NEWSLETTER OF THE Number 32
Fall 2009/5770
ADDITIONAL COPIES MAY BE OBTAINED AT http://jesna.org/j/pdfs/re_netres32.pdf or by contacting JESNA at: 318 W. 39th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10018 t 212.284.6878 | f 212.284.6951 | nrje@jesna.org
FROM YOUR NEWSLETTER EDITOR
TABLE OF CONTENTS
HELENA MILLER helena.miller@ujia.org
1 FROM YOUR NEWSLETTER EDITOR Helena Miller
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his time of year is typically one of reflection, change and renewal. In our professional lives we gear up for a new academic and working year and in our personal lives, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur give us plenty of opportunities to think about the year that has passed and the one that is to come. Within the Network for Research in Jewish Education, you will see, particularly from Jeff Kress’ article, that the Network is also at a point of change and renewal in terms of personnel and roles. These changes are also reflected within the Network in Diane Schuster’s article about the Young Scholars’ Award, and outside the Network in Hana Bor and Rebecca Shargel’s article about Baltimore Hebrew University. In terms of changes within the Network, this will be the last Newsletter that I edit. I have HELENA MILLER very much enjoyed the job. It has given me the opportunity to be in touch with so many colleagues in between the annual conferences and my thanks go to you all for your emails and articles. Even those of you to whom I have occasionally (!) had to send one or two reminders for contributions have always delivered by the time the copy has had to be finalised. My warmest thanks go to Lisa Grant for all her support and advice over the years, to Jeff Kress for his recent support in his new role and to the folk at JESNA for regularly sending out the Newsletter. I would also particularly like to thank Nicole Ray, who receives all the raw articles and information from me, and then formats them into a cohesive and attractive Newsletter. She has done a superb job over the years and I could not have edited the Newsletter without her. I am delighted that the new editor for this Newsletter will be Renee Rubin Ross, who, I am sure, will do a great job. Look out for an email from her in early Spring inviting you to submit your news and articles. Finally, although I won’t have the excuse of the newsletter to be in touch with you, I hope we won’t lose contact and I look forward to seeing you at the 2010 NRJE Conference next year. Shana tova, Helena {ARTICLES FOR THE SPRING 2009 NEWSLETTER SHOULD REACH RENEE RUBIN ROSS, RJR300@NYU.EDU, BY FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2010.}
2 APPRECIATION AT A TIME OF TRANSITION Jeffrey Kress 3 NRJE AT YESHIVA UNIVERSITY 2009 David Schnall 3 2009 ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROGRAM RE-CAP Miriam Heller-Stern 4 YOUNG SCHOLARS’ AWARDS: AN UP-DATE Diane Tickton Schuster 4 K’NEH LEKHA HAVER Gail Dorph 5 WHAT DOES “SUCCESS” LOOK LIKE? Leora Isaacs 6 JOURNAL OF JEWISH EDUCATION: CALL FOR PAPERS 7 BALTIMORE HEBREW UNIVERSITY REINVENTS ITSELF Hana Bor and Rebecca Shargel 8 OBITUARY: RABBI JOSEPH LUKINSKY Z’’L 8 NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS 8 NEW MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY FOR NRJE 9 MANDEL CENTER AT BRANDEIS: NEWS Janna Dorfman 9 NEW MASTERS’ PROGRAMS AT NYU Wendy Paler NETWORK EXECUTIVE JEFF KRESS – Network Chair BEN JACOBS – 2010 Conference Program Chair HAROLD WECHSLER – 2010 Conference co-Chair ERICH DIETRICH – 2010 Conference co-Chair LEORA ISAACS – Secretary ELI SCHAAP – Treasurer JEN AUERBACH – 2010 Graduate Assistant SHANI BECHHOFER – 2008 Program Chair LISA GRANT – Immediate Past Network Chair MIRIAM HELLER-STERN – 2009 Conference Program Chair CAROL INGALL – Emerging Scholars Award DAVID MILLER – 2009 Conference co-Chair HELENA MILLER – Newsletter Editor (until Spring 2010) ALEX POMSON – Past Network Chair RENEE RUBIN ROSS – Newsletter Editor (from Spring 2010) DAVID SCHNALL – 2009 Conference co-Chair SIMONE SCHWEBER – Membership committee co-Chair MICHAEL ZELDIN – Senior Editor, Journal of Jewish Education NEWSLETTER DESIGN Nicole Ray
Appreciation at a time of transition FROM THE CHAIR JEFFREY KRESS
jekress@jtsa.edu
I
only for helping to orient me to the
am honored to embark on my role as Network chair. I take on my new responsibilities with a deep sense of humility and gratitude, particularly
role, but, far more importantly, for all she has done for the Network and for the world of Jewish educational research. Lisa’s work with adult Jewish education and with Israel trips and education (to name what
to those Network members who have served in this role before me and who have been my mentors over the years (and to whom I continue to turn frequently for advice). As someone whose primary professional affiliation was not originally as a Jewish educational researcher, I benefited greatly from the Network, which served, and continues to serve, as a crucial community of colleagues. I welcome the chance to “give back” to the Network in my role as chair. In my first Newsletter column, I will focus on expressing gratitude, and the first, most general “thank you” is to the Network as an organization that helped to shape my career in Jewish educational research.
