Based in a tradition of progressive education, the graduate programs are designed to help educators find ways to make learning vital, active, and creative for children from diverse backgrounds who come to the classroom with a broad range of learning styles. Bank Street s master s degree programs lead to New York State certification and provide graduates with a thorough, rigorous, humanistic foundation for their careers in education. Students progress through the program in a peer cohort and receive specialized assessment and training based on their advanced knowledge and experience in the field. The program now receives its primary financial support from private industry councils in the Dominguez Hills service area. During their year in the program, candidates observe, tutor, and student teach in schools while taking courses in teaching methods, motivation, learning, classroom management, and multicultural perspectives.
Graduates affirm that the training has been essential to their later success.
A collaborative effort between the school district and the University of Cincinnati, the College of Education supports the program with the educational and professional studies component, the College of Arts and Sciences provides subject-matter education in the academic disciplines, and practicing teachers in the schools serve as mentors and models. Upon completion, teachers receive a bachelor s degree in their discipline as well as a degree in education. Professional practice schools provide settings for students field and internship placements, where they conduct observations, fieldwork, and tutoring in professional teams with other teachers, school-based university faculty, and fellow interns, who usually number six or eight to a building. Originally limited to the content areas of science and mathematics, the self-paced program now serves secondary English, social studies, foreign language, art, and English as a second language. In addition to preparing graduates for licensure throughout the Washington, DC metro area, the program meets the licensure standards for most of the other states across the country.