History

From its earliest days the STI has been regarded as a staff development model, giving teachers voice and authority to determine their own professional needs, while at the same time meeting district and state goals. This collaboration of teachers, administrators, and community has enriched the district, helped shape the careers of teachers and contributed to the excellence of the Scarsdale and Edgemont school districts.

Teachers come into teaching with limited experience in the classroom. They do most of their learning on the job, usually with little help and assistance. Given the structures of most schools, teachers often work in isolation, with little feedback on their performance and little opportunity to reflect upon and improve their practice. They have little time to collaborate with their colleagues. In addition, too many teachers do not see, or cannot find, avenues for growth that reward their experience and dedication, unless they leave the classroom. The career paths are limited, and the rewards few. This is not a very substantive agenda for success.

This dismal picture is mitigated by the few opportunities that do exist and have developed as a result of teacher initiative and organizational support. The primary program that reflects these opportunities is the New York State Teacher Center program, now in its 20^th year.

This remarkable program had humble beginnings, and the story of the Scarsdale Teachers Institute is one of the keys to New York State’s teacher center program. The vision, imagination, foresight and organizational understanding of the founders of the STI paved the way for the growth of the statewide program.

To date, 127 Teacher Centers provide the majority of the professional growth opportunities for about 90% of the teachers of New York State.

The purpose of this report is to document the history of the STI so that educators, parents, the professional community and the public at large can learn and understand more about the achievements of the STI and ensure its future growth.

The Founding Years 1967-1969

The heady atmosphere of the mid-sixties had barely touched school systems. Change was in the air: politics, the Vietnam war, the beginning of the breakdown of all institutions. Traditionally lagging behind current events, the schools were paying close attention to what had been. But national and social events could not be shut out forever and by the late ‘60’s even the educational system was responding to change.

Throughout the sixties there had been pressure to strengthen the teachers unions and to achieve greater voice for the profession. In 1967 the Taylor Law, giving teachers the right to collective bargaining, was enacted in New York State. This new law changed the relationship between teachers and Boards of Education and created an opportunity for teachers to have an equal voice at the bargaining table.

In Scarsdale, however, under the leadership of Richard Davenport, then President of the Scarsdale Teachers Association, teachers had already established bargaining rights with the Board of Education, and they had begun working together. The Taylor Law reaffirmed practices that had been established in Scarsdale.

By 1967, the Scarsdale Teachers Association was beginning to negotiate a new contract with the Board of Education. After returning from a national teachers union convention, Al Pasternak, the new STA President, and Vin Dempsey, a member of the Executive Board, met with Doris Breslow, a teacher and supporter of the STA, to discuss national and local conditions. As Doris tells the story:

... and so, on a summer afternoon, the three of us sat on my back porch, and we talked about the problems teachers faced all over the country: the lowly status of the profession, the hue and cry to abolish tenure and establish merit pay. Heavy talk for a summer afternoon … but this was 1968 and the times were ripe for change. The knowledge explosion of ‘60s hadn’t even touched the schools. Our leisurely school administration was content to offer teachers one course a year, maybe two.

The problem stayed with me after Vin and Al left, and that evening I called Al and asked him if he would like the Association to sponsor an ongoing education program for Scarsdale teachers. We had no money, no support for this gigantic undertaking, no precedent, and, yet, with the farsightedness and optimism characteristic of him, Al immediately said yes. Vin, too, readily agreed and suggested teachers and parents who might help us.

The Scarsdale Teachers Institute was born out of that summer’s afternoon meeting. The STA quickly formed a teacher committee with representatives from each of the schools. They drafted a questionnaire that was sent to the faculty listing some possible topics for courses and soliciting other suggestions. The response from the faculty was overwhelmingly positive and a host of other suggestions emerged.

The STA first asked the Board of Education for financial support, but the Board was hesitant to adopt such a new concept. The STA then proceeded to find seed money from a number of other sources--the state and national unions as well as the New York State Department of Education. By the fall of 1968, planning for a program that would begin in the fall of 1969 was underway.

