course of four years.

Available to undergraduate students with an interest in teaching

careers, the program will provide funding for a master’s degree in science

or math education through Steinhardt’s Department of Teaching and

Learning. The program is named after Robert Noyce, a co-founder of

Intel Corporation.

Steinhardt and FAS to Create New Math and Science Scholarship Program

NYU Steinhardt PodcastsVisit www.steinhardt.nyu.edu/podcast to listen to lectures and

presentations from Steinhardt faculty and visiting professors.

Episodes cover topics such as classroom management,

motivating and engaging students, and global citizenship.

Subscribe to our podcast to receive the latest episodes auto-

matically on your computer or portable audio player.

Kwame Anthony Appiah, Laurence S. Rockefeller

University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton

University, delivered the keynote address at the

32nd annual meeting of the Association for

Moral Education (AME), held at NYU Steinhardt

and titled “Civic Education, Moral Education, and

Democracy in a Global Society.”

Following introductions by Steinhardt Dean

Mary Brabeck, AME President John Snarey, and

NYU President John Sexton, Appiah spoke on

global citizenship to a packed crowd in the

Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Tracing

the history of cosmopolitanism from ancient

Greece to today’s globalized culture, Appiah

argued that the tenets of cosmopolitanism—tol-

erance, diversity, humility, and commitment to

dialogue—are the very qualities necessary for

good global citizenship. Dean Mary Brabeck, President John Sexton, and Kwame

Anthony Appiah at the AME Conference.

From left: Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Niobe Way, Diane Hughes, and Catherine Tamis-LeMonda

The Steinhardt School Center for

Research on Culture, Development,

and Education (CRCDE) was recent-

ly awarded a $2.5 million grant from

the National Science Foundation

(NSF) for research on how cultural

beliefs and practices in homes and

schools shape different aspects of

child development among predomi-

nantly low-income, ethnically diverse

populations in New York City.

This is the second consecutive

five-year grant from NSF awarded to

four faculty members from the

Department of Applied Psychology:

Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, Diane

Hughes, Niobe Way and Hirokazu

Yoshikawa. Other funding sources

include the William T. Grant Founda-

tion, the National Institutes of Health,

and the U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services’ Administration

for Children and Families.

“The Study of Culture, Social

Settings, and Child Development

across School Transitions,” is a

research project that aims to gener-

ate new knowledge on the develop-

mental experiences of children from

diverse ethnic backgrounds, espe-

cially during the transition to pre-

school/elementary school and to

high school. Since the majority of

students entering urban high

schools are Latino, Asian, or African

American, the success or failure of

these populations during these

high-stakes times has long-term

implications for the U.S.

“What we’re finding is that our

research challenges common

stereotypes about ethnic minority

children and families,” says Tamis-

LeMonda. “Since these stereotypes

inform educational, political, and

social institutions, our research has

the potential to both advance sci-

ence and theory on human develop-

ment as well as inform social policy

and educational practices.”

$2.5 Million NSF Grant for Study onChildren's Education and Development

Karen King

STEINHARDT SCHOOL OF CULTURE, EDUCATION, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 3

Steinhardt’s Adopted School Makes the GradeIn 1999, a team of

Steinhardt School fac-

ulty and administrators

assisted New York

City’s Department of

Education, in creating

the University Neigh-

borhood High School

(UHNS). Located on

Manhattan’s Lower East

Side, the school’s

mission is to provide the community first-class college preparation

for its youth. Every year, 20–30 NYU students serve as tutors and

mentors at the University Neighborhood High School, and many

have gone on to teach there as well. UNHS offers a challenging

academic college preparatory program and students can attend

College Preview courses at NYU. More than 90% of its graduates

go on to college.

