Publications: TC Today
The Alumni Magazine of Teachers College, Columbia University
Volume 24, No. 1 ♦ 1/1999
Accelerated Schools at Home and Abroad
Accelerated schools are based on the premise that students and teachers should be encouraged to think creatively and explore their interests. TC’s former Visiting Professor Henry Levin is the founder of the Accelerated Schools Project. They encourage students to obtain knowledge through exploration and discovery and to make connections between school activities and their lives outside the classroom. The success of accelerated schools rests on the model’s design, which allows each school to create its own evolving set of learning experiences based on its own unique needs, strengths and vision. The schools are supported by a governance structure and a system that provides trained coaches to work with the school toward its goals. The TC satellite center provides support to P.S. 108 and will also be the regional center for the New Jersey schools.
Published: 4/1/1999Elliot S. Jaffe: Teachers College is Close to My Heart
It was an atypical moment for Elliot S. Jaffe, businessman and philanthropist. He was a little unsure of how his presentation would be received. The occasion was a reception for Teachers College scholarship recipients. TC President Arthur Levine had asked him to address the group and Jaffe came to the gathering dressed in the standard corporate uniform: a dark business suit. "I faced maybe 45 people dressed in jeans," he recalled. "It was perfectly appropriate attire for college students but I wondered whether I could connect with them." Then he said, something clicked when he started talking about his youth. "I’m talking to you this evening as an ex-poor, ethnic, minority kid," he told them. "What made the difference for me was education."
Published: 4/1/1999Georgia Alumni Gather at the Governor's Mansion
Georgia's former Governor Zell Miller is personally interested in the importance of education in every aspect of life. He, himself, was a history teacher at Young Harris College when he got a leave of absence to run for the Georgia state senate. It may have been something the college did just to let him get it out of his system, but he won the election. That's where his political career began. Though he was popular, his political career had its ups and downs and at one point, he considered leaving politics. He received a letter from his college mentor, Dr. E. Merton Coulter, of the University of Georgia, who encouraged him to continue his quest. Coulter predicted Miller would make it to the governor's mansion someday. It turned out to be a safe bet.
Published: 4/1/1999Me and You and a Dog Named Blue
Two Teachers college alumni developed the hugely popular children's television show, Blue's Clues.
Published: 4/1/1999This Old College: The TC Makeover
Teachers College is more than 100 years old, and the conditions of the buildings reveal its age. As any homeowner knows, some improvements can transform the look of a place and other improvements, though not as visually appealing, are simply functional. Teachers College needs both.
Published: 4/1/1999It’s Not What You Know, It’s How You Use It That Matters
Gardner, the Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at Harvard, presented his observations about the many facets of intelligence to the TC community at the Virginia and Leonard Marx Lecture.
Published: 1/1/1999John Dewey Circle Dinner Celebrates Leadership Donors
Members of the John Dewey Circle, those who have contributed $1,000 or more to the TC Fund, were honored at the fourth annual John Dewey Circle Dinner.
Published: 1/1/1999
