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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Morning Meeting: Fostering A Participatory Democracy Begins With Youth In Public Education, Rebecca C. Tilhou Jan 2020

The Morning Meeting: Fostering A Participatory Democracy Begins With Youth In Public Education, Rebecca C. Tilhou

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

There is a faltering sense of democracy in America's current political climate due to polarized opinions about leadership's decisions and antagonistic political parties. John Dewey (1916) proposed that education is the place to foster democracy, as schools can provide a platform to actively engage students in authentic democratic experiences that will empower them to act democratically beyond the walls of the school. The democratic schools that emerged during the Free School Movement of the 1960s and 1970s embody Dewey's philosophy, specifically with the shared governance occurring in their School Meetings. Unfortunately, American public education's present preoccupation with standardization, proficiency scores, …


Promoting Resilience In Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents Through School-Based Expressive Arts Groups, Bailey Knox May 2019

Promoting Resilience In Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents Through School-Based Expressive Arts Groups, Bailey Knox

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Since 2013, the majority of students served by the public school system in the United States have been considered “low-income” by the federal government. The stressors associated with low socioeconomic status significantly increase risk for social, emotional and behavioral challenges at all age levels, but can be particularly damaging to adolescents coping with heightened stress levels related to the intense multi-dimensional changes that define this developmental period. As the correlation between economic disadvantage and negative socio-emotional and academic outcomes is increasingly evidenced, schools have begun to recognize their responsibility for providing preventative mental health care to high-risk students. Over the …


Inclusive Classrooms: From Access To Engagement Apr 2019

Inclusive Classrooms: From Access To Engagement

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.


Progressive Practices In Public Schools Apr 2019

Progressive Practices In Public Schools

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.


Coherent Schools, Powerful Learning: When Shared Beliefs Fuse School Culture, Structures, And Instruction, Douglas R. Knecht Apr 2019

Coherent Schools, Powerful Learning: When Shared Beliefs Fuse School Culture, Structures, And Instruction, Douglas R. Knecht

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Describes the evolution of a theoretical model of school quality drawn from my experiences teaching at different schools, pursuing graduate studies, leading district policy and support networks, and partnering with school systems, as I presently do at Bank Street College of Education. The model positions schools as the key lever for improvement and equity in our public system and focuses on the coherence of school culture, structures, and instructional approach grounded in beliefs of human development and learning. Using two contrasting schools as cases to explore and develop this model, I offer one as an example of incoherence and the …


Schooling For And With Democracy, Douglas R. Knecht Apr 2018

Schooling For And With Democracy, Douglas R. Knecht

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Given the current challenges facing our democracy in the United States, the role of public schools in forming habits of democratic practice in our citizenry is as important today as ever. To explore this urgent topic, the author interviewed 13 leaders of 10 New York City public schools committed to educating for and with democracy. Six patterns of beliefs and practices emerged from the conversations, including commitments to intentionally developing informed, empathic, inclusive, inquiry-minded, confident, vocal, and involved citizens through parallel democratic structures for both adults and students. A seventh pattern was also identified; however, it took the shape of …


"Noise Level Zero" And Other Tales From The Bronx, John Wolfe Nov 2017

"Noise Level Zero" And Other Tales From The Bronx, John Wolfe

Occasional Paper Series

Wolfe reflects on his journey of teaching in various settings, teaching him what public education should and should not be. He compares his experiences at two public schools in the Bronx with very different approaches to public education.


When September Comes Again, Elizabeth Huffman Oct 2017

When September Comes Again, Elizabeth Huffman

Occasional Paper Series

Huffman describes her first year teaching as extremely difficult and stressful. She reflects on her experiences and includes a log of events that she had written throughout that first year. Her stories remind her why she continues her journey as a teacher today.


