Authors
Sarah Elizabeth Barrett is an assistant professor on the Faculty of Education,York University, Toronto, where she teaches courses on cultural studies in science education, qualitative research methods and teaching high school science. She is the research coordinator for the School and Community Engaged Education Project. Her research interests include inclusive curriculum, teacher identity and teaching science for social justice. Contact: SBarrett@edu.yorku.ca.
Sarah Cohen Burrowbridge is a sixth year teacher in the Fairfax County Public schools. She is currently a 6th grade teacher at Lynbrook ES, a Title 1 school in Springfield, VA. She started her teaching career through DC Teaching Fellows where she developed a passion for working to improve education in high-needs schools. In her free time, she is a high school lacrosse coach and loves to play sports. Contact: sarah.cohen@fcps.com.
Alison Coviello has taught 4th and 5th grades in the South Bronx for over ten years. She is currently acting as an instructional coach in her public elementary school. Alison recently received her doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is interested in how public schools can prepare students from low-income backgrounds for participatory citizenship amidst an educational context dominated by standardized testing. She believes that integrating curricula is a meaningful start. Contact: agcoviello@aol.com.
Julie Diamond taught kindergarten in the New York City public schools for over two decades; she has also worked in day care settings, Head Start, and private schools. A graduate of Bank Street College, she has been an adjunct professor there and at CCNY. She currently supervises student teachers for NYU and CCNY. Diamond is the author ofWelcome to the Aquarium: A Year in the Lives of Children (New Press, 2008). Contact: jsd215@verizon.net.
Donna Ford is an elementary school principal on leave from the York Region District School Board. In her current work on the Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto, she is fulfilling a variety of roles. As course director, Donna teaches pre-service candidates literacy instruction that embeds inclusive practices and a seminar series for preÿservice teachers in practicum placements. She serves as coordinator and school facilitator on the School and Community Engaged Education Project. Her graduate studies focus on school leadership, educational policy and reform pedagogy. Contact: DFord@edu.yorku.ca.
Steven Goodman is the founding Executive Director of the Educational Video Center (www.EVC.org). Trained as a journalist at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he has taught in New York City alternative high schools and at universities in New York City, Maine, Ohio, and London. Goodman has produced social documentaries, written numerous articles about youth media and education reform, and is author of Teaching Youth Media: A Critical Guide to Literacy, Video Production and Social Change. Contact: sgoodman@EVC.org.
Betsy Grob is a long time early childhood teacher. She is on the graduate faculty, Bank Street College where she spends much of her time in early childhood classes in NYC, Yonkers and Westbury. She teaches courses in Early Childhood Curriculum, Block Building, and Observing and Recording the Behavior of Young Children. Grob is an educational consultant for Head Start. Contact: bgrob@bankstreet.edu.
Carl E. James is the Director of the Centre for Education and Community in the Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto, where he also teaches courses on adolescents, urban education and foundations of education. His research interests include educational access and equity for marginalized youth; and issues of identity/identification in relation to race, ethnicity, class and masculinity. Contact: CJames@edu.yorku.ca.
Linda Levine is an educational anthropologist dedicated to advancing equity and social justice through education. A longtime member of the Graduate Faculty, Bank Street College, she has served as Chair of Teacher Education and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. As co-founder and first director of the Urban Education Semester, as well as instructor and advisor in general education, special education, and museum education programs, Linda has long advocated broader cultural competence and professional preparation for new teachers. A member of the Occasional Papers editorial board, she frequently consults on urban education, museum education, and action research. Contact:llevine@bankstreet.edu.
Arlene Mascarenhas is a PhD candidate at George Mason University. Her major area of concentration is literacy with a focus on meeting the diverse needs of early learners. She is interested in finding out about the influence of parents in their child's education. Her extensive experience as a reading specialist and work with children in homeless shelters have prompted her to research the ways that mothers in crisis help their children to learn early literacy skills. Contact: arlene.mascarenhas46@gmail.com.
Seth A. Parsons is an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. He teaches courses in the Elementary Education and Literacy program areas and works closely with Professional Development Schools. His research focuses on teacher education and development, motivating literacy tasks, and metacognition. His work has appeared in The Reading Teacher, Literacy Research and Instruction, Phi Delta Kappan, the Handbook of Metacognition in Education, the Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, and the College Reading Association Yearbook. Contact: sparson5@gmu.edu.
Fretta Reitzes is director of the 92nd St Y's Goldman Center for Youth and Family, and the Wonderplay Initiative for Early Learning. A graduate of Bank Street College, she began her career as a day care teacher, and has worked with educators and parents in a variety of settings. The program she developed as director of the Y's Parenting Center became a national model for parent-teacher collaboration. Reitzes is co-author of two books of activities for young children, Wonderplay and Wonderplay Too! Contact:freitzes@92y.org.
Jonathan G. Silin is a fellow at the University of Toronto, Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies and an educational consultant in private practice. A long time member of the Bank Street Graduate Faculty, he is the author of My Father's Keeper: The Story of a Gay Man and His Aging Parents and Sex Death and The Education of Children: Our Passion for Ignorance in the Age of AIDS, and co-editor of Putting the Children First: The Changing Face of Newark's Public Schools.
Susan Stires is an instructor and advisor on the Graduate Faculty, Bank Street College, where she teaches courses in language, literacy, and children's literature. She has also taught at Teachers College, Columbia University and the University of New Hampshire. Her thirty years of primary and intermediate teaching in rural and urban schools includes work as a learning disabilities specialist and literacy consultant. She is the author of With Promise and numerous articles and book chapters. Contact: sstires@bankstreet.edu.