JEFF KRESS
might be the two best known of her many research areas) has
made an enormous contribution to the field. Her tenure as Network chair was marked by the flourishing of the Journal of Jewish Education, stronger connections with our Israeli counterparts, the registration of the Network as an independent non-profit organization, and increased involvement of the graduate student community. This issue of the Newsletter marks the last for Helena Miller as editor. The Newsletter is a key vehicle for communication among Network members between
As I write during the waning days of the “academic
conferences and is an essential part of maintaining our
summer” (that span between submitting grades and
sense of community. Its pages contain topical discussions
student orientation), I want to thank the organizers of the
as well as news and updates from members. Helena’s hard
2009 Conference for creating a high note that kicked-off
work is the driving force behind each issue, and we have
the summer season. The program, organized by program
all benefited from this. Helena, we owe you many thanks!
chair Miriam Heller Stern, was both deep and wide, with a
Thank you also to Renee Rubin Ross for taking on editorial
diverse group of presenters and topics. The YU Team – led
responsibility beginning with the next issue.
by David Miller and David Schnall – made sure that all the
Finally, Diane Tickton Schuster,
who has greatly
logistics ran smoothly and hosted a wonderful evening at
strengthened our Emerging Scholars award program, is
the YU Museum at the Center for Jewish Heritage. Also,
stepping down as its coordinator. My thanks to her for her
Ada Maradiaga helped enormously with the logistics (and
hard work coordinating the review process and to Carol
in so many other ways).
Ingall who will be the new coordinator.
I also want to thank my predecessor, Lisa Grant, not
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Best wishes to all for a Shana Tova u’Metuka.
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NRJE 2009 CONFERENCE
NRJE at Yeshiva University 2009 DAVID SCHNALL, Conference co-Chair
dschnall@yu.edu
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he Network for Research in Jewish Education hosted its 23rd Annual Conference on June 7thth 9 2009, convening close to one hundred academics, practitioners, and researchers to share the latest in the field of Jewish educational research. Participants hailed largely from the United States but such countries as Canada, Israel, and England were also represented. As in previous years, the program included panels which featured papers presenting completed work, “spotlight sessions,” i.e. interactive presentations regarding key issues in Jewish education, and “consultations over coffee” — collegial discussions of research in progress or preliminary findings. Perhaps the most gratifying aspects of these various sessions were the collaborations
between colleagues at the same or different institutions alongside several faculty/student collaborations. For the first time ever, the conference was hosted by Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration at its Beren Campus in midtown Manhattan, and proved to be an exciting venue for exchanging ideas and research findings. The Sunday evening plenary session topic was “The fate of Jewish education in a challenging economy” chaired by Carol Ingall with discussants Harry Bloom, Yossi Prager and Jonathan Sarna. On Tuesday evening participants were bused to the Yeshiva University Museum for a Reception and Presentation of Young Scholars’ Award, followed by a guided tour of the museum and social dinner. The conference was a wonderful success with many exciting and new ideas on Jewish Educational Research exchanged and discussed.