In addition to support from the teachers, the newly named Scarsdale Teachers Institute created an advisory group of distinguished community members. Shortly thereafter, the Parent Teacher Associations endorsed the STI. A large group of community supporters called the Friends of the Institute was formed. The local paper, The Scarsdale Inquirer, ran an editorial urging members of the community to join. These were important steps in persuading the Board of Education to fund the Institute.

Finally, in the spring of 1969 during contract negotiations between the STA and the Board of Education, an agreement was reached to fund the Institute and to establish the STI as part of the negotiated contract between the Board and the STA. Board and Association members agreed that the STI was a positive contribution to the school district. It became an important point of agreement in what was an otherwise difficult negotiations.

Most of the fundamental provisions establishing the STI, Board funding for Institute programs, the position of the Director (half-time at first), and office space were part of that first contract. An Accreditation Committee of teachers and administrators was established to review and refine courses for submission for salary credit.

The STI’s first catalogue appeared in the fall of 1969 offering courses that reflected the social and political concerns of the community. “Suburbia Confronts the Inner City” explored growing social concerns about race and what Scarsdale as a community could learn. Other courses showed teacher interest in art, media and film. “Implications of Student Rebellion,” “Creative Thinking,” and “Media and Teaching” were a few of the offerings that first year. As Doris Breslow recalls:

… teachers had overturned a precedent. We had begun to create an educational program without asking permission from the administration, or the Board or from a university, the education establishment. In time we would bring all these groups into our Institute, but we never forgot that it was initiated and administered by teachers; it was a teacher thing.

Each year since that first 1969 catalogue, the STI has been able to offer teachers and other members of the school community a program that reflects current educational theories, explores new curriculum and teaching practices, and furthers the mission of each of the schools and the districts. The fundamental principles stated in that very first document of 1969 still hold true. These Principles state that the purpose of the Scarsdale Teachers Institute is to:

• promote planned and continuous education for teachers;

• realize the idea that the best teacher is one who continues to learn

• offer courses dealing with Scarsdale children in a climate of intellectual excitement;

• act in accordance with the principles set forth by the AFT and NYSUT;

• have teachers assume a large degree of responsibility for their professional growth;

• understand that cooperation among autonomous groups is fundamental to human survival;

• foster the Institute as a laboratory where teachers, administrators and leaders work together for valued purposes.

These beginnings reflect the remarkable vision of the founders of the STI. The political skill, the educational vision, the dedication and hard work of the group of teachers who created the STI led to an institution whose purpose still remains true in the Scarsdale and Edgemont school districts and echoes throughout New York State.

Getting Established 1970 - 1983

The STI was launched, and now it had to be sustained. It was up to the Institute Committee and the Director to find appropriate ways to continue, expand and institutionalize the program. The challenge of the early years of the STI, under the leadership of Doris Breslow, was to build the structure.

Developing community support continued to be a primary focus of the STI. The Institute Committee, the policy making group of teachers from each of the schools in the district, quickly welcomed community members to teach and take STI courses. The Educational Advisory Board and the Friends of the Institute were the two major community groups offering advice and support. The local paper continued to feature articles about the programs of the STI. In these multiple ways, community support for the program grew.

Relevance and immediacy were other hallmarks of the early program. Because teachers did the planning in response to the needs of their colleagues, the courses reflected immediate concerns teachers had about curriculum, teaching methods and social issues such as “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Teaching,” “Oceanography,” and “Comparative Literature,” among others.

In 1970, the STI addressed the emerging problem of drug use with a course, “Drug Education: A Preventive Approach,” led by Werner Feig. The course examined the problem of drug use in high schools in relation to social issues. Sessions included: the role of the school in society, the definition of education, the right of privacy, the proper administration of discipline, and the limits and jurisdiction of the educational institution. Another course, “The New Student,” furthered the discourse in the community on student rebellions and their meaning. Thus the STI, from its inception, assumed a role in helping teachers and the community they served better understand the world in which their children lived.

The very first computer course, “Introductory Computer Programming,” was given in 1971, taught by a member of the high school math department. The catalogue description states that the course “will introduce the group to the operation of computer systems and the language and techniques of programming.”