Partnership Program Is a Win-Win forBoth High School and College StudentsInspired by the bountiful presence of NYU students in schools,

Steinhardt’s Teacher Education Program launched a unique

Partnership Schools Project. The project, started in 2005, puts NYU

students in 20 secondary schools in three of the city’s poorest

neighborhoods — the Lower East Side, East Harlem, and the South

Bronx. “The prime goal of the Partnership is to provide mutual ben-

efit for both the students who attend these schools and the NYU

students who work with them,” says Steinhardt Professor Joseph

McDonald, who coordinates the effort. “The public school students

gain from having more adults supporting their learning and devel-

opment. The NYU students gain by learning to practice in a richer

and more inter-professional community of practice.”

NYU STUDENTS SERVE NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

• 1,100 NYU students annually serve as classroom literacy

and math tutors through America Reads/America Counts.

• 1,200 Steinhardt student teachers work in New York City

schools in elementary education, the arts, and core high

school subject classes.

• 1,000 students annually participate in Steinhardt’s

Learning Partners Program, a pre-student teaching

internship, offering music lessons, assisting in science

labs, and helping children learn to read.

• 500 Steinhardt students intern in New York City public

schools in nutrition, counseling, speech therapy.

occupational therapy, and the creative arts therapies.

Next fall, Steinhardt and the

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) will

offer a master’s degree in dance

education with a concentration in

ballet pedagogy. The 36-point

master’s degree program, offered

through Steinhardt’s Department of

Music and Performing Arts

Professions, will prepare graduates

to teach in studios, conservatories,

public schools, and higher educa-

tion institutions. In addition to

course work that includes classes

on performance, teaching dance,

and dance history, students will

take part in fieldwork at the

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School

at the American Ballet Theatre as

well as at ABT’s Educational

Outreach programs.

“This academic partnership

between NYU Steinhardt and

American Ballet Theatre is just one

example of the kinds of partner-

ships Steinhardt is forging with cul-

tural and educational organizations

throughout New York City,” said

Dean Mary Brabeck.

Dance EducationPartners withAmerican BalletTheatre

At the ballet: the Steinhardt/ABT dance

education program is the only program of

its kind in the country.

PH

OT

O B

Y G

EN

E S

CH

IAV

ON

E

In 2001, the Steinhardt School

established the Ph.D. in Education

and Jewish Studies, the first doctor-

al training program in Jewish edu-

cation at an American research

university. The mission of the pro-

gram is to prepare researchers and

practitioners for leadership posi-

tions in a wide range of Jewish edu-

cational settings. Students receive

broad preparation in learning theo-

ry, research methods, educational

administration, as well as curriculum

development.

“The program is special because

it is helping meet the pressing need

for highly qualified leaders in

Jewish education by preparing stu-

dents at the doctoral level for key

positions in virtually every educa-

tional setting in the American

Jewish community,” says Mary

Brabeck, dean of the Steinhardt

School. Graduates of the program

have earned highly competitive

positions in the academic world and

in educational settings within the

Jewish community.

Revolution in Jewish EducationBegins at NYU Steinhardt

IN AND OF THE COMMUNITY:

Richard Arum Helps Create New ResearchPartnership for New York City SchoolsRecognizing the need for educators and policymak-

ers to have access to strong evidence-based research

on educational issues, the New York City Department

of Education has endorsed the creation of a non-par-

tisan research consortium that will study what

works—and what doesn’t—in public schools. The

group has been formally named the Research

Partnership for New York City Schools.

Richard Arum, professor in the Department of

Humanities and Social Sciences in the Professions, has been instrumental in

forming the group through his work as project

Richard Arum

continued on page 8

4 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Teachers studied the Hudson River

in a professional development pro-

gram offered by Steinhardt’s

Wallerstein Collaborative for Urban

Environmental Education.

The Hudson River Summer

Program, an interdisciplinary course

for elementary through college

teachers of all fields, introduced

teachers to the history, geology,

and ecology of the Hudson River

estuary. Funded by the New York

City Environmental Fund and

directed by Mary Leou, clinical

assistant professor in the

Department of Teaching and

Learning, the program gave teach-

ers an opportunity to acquire the

knowledge and skills needed to

implement ecological studies in

their classrooms.