NRJE 2009 Annual Conference Recap MIRIAM HELLER STERN, 2009 Program Chair
miriamhstern@gmail.com
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ducational researchers, practitioners and policymakers from across the globe gathered at Yeshiva University in June for the NRJE annual conference to share and learn about current findings and methods in the field of Jewish educational research. The conference program brought into conversation a wide array of research subjects, sparking critical conversations around essential questions such as: What is the role of experiential education in formal schooling? How is Jewish identity developed in different contexts, from the beit midrash to the virtual reality of the Internet? Should Jewish educators continue to be worried about assimilation? Presenters explored the uses of various research tools and disciplines, such as JData and ethnography. The conference program
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featured a significant number of consultations over coffee, signaling the growth of our graduate student population as well as the spirit of collaborative colleagueship which our veteran members have come to expect from the Network. As always, the conference program showcased both innovations in education as well as new perspectives on enduring dilemmas. Conference goers had the opportunity to enjoy a tour of the Yeshiva University Museum’s collection of art and Judaica and a gala reception. The annual gathering gave Network members a chance to reconnect with colleagues and welcome new members into the organization as well. As one cycle ends a new one begins. The 2010 program committee is already preparing the Call for Submissions for next June’s conference, to be hosted by New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education.
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NRJE Young Scholar Awards: An Update DIANE TICKTON SCHUSTER CHAIR, YOUNG SCHOLARS AWARD COMMITTEE
dtschuster1@verizon.net
T
he 2009 Young Scholars Award was given to Aliza Segal, a doctoral candidate at the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at Hebrew University in support for her ethnographic study of Talmud education in a religious high school in Israel. Aliza’s research employs tools and methodologies from the fields of ethnography and discourse analysis and places our understanding of the Talmud classroom within a broader theoretical and empirical body of research. The Awards Committee (consisting of Isa Aron, Shira Epstein, Carol Ingall, Jeffrey Schein, Diane Tickton Schuster, Simone Schweber, and Harold Wechsler) was particularly impressed by how Aliza’s proposal demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of Jewish educational research issues. Reviewing the proposal, one committee member wrote: “I am familiar with the literature and studies upon which Segal is drawing;
her study is very strongly contextualized in the current research and she seems to have a solid theoretical framework.” Another committee member commented: “I am convinced Ms. Segal has what it takes to contribute to the research literature in the teaching of Talmud.” It was with special delight that the Committee unanimously agreed to fund Aliza’s full request for support for transcribing costs for her dissertation data. In the coming year, the Young Scholars Awards Committee will face a number of challenges. First, at the urging of some members of the Network, the name of the Awards will be under review; given that researchers of all ages are invited to apply for awards, discussion has begun about whether the word “young” should be changed. Second, because the total number of Awards applications was very low in 2009, the Committee will strive this year to encourage a broader application pool in the years ahead. Finally, after four years of chairing the Committee, Diane Tickton Schuster has elected to step down; she is thrilled to hand off the chair position to Carol Ingall who she knows will bring decades of NRJE commitment, experience, and insight to the job!
