Over the past several years, Teachers College’s Education Leadership program has reinforced its position at the forefront of the field, adding highly regarded faculty to an already strong cohort. Now, a new scholarship program will support students in the program who also have stellar track records of achievement in public schools.
Launched by Jinny Goldstein (M.A. ’72), a member of TC’s President’s Advisory Council, the Endowed Scholarship Fund for Public School Leaders has drawn the interest of multiple donors and remains open to additional gifts. Goldstein was moved to action after listening to a presentation by faculty in the Education Leadership program.
“I was excited that the Education Leadership program would be breaking new ground in preparing a new and diverse generation of school leaders,” she says. “Most important to me, the program focuses on developing leaders who will take schools from where they are today to where they should be. I left the meeting with one concern: that cost could be a barrier to potential students. The solution was clear: targeted scholarships that would enable more teachers and school administrators to enroll in the program.”
The scholarship also reinforces a key strength of the program.
“Finding on-the-ground educators who want to go deeply into research en route to a doctorate is very beneficial in two ways,” says Teachers College Trustee Joshua Solomon (Ed.D. ’10), Principal of New York City’s Business of Sports School. “It helps that pre-K–12 educators have a deep understanding of research to inform their teaching and school leadership. At the same time, we want people doing cutting-edge research on how students learn first-hand how schools work on a practical level.”
The Education Leadership program prepares students to exercise leadership in a variety of diverse pre-K–12 school and district settings and to address the most persistent challenges around excellence, equity, inclusion and social justice. The program is home to the Summer Principals Academy, the Urban Education Leaders Ed.D. Program, the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership, the Cahn Fellows Program for Distinguished Principals, and the Ph.D. in Education Leadership program.
“Our students are preparing to take on complex, challenging and sometimes lonely leadership roles in the most important work there is — supporting children and families on their way to making better lives for themselves and their communities,” says Jeffrey Young, Professor of Practice in Education Leadership and Director of the Education Leadership program. “When a donor says, in a tangible way, ‘I believe in you,’ it gives our students the strength, courage and affirmation to pursue the work, to keep going. In so doing, our generous benefactors make a real difference for educators and communities everywhere.”