“Our program is unique because

we use the environment as a con-

text for learning while providing

teachers with a direct experience

with nature. The process is transfor-

mative and carries over into class-

room practice,” says Leou, director

of the Wallerstein Collaborative.

“We also continue to work with

participants by creating long-term

partnerships in the schools where

they teach, thus developing a

community of learners engaged in

studying and caring for the local

environment.”

Teachers who participated

expressed the importance of train-

ing through hands-on experience.

Amanda Ferris from the Brooklyn

School for Collaborative Studies

(MS 448) found the experience

gave her tools for “incorporating

real-world meaningful experiences”

into her classroom. “I feel better

prepared to help my students,

many of them struggling learners,

understand, be inspired by, and find

alternative resources for some of

the academic work they will be

tackling in the year ahead.”

A Class for Teacherson EnvironmentalEducation

Steinhardt higher education student, Abby Berenson, reads to Josephine, a student at the

Nellmapius Primary School in Mamelodi, South Africa.

South Africa is a destination for

Steinhardt students studying social

transformation and educational

reform. A summer program created

by clinical professor Teboho Moja of

the Department of Administration,

Leadership and Technology offers

graduate students a chance to use

theory and practical skills acquired

at Washington Square and apply

them to studies abroad.

“On an annual basis Steinhardt

sends approximately 450 students

to study abroad sites in Latin

America, Europe, Asia, and Africa

during January intersession and

summer session,” said Helen Kelly,

director of the Office of Special

Programs, who coordinates the

school’s study abroad programs.

Moja, a South African who

served as special advisor to South

Africa’s Minister of Education, now

lives in New York City. She sees her

native country as a place where

“there have been great achieve-

ments in a short period of time.”

Since it started eight years ago,

more than 110 students from

Steinhardt, Stern, and Gallatin have

visited cities and rural villages to

meet people who are grappling

with reform issues on a daily basis.

Moja believes that many of the

issues people face in South Africa

are universal and she encourages

her students to compare what they

see in the South African classrooms

to classrooms in the United States.

Colleen Larson, an associate pro-

fessor in educational leadership in

Steinhardt’s Department of Admin-

istration Leadership and Technology,

serves as the students’ research

guide. She has helped students

structure their research on AIDS in

the schools, leadership in higher

education and K-12 schools, racial

equity in education and employ-

ment, as well as financial and gender

issues in education.

“One of the true strengths of

this study abroad program is

Professor Moja’s connections to key

policy makers and government offi-

cials in the country,” Larson says.

“Because of these connections, we

are able to link students to people

in South Africa who not only share

their concerns, but who are playing

a critical role in shaping South

Africa’s future.”

Students describe the South

African study abroad experience as

one in which they were able to ‘give

something back’ to those less fortu-

nate. Abby Berenson, a student in

Moja’s program, described a spon-

taneous act of charity from NYU

students who pooled their pocket

money to pay the Nellmapius

Primary School’s phone bill.

SUMMER IN SOUTH AFRICA:

STUDY ABROAD GIVES STUDENTS WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE

Cynthia Womersley, an elementary teacher at

P.S. 3 in Manhattan, observes heron nesting

sites during an Audubon Eco-Tour.

Metro Center Receives $3.1 Million Grant toCreate Bilingual Education CenterThe Metropolitan Center for Urban Education has received a five-year,

$3.1 million grant from the New York State Education Department Office of

Bilingual Education to establish and operate a state-wide Spanish-language

Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center (BTAC). Through the efforts of

the BTAC, the Metro Center will be able to provide comprehensive academic

support services to schools in New York City, as well as serve the needs of the

growing population of English-language learners in the public schools.

John Patrick Shanley (MA ’77), who won

an academy award in 1987 for his screenplay

for Moonstruck, was awarded a Tony Award,

a Pulitzer Prize, and a New York City Drama

Critics’ Circle Award for his Broadway play,

Doubt.

