About Barbara Biber
Dr. Barbara Biber (1903–1993), who was born in Brooklyn, first attended Barnard College and then graduated from the University of Chicago. She received a PhD in psychology in 1942 from Columbia University. Barbara Biber joined the staff of the Bureau of Educational Experiments in 1928 and became one of its key members, serving on the Working Council and the Executive Committee and in numerous other policy-making and administrative capacities. She became chair of the Studies and Publications Committee, precursor of the Research Division, in 1933, and served as chair of the Research Division until 1963. That year she was named Distinguished Research scholar at Bank Street and continued her research in mental health and child development. At the end of the 1960s Dr. Biber began devising the basic principles for federally financed day care and Head Start programs. At the age of 80, she completed Early Education and Psychological Development (Yale University Press, 1984). She also was co-author of two books reporting major research studies: Child Life in School (1942) and The Psychological Impact of School Experience (1969). Biber continued to play a role at Bank Street until her death in 1993.
Committed to “creating opportunities for young people to thrive”, Dr. Taylor has dedicated her life to supporting equity and excellence in education for young people from marginalized communities. She has led large-scale initiatives focused on racial and gender equity, social emotional learning, increased access to computer science education, and pipeline development of high-growth careers in the tech sector for the largest school district in the country, serving 1.1 million students. In addition to her equity-centered innovation work, Dr. Taylor has been coaching persistently failing schools and districts on the path to improvement since 2015. Trained in several models of continuous improvement, including serving as a certified coach in the Data Wise Project at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dr. Taylor has facilitated numerous workshops and coaching sessions for school leadership teams around the country. Dr. Taylor currently serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives for Norwood Public Schools and is also the CEO of Connecting Forward LLC, an education consulting firm that provides professional development, executive coaching, and strategic planning for school districts and youth-serving organizations.
Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz is an award-winning associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. A sought-after speaker on issues of race, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity, Sealey-Ruiz works with K-12 and higher education school communities to increase their racial literacy knowledge and move toward more equitable school experiences for their Black and Latinx students. Sealey-Ruiz appeared in Spike Lee’s 2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright, a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou. Her co-authored book (with Dr. Detra Price-Dennis), Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Toward Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces, will be published in April 2021. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (Kalediscope Vibrations LLC), was published in March 2020 and her sophomore book of poetry, The Peace Chronicles, was released in July 2021.
“Learning for Liberation: Supporting Children to Grow Their Brain Power”
Django Paris is the inaugural James A. and Cherry A. Banks Professor of Multicultural Education and director of the Banks Center for Educational Justice in the College of Education at the University of Washington. His teaching and research focus on sustaining languages, literacies, and lifeways among Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian and Pacific Islander students in the context of social change and revitalization. He is particularly concerned with educational and cultural justice as outcomes of inquiry and pedagogy.
Alexander is a poet, educator, and New York Times best-selling author of 25 books, including Rebound, the follow up to his Newbery medal–winning middle-grade novel The Crossover.
Dr. David J. Connor is a professor of Special Education/Learning Disabilities at the City University of New York, Hunter College. His nearly 30-year career has included a variety of work in the field of education. Roles such as classroom teacher, tutor, teacher coach, regional professional development specialist, adjunct instructor, and full time professor shape his teaching and scholarship in the areas of social, cultural, and historical understandings of disability, learning disabilities, inclusive education, and kindergarten through college classroom pedagogy. Quite prolific, he has authored/co-authored over eighty publications in the form of peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, in addition to seven books. As a professor, he teaches courses on Inclusive Education; Methods of Reading; Methods of Writing, Mathematics, and Organization; and Practicum. He is also a faculty member at large of the Urban Education doctoral program at CUNY’s Graduate Center, in which he teaches Introduction to Doctoral Studies. Professor Connor received a BA with Honors in Literature and Film from the University of East Anglia in England; an MS in Special Education (Learning Disabilities) at Hunter College; an MA in Creative Writing and Literature from City College, New York; and an EdD in Curriculum and Teaching (Learning Disabilities) from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Travis Wright is an Assistant Professor of Childhood Studies, Multicultural Education, and Teacher Preparation at UW-Madison in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and is currently on leave to serve as Deputy Chief, Early Childhood Education, for DC Public Schools. Dr. Wright holds a BA in College Scholars, Community: Identity, Development, and Change, from University of Tennessee; an MEd in Human Development and Psychology, Risk and Prevention/Gender Studies from Harvard University; an EdD in Human Development and Psychology, Risk and Prevention from Harvard University; and a Certificate of Advanced Study in School Mental Health Counseling from Harvard University.
Herbert P. Ginsburg, PhD, is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has conducted basic research on the development of mathematical thinking, with particular attention to young children, disadvantaged populations, and cultural similarities and differences. He has drawn on cognitive developmental psychology to develop a mathematics curriculum (Big Math for Little Kids), storybooks for young children, and tests of mathematical thinking. With colleagues, he is currently creating a model course that draws heavily on video-based clinical interviews to help undergraduate and graduate students gain insight into children’s mathematical thinking and how it can serve as the foundation for early mathematics education. Again with colleagues, he is designing computer software, MathemAntics, and interactive storybooks to foster young children’s mathematics learning. Dr. Ginsburg holds a BA from Harvard University and his MS and PhD from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Michelle Fine is Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Women’s Studies, and Urban Education at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). She is a highly influential educator and activist whose work addresses questions of social injustice that sit at the intersection of public policy and social research, particularly with respect to youth in schools and criminal justice.
Recognized as one of the finest classical dancers of our time, Jacques d’Amboise now leads the field of arts education with a model program that exposes thousands of school children to the magic and discipline of dance. In 1976, while still a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, Mr. d’Amboise founded National Dance Institute (NDI) in the belief that the arts have a unique power to engage and motivate individuals towards excellence.
Professor Hubert Dyasi, PhD, is a highly acclaimed science education specialist who has successfully championed the centrality of science inquiry in science education at all educational levels in New York and nationally. In addition to serving on advisory boards of several leading national science education development institutions, he is a valued consultant to an international program on inquiry-based science education conducted under the auspices of a worldwide network of academies of science and engineering.