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Friday, August 23, 2013

ENROLL NOW: New Education-Focused Management Course at SIPA!

Greetings, Education Collaborative!!  We hope that everyone has had an exciting and productive summer, with some time to relax built in!  

In our Education Survey given last spring, we found that 85% of respondents were interested in acquiring skills and knowledge related to education management, and 89% were interested in education and policy reform (see the full results here).  We are excited to announce that there is a new education-focused course being offered at SIPA that will cover skills and knowledge related to both of these areas! 

This course counts towards the requirements for both the Urban and Social Policy concentration and the Management specialization.

Challenges and Imperatives of Urban School Systems
Taught by former NYC Schools Chancellor, Harold Levy
(3 points - PUAF U6231)
Fall 2013, Tuesdays 4:10pm to 6:00pm

Course Description:


Education remains one of the critical issues in American politics. The Obama Administration’s Race to the Top initiatives and the conditional waivers it has granted to states from the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act have further pushed the issue to the forefront of the political agenda.   Dramatic reductions in financial support for Kindergarten-grade 12 as well as relentless tuition increases for higher education have resulted in a public outcry. Simultaneously, online and for-profit courses, Common Core Standards and new assessment tools are further changing the educational landscape. This course will familiarize students with the challenges and imperatives that a large diverse city like New York faces in educating both its children and adult residents while navigating these regulatory, funding and pedagogical changes. In order to understand the larger socio/political context, the course will explore contemporary issues confronting large urban school system administrators, higher education leaders and elected officials in managing the conflicting interests and priorities. Students will learn about the organization, politics and finance of education, teacher union, college faculty and principal collective bargaining, management and accountability systems, curriculum, privatization, capital projects, the role of such factors as ethnicity and attendance in student performance, the “culture wars,” the power of big data analysis and the impact of the new technologies.

Instructor’s Biography:


Adjunct Prof. Levy was the New York City Schools Chancellor 2000-2002, including during 9/11. He is a former member of the New York State Board of Regents. Prior to holding those positions he served as Director of Global Compliance and Associate General Counsel of Citigroup. He subsequently was Executive Vice President of Kaplan, Inc., where he started Kaplan University’s online School of Education.  He is currently managing director of Palm Ventures, LLC, a family investment office, where he leads the education practice. He is also a trustee or advisory board member of several colleges and universities. Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan appointed him to be a member of the Department of Education’s Committee on Standards of Student Success.  He is a graduate of Cornell and Oxford Universities and holds honorary degrees from Baruch, Bard and St. Francis Colleges.





In addition, check out other education-related courses from around Columbia at http://sipaec.wikispaces.com/.