A graduate of Steinhardt’s program in

educational theatre, Shanley told the

Associated Press that he started writing plays

at NYU that were produced professionally for

the first time while he was a student.

High Honors for John Patrick Shanley

PH

OT

O B

Y M

ON

IQU

E C

AR

BO

NI

Joe Salvatore understands the

importance of keeping

Shakespeare alive for his stu-

dents. So when the teacher in

Steinhardt’s educational theatre

program received an NYU

Curriculum Development

Challenge Fund Grant to incor-

porate a high school youth

ensemble into the program’s

Shakespeare Initiative, he was

ecstatic.

“I think it’s important that our

educational theatre students

understand how to read, act, and

teach Shakespeare, and what

better way to learn than by

working with high school stu-

dents?” Salvatore said.

Salvatore, who is a director

and dramaturge, was inspired to

create the ensemble after teach-

ing the Shakespeare theatre

course and inviting young peo-

ple into the class to work with

his students. The experience

gave Salvatore’s students a

chance to experiment with

coaching techniques that were

discussed in classroom.

Salvatore and his graduate

students auditioned 30 high

school students for the youth

ensemble and cast 14 of them in

the production. The group

rehearsed once a week for three

hours, and often participated in

Salvatore’s graduate level

Shakespeare courses.

“Working with Shakespeare is

like working with a second lan-

guage,” Salvatore said. “People

think that Shakespeare’s lan-

guage is hard, but I like to say

that that the ear and the mouth

have to recalibrate to it.” If an

average high school perform-

ance takes eight weeks of

rehearsal, Salvatore’s students

were told to prepare for twelve

to sixteen weeks of practice.

Like learning a foreign language,

Shakespeare requires immersion.

The one-time grant from the

university helped to provide props

and costumes for the ensemble,

lunches for long Saturday

rehearsals, and a $100 stipend for

each high school student.

Why are teachers so passion-

ate about Shakespeare?

“Shakespeare’s not going

away,” Salvatore, said. “His plays

are in high school and college

curricula across the country.

There is something about the

humanity in those plays that

makes us look at ourselves and

question the choices that we

make.

“Therefore, we need to pro-

vide artists and teachers with

the proper training to teach the

plays as theatre in performance

rather than only as pieces of

English literature.”

THE ARTS IN EDUCATION:

Students Learn How to Teach Shakespeare

STEINHARDT SCHOOL OF CULTURE, EDUCATION, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 5

A recent Steinhardt policy

breakfast, “Do Gender Differences in

Academic Achievement Really

Exist?” brought together Marcia C.

Linn, professor of development and

cognition in the Graduate School of

Education at the University of

California, Berkeley, and Joshua

Aronson, associate professor of

applied psychology, who has

researched extensively the role of

stereotypes, self-esteem, and moti-

vation in learning and performance.

Following an introduction by

Steinhardt Dean Mary Brabeck, who

cited the reemergence of the belief

in significant statistical differences

in how the different genders learn,

Linn walked the audience of policy-

makers, researchers, and educators

through current research, which

shows few, if any, differences in

achievement attributable to gender.

Aronson complemented Linn’s pres-

entation with a discussion of his

own study of stereotype threat,

which he and others have defined as

the psychological discomfort that

arises in a testing situation when an

individual of a particular minority

group becomes aware that his or

her performance on the test may

confirm an established negative

reputation for that group. Aronson’s

research shows that performance

is heavily influenced by mindset,

which suggests that differences in

intelligence or problem-solving

cannot simply be attributed to

gender or race, but to cultural and

personal ideas about gender, race,

and intelligence.