Teaching Spirituality As Ontology In Public Schools. A Response To "Democratic Foundations Of Spiritual Responsive Pedagogy", Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon May 2017

Teaching Spirituality As Ontology In Public Schools. A Response To "Democratic Foundations Of Spiritual Responsive Pedagogy", Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon

Democracy and Education

In “Democratic Foundations of Spiritually Responsive Pedagogy,” Lingley worried that talk of spirituality is taboo in U.S. public school classrooms. Lingley pointed out that the dominant narrative demands silence on the topic. She wanted to make the case for spiritually responsive pedagogy as vital to an inclusive democracy. I begin this responsive essay by describing Lingley’s argument, and then I strengthen her argument through my work on relational ontologies. When we equate spirituality with ontology, we realize it is impossible to avoid teaching spirituality in our schools, for we begin passing on to our children our fishing nets to help …


Review: New York City Public Schools From Brownsville To Bloomberg, Stephen Brier Jan 2015

Review: New York City Public Schools From Brownsville To Bloomberg, Stephen Brier

Publications and Research

Review of Heather Lewis's 2015 book, New York City Public Schools from Brownsville to Bloomberg, which explores the historical and educational policy context of the struggle for community control of the New York City public schools from the 1960s to 2000, the year Mayor Michael Bloomberg assumed control over the city's public school system.


The Impact Of Extracurricular Activities On Student Achievement At The High School Level, Steven Wesley Craft May 2012

The Impact Of Extracurricular Activities On Student Achievement At The High School Level, Steven Wesley Craft

Dissertations

The pressure applied on public schools to increase test scores and student achievement are reaching the highest levels ever seen in the United States. School systems are trying to find ways to increase student achievement while dealing with severe budget cuts. Many school systems are exploring the possibility of decreasing or suspending funding for extracurricular activities. This study explored the relationship between student achievement and participation in extracurricular activities. The study focused on the impact that participation in extracurricular activities had grade point average, absentee rate, SAT scores, and success on the Georgia High School Graduation Test. In order to …


Keeping The Lid On Charter Schools: Capping And The Politics Of Education Reform In Connecticut, Lesley A. Denardis Apr 2011

Keeping The Lid On Charter Schools: Capping And The Politics Of Education Reform In Connecticut, Lesley A. Denardis

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

Charter schools, public schools that operate with greater autonomy than their traditional counterparts, first opened in Minnesota in 1991. Between 1991 and 2010, they spread to 40 states and the District of Columbia. In recent months, they have received renewed policy attention under the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competitive federal grant program which rewarded states for educational innovation including the creation of charter schools. While experiencing impressive growth, charter schools lag behind traditional public schools in size and in number, accounting for only 2.9% of the total public school population nationwide. State factors that are predictive of a …


Politics, Pragmatics And Passion: Three Markers On The Teacher Research Journey, Suzanne Soohoo, Chris Strople Jan 2006

Politics, Pragmatics And Passion: Three Markers On The Teacher Research Journey, Suzanne Soohoo, Chris Strople

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Th is article captures the rich collaboration between a fifth-grade teacher and a university professor in their search for the value and significance of teacher inquiry in public school classrooms. Within this action research, both individuals modified their respective classroom practices so as to accommodate each other in the pursuit of a legitimate and justifiable research question. The end result is that both parties are able to more fully engage in theorizing about the politics, pragmatics, and passion both needed and desired in order to ask relevant research questions.


Revisiting The Struggle For Integration, Michelle Fine, Bernadette Anand Jan 1999

Revisiting The Struggle For Integration, Michelle Fine, Bernadette Anand

Publications and Research

The project we describe in this article emerged from thinking about Fridays. While the Monday through Thursday schedule at Renaissance Middle School in Montclair, New Jersey covers the traditional distribution of curriculum, Fridays are dedicated to nine-week cycles of two hour sessions. Each session involves in-depth work focusing on five themes: Aviation, Genetics, Building Bridges, Community Service and this, the Oral History Project. Because the school is thematically organized around core notions of justice, history, social movements and "renaissances" (that is, Italian, Harlem and Montclair), we structured this project around the deeply contested history of desegregation of the Montclair public …


A Call To Movement: Reflections Of An Activist As Educator, Frances Lucerna May 1996

A Call To Movement: Reflections Of An Activist As Educator, Frances Lucerna

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Transformation or reform of public schools may be seen as a product of dual divergent forces - one rooted in the ideology of provider and the other arising from collective self-help initiatives for community self-determination. This paper explores, from a personal as well as community perspective, the socio-political underpinnings of creating a public school focused on human rights and the development of the community that gave it birth. It reveals the influences and principles that shaped my life as a community activist as well as the critical events in the history of El Puente ( a community-based organization ) that …