Academic Catalog
At a Glance
Teachers College instills in its students the capability to solve problems, motivate learners, inspire hope, raise standards and take charge of change. It is an approach that leads our students to value independent thinking and lifelong learning.
This vision, renewed and invigorated to meet changing times, has kept Teachers College in the vanguard of important advances in education during critical periods of the last century. As we confront new challenges, both formidable and unrelenting, we are once again poised to prepare our students for leadership at a time when the need for reform is critical.
Teachers College sees its leadership role in two complementary arenas: One is as a major player in policy- making to ensure that schools are reformed and restructured to welcome all students regardless of their socio-economic circumstances. The other is in preparing educators who not only serve students directly but coordinate the educational, psychological, behavioral, technological, and health initiatives to remove barriers to learning at all ages.
For more than 100 years Teachers College has continued to:
- Engage in research on the central issues facing education
- Prepare the next generation of education leaders
- Educate the current generation of leaders in practice and policy to meet the challenges they face
- Shape the public debate and public policy in education
- Improve practice in educational institutions
Teachers College was founded in 1887 by the philanthropist Grace Hoadley Dodge and philosopher Nicholas Murray Butler to provide a new kind of schooling for the teachers of disadvantaged children in New York City, one that combined a humanitarian concern to help others with a scientific approach to human development.
The founders recognized that professional teachers need reliable knowledge about the conditions under which children learn most effectively.
As a result, the College's earliest programs included such subjects as educational psychology and educational sociology.
They also insisted that education must be combined with clear ideas about ethics and the nature of a good society; consequently, programs were developed in the history of education and in comparative education. As the number of school children increased during the twentieth century, the problems of managing the schools became ever more complex. The College took on the challenge and instituted programs of study in areas of administration, economics, and politics. Other programs developed in such emerging fields as counseling, curriculum development, and school health care.
After World War II, in response to rapid development of new professional roles, the College added curriculum that reached beyond the traditional educational sphere, including programs in clinical and counseling psychology, speech and language pathology, audiology, post-secondary education, and international education. During the 1960s, driven by concern for equity in the schools, TC developed programs in fields such as urban education, ethnic education and the teaching of English to speakers of other languages.
In the past 25 years, the College has addressed the explosion of educational services outside the traditional school environment by designing programs for educators who will work in day-care centers, family assistance agencies, museums, libraries, businesses, telecommunications facilities, and other non-traditional locations.
More recently, Teachers College has been contending with the difficult problems of urban education, reaffirming its original mission-'"providing
a new kind of education for those left most in need by society or circumstance. The College continues its collaborative research with urban and suburban school systems that strengthens teaching in such fundamental areas as reading, writing, science, mathematics and the arts; prepares leaders to develop and administer psychological and health care programs in schools, hospitals and community agencies; and advances technology for the classroom, developing new teaching software and keeping teachers abreast of new developments.
Furthering the Cause of Education-'"Locally and Globally
Historically, Teachers College has played a vibrant role in shaping and defining education in the New York area. Through the years, our influence has spread across the nation and around the world.
The Heritage School is a unique partnership between Teachers College and the New York City Department of Education. Its extended-day curriculum emphasizes the arts and offers such varied disciplines as karate, mural painting and Japanese. Now in its fifth year, the Heritage School requires all students to supplement a rigorous academic base with trips to museums, galleries, theaters, libraries and concert halls.
Nationally, Teachers College hosts The National Academy for Excellent Teaching, which convenes prominent faculty, researchers, and outstanding teachers to develop new ways of upgrading the skills and knowledge of our nation's high school educators. The National Academy provides on-site and online support and coaching for educators in low-income high schools in New York City.
From 1954 through 1978, Teachers College played a vital role in Afghanistan, helping train its teachers and assisting in development of a functional curriculum. In 2003, after the fall of the Taliban regime, members of our faculty visited Afghanistan to lay the groundwork for the establishment of a National Academy of Education to train teachers. In November of that year, President Arthur Levine signed an agreement with the Afghan Minister of Education that will result in the development of a system of teacher training, new textbooks and a new curriculum framework.
Diversity-'"A Continuing Legacy
The strong emphasis Teachers College places on student diversity began in the early days of our history. Today, the diversity of our student population encompasses color, age and nationality, with students from all 50 states and a 13 percent international enrollment representing 80 countries. Of the approximately 5,000 students enrolled in Teachers College, about 77 percent are women, 12 percent are African American, 11 percent are Asian American, and 7 percent are of Latin origin. Furthermore, with a median age of 31 years, our students bring maturity, a wealth of knowledge and strength of purpose to their pursuit of degrees and careers in education.
Main Hall Renamed as the Arthur Zankel Building
Arthur Zankel was a dedicated Trustee, a valued advisor, and a generous contributor of his time, wisdom, and resources to the mission of Teachers College. Most of all, he was our friend. To honor Mr. Zankel and his contributions to education, Teachers College renamed Main Hall as the Arthur Zankel Building.
TC Centers and Facilities Offer Wealth of Information
The College's continuously expanding centers and facilities-'"which house vast archival resources and facilitate exceptional student and faculty research-'"are among the nation's finest. These include:
The J.M. Huber Institute for Learning in Organizations is a research-based institute dedicated to advancing the state of knowledge and practice for learning and change in organizations. Organizations are provided with tools that help them learn. Research is shared and best practices are learned through various events and publications.
The Institute for Urban and Minority Education conducts demonstration, development, evaluation and research projects to better understand the experiences of diverse urban and minority group populations in the different institutions and situations that influence their development.
For a more complete listing of centers and institutes at Teachers College, please see the Academic Resources and Services section of this bulletin.
New York-'"TC's Proving Ground
Teachers College has built a dynamic alliance with New York City. In addition to our work with East Harlem's Heritage School, teacher education students complete practicums in the New York City public schools. Researchers are involved in more than 200 schools throughout the five boroughs. TC students are developing and effectively implementing a number of innovative programs to help children at risk, including reading tutorial programs in under-funded schools and an after-school science program in an area homeless shelter.
Students also have the opportunity to take courses offered at Columbia University, as well as the Union Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary and other New York institutions.
Training Professionals in Three Related Disciplines
Together, TC's three highly complementary and interrelated areas of study-'"education, psychology and health-'"work to fulfill our vision of Teachers College as a preeminent international human resource development institution, committed to systematic teaching and learning in all the major educative institutions.