K'neh Lekha Haver GAIL ZAIMAN DORPH gaildorph@earthlink.net
A
s far as I’m concerned a big perk of belonging to the Network for Research in Jewish Education is receiving the Journal of Jewish Education—four times a year. From the perspective of a practicing Jewish educator, I look forward to reading about the questions and issues my colleagues are exploring. From the standpoint of a Jewish educational researcher, I’m delighted to have a journal that welcomes first class articles about issues in our field. I think having such a venue has encouraged more writing and more research, because we know that scholarship in Jewish education has a home. The upcoming themed issue on teaching and teacher development is a great example. It includes a variety of articles, both philosophical and empirical. Two of these articles are based on collaborative research undertaken by a veteran contributor to the journal and a colleague, whose work had not yet appeared in our pages. fall 2009 >>> the network for research in jewish education
By happy coincidence their topics and the point I would like to make are congruent. The article by Sarah Birkeland and Sharon Feiman-Nemser illuminates the necessary characteristics of induction into the field of (day school) teaching as requiring more than just mentorship, but an infrastructure of nested practices. Another article is written by Miriam Raider-Roth and Elie Holzer. It explores the role text study, particularly hevruta practices, as well as focused attention on teaching/learning relationships, can play in helping teachers explore the fundamental relational dimensions of teaching and learning. I mention these two papers in particular as I write to you about the Journal. One of the challenges we in the Network face is inducting more of our members and colleagues into the Jewish educational research family. Perhaps these articles point us in the right direction. In the words of Pirkei Avot: “K’neh lekha haver”—let us look for colleagues with whom we can collaborate and who will join us in making Jewish educational research the vibrant enterprise we wish it to be. <4>
WHAT DOES ‘SUCCESS' LOOK LIKE? LEORA ISAACS lisaacs@jesna.org
of guided exercises, feedback was gathered from participants in regards to two primary questions:
MEASURING STUDENT OUTCOMES IN JEWISH EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
1. What are the different dimensions of our aspirations for experiential Jewish education?
Both JESNA and the BJE of New York-SAJES believe that to be maximally effective in the field of experiential Jewish education, we must define desired outputs and outcomes and be able to evaluate success. This project aims to explore whether it is possible to create agreed-upon criteria by which a broad and diverse range of experiential Jewish education programs for Jewish teens can be evaluated. It also seeks to investigate the feasibility of creating an evaluation tool (or set of tools) to assess such programs. Toward that end, The BJE of New York-SAJES and JESNA are collaborating on a project designed to assess “success” in experiential Jewish educational programs for teens. One key component of the project was a consultation which took place on August 10th. The consultation was unique. A heterogeneous group of more than 20 people were convened. And this was no ordinary group! It included academics who have been active in the field for decades, as well as graduate students with related experience and expertise. There were a wide range of perspectives, affiliations and backgrounds represented as well. Further, the consultation focused on conceptual thinking more than on “problem solving,” though all present did help to tackle a challenge often not addressed in Jewish education: measures of success. Through a series
2. What are some of the metrics for success in each of these dimensions? Those present agreed that the field of experiential Jewish education needs a way to measure what is being done, both to improve the educational offerings as well as insure their success. And, they begun to identify dimensions (such as connections and relationships teens have with peers and adult rolemodels) and metrics (such as supports provided during times of transitions and need in addition to times of joy and celebration). In addition to fine tuning and building on the work begun during the consultation, the next steps for the BJE of NY-SAJES and JESNA will include reaching out to program providers to determine whether (and how) we can develop an implementable tool to assess the success of experiential Jewish education programs. Please visit JESNA’s website http:// www.jesna.org/measuring-success-inexperiential-teen-education to access resources used for the consultation, and to “hear” about the consultation via video blurb from three participants — Dr. Barry Chazan (Professor of Education at Spertus College in Chicago and Educational Head of Birthright Israel), Amy L. Sales (Associate Director for the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University), and Rami
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Wernik (Dean of the Fingerhut School of Education at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles).
ARTICULATING OUTCOMES AND MEASURING SUCCESS IN ISRAEL ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION In a similar vein, JESNA’s Learning and Consultation Center (LCC) and Berman Center for Research and Evaluation in Jewish Education is partnering with MAKOM, the ‘think/practice tank’ of the Education Department of the Jewish Agency for Israel, on a project to define desired outputs and outcomes for Israel education and engagement programs, to evaluate success and to plan curricula and activities to achieve them. A think/practice tank is being convened on October 20, 2009 to advance thinking about how to articulate desired outcomes for Israel education in a multiplicity of settings over a range of developmental stages - and to begin to envision indicators of success. For further information about this project please contact NRJE members Alex Sinclair (SinclairAlexSi@jafi.org), Renae Cohen (rcohen@jesna.org) or Leora Isaacs (lisaacs@jesna.org).
