Annual Distinguished Educators Lecture

Preservice and current classroom teachers from various grades and regional school districts gathered to listen and learn from peers and colleagues, as well as a national expert on effective inclusive classroom and school practices. Pace University School of Education was pleased to collaborate with Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES Curriculum Center, Rockland BOCES, Southern Westchester BOCES and the Lower Hudson RSE-TASC in presenting this exceptional one-day conference for teachers, administrators and educational professionals. Keynote by Kevin Feldman, Ph.D.

What factors create racial disparities in academic performance? Why haven't we addressed them? How can we close the gap and spur success? Join one of the nation's foremost experts on education and economic development, Senior Harvard Lecturer Ronald F. Ferguson, PhD, as he discusses a growing national movement to improve educational outcomes for students from all racial, ethnic, and social backgrounds. Drawing on his recent book, Toward Excellence with Equity: An Emerging Vision for Closing the Achievement Gap, Ferguson sets forth a compelling vision for change and "an urgent call to action" to all those concerned about the future of our children and our country.

Teacher Accountability: It's on the front page of media outlets around the country and a top political agenda for numerous candidates in this election year. Danielson’s framework for Teaching is becoming the foundation for the evaluation of teachers in many school districts in New York. The discussion topic is framing teacher evaluation and accountability while supporting student success. Charlotte Danielson is an internationally recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness, specializing in the design of teacher evaluation systems that assess teacher quality while promoting professional learning. Danielson has taught at all levels, from kindergarten through college, and has worked as an administrator, a curriculum director, and a staff developer throughout the US. In her consulting work she has served hundreds of districts, universities, intermediate agencies, and state departments of education in virtually every state as well as internationally.

Drawing on forms of prior knowledge that traditionally underserved students bring to classrooms, Lee has developed a theory of cultural modeling that provides a framework for the design and enactment of curriculum. In addition to serving as co-coordinator of the Spencer Research Training program in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern, she is a founder and former director of the New Concept School, an African-centered independent school in Chicago, and a founder of the Betty Shabazz International Charter School in Chicago, a newly established African-centered charter school. Lee is the former president of the National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy and the chair of the standing committee on research of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The author of Signifying as a Scaffold for Literary Interpretation: The Pedagogical Implications of an African American Discourse Genre. She is co-editor of a scholarly journal, Neo-Vygotskian Perspectives on Literacy Research. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign, a master’s in English from the University of Chicago, and an educational doctorate from the University of Chicago.

The research Gutierrez has done in urban high schools in the United States and Mexico has made her an authority on the organizational, cultural, and pedagogical aspects of high school mathematics and how they apply to poor students and students of color. Her current research focuses on teaching that achieves equality in students’ mathematics participation. An associate professor of mathematics education and Latina/Latino studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she presents examples of four successful teaching "stories" and will include aspects of organizational structures and teaching practices that contribute to success. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Master’s and Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Chicago.

Kohn has been described by Time magazine as "perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores." A wide-ranging speaker and writer, he has been critical of competition and rewards on TV and radio programs including "The Today Show" and "Oprah," and in books like "Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community" (ASCD, 1996), which he describes as "a modest attempt to overthrow the entire field of classroom management." Other titles include "Punished by Rewards" (1993), “The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards" (1999), "The Case Against Standardized Testing" (2000), and most recently, "The Homework Myth" (2006).

Tomlinson is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on differentiation of instruction for academically diverse learners and the effects of varied school and teaching practices on low income and minority learners. Her 15 books alsohave dealt with the change process in schools moving toward more academically responsive classrooms. The program coordinator for the Educational Psychology/Gifted Education program at the University of Virginia, she also serves as co-director of the school’s Institutes on Academic Diversity. Formerly a public school teacher for 21 years at the high school, preschool, and middle school levels, she was Virginia’s Teacher of the Year in 1974 and was named “Outstanding Professor” at the UVA Curry School of Education in 2004; her books have been translated into 12 languages. Tomlinson holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina, a master’s degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and both a master’s and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Virginia.

Martin Haberman is credited with developing more teacher education programs preparing teachers to work with poor children than anyone in the history of US education. The most widely known is the National Teacher Corps, based on an internship program he developed in Milwaukee. He has since written and researched extensively about what makes teachers and students successful in urban schools. Haberman also is the creator of a successful interview program that helps urban schools hire and retain qualified teachers and is now used by more than 220 school districts around the country. Although he officially retired in 2005 after 43 years on the faculty of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Haberman remains more active than ever. He currently heads the Haberman Educational Foundation, which prepares teachers, principals, and superintendents to work with economically diverse school systems and students. Holding both a master’s and a doctorate in teacher education from Teachers College, Columbia University, he is the author of seven books. The latest, published in 2005, is "Star Teachers of Children in Poverty."

Talked about as a possible cabinet member in the Obama administration, Rhee is a former Baltimore, Maryland teacher in the Teach for America (TFA) program who is known for her concentration on the ways teachers are hired and promoted. Five years after her stint in TFA she founded The New Teacher Project, which develops fresh approaches to hiring new teachers in environments that are difficult to staff. Collaborating with constituencies including not only school districts but state education agencies, nonprofit organizations and unions; TNTP has changed teacher hiring in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, New York, Oakland, and Philadelphia, helping to place some 23,000 teachers. Rhee holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Cornell University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.