NYU Honors Dorothy Height,Steinhardt Alumna, Civil Rights ActivistIn the summer of 1929, Dorothy Height arrived at

Barnard College out of breath and late for an

appointment with the dean of admissions. She

had been accepted to the college, but at that

meeting Height was told that Barnard’s “two

Negro” quota was filled. Later that afternoon

Height took her acceptance letter and high school

transcript down to Washington Square and met

with the School of Education’s Dean Schaeffer.

She was admitted to NYU that evening. “A girl

who makes these kinds of grades doesn’t need

an application to enroll at NYU,” Schaeffer said.

“A ray of hope crept into my heart,” Height wrote

In her memoir Open Wide the Freedom Gates. “From that day forward I have

loved every brick of that university.”

Steinhardt’s Joshua Aronson, left, and Dean

Mary Brabeck, right, welcome Marcia Linn to

the gender and education policy breakfast.

Joe Salvatore created a youth ensemble

of public high school students to help

show his educational theatre students

how to teach Shakespeare.

education and policy, and family processes in cross-cultural contexts. The

institute also provides seed money for faculty for multidisciplinary research

on human development and the role of changing social contexts.

“In an increasingly complex world, children, youth, and families face

developmental challenges that span a wide range of economic and social

contexts,” says Cybele Raver, director of IHDSC and associate professor of

applied psychology at Steinhardt. “The institute recognizes that a multidis-

ciplinary approach is necessary to tackle these complex issues.”

New Interdisciplinary Institute continued from page 1

Dorothy Height (BS ’33; MA ’35;

HON ’75), received the NYU

Alumni Association’s Eugene J.

Keogh Award for Distinguished

Public Service.

Steinhardt Launches Policy Series onGender and Education

6 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Preparing America’s Teachers: A HistoryBy James Fraser (Teachers College Press)

James Fraser, professor of educational history, Department of

Humanities and Social Sciences in the Professions, offers an

historical account of how American teachers have been trained in

the United States.

Preparing America’s Teachers, which covers the history of

teacher education from the American Revolution to the present,

highlights a constant dilemma facing the training of our educators:

cries for reform.

“In virtually every generation from the early

1800s to the dawn of the 21st century, there

have been many urgent voices calling for far

reaching reform in the preparation of the

nation’s teachers and many reforms designed

specifically to respond to the critiques raised,”

Fraser writes.

Fraser was motivated to write the book, in

part, to inform current debate and decision-

making on American teacher education.

“Teacher educators and their critics talk of

decline without remembering that it is only in

the last half century that teachers were required to have a bac-

calaureate degree,” he notes. “They talk of the importance of test-

ing teachers and changing the process of licensure without any

sense of the history of teacher testing and licensing, which has

gone on in some form in this country since at least the 1830s, not

always with happy results.”

Faculty & Alumni Books

Student outcomes — including

graduation and dropout rates —

at small (under 500 students) and

medium size (between 501 and

1500 students) high schools in New

York City are better than the city-

wide average for all schools,

according to a new report by the

NYU Institute for Education and

Social Policy (IESP).

The study also found that there

is no difference in these outcomes

between small and medium size

schools, suggesting that optimal

high school size may be larger than

previously thought.

“While the findings reinforce

what prior research has shown

regarding the positive influence of

small schools on student outcomes,

these new data demonstrate that

the previous definition of small

might, in fact, be too strict,” said

Amy Schwartz, director of IESP.

“Our findings support other

research that suggests that the

optimal high school size may be

600 to 900 students.”

A joint initiative of the Stein-

hardt School of Culture, Education,

and Human Development and the

Robert F. Wagner Graduate School

of Public Service, IESP explored the

development of small high schools

in New York City for a 10-year time

period. Funded by New Visions for

Public Schools, the report is signifi-

cant in that it is the first long-term

study of the wave of small school

openings in the city between 1994

and 1998.

The redesign of American high

schools, including an increased

focus on creating smaller schools

and smaller learning communities,

has been a key strategy for reform-

ing public schools in urban districts

across the country. Because most

studies on small high schools are

able to use only one or two years

of data, it is particularly important

to assess how these schools do

over longer periods of time, and

whether initial achievement gains

are maintained.