THREE NEW PUBLICATIONS FROM JESNA The Publications and Dissemination Project (PDP), an initiative of JESNA's Learnings & Consultation Center (LCC), brings JESNA's knowledge and expertise directly to you.... practitioners and policymakers See SUCCESS, next page
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SUCCESS,
C A L L from previous page
in the field of Jewish Education. Snapshots & Insights is JESNA's newest publication series designed to disseminate emergent data and understandings. This issue focuses on Resource Centers for Jewish Educators: Examining the history and current state of resource centers for Jewish educators, alternative models, and lessons learned about best practices. The learnings are based on research and evaluations (performed primarily by JESNA's Berman Center for Research and Evaluation in Jewish Education) as well as on-theground knowledge (primarily gleaned from JESNA's Learnings & Consultation Center staff who work directly with Jewish educators in the field). You can find this publication on the home page of www.jesna. org. We welcome your comments and engagement. We would also be very appreciative if you passed this on to your own list serves, friends and colleagues. 2010 Guide to Academic Programs in Formal and Informal Jewish Education Jewish education tops the agenda of the Jewish community in North America. The need to provide a quality product in both formal and informal settings requires talented and professionally trained educators who have experiences and degrees that have prepared them for their particular roles. JESNA has therefore prepared the Guide to Academic Programs in Formal and Informal Jewish Education, newly updated for the 2009-2010 school year, to aid those seeking to prepare themselves for the field. You can find this on the home page of www.jesna.org. New! Making Connections: The Los Angeles Bureau of Jewish Education's Concierge for Jewish Education Program The newest working paper from JESNA's Lippman Kanfer Institute and The Berman Center for Research and Evaluation. The report presents a detailed portrait of one of the country's most innovative educational initiatives, the Los Angeles Bureau of Jewish Education's Concierge for Jewish Education program. The program is presented as an ambitious example of a range of activities that central agencies are undertaking to link educational silos in their communities.You can find this on the home page of www.jesna.org.
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F O R
P A P E R S
Special upcoming themed issue of the Journal of Jewish Education
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN CONGREGATIONAL EDUCATION Manuscripts due by April 1, 2010
The organized Jewish community has begun to recognize that congregational schools still enroll the majority of Jewish students, and are likely to continue doing so for the foreseeable future despite the tremendous growth of day schools. Accordingly, the past two decades have seen the rise of innovation in congregational education, accompanied by a growing body of research. The Journal invites articles that explore current issues and challenges in congregational education. Research is to be understood broadly and submissions can fall into one of three broad categories: empirical work, including a variety of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research; thick descriptions and analysis of programs and practices; and conceptual analyses, which may include philosophical or historical studies. Successful articles will describe the context of their inquiry, detail the research methods used, highlight key findings, and discuss implications for the field of religious education in general and Jewish education in particular. We also invite reflections on and updates of Stuart Schoenfeld’s classic 1987 article, “Folk Judaism, Elite Judaism, and the Role of Bar Mitzvah in the Development of the Synagogue and Jewish School in America.” Manuscripts should be submitted according to the Instructions for Authors available online at the Journal of Jewish Education website: http:// www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/15244113.asp Specific questions regarding submissions should be directed to JournalofJEd@aol.com.
