This course examines the historical, philosophical, and cultural roots of contemporary education, including Bank Street’s progressive history and philosophy, the contributions of major educational leaders, and current practices and innovations in education. Participants will analyze how critical issues in the field affect their practice with children and families in schools and communities. The course will explore ways in which education as an avenue for individual advancement and social justice has been defined, advocated for, enacted, and is still being negotiated in the U.S. The course will attend to what has been achieved as well as challenges that remain in creating educational spaces that affirm children’s and families’ race, social class, immigration status, language, gender, and ability, among other identity domains. Participants will apply their understandings to think about their role in bringing about desired, warranted changes in order to create more inclusive and democratic educational environments.

This course examines the ways in which historical, philosophical, cultural, and political trends have impacted research and pedagogy in the field of literacy (reading, writing, and language arts). Students explore how literacy theory and practice have been influenced by changing visions of teaching and learning; standards and assessment; the roles of special education and the education of English Language Learners; the appropriate nature of home, school, and community relationships; and the needs of the workforce. Students will be expected to use various forms of media and transitional research to deepen their understanding of these issues and become critical readers of research studies and popular reports.

This course examines the process through which reading and writing are acquired by young children, ages 4-8.  We study the ways teachers can support literacy growth for children’s diverse learning needs and styles, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and socioeconomic status.  The course explores theoretical frameworks of literacy development as well as practical applications. Graduate students work directly with a child, who is an emergent reader and writer, to develop the skills of close observation, assessment, record keeping, and planning.  Graduate students, individually and as a group, analyze the contexts, activities and relationships that support children’s language and literacy learning in early childhood classrooms.

This studio course stresses the relationship of expression in arts and crafts to aspects of teaching and learning in other areas. Students develop approaches for discovering the use and origins of materials as well as their role in the curriculum. The course helps teachers develop a basic art program in their classrooms. Studio experiences include painting, collage, clay work, printmaking, and such crafts as puppet making, dyeing, and weaving. Readings and class discussion deal with the development of art curricula using child development as a base. Students study children’s art through slides and children’s actual work.

In this course, participants will explore the teacher’s and the larger school’s roles in constructing caring, collaborative, and reciprocal relationships with children and families.  Participants will critically examine their own experiences, identities, and assumptions as they develop skills and dispositions to work with a broad range of families and communities. The course will support participants in developing their skills in communication, advocacy, and collaboration as they learn to partner with families to support children’s positive identity development along with their social, emotional, language, and learning abilities and needs.

This course will explore autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from historical, cultural, political, and developmental lenses. It will support graduate students in thinking deeply and from multiple perspectives about the evolution of our understandings about and interventions with the broad range of characteristics of learning and development attributed to people with ASD. This course considers the significance of home and/or school as the primary sources of educational intervention and direct services for children with ASD. Participants will consider the importance of providing young children with ASD with an educational program that is responsive to each child’s unique pattern of relative strengths and vulnerabilities, and will learn ways to partner in this work with a diverse range of families.  Participants will explore the use of assistive technology as a tool for supporting student learning, communication, and independence.

This course focuses on understanding, teaching, and meeting the needs of children with variations in emotional, social and behavioral development. Participants will critically examine the construct of children’s emotional and behavioral disorders and approaches to intervention from historical, socio-political, mental health, and legal perspectives. There is an emphasis on  understanding the intersection of these issues with the race, class, language, and gender of teachers and children. Participants will develop an in-depth case study of a child applying an inquiry orientation to the Functional Behavior Assessment-Behavior Intervention Plan. Participants will collect and analyze data from observations, interviews and other sources, and make recommendations to support ongoing social and behavioral development. Prerequisite: EDUC 803.

Through a process of supportive exploration, students will develop familiarity with a variety of mathematical fields, as well as competence in the processes of mathematical thinking and doing. Topics for investigation will include historical mathematics, number theory, analytic geometry, calculus, non-Euclidean geometry, and linear algebra. The course will integrate a review of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. On-site math experience, manipulative materials and models, and cooperative learning groups as well as computer software will all be part of the investigative process in this course. No previous college-level study of math is required.

This course focuses on understanding, teaching, and meeting the needs of children and adolescents through emerging adulthood. The interactions between physical growth and social, emotional, and cognitive development will be an organizing focus in the course. Participants will analyze critically different developmental theories in relation to their own educational settings and experience. Participants explore the social and educational implications of a wide range of learning and behavioral variations in the context of family, school lives, community and society. Issues related to identity --self and other, dependence and autonomy, race, class, gender, language, religion, sexuality, power, ability, and disability -- will be recurring themes. Participants will investigate topics and issues through a combination of readings, observations, interviews, case studies and discussion.

The Independent Study is an original work that you initiate, often growing out of a meaningful course assignment or an idea, question, or experience rooted in a fieldwork or work setting. Students work with a faculty mentor who has expertise in the particular area of study. The Independent Study usually includes two semesters of research and writing, and is most closely aligned with a traditional master’s thesis. Independent Studies are made accessible to the public though the Bank Street Library's online catalogue.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO STUDENTS REGISTERING FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES In order to register for Independent Studies (IS500) you must have already secured a faculty mentor who has reviewed your IS proposal and has committed to serve as your IS mentor. By registering for the IS500, you are attesting to having secured a mentor, and you are agreeing to follow all applicable IS directives and guidelines as stated in A Guide to the Integrative Master’s Project.

In addition to registering through myBSC for IS500, please fill out the Independent Study Mentor Form, located on the website schedule (https://graduate.bankstreet.edu/academics/graduate-course-schedule/) indicating which faculty member has consented to mentor you.

Science for Teachers focuses on developing a science way of thinking and doing in PreK-6th grade classrooms. Each session deepens an understanding that doing science requires direct sensory encounters with the physical world. By experiencing first-hand investigations of physical and biological materials and related phenomena, participants create a range of representations that can uncover existing patterns and concepts. Discussions, readings, and reflective writings deepen and broaden work done with physical materials. Participants will reflect on their own learning as they work to construct meaningful science experiences that respond to the developmental levels of their students and affirm students’ cultural, linguistic, and learning diversity. The course explores evidence-based ways of making sense of the world that support the integration of science inquiry across the curriculum.

Along with LEAD 850, this intensive one-week institute during each academic year of the program includes class sessions on conceptions of leadership and analysis of contemporary issues in museum education through site visits to the participants' institutions. For Museum Leadership students only.

In this third course in the Kerlin STEM Institute, participants will generate a STEM curriculum that builds on the content and processes from EDUC 850 and EDUC 851. Participants will document how a study begins, potential investigations, and conclusion of the study using the orientations and approaches developed in the first two courses. The curriculum will consist of a series of lessons that build on each other, are integrated across the curriculum of the Early Childhood classroom, and that include ongoing opportunities for formative assessment of students’ learning. Participants’ STEM curriculum will respond to the developmental levels of their students and affirm students’ cultural, linguistic, and learning diversity. Prerequisite: EDUC 851. For Kerlin STEM Institute fellows only.

Education policy is examined in the context of historical, philosophical, economic, sociocultural, political, and legal perspectives. Leadership theory and practices that create learning environments responsive to the multicultural constituencies of schools, as well as the laws that sustain them, are analyzed.