“These findings provide impor-

tant insights on how new small

urban high schools are established

and supported, and will help in the

development of mechanisms to

assist new small high schools after

their initial development period,”

said Meryle Weinstein, co-project

director of the study.

Study Proves Optimal High School Size May Be Larger Than Previously Thought

McWayne and Melzi Receive Grant to Study Latino Families’Involvement in Children’s Learning

Assistant professor Christine

McWayne and associate profes-

sor Gigliana Melzi of the

Department of Applied

Psychology have received a

grant of $143,500 from the

National Institute of Health to

study Latino family involvement

and children’s school readiness.

The pair have designed a pilot

study to conduct an investigation

of the specific and unique ways that Latino families support children’s

school readiness through their involvement. The knowledge gained from

the study has the potential to inform the design of culturally responsive

family involvement programs within New York City’s Child Care and

Head Start systems, and would also have implications for early childhood

programs serving Latino families and children across the nation.

Christine McWayne and Gigliana Melzi

Teacher Man Frank McCourt Visits NYU“I came from behind my desk and made the first sound of my teaching

career: Hey. Four years of higher education at New York University and

all I could think of was Hey. I said it again. Hey. They ignored me.”

— Frank McCourt (’57, HON ’00), in Teacher Man

Frank McCourt

became a teacher on

a morning in 1958

when a fight broke

out, a sandwich was

hurled in anger, and

he ate it.

The Pulitzer

Prize-winning author

and Mary Brabeck,

dean of the

Steinhardt School, enjoyed a conversation about Teacher Man,

McCourt’s memoir about his 30-year teaching career in New York

City’s public high schools. The bestselling author of Angela’s Ashes

and ’Tis, McCourt answered questions and signed copies of his

books during Alumni Reunion Weekend.

STEINHARDT SCHOOL OF CULTURE, EDUCATION, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 7

Arts Education Alumna Harriet TaubBrings Recycling into the Classroom

“We were green when it wasn’t

sexy or cool to think about reuse

and waste reduction,” says alumna

Harriet Taub (BS ’76). A graduate of

Steinhardt’s arts education pro-

gram, Taub is the director of

Materials for the Arts (MFTA). As

director, she oversees the largest

reuse program in New York City; its

mission is to keep valuable items

from entering landfills. In 2006,

Taub estimates that MFTA kept 751

tons of material out of the waste

stream and put them into the hands

of artists and educators. We spoke

with Taub recently about her work.

How did your education prepare

you for what you do?

Going to NYU and living in New

York City in the ’70s was an adven-

turous educational experience.

Things were not nearly as expensive

then as they are now, but even so,

we went looking for “finds” on

garbage night to decorate our

apartments and also to use in our

artwork. I student-taught in

Chinatown, and remember telling

my students that the entire city was

a museum filled with wonderful tex-

tures, colors, and patterns. We used

the richness of the outdoors to sup-

plement the work in the classroom.

Where does MFTA get materials?

We get our donations from busi-

nesses and individuals in the New

York City metropolitan region. Right

now we have seats from a Walter

Reade theater. A number of small

New York City theater groups are in

line to outfit their spaces with

them. The items that we’re general-

ly in need of, and cannot get

enough of, are beads, trim and

notions, paper, props, household

items, and stationery supplies.

What’s the best part of your job?

I’m most proud of our education

program at MFTA, which is funded

through our not-for-profit partner,

Friends of Materials for the Arts.

Here we are able to focus our philos-

ophy on the importance of reuse in

arts education and train educators

how to best use the materials found

in our warehouse. After our program,

teachers take a brand new skill set

back to their classrooms.

For more information about volunteer

opportunities, to donate items, or to learn

more, go to www.mfta.org.

Harriet Taub (BS ’76), director of Materials

for the Arts, works with NYU through

Project Outreach, an annual volunteer day

for students.

