| Teachers College, Columbia University | |
|---|---|
Teachers College, view down West 120th Street |
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| Established | 1887 |
| Type | Private |
| Endowment | US$200 million [1] |
| President | Susan Fuhrman |
| Provost | Thomas James |
| Students | 5,087 students |
| Location | New York, New York, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | www.tc.columbia.edu |
Teachers College, Columbia University (sometimes referred to simply as Teachers College; also referred to as Teachers College of Columbia University or the Columbia University Graduate School of Education) is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York, United States. It was founded in 1887 by the philanthropist Grace Hoadley Dodge and philosopher Nicholas Murray Butler to provide a new kind of schooling for the teachers of the poor children of New York City, one that combined a humanitarian concern to help others with a scientific approach to human development. While Teachers College holds its own corporate status, the college is also a Faculty and academic department of Columbia University. Teachers College faculty hold Columbia University appointments; its President is a Dean of the University; and all students receive their degrees by the University.[2][3]
Beginning as a school to prepare home economists and manual art teachers for the children of the poor, the college affiliated with Columbia University in 1898 as Columbia University's Graduate School of Education. Under the terms of its affiliation with Columbia University, the University awards all master's degrees, Ph.D., and Ed.D. degrees to graduates of the College.
According to U.S. News & World Report's 2011 rankings, Teachers College, Columbia University currently ranks as the #4 education school in the nation. Beginning in fall, for the 2011-2012 academic year, tuition for all regular courses was $1,231 per point.
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The founders early recognized that professional teachers need reliable knowledge about the conditions under which children learn most effectively. As a result, the College's program from the start included such fundamental subjects as educational psychology and educational sociology. The founders also insisted that education must be combined with clear ideas about ethics and the nature of a good society; consequently programs were developed in the history of education and in comparative education. As the number of school children increased during the twentieth century, the problems of managing the schools became ever more complex. The college took on the challenge and instituted programs of study in areas of administration, economics, and politics. Other programs developed in such emerging fields as clinical and counseling psychology, organizational psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, curriculum development, instructional technology, media studies and school health care. From 1904, when he became a faculty member there, Teachers College was most famously associated with philosopher John Dewey.
Today, according to its president,[4] Teachers College, Columbia University provides solutions to the difficult problems of urban education, reaffirming its original mission in providing a new kind of education for those left most in need by society or circumstance. The college continues its collaborative research with urban and suburban school systems that strengthen teaching in such fundamental areas as reading, writing, science, mathematics, and the arts; prepares leaders to develop and administer psychological and health care programs in schools, hospitals and community agencies; and advances technology for the classroom, developing new teaching software and keeping teachers abreast of new developments. Teachers College also houses a wide range of applied psychology degrees, including one of the nation's leading programs in Organizational Psychology.
It also houses the programs in Anthropology (Anthropology and Education, and Applied Anthropology—the latter with the Anthropology Department of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia, originally founded by Franz Boas). It was foundational in the development of the field of Anthropology and Education. By the 1930s, Teachers College had begun to offer courses in anthropology as part of the foundations of education. By 1948 Margaret Mead started what would be a long association with Teachers College where she taught until the early 1970s. In 1953 Solon Kimball joined the faculty. In 1954 nine professors (including Mead and Solon Kimball) came together to discuss the topic. In the 1960s, these people formed the Council on Anthropology and Education within the American Anthropological Association, and it is still considered as the leading organization in the field.
Teachers College also operates the Community English Program, a year-round English-Language school open to all English-Language learners in the New York City area. Classes are taught by Teachers College students who are pursuing graduate degrees in the field of ESL instruction.
While the name Teachers College reflects a dedication to producing quality teachers, less than one-third of Teachers College students are at any one time preparing to become teachers. With more than sixty programs of study, graduates go on to pursue careers in psychology, social and behavioral sciences, health and health promotion, educational policy, technology, international and comparative education, as well as education and educational leadership. Students are candidates for Masters of Arts (M.A.), Master of Education (Ed.M.), Master of Science (M.S.), Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees.
The student experience at Teachers College is governed by a student senate, headed by the Senate President, followed by the Vice-President, Parliamentarian, Communications Officer, and Treasurer. Two Senators, a Master's candidate, & a PhD candidate, are elected each year to represent each academic department at Teachers College to advocate on behalf of current students and Alumni. The TC Senate meets bi-weekly to determine what issues need to be investigated.
| President | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nicholas M. Butler | 1889-1891 [5] |
| 2. | Walter L. Hervey | 1893-1897[5] |
| 3. | James Earl Russell | 1898-1926[5] |
| 4. | William Fletcher Russell | 1927-1954[5] |
| 5. | Hollis L. Caswell | 1954-1962[5] |
| 6. | John Henry Fischer | 1962-1974[5] |
| 7. | Lawrence A. Cremin | 1974-1984[5] |
| 8. | Philip M. Timpane | 1984-1994[5] |
| 9. | Arthur E. Levine | 1994-2006[5] |
| 10. | Susan Fuhrman | 2006-Present |
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