Werner Feig became Director of the STI in 1972 and served until 1975. During his tenure the STI program continued to grow. Courses for credit and noncredit were offered. A Table of Contents was added to the catalogue, and members of the community continued to provide support for the program. Courses included “Piaget,” “Flexible Mod Scheduling,” “The Holocaust,” “The Amateur Naturalist,” and "Practical Applications for Teaching.”

Under Werner Feig’s guidance, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Sobol and Mr. Vin Dempsey, Assistant Principal, Scarsdale High School, led a course entitled “The Hidden Curriculum: The Impact of the School as a Social Institution.” Judith Schwartz offered “Lib,” a course designed to “help understand sex bias, the traditional means of establishing sexual roles, social pressures, and the expectations of individuals.” The STI was nothing if not current.

By 1975 the STI had established regular procedures for the review of courses through the Accreditation Committee, a group of teachers and administrators who made recommendations on programs prior to sending them to the Board of Education for approval. Allocations from the Board to the STI remained low.

In 1975, the Board contributed $4250 for programming to the STI. These negotiated funds and the course approval were the major responsibilities of the Board of Education, and the program continued to develop in the schools with teachers teaching and participating in the majority of programs.

One of the Board of Education members, Sally Ballard, who participated in the founding of the STI, reflected on the importance of the program to the school district. A member of the research team reports his interview with Sally.

The greatest challenge was to put together courses that were substantive, both from the district’s point of view and the teachers’. It was an enormous success. When I asked her why, as opposed to the days before the STI, she mentioned both the pragmatics of it being easier, but also a lot more fun. She talked about the plus of having teachers from all different levels learning together, and asserted that such cross-pollination of ideas was rarely, if ever, replicated in a university situation.

She recalls the greatest strength of the STI as being a place where teachers knew the needs of teachers, and could fit lessons/ curriculum to those needs much better than university professors who were (at least) one step removed from the trenches.

Ralph Ricci took over the leadership of the STI in 1975. The Institute Committee was responsible for the selection of each of the directors of the STI. It was, and remains, its most important responsibility. By contract, the position was to be held by a tenured teacher of the Scarsdale School District. The choice of director was reviewed by the Scarsdale Teachers Association and confirmed by the Board of Education. The responsibility for the selection of the director of the STI that rested with the Institute Committee is symbolically and, in fact, the most dramatic example of teacher leadership within the public school setting. It remains a hallmark of the foresight of the founders of the STI.

The years of Ralph Ricci’s leadership of the STI were marked by an increase in teacher involvement in the planning of the program and emphasis on writing and the arts. The period was also marked by difficulties in reaching agreement in contract negotiations. The Board and the STA did not reach agreement on the contract that expired in June 1975 until February 1976. Despite not having any Board funding for the first semester, the Institute Committee managed to put together a program and maintain the viability of the STI.

Many courses reflected the changing needs of the community and the student body: “Coping with Learning Differences Within the Classroom,” “Language and Learning: Normal Development, Disorders and Remediating,” “Understanding Human Behavior,” and “The New Genetics.” These courses helped teachers reflect on the wide variety of student ability and brought the latest research and information on a broad range of subjects to the STI. During this period the STI organized its first Writer-in-Residence program with the Teachers and Writers Collaborative. The group worked with teachers on creative approaches to teaching writing in the classroom. There were also Actor and Artist-in-Residence programs at a number of the schools. Architecture, children’s writings, science in the elementary school, gifted and talented education, and Near East legacies were some of the many topics of STI programs during those years.

The tenth anniversary of the STI in 1979 found Doris Breslow back at the helm for one more year. By this time the funding for the STI from the Board of Education had reached $9000 for programs. Teachers supported the STI through their tuition payments, and the program continued to grow. “Computer Literacy,” “Scarsdale: An Ecological Resource,” and “Coping with Crisis” were on the agenda. Doris retired in 1980, and the Institute Committee selected Judith Schwartz, an English teacher at the high school, as the new director.

