Sid the Science Kid to Explain Vaccinations on Oct. 26
Animation Magazine
October 12, 2009

Lisa Henson is quoted in an article highlighting a special episode of Sid the Science Kid on vaccinations.

Read more.

Henson’s ‘Kid’ Recruited for Flu Fight
Variety
By DAVID S. COHEN
October 9, 2009

Lisa Henson is quoted in an article on Sid the Science Kid’s special vaccination-themed episode, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Read more.

New York City Private Sector Leads Charge to Transform Public Schools
CSRwire
October 15, 2009

CSRwire features an article on PENCIL’s annual Principal for A Day event.

Read more.

What’s College for Anyway?
Newsweek
October 17, 2009

Diane Ravitch is quoted in a debate over the role of higher education in America.

Read more.

Has the Public Been Lied to on School Test Scores?
NBCNews
By GABE PRESSMAN
October 15, 2009

Diane Ravitch is quoted in an article on the lack of notable progress in federal math exam scores.

Read more.

NY’s Testing Mess
New York Post
By DIANE RAVITCH
October 15, 2009

Diane Ravitch writes on the misleading nature of the reports on the New York State exam scores.

Read more.

Professors of Summer
Stanford Summer
By Kathleen Chaykowski
October 20, 2009

Keith Devlin is a featured professor in an article discussing his research on game technology and math education, among others. The article discusses his role as the Director of the H-STAR Institute and mentions his role as NPR’s “The Math Guy”.

Read more.

Ravitch: Old Ideas, New School ‘Innovation’
The Daily News Tribune
By Diane Ravitch, Guest Columnist
October 25, 2009

The latest fad to sweep K-12 education is called “21st-Century Skills.” States - including Massachusetts - are adding them to their learning standards, with the expectation that students will master skills such as cooperative learning and critical thinking and therefore be better able to compete for jobs in the global economy. But putting a priority on skills inevitably pushes other subjects; including history, literature, and the arts; to the margins and skill-centered, knowledge-free education has never worked.

Read more.

Hofstra University offers small classes, dedicated faculty and a beautiful, energized campus, plus all the opportunities of New York City within easy reach. 150 undergraduate and about 160 graduate programs are offered in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Business, Communication, Education, Health and Human Services and Honors studies, as well as a School of Law. The student-faculty ratio is 14 to 1.

A diverse mix of cultural, social, athletic and recreational activities delivers the full college experience. Hofstra offers students the opportunity to live and learn on our beautiful, 240-acre campus on Long Island and have easy access to the academic, cultural and career opportunities in the New York City metropolitan area.

There are 1,185 faculty members of whom 551 are full-time. Ninety percent of full-time faculty hold the highest degree in their fields. Full-time undergraduate enrollment is 7,631. Total University enrollment, including part-time undergraduate, graduate and School of Law, is about 12,400. Male-female ratio is 44 to 56.

Hofstra: Hofstra.edu

School of Education, Health and Human Services: Hofstra.edu/soehhs

Christopher Emdin is a Professor of Science Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He was recently awarded ASTE’s Best paper for Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers, and both PDK’s Outstanding Dissertation Award and Emerging Leader Award. His research focuses on improving urban and science education.

Nancie Atwell is the founder of a non-profit demonstration school and its teacher of 7-8 English. She is the first classroom teacher to receive M.L.A.’s Mina Shaughnessy Prize and NCTE’s David Russell Award, both for distinguished research. Her books include In the Middle and The Reading Zone.

Charles Fadel is Global Lead, Education at Cisco Systems, and the Cisco board member at the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, of which Cisco was a founding member. He has consulted with a wide variety of education ministries/boards including Massachusetts, France, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, Tunisia, and the Dominican Republic, to name a few, and has worked on education projects with more than thirty countries and states.