THE NYU STEINHARDT MISSION

NYU Steinhardt advances knowledge, creativity, and innovation at the

crossroads of human learning, culture, development, and well-being.

Through rigorous research and education, both within and across

disciplines, the School's faculty and students evaluate and redefine

processes, practices, and policies in their respective fields and, from a

global as well as community perspective, lead in an ever-changing world.

NYU Steinhardt Signs Agreement with Mexican Government

In the first alliance of its kind, New York

University and the Steinhardt School inaugurat-

ed Plazas Comunitarias (Community Town

Squares) with a bi-national agreement signed by

the Mexican government and NYU.

Plazas Comunitarias is an adult and youth

education, workforce development, and lifelong

learning initiative developed by Mexico’s

National Institute for Adult Education.

The Plazas Comunitarias initiative — a $4 million donation of resources

to New York City and State — will make available Spanish language multi-

media, technology-enhanced instructional materials, and computer training,

free of charge, to Spanish-speakers throughout New York City.

“It is my hope that Plazas Comunitarias is but a first step toward a wider

initiative to provide all Spanish-speaking New Yorkers with the resources

they need to succeed in our great city,” said Mayor Bloomberg, who attend-

ed the signing.

Steinhardt and ECNU Forge PartnershipDevoted to Language Education

said Brabeck. “And it is a great fit

for Steinhardt. Teaching is a profes-

sion that enjoys great esteem in

China, and ECNU and Steinhardt are

committed to sharing the highest

academic standards.”

The partnership also fits with the

New York City Department of

Education’s (DOE) Partnership for

Teacher Excellence program with

NYU and CUNY to attract qualified

teachers in high-need areas, said

Brabeck. The DOE recruits new

teachers from around the world, but

often the transition to New York

City schools is jarring. Foreign

teachers often experience culture

shock when beginning to work in

New York City schools.

“With this new Steinhardt model,

the Chinese students will be

immersed in the culture of New

York City schools even before they

begin teaching,” said Brabeck.

continued from page 1

Food Studies Faculty Propose aGreenhouse of Their Own

Jennifer Berg, director of the grad-

uate program in food studies, and

Joy Santiofer, adjunct faculty mem-

ber, Department of Nutrition, Food

Studies and Public Health, are the

recipients of an NYU Sustainability

Fund Grant for their proposal “Grow,

Cook, Eat, Learn,” a self-contained

sustainable food system and urban

agricultural working laboratory.

The proposal was submitted in

response to a campus-wide propos-

al request for innovative, effective

and feasible projects that could

help the University reduce negative

environmental impacts and raise

awareness of the importance of its

sustainability agenda.

Their proposed rooftop or

ground-level greenhouse/garden

would serve as a microcosm of the

entire food production cycle, incor-

porating harvesting, cooking, nutri-

tion, consumption, waste, and

composting into a working labora-

tory for the Department of

Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public

Health. Berg and Santiofer plan to

use the lab for undergraduate

research and are creating a K-5

agricultural science curriculum for

the public school community.

Steinhardt Grad Aims to ImproveLives of NYC Public SchoolchildrenFor Arlean Wells, a Ph.D. recipient

from the Program in Educational

Leadership in the Steinhardt School,

her dissertation was not “just a

research project.” It gave her the

chance to better understand a

formative childhood experience:

being held back in third grade.

Her dissertation, “The Third-

Grade Retention Policy in New

York City: A Case Study of ‘The

Left Back Group,’” analyzed the

retention policy under the Michael

Bloomberg administration, but

was inspired by her own experi-

ence as a New York City public

school child during the 1980s and

90s. Her confidence and self-

esteem were hurt by being

retained; few, if any, support sys-

tems were available. She fears that

poor children and children of color

continue to be negatively affected

by the policy.

“Too many kids who look like

me are not making it through the

public school system,” says Wells,

who is African American.