By this time the organizational structure of the STI was secure, the transformation of professional development well underway, and the future of the STI was assured. About 40% of the faculty participated in STI programs, up from the initial numbers, but not yet the institutional program that it would become. The STI functioned independently of the district curriculum office, and while programs generally were reflective of general district needs, they were not coordinated with school or district goals. What had been transformed were the concepts of ownership of professional development and leadership of teacher in-service education. Doris Breslow relates the story:

The STI transformed the image of the teacher as know-it-all, as having completed his education and having entered a different stage, above the fray of learning, and replaced it with the image of the teacher as a lifetime learner, struggling right in there with the students. What better example could students have?

The Institute also altered the concept of what a course should be. Our courses did not originate in a university, but often with teachers who had firsthand knowledge of the needs of Scarsdale children; they were coordinated by teachers, and, often, didn’t culminate in tests or research papers. Instead teachers were encouraged to think imaginatively about an application of the course material to their own classrooms. Many of the sessions were hands-on workshops instead of lectures. We also tried to erase traditional distinctions between branches of learning by offering interdisciplinary courses.

The early 1980s set the stage for the expanded role of the STI in the district and in the state. These years saw a continued expansion of courses built upon the Principles of the Institute established in the late l960’s, and the recognition that a new set of educational realities had emerged and needed to be addressed by the school community. Such issues as the use of computers in the classroom, a multicultural student body, children at risk, a support system for teachers, cooperative learning and conflict resolution techniques, writing methodology and supervision, and school climate were all on the agenda.

Several other initiatives were underway as well. A number of courses were offered as part of the recommendation of a district committee on Gifted and Talented. A Title IV-C grant for Citizenship and School Democracy led a coordinated effort with the STI and the District to provide the professional development to implement the grant. This established the practice that all voluntary staff development programs should be offered through the district. The barriers between the STI and the District Curriculum Office started to disappear.

Initiatives begun in the early 1980s led to many new programs in the schools. “An Introduction to Scarsdale,” coordinated by John Gosen, STA Vice-President, was the forerunner of the Mentor Program designed to help new school personnel learn the ins and outs of the Scarsdale community. “Child Care Association: Meeting Community Needs” introduced the concept of day care in the Scarsdale community which foreshadowed Kid’s Base. The “Professional Development Program,” begun during the 1981-92 school year, evolved into a course giving the grant recipients a forum for sharing their projects with other teachers and ultimately led to a Mini-Grant Program. Many other programs led to changes in cross-cultural activities, student government at the high school and the change from a junior high to a middle school, and the development of an interdisciplinary 9th grade program.

In the spring of the1983-84 school year, Judith Schwartz presented a program at a Board of Education meeting noting the 15th anniversary of the STI. There were displays in the room celebrating the event. To help the STI plan its courses for the next year, questionnaires were distributed and the audience was asked to note their preferences. Judy explained how courses are developed, assessed and accredited and showed slides of teachers in various courses. The program was entitled, “The Morning After: Results of the STI Courses.” Teachers described how courses they had taken influenced their classroom teaching.

The stage was set for the period of greatest growth for the STI and for the contribution it would be able to make to teachers, the district and the state. The STI had established is role as the single provider of credit bearing programs for teachers in the district. It maintained its affiliations with the community and encouraged community and student participation in its programs. Coordination between the District Curriculum Office and the STI strengthened, and initiatives for new programs were pilot tested through the STI. More teachers coordinated, taught and took courses; programs for new as well as experienced teachers were part of the regular offerings; technology played an increasing role in courses and delivery methods, and programs designed for individual schools became more commonplace. Teachers had assumed leadership roles in professional development and had enhanced their own skills and those of their colleagues.

Growth and Security 1984 - 2004

The STI took a quantum leap forward in 1984 with the advent of the New York State Teacher Resource and Computer Training Center Grant. Helen Hartle of the New York State Teacher Center Program Office describes the advent of the Center:

Teacher Resource and Computer Training Centers were established in law in 1984 in order to provide systematic, ongoing professional development services for the State’s teachers. The Statute, modeled after the federal Teacher Center Legislation which expired in 1980, created a new dimension for staff development; built upon the research-supported premise that a critical component of effective staff development is the full involvement of those being serviced in decisions about the content and method of delivery of staff development. The New York Teacher Center model is a collaborative in which all participating groups work in the interest of providing the best possible staff development services to teachers and other school professionals. The Policy Board comprises a majority of teachers who are selected by their bargaining agents.