A graduate of Gateway’s program at Jamaica High, Darlene earned her BA and MA from Wellesley College. She earned an MD degree and PhD in Neuroscience from Yale University. She did her residency in radiation oncology at Brigham Women’s Hospital and is Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Einstein.

A graduate of Jamaica High’s Gateway’s program, Edwing earned a BA in Economics and Journalism from NYU. His 8 year career in the music industry included working as Director, Special Recording Projects for Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola. Currently enrolled in a Masters degree in Mathematics (Secondary Education) at Queens College, Edwing serves as Deputy Director of the Gateway Program.

A graduate of the Gateway program at Brooklyn Tech, Robert Roswell earned a BS in chemistry with honors from University of Maryland. He graduated with honors from NYU School of Medicine and was Chief Resident in Categorical Internal Medicine. He was Chief Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine at Georgetown University and is Associate Director, Bellevue Hospital CCU Faculty at the NYU.

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world’s best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies, and his collaborations including those with with Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, the Vienna Philharmonic, and Herbie Hancock have established him as an ambassador of both the classical and jazz worlds. As a conductor, Bobby is able to convey his innate musicality in an entirely different context. He has worked with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic.

Visit www.bobbymcferrin.com for more information.

Susan Van Gundy is the Director of Education and Strategic Partnerships for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), an NSF-funded network of online resources, tools, and communities that support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education at all levels. Susan builds alliances with leading educational organizations focused on STEM education as well as with the universities, museums, professional societies, research labs, and federal agencies that constitute NSDL’s network of more than 200 resource providers. Before joining NSDL, Van Gundy directed outreach programs and virtual museum experiences at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Her professional activities continually emphasize bridging the scientific and education communities, and applying innovative technologies to enhance teaching and learning. She delivers workshops and presentations online and around the country, and serves on numerous national committees and advisory boards for organizations including NSTA, NSELA, CoSN, ISTE, and the Exploratorium.

Zipporah Miller is currently the associate executive director for professional programs and conferences at the National Science Teachers Association. In this position, she leads the Association’s efforts in providing professional development and e-learning opportunities to teachers of science nationwide. She oversees NSTA’s regional and national conferences, which draw more than 21,000 teachers annually; the NSTA Learning Center, an online portal where thousands of teachers pursue quality professional development resources and specific science content; and the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy for middle and high school level teachers.

Joshua Brown is executive director of the American Social History Project and professor of history at the City University of New York Graduate Center. The author of noted studies on the history of U.S. visual culture, he also is the producer of award-winning digital and Web history projects, as well as a card-carrying cartoonist.

Christopher Czajka is the Director of the LAB@Thirteen, which creates community and educational outreach initiatives associated with WNET.ORG’s productions. He has been involved in the development of MISSION US since its inception, and will be working with PBS stations nationwide to bring the game into classrooms. He holds degrees from Northwestern University and Arizona State University.

Michael Fragale currently serves as Vice President, Educational Programming and Services for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). He leads CPB’s strategic education projects and connects CPB efforts with public media stakeholders and national educational organizations. Michael is the former Director of Content and Strategy for the PBS Adult Learning Service (ALS) where he managed several initiatives including the successful launch of PBSCampus.org.

David Langendoen is a founding partner of Electric Funstuff (EFS), a company that specializes in applying game design to experiences with educational outcomes. EFS is the game designer and developer of Mission US. Prior to EFS, David worked at Scholastic for many years in a variety of roles. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in liberal arts.

Bill Tally is Senior Researcher and Designer at at the Center for Children and Technology in New York (CCT), part of the not-for-profit Education Development Center, Inc. For over 20 years he has studied and designed educational uses of digital media in schools, libraries, museums and homes.

Karen Schrier is a doctoral student at Columbia University and an executive producer at Scholastic. Previously, she worked at Nickelodeon, BrainPOP and SparkNotes. She has presented at GDC, SIGGRAPH, AERA, and NECC. Karen is the co-editor of Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values through Play (2010). She holds degrees from MIT and Amherst.