Wells’s research focuses on a

cohort of students who repeated

the third grade and were taught as

a distinct class, rather than dis-

persed into regular classrooms.

This provided Wells with a research

opportunity to compare the

group’s third- and fourth-grade

academic achievement. She found

that any achievement gains of the

repeated third-grade year were lost

during the fourth grade.

“Her study captures the per-

spectives of administrators, teach-

ers, and, perhaps, most

importantly, children who are being

affected by these reforms,” said her

advisor, associate professor Colleen

Larson of Steinhardt’s Department

of Administration, Leadership, and

Accepting a Steinhardt Distinguished Alumni

Award, children’s book author Judy Blume

(BS ’61) told undergraduates that she hung

her diploma over her washing machine, taking

inspiration while doing laundry, raising young

children, and commuting to NYU where she

learned that her strength was writing “stories

about real kids in the real world.”

Office of the Dean | Joseph and Violet Pless Hall | 82 Washington Square East

New York, NY 10003 | www.steinhardt.nyu.edu

EEddiittoorr Debra Weinstein | Brady Galan, photographer | Timothy Farrell,

contributing writer

For more information, email contact.steinhardt@nyu.edu

Technology. “These stories and

the findings of this study need to

be read by policy makers and

educators who truly care about

children.”

While earning her Ph.D., Wells

taught K-3 special education in

public schools in New York. She

also worked with Steinhardt’s

Metropolitan Center for Urban

Education, first as a tutor and

later as a project associate, help-

ing to recruit and train tutors to

work in public schools.

Creating opportunities for New

York’s underprivileged school-

children is her greatest passion.

Last year Wells organized a con-

ference at NYU for local high

school students for whom college

might seem an impossible goal.

She brought 60 students from

four local schools to visit NYU and

participate in workshops on

choosing and applying to college.

The event culminated with a bus

trip to Howard University in

Washington, D.C.

Arum Creates New Research Partnership

Judy Blume AddressesSteinhardt Graduates

director of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), an independent,

non-profit group that focuses research on important public issues. Arum

and his SSRC collaborator Abby Larson brought together two dozen edu-

cational researchers from across the city who drafted a concept paper

and an action plan for the initiative. A governance board has also been

created with prominent education leaders.

continued from page 1

Arlean Wells

NYU’s Steinhardt School and

College of Arts and Science (CAS)

will collaborate on “Molecules and

Minds: Optimizing Simulations for

Chemistry Education,” a $1.1 million,

three-year grant awarded by the

U.S. Department of Education to

develop effective chemistry simula-

tions for a broad range of high

school students, including under-

served and underachieving learners.

The grant blends expertise from

three Steinhardt departments and

from CAS. Principal investigator

Jan Plass, associate professor in

the Department of Administration,

Leadership and Technology, will

work with Steinhardt’s assistant

professors Bruce Homer of Applied

Psychology and Catherine Milne of

Teaching and Learning, along with

Trace Jordan, assistant director of

the core curriculum in CAS. Under

the grant, the group will enhance

the computer simulations used in

chemistry education to make them

more interactive and exploratory,

as compared to current models

which are often fairly abstract and

hard to manipulate.

“We have a real problem

attracting people to degrees in the

sciences nationwide,” says Jan

Plass. “We want to design educa-

tional tools for a broader audience,

so that more students can benefit

from them and even learn to enjoy

the sciences.”

Homer, whose work focuses on

cognitive development and the

symbolic understandings of chil-

dren, says, “I see our work on this

grant as an intersection between

basic and applied research.”

The team, along with NYU stu-

dents, will take their enhanced

models into the classrooms of New

York City public high schools.

“In this study, we’ll take a theory

of learning and use it in representa-

tions that we think will be educa-

tionally useful and then take them to

the schools,” says Milne. “Then we’ll

see if what we think is useful actual-

ly works in school settings. That’s

what is so exciting to me.”

NYU Faculty Receive $1.1 Million Grant to Improve Chemistry Education