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Baltimore Hebrew University Reinvents Itself REBECCA SHARGEL, RShargel@towson.edu and HANA BOR, HBor@towson.edu
B
altimore Hebrew University (BHU) merged with Towson University in the summer of 2009. The Master of Arts in Jewish Education (MAJE) is housed in the College of Education, the largest teacher training school in the state of Maryland. Two full-time education professors from BHU teach Jewish education within the College of Education. Both are faculty affiliates of the new Baltimore Hebrew Institute of Towson University, the central body at TU which supports students in their quest for Jewish learning and professional training, preserves the students’ connections to the Baltimore Jewish community, and directs adult and community programming within Greater Baltimore. Dr. Hana Bor, the Director of the Masters of Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Services Programs, is also a member of the Department of Instructional Leadership for Professional Development. Her colleague, Dr. Rebecca Shargel, teaches in the Educational Technology and Literacy Department. Both are excited about this new development in the history of the Hebrew colleges—an independent school transferring its programs to a state university campus of more than 20,000 students. The MAJE program at Towson uniquely blends a strong foundation in core Judaic studies with the latest theory and practice in Jewish education. BHU’s outstanding Judaica collection (some 80,000 volumes) is now fully integrated into the Towson Library. In addition, Towson now hosts the two other graduate programs from BHU: the Master of Arts in Jewish Communal Service and the Masters in Jewish Studies. Five BHU faculty members teach Judaic
DR. REBECCA SHARGEL AND DR. HANA BOR
studies to both undergraduates and graduate students at Towson, and hope to soon create an undergraduate major in Judaic Studies at Towson within the next two to three years. The leadership of Towson together with the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Greater Baltimore led the transition and collaborated to merge
teachers for local Jewish schools, then “Baltimore Hebrew College” continually adapted its curriculum to meet the needs of the Baltimore Jewish community as well as North American Jewry in general. Beginning in the 1990s, Baltimore Hebrew College began to offer master’s degrees and doctorates, and officially became Baltimore Hebrew University.
The MAJE program at Towson uniquely blends a strong foundation in core Judaic studies with the latest theory and pratice in Jewish education. the two institutions. Erika Pardes Schon directs the Baltimore Hebrew Institute. She oversees adult education, special lectures, and outreach for the Baltimore Jewish community. These changes are extremely promising for a small institution with a dynamic 90-year history. Founded in 1919 to train
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Many graduates of BHU are in leadership positions around the world. The leadership of Towson University, together with the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Greater Baltimore, negotiated the transition and collaborated to merge the two institutions.
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NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
Rabbi Joseph Lukinsky z’’l
W
e are sad to announce the death of Rabbi Joseph
Lukinsky, Theodore and Florence Baumritter Professor Emeritus of Jewish Education at JTS, August 2009. Professor Lukinsky was the teacher of many of today’s leading Jewish educators and scholars. His vision of Jewish education shaped the thinking and approach of the Seminary and he was an important influence on Camp
DEBORAH COURT School of Education, Bar Ilan University and PAUL (SHAUL) R FEINBERG, Emeritus Associate Dean and Associate Adjunct Professor of Jewish Education will present their paper “Dialogue of Colleagues: Meaning and Transcendence: Sanctifying Space and Time in Curricular Discourse” at the third Triennial Conference of the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies. JEFFREY GLANZ, Professor of Education at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration is co-editor, with Karen Shawn, of PRISM: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Holocaust Educators. This is a new journal that debuted this September. For copies, email glanz@yu.edu. Jeffrey’s most recent publication is “Constructivism and Differentiation: Research and Practical Strategies for Assessment” appearing in the latest issue of Jewish Educational Leadership. RON KOAS is Education Director of Park Avenue Synagogue in NYC. He is an alumnus of the UJA funded Hebrew Union College/Jewish Theological Seminary Leadership Institute for Congregational School Educators. His recent work has been in the area of the needs/wants of parents of students at supplementary school. For details or copies please contact Ron at RKoas@PASyn.org.
Ramah and many other venues of our filed. Professor Lukinsky was an enormously creative thinker whose constant inquiry into new ideas and methods of education made him an extraordinary role model for Jewish educators throughout the world. After
AARON ROSS successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Motivational Issues in the Study of Gemara among American High School Senior Boys” at Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School. RENEE RUBIN ROSS gave birth to Rachel Natania Ross on 22 July 2009, a sister for Eliana. Mazal tov to Marty and Renee. In November, Renee will be starting a two year fellowship as visiting research scholar at Brandeis Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education.
retiring from the seminary, Professor Lukinsky and his wife Betty moved to Israel, where he has been buried. Barry W. Holtz Dean, William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education Theodore and Florence Baumritter Professor of Jewish Education Jewish Theological Seminary of America
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NEW MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY FOR NRJE We are announcing our new “r” category of Retiree Membership of the NRJE at the reduced rate of $50 per annum. If you would like to take advantage of this rate, please indicate on your membership renewal.