Forty-four centers were funded in New York State. The STI was awarded its first grant as a previously existing center. The Board of Education enthusiastically supported the STI’s grant and supplemented the state funding with a $10,000 grant to equip a Computer Resource room for teacher experimentation and learning.

The first grant funded three special seminars: the teaching of writing, the analysis of supervision and the educational uses of computers. The New York State grant led to other changes within the STI as well. The Institute Committee evolved into the STI Policy Board which expanded to include administrators, parents, Board of Education members, university and community representatives as well as teachers. This new governing body learned to work together and assumed greater responsibility for the future of the STI by setting direction for the program, assisting in grant writing, leading courses and serving as representatives of the STI to their various constituencies.

The STI also quickly became a model for staff development throughout the state. Given the small number of existing centers, those with some experience had the responsibility of helping new centers become viable. The New York State program evolved, the structures for sharing information and learning were established. Regional networks, training programs for new directors, statewide committees to plan programs and establish policies were started. Funding continued to build, and with the increase in funding came the opportunity to develop new formats for staff development and to service more effectively the needs of individual schools as well as districts.

The exuberance and enthusiasm generated by the first grant continued throughout the rest of the 1980s. The “Seminar on Supervision” led to the adoption of a new model for the evaluation of tenured teachers and was quickly negotiated into the STA contract. Computer seminars expanded, so that there were programs for each level of the school district designed specifically to meet grade level needs and to coordinate the K-12 program. The writing seminar continued to experiment with writing strategies and expanded into a teacher research program where teachers became researchers of their own practices and developed the skills to do classroom research.

With the expanded resources of the STI, the Mentor Program, led by Trudy Moses, was developed. The charge of the program was to “offer a support system for those teachers designated as mentors of teachers new to the district.” Designed by a joint STA/Administrative Committee and offered by the STI, the seminar was to give teachers the opportunity to work together and improve communication among new and experienced teachers.

Another innovation fostered by the grant was the “Seminar of the Senior Year” which grew out of teacher and administrator concern about senior slump and end of the year activities. The examination of the senior year led to the Senior Options program. Though it would take more that one course to generate a proposal acceptable to the faculty, the seeds were sown and a six week “Senior Options Program” for seniors in May and June of their senior year ultimately was put in place.

The late 1980s also saw a rash of national reports on the state of education, from the 1983 “Nation at Risk” to the Carnegie Report, “A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century.” The report stated that “...the key to success lies in creating a profession equal to the task--a profession of well-educated teachers prepared to assume new powers and responsibilities to redesign schools for the future.”

Anticipating the need for reform called for by the Carnegie Report, Judith Schwartz, President of the Scarsdale Teachers Association and Thomas Sobol, Superintendent of Scarsdale Schools, launched a “Seminar on Teaching Career Opportunities” to “discuss the implications of this work for policy and practice in Scarsdale. “ Leading educational consultants such as Linda Darling-Hammond, and Ann Lieberman were among the many educational thinkers who engaged the faculty and administration during the course of the program.

Teacher research, conflict resolution, computer education, school climate, group interaction and leadership skills for high school students, and cooperative learning enriched the wide variety of offerings over the years of the late 1980s. The programs became long term, evolutionary, and sustained. The numbers of teachers participating on a voluntary basis continued to rise each year with 60 to 70% of the staff involved each year and over 90% of the faculty over a three year period. More teachers emerged with ideas for programs, and teachers and administrators collaborated to develop programs. Groups within the district worked together, and staff development became more integrated into the life of the schools.

The other major factor influencing school program during these years was the large increase in the number of foreign students entering the schools. The STI began a series of cross-cultural programs designed to help teachers understand the worlds of their students. Ably led by Gwen Johnson, “Bridging the Culture Gap: Developing Intercultural Awareness” considered the values and attitudes of other cultures, the process of culture shock, and classroom dilemma. This was the first of many courses helping teachers understand how to work with and understand their foreign, mainly Japanese students. These programs ultimately led to a grant from the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation to the STI to promote cultural understanding.

