Office of School and Community Partnerships @ Teachers College

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Office of School and Community Partnerships

Teachers College, Columbia University

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Nancy Streim

Nancy Streim joined Teachers College in August 2007 in the newly created position of Associate Vice President for School and Community Partnerships. She also has an appointment as Special Advisor to the Columbia University Provost. Streim’s role is to coordinate the College’s activities in the New York City public schools and develop new and more intensive partnerships with the Department of Education, local communities and local schools.

Dr. Streim comes to Teachers College after nineteen years at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education where she most recently served as Associate Dean for Educational Practice. At Penn, Streim played a key role in the development of the nationally-recognized Penn Alexander School, a university-assisted demonstration public K-8 school in Philadelphia that grew out of a unique partnership among the University of Pennsylvania, the local school district and the teachers' union. Following on the success of the Penn Alexander School, she created a blueprint for a new university-assisted public high school focusing on international studies. In addition, she directed the Penn Partnership Schools network, an initiative to improve academic outcomes at two under-achieving elementary schools that the University co-managed with the Philadelphia School District.

Dr. Streim’s research interests include university-school collaboration and science education in urban schools. She recently completed a year long project for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in which she documented principles underlying successful university-assisted public schools across the U.S. She has served as principal investigator for five major grant-funded projects that address the teaching and learning of math and science in elementary and middle grades.

Emily Zemke

Zemke Emily Zemke is the Associate Director of school partnerships at Teachers College. She manages operations, policy and development for the Office of School and Community Partnerships. She also serves as the College liaison for the new Teachers College Community School and oversees the Zankel Fellowship, Performing Arts Series and volunteer corps.

Dr. Zemke previously worked for the Institute of Education, University of London, where she initiated and managed a grant-funded project to raise the profile of science and mathematics teaching and learning in London. She founded and produced a periodical magazine for London teachers on behalf of the city’s 14 teacher training providers. Her Ph.D focused on teachers’ professional identity and she has published on this topic in the US, UK and Australia. She attended TC as a visiting scholar in 2006. Her research interests include history of education, cultural studies in education, college/university-assisted schools and research methods in education.

Janell Catlin

Janell Catlin is project director of the General Electric Foundation Harlem Schools Partnership for Math and Science Education. She organizes professional development programming for teachers and academic enrichment experiences for students in the project's K-12 Harlem schools.

Dr. Catlin has a professional background in pharmacology and science education and has taught extensively in academe. In her previous position as a postdoctoral fellow at TC, her research agenda focused on urban education, student motivation to learn and engage in science, teacher motivation to practice in urban settings, and building university-school partnerships. Additionally, Dr. Catlin's work highlights the importance of creating a bridge between students' in-school curriculum and after school programs to enhance the intrinsic motivation of students to learn.

Samantha Freeman

Samantha Freeman is the project director of the Harlem Ivy Program. She develops and manages out-of-school-time programming for 400 students in low-performing schools in Harlem, with a focus on science-based service learning experiences in the students' community.

Ms. Freeman has a master's degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from New York University in 2004. Before joining the OSCP, she spent four years coordinating education programs through the California Nano-Systems Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During her time at CNSI, Ms. Freeman developed and expanded a series of after-school science clubs targeting public school students in Grades 3-12, and coordinated a summer research program for community college students. In her outreach and engagements efforts she has taught at public schools in California and New York City.

Dawn Arno

Dawn Arno founded and runs the TC Reading & Math Buddies program. She also manages the Arthur Zankel Urban Fellowship, which provides ‘hands-on’ experiential learning opportunities for around 50 graduate students every year. Dr. Arno is an expert in public school finance, management of organizations, organizational development and organizational learning. She has served as a consultant on re-engineering school business operations, and she has served as Chief Financial Officer, Deputy Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent for Business in large and small, urban, suburban and rural school districts.

Dr. Arno has a doctorate in Educational Administration from Teachers College and an M.B.A. from Columbia University School of Business. She has been a consultant to schools, school districts and community organizations in the US, England and the Caribbean.

Kecia Hayes

Kecia Hayes is the Director of the Teachers College Partnership School Consortium. She oversees development of the Consortium, which leverages the resources of the university to support coherent school improvement. Dr. Hayes joins the College from the New York State Department of Education,where she implemented a professional development plan and metrics for network teams. Prior to that she worked at New Visions for Public Schools where she collaborated with principals in New York City schools to design and implement school improvement strategies to increase student learning outcomes. Dr. Hayes has also taught in the Educational Leadership program at Montclair State University.

She received her PhD in Urban Education from theCUNYGraduate Center where she was a MAGNET Scholar. Her research interests include university-school partnerships, intersections of school reform and community development, educational experiences of urban youth and families, and educational leadership for transformation of urban schools. Dr. Hayes can be reached on: kh328@tc.columbia.edu or by phone on (212) 678 7445.