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MANDEL CENTER AT BRANDEIS:
News September 2009
JANNA DORFMAN jannadorfman@brandeis.edu
THE BEIT MIDRASH RESEARCH PROJECT has launched a new partnership with Kesher, an innovative Jewish afternoon school in Cambridge, Mass. Orit Kent is leading a research and professional development effort with Kesher faculty to help them adapt her theory of havruta learning for use in their classrooms and enhance their teaching of Judaic content and the facilitation of students learning from one another. This effort will be documented and analyzed to add to the Beit Midrash Project’s growing body of research.
SHARON FEIMAN-NEMSER, Mandel Professor of Jewish Education at Brandeis, and Director of the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, is on sabbatical during the 2009-2010 academic year. Jon Levisohn, Asst. Professor of Jewish Education, is serving as Acting Director of the Mandel Center in her absence. Besides doing a lot of yoga and finishing some smaller writing projects, Sharon is preparing a collection of pieces on teacher learning that she wrote between 1980 and 2000. She recently wrote a chapter, “Multiple meanings of new teacher induction” for Past, Present and Future Research on Teacher Induction: An Anthology for Researchers, Policy Makers and Practitioners, edited by Wang, Odell and Clift. ORIT KENT, senior research associate, was awarded the 2009 Glatzer Prize for her exceptional dissertation. The award, presented to Dr. Kent in May by the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department at Brandeis, recognizes Dr. Kent’s dissertation: “Interactive Text Study and the Co-construction of Meaning: Havruta in the DeLeT Beit Midrash.” Dr. Kent based her research on data she gathered in the Beit Midrash for Teachers at the Mandel Center, which she co-designed and has taught since 2003. The “Choosing to Teach” Project announces two upcoming papers: • Tamir, E. (in press). The retention question in contextspecific teacher education: do beginning teachers and their program directors see teachers’ future career eye to eye. Teaching and Teacher Education. • Tamir, E. (in press). Choosing to teach in urban schools among graduates of elite colleges. Urban Education 44(5). “Choosing to Teach: Enacting Values in Practice” is a research study that offers a more nuanced understanding of what draws people into teaching and what keeps them there. It explores how their work as teachers intersects with their personal background, teacher preparation, school context, and evolving personal and professional selves to shape their practice and commitments. In August, the INDUCTION PARTNERSHIP hosted the first in a series of virtual seminars for its distant partner schools. Now in its second phase of work, the Partnership has taken a model of consultation honed with Boston-area day schools to a new, nationwide approach with three pilot schools: Lander~Grinspoon Academy in Northampton, Mass.; Seattle Hebrew Academy in Seattle, Wash.; and Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield, Mich. Partially supported by the Covenant Foundation, the Partnership aims to help schools organize to better support and sustain new teachers and works with all school stakeholders to improve the new teacher experience. fall 2009 >>> the network for research in jewish education
THE INITIATIVE ON BRIDGING SCHOLARSHIP AND PEDAGOGY IN JEWISH STUDIES has recently published six new working papers by practitioners exploring their own practice. These papers are posted on its website: www.brandeis.edu/mandel/bridginginitiative.html
NEW MASTERS’ PROGRAMS AT NYU WENDY PALER, Assistant Director of Administration, NYU Steinhardt
wendy.paler@nyu.edu On September 8, 2009, NYU launched two new masters programs. The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at NYU is now offering an MA in Education and Jewish Studies, which can be taken on its own or as part of a dual MA program with the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies in the Graduate School of Arts and Science, which also eventuates in an MA in Hebrew and Judaic Studies. Graduates of these two programs, along with the PhD in Education and Jewish Studies, which began in 2001, assume a variety of prestigious leadership positions in the field of Jewish Education. Students in the Education and Jewish Studies programs come from a variety of religious backgrounds, from secular to Orthodox, and from many different places, from Utah to New York, from Israel to Australia. The Jim Joseph Foundation in San Francisco recently awarded the NYU Education and Jewish Studies programs a $5 million grant to provide support for promising graduate students. To learn more about the program, please visit http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/humsocsci/jewish, and RSVP for an info session on Tuesday, October 27, 2009. Applications for the 2010-2011 school year are due January 4, 2010.
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