The late 1980s also saw a change in leadership in the school district. Thomas Sobol, longtime superintendent, became the Commissioner of Education for New York State. Many of the ideas that had been so successful in Scarsdale helped shape some of the agenda for statewide programs. Richard Hibschman became Superintendent of Schools and continued the support for the STI that had been a hallmark of the district.

The 20^th anniversary year of the STI, 1988-89, culminated in a Superintendent's Conference day of celebration that showcased programs teachers had given through the STI. Teachers had the opportunity to attend many workshops given by their colleagues, and get a taste of the wide range of offerings the STI provided. During the program, STI Director Judith Schwartz said,

The STI serves as a research and development center of the District, the place where ideas can be tested and tried in a safe environment. It serves as a center of inquiry where teachers can be researchers of their own practices, use their classrooms as laboratories and work with colleagues and university researchers in an examination of practical problems. Teachers can formulate hypotheses, test them out in the classroom and share their findings. All our programs and new topics for teachers were and continue to be tested and developed through the STI-Option A, the Mentor Programs, research associates, computer resource room teachers, cooperative learning, group skills, the mentor program for foreign students, and teaching career opportunities, just to name a few.

This structure of teacher leadership and teacher development has been cited in the State and nationally as a model and sets a direction for school reorganization. We have been acknowledged as a model center in the New York State evaluation of teacher centers and been awarded the highest grant in our category. We are called upon as a lighthouse district to provide training for new centers and other professional groups, and we continue to serve as a site for experimentation for developing new methods of providing professional growth opportunities for teachers.

This spirit of experimentation and collaboration continued with “Schools for the 21st Century,” a program coordinated by Dick Hibschman and Judy Schwartz. The course addressed the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Teaching Career Opportunities: to establish the avenues for supporting and assessing school personnel, for revising licensing and accreditation procedures including an internship program, and for revising licensing and accreditation procedures including and internship program, and for restructuring of schools through school site management. Again Scarsdale was fortunate to be able to attract significant educational leaders such as Thomas Sergiovanni, Michael Apple, and Grant Wiggins to share their thinking with the faculty and administration.

Loss of Funding and Recovery 1990 - 1995

The STI was making rapid progress developing opportunities for teachers to become reflective practitioners, thoughtful about their work and their growth. Funding from the New York State Teacher Center grant account for about 40% of the STI budget. In 1990, the New York State legislature did not fund the teacher center program. This year of crisis resulted in many teacher center directors having to leave their positions and centers closing or operating only on a very limited basis. The STI program’s continuity was in serious danger. Fortunately, the will of the participants, the support of NYSUT, and the determination of teachers throughout the state kept the program alive. Over a ten year period full funding was finally restored. With many more centers to support, increases in funding for individual centers had not kept pace with needs; nevertheless, the teacher center program continues to thrive and now serves almost all the teachers in New York State.

In Scarsdale, the crisis was mitigated by a number of factors. First, the position of the Director had been negotiated into the STA contract from the outset of the program, so there was assurance of the continuity of leadership. Second, Richard Hibschman, Superintendent of Schools, provided leadership and encouraged the Board of Education to provide some of the funds to offset the loss of grant money. The STI Policy Board raised tuition fees, so with minor cutbacks in program and services, the STI survived and prepared for another period of growth.

Collaboration, continuity and continued growth marked the decade of the 1990s. Having weathered financial crises, a change in district leadership, the influx of many new teachers and the growing demands made upon the schools for accountability and standards, the STI had matured into an organization capable of meeting new and emerging needs of the school community.

Over the decade multiple collaborations with other teacher centers, cultural institutions and universities enriched the offerings of the STI. The Multi-Cultural Institutes funded by the Liz Claiborne Foundation yielded a collaboration with Manhattanville College. The National S.E.E.D Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), under the leadership of Joan Weber and Linda Prendergast, trained teachers to establish equitable classrooms and to reflect on their own experiences with gender, class and sexual identity.

A mathematics collaborative was developed by a number of teacher centers that brought high school department chairs together to talk about mathematics instruction and curriculum, and a Math, Science, Technology grant brought together three teacher centers for a summer institute to address new curriculum initiatives and the integration of technology into math and science courses.

Another affiliation with the Westchester Center for Holocaust Education established a long running lