Lia Gelb, Director: 212-875-4489
The 5-Step program is a collaborative program between Bank Street and a number of undergraduate liberal arts colleges (Albion College, Bennington College, Carleton College, Earlham College, Eugene Lang College of the New School for Social Research, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, and the University of Delaware Honors Program). Students begin their professional studies at Bank Street while still undergraduates. Students must be recommended by their college and meet all Bank Street admissions requirements. It culminates in a bachelor's degree from the undergraduate college and a master's degree from Bank Street.
Andrea Spencer, Coordinator: 212-875-4602
The Early Childhood Four-College Consortium, which includes Bank Street College, Erikson Institute in Chicago, Wheelock College in Boston, and Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena and Seattle, was created in the Fall of 1993. Each of the four institutions that make up the consortium has a history of responding in varying ways and through various programs to the societal needs of young children and their families. In addition, each institution supports a critical mass of faculty focusing on the wide spectrum of early care and education. The study of child development, the developmental approach to learning, reflective practice, and the focus on preparing leaders has been, and continues to be, a connecting link among the institutions in their work with children and their approach to adult learning. Faculty of the four institutions have collaborated on publishing and presentations at national meetings.
Matriculated graduate students at Bank Street have the opportunity to register in selected graduate courses in the other three institutions. Students who have not previously transferred six credits into a Bank Street degree may transfer up to six graduate credits from these selected courses; prior approval from the chair of their department is required, and the standard procedures for transferring in credits should be followed.
For a fuller description of relevant programs and courses, please consult each institution's Web site or call the institution. Contact information follows:
Wheelock College
To receive a graduate catalogue, please e-mail graduate@wheelock.edu or call 617-734-2500, ext 2195, or 617-879-2195.
Pacific Oaks College
To receive a graduate catalogue, visit the Web site or call 626-391-1349 or 800-684-0900.
Erikson Institute
To receive a graduate catalogue, visit their Web site or call 312-755-2250.
Harriet Lenk, Coordinator: 212-875-4580
The Bank Street College/Lincoln Center Institute Collaborative is designed to enhance the learning of all children through an exploration of ways to use the arts in the preparation of new teachers. The Partnership connects the Lincoln Center Institute with the graduate faculty of Bank Street College through a series of experiential workshops and performances of music, dance, opera and the visual arts. These experiences are extended to graduate students through a wide range of courses in the College. The goal is to help future teachers understand how experiential investigations of the arts can engage children in learning about the arts and support their development of a wide range of critical, analytic, and expressive skills.
This collaboration has enabled us to pair "teaching artists-in-residence" with various faculty members and groups of Bank Street students. Integration of the arts into the teacher's repertoire supports learning across the disciplines. Together we explore selected performances of theatre, dance, and music; visit museums; and consider how to use the insights and sustain the enthusiasm and depth of understanding for both students and teachers.
This project is based on the belief that the infusion of the arts into teacher education programs yields professionals capable of important shifts in perception and creativity. In effect, drawing on the arts affords greater variety in curricula and learning. This integrative perspective on teaching and learning follows Bank Street's "core curriculum" approach, in which a topic of study is selected and explored in depth from different perspectives; projects are used to engage children in authentic tasks that involve skill-building as scientists, historians, artists, and writers.
The Midtown West School is a working model of the developmental interaction approach to learning developed by educators at Bank Street College of Education. Midtown West seeks to bring this model into the New York City public schools. The rich diversity of our population creates an exciting classroom environment where many different styles of learning blend harmoniously. The teachers encourage exploration and integration of the home and school in an effort to empower the child as an effective learner.
Learn more about the exciting collaboration between Bank Street College of Education and Midtown West School, 328 West 48th Street.
Adrianne Kamsler, Coordinator: 212-875-4571
Bank Street College has developed a partnership with the Teach For America (TFA) office in New York City, through which TFA/NYC corps members can earn their master¢â¡Ás degrees at Bank Street at a reduced tuition rate. Corps members typically apply over the summer during their TFA summer training.
Learn more!
Margaret Martinez DeLuca, Director: 212-875-4699
The Urban Education Semester program is a collaborative project of Bank Street College and the Venture Consortium (Brown University, College of the Holy Cross, Franklin & Marshall, Sarah Lawrence College, Vassar College, and Wesleyan University). Liberal Arts undergraduates attending Venture Consortium colleges and universities are engaged for one semester in the formal study of education in an urban setting. (If space is available, applications from students at non-Venture institutions are considered.)
The Urban Education Semester program offers an opportunity for juniors to combine fieldwork in a variety of public school settings (in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens) and group visits to alternative educational sites with related course work that may include: Current Issues in Urban Education, Anthropology of Education, Foundations of Modern Education, Child Development, and Principles and Problems in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. The required course, Learning Theory and Practice: Making Connections, and individual conferences help students integrate theory and practice in ways that relate to their academic programs and career aspirations. Students design a curriculum project which meets an identified need in the classroom.
Students in the program earn 15 graduate credits, which are applied to their undergraduate transcript.
For further information about applying to the Urban Education Semester, please contact Margaret Martinez DeLuca at Bank Street, or Peggy Chang at Brown University, where the Venture Consortium is based.
Watch this seven-minute video about the Urban Education Semester!