Urban Education Semester Handbook
Bank Street College and Brown University share a commitment to fostering civic responsibility. Since 1987, their collaboration has presented the intensive and challenging experience, Urban Education Semester (UES).
Employing the powerful lens of urban public schools in New York City to examine a network of disciplines – urban studies, public policy, community development, system reform – UES uniquely combines a graduate-level, demanding course of theoretical study with hands-on, supervised fieldwork. Participants spend three days a week working in public policy or classroom placements, and in their evenings, take on a full semester of graduate-level study with Bank Street College's prestigious faculty. Weekly group field trips and discussion group seminars; individual advising conferences; and monthly on-site visits by faculty advisors encourage participants to integrate their field placement experiences with the theoretical frameworks they examine in coursework.
There are three curricular components of the UES program.
• Fieldwork The direct experience of working alongside policy makers, or with children and teachers in urban classrooms, is an integral part of the Urban Education Semester. Current public policy placements include the Brooklyn Young Mothers' Collective; the New York Historical Society; and Teachers Unite, where each participant spends three days per week assisting a carefully selected policy administrator, and receives ongoing supervision and guidance both from the cooperating policy placement supervisor and from their UES faculty advisor, who makes monthly on-site visits to monitor and to observe.
Participants who have chosen to work in classroom settings are teamed with teachers in district classrooms as varied as Washington Heights, the Lower East Side, the South Bronx, and Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Current placements include the Renaissance School in Jackson Heights; Manhattan's Vanguard School (part of the Coalition of Essential Schools); PS 20; and the Muscota School, also in Manhattan.
• Coursework Requirements include a foundations course addressing current issues in urban public education; one or two elective courses, selected by the participant from that semester's the course offerings; and the weekly UES group seminar, "Learning Theory and Practise." For the seminar, the participants and their faculty advisor relate theories encountered in that week's coursework with fieldwork experiences, assess strategies, and share insights, all of which serve to hone their own problem solving skills. Daily journal entries, a seminar requirement, help to further reflection and the connecting of course readings to observed practice. A capstone project completes the seminar work. Important components in developing each final project is based on an observed need in the UES participant’s fieldwork placement, together with the participant’s own talents and interests. A paper both documenting the process and reflecting on the implementation of the project is required, and is presented during the final two weeks of the program.
• Advisement Weekly field trips – to a UES participant's placements, as well as to other settings – are part of the course requirement. These trips take place on Friday mornings. Discussions and responses to these settings are used to broaden the UES participants' understanding of the critical issues involved in contemporary urban life.
In addition to the weekly UES group seminar and field trips, program participants receive both group and individual advisement throughout the semester. Each participant meets individually with his or her advisor weekly by appointment. Advisors also make monthly visits to observe their advisees in the field. This individual support allows the advisor to gain insight into the strengths and needs of the UES participant, while allowing the UES participant to process reactions and responses to experiences in the classroom with the advisor. The meetings also give the UES participant an opportunity to discuss his/her courses, fieldwork placement, capstone project, and any other issues. More frequent meetings may be arranged with the advisor as needed.
Successful completion of:
• supervised fieldwork (three credits)
• coursework – "Foundations of Modern Education" (three credits) plus one or two electives (three credits)
• UES seminar "Practice and Theory" (six credits)
totals 15 Bank Street course credits.
Note: The Graduate School Catalog is online for the current academic year; be sure to check dates, and note the symbols indicating for which semester a course is offered. UES participants may choose one or two electives (to total three credits), and are advised not to select courses scheduled to meet Wednesday evenings. Should a course description mention prerequisites, it may be possible to arrange an exception; contact UES program staff to inquire.
UES Handbook page 1 | page 2 About Bank Street College and its Graduate School of Education
navigation: page 3 Residence | page 4 What It's Like | page 5 Finances | page 6 Program Staff | page 7 Application Procedures | page 8 Application