Sarah Cohen Burrowbridge is a sixth year teacher in the Fairfax County Public schools. She is currently a 6th grade teacher at Lynbrook ES, a Title 1 school in Springfield, VA. She started her teaching career through DC Teaching Fellows where she developed a passion for working to improve education in high-needs schools. In her free time, she is a high school lacrosse coach and loves to play sports. Contact: sarah.cohen@fcps.com.
Alison Coviello has taught 4th and 5th grades in the South Bronx for over ten years. She is currently acting as an instructional coach in her public elementary school. Alison recently received her doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is interested in how public schools can prepare students from low-income backgrounds for participatory citizenship amidst an educational context dominated by standardized testing. She believes that integrating curricula is a meaningful start. Contact: agcoviello@aol.com.
Julie Diamond taught kindergarten in the New York City public schools for over two decades; she has also worked in day care settings, Head Start, and private schools. A graduate of Bank Street College, she has been an adjunct professor there and at CCNY. She currently supervises student teachers for NYU and CCNY. Diamond is the author ofWelcome to the Aquarium: A Year in the Lives of Children (New Press, 2008). Contact: jsd215@verizon.net.
Donna Ford is an elementary school principal on leave from the York Region District School Board. In her current work on the Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto, she is fulfilling a variety of roles. As course director, Donna teaches pre-service candidates literacy instruction that embeds inclusive practices and a seminar series for preÿservice teachers in practicum placements. She serves as coordinator and school facilitator on the School and Community Engaged Education Project. Her graduate studies focus on school leadership, educational policy and reform pedagogy. Contact: DFord@edu.yorku.ca.
Steven Goodman is the founding Executive Director of the Educational Video Center (www.EVC.org). Trained as a journalist at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he has taught in New York City alternative high schools and at universities in New York City, Maine, Ohio, and London. Goodman has produced social documentaries, written numerous articles about youth media and education reform, and is author of Teaching Youth Media: A Critical Guide to Literacy, Video Production and Social Change. Contact: sgoodman@EVC.org.
Betsy Grob is a long time early childhood teacher. She is on the graduate faculty, Bank Street College where she spends much of her time in early childhood classes in NYC, Yonkers and Westbury. She teaches courses in Early Childhood Curriculum, Block Building, and Observing and Recording the Behavior of Young Children. Grob is an educational consultant for Head Start. Contact: bgrob@bankstreet.edu.
Carl E. James is the Director of the Centre for Education and Community in the Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto, where he also teaches courses on adolescents, urban education and foundations of education. His research interests include educational access and equity for marginalized youth; and issues of identity/identification in relation to race, ethnicity, class and masculinity. Contact: CJames@edu.yorku.ca.
Linda Levine is an educational anthropologist dedicated to advancing equity and social justice through education. A longtime member of the Graduate Faculty, Bank Street College, she has served as Chair of Teacher Education and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. As co-founder and first director of the Urban Education Semester, as well as instructor and advisor in general education, special education, and museum education programs, Linda has long advocated broader cultural competence and professional preparation for new teachers. A member of the Occasional Papers editorial board, she frequently consults on urban education, museum education, and action research. Contact:llevine@bankstreet.edu.
Arlene Mascarenhas is a PhD candidate at George Mason University. Her major area of concentration is literacy with a focus on meeting the diverse needs of early learners. She is interested in finding out about the influence of parents in their child's education. Her extensive experience as a reading specialist and work with children in homeless shelters have prompted her to research the ways that mothers in crisis help their children to learn early literacy skills. Contact: arlene.mascarenhas46@gmail.com.
Seth A. Parsons is an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. He teaches courses in the Elementary Education and Literacy program areas and works closely with Professional Development Schools. His research focuses on teacher education and development, motivating literacy tasks, and metacognition. His work has appeared in The Reading Teacher, Literacy Research and Instruction, Phi Delta Kappan, the Handbook of Metacognition in Education, the Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, and the College Reading Association Yearbook. Contact: sparson5@gmu.edu.
Fretta Reitzes is director of the 92nd St Y's Goldman Center for Youth and Family, and the Wonderplay Initiative for Early Learning. A graduate of Bank Street College, she began her career as a day care teacher, and has worked with educators and parents in a variety of settings. The program she developed as director of the Y's Parenting Center became a national model for parent-teacher collaboration. Reitzes is co-author of two books of activities for young children, Wonderplay and Wonderplay Too! Contact:freitzes@92y.org.
Jonathan G. Silin is a fellow at the University of Toronto, Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies and an educational consultant in private practice. A long time member of the Bank Street Graduate Faculty, he is the author of My Father's Keeper: The Story of a Gay Man and His Aging Parents and Sex Death and The Education of Children: Our Passion for Ignorance in the Age of AIDS, and co-editor of Putting the Children First: The Changing Face of Newark's Public Schools.
Susan Stires is an instructor and advisor on the Graduate Faculty, Bank Street College, where she teaches courses in language, literacy, and children's literature. She has also taught at Teachers College, Columbia University and the University of New Hampshire. Her thirty years of primary and intermediate teaching in rural and urban schools includes work as a learning disabilities specialist and literacy consultant. She is the author of With Promise and numerous articles and book chapters. Contact: sstires@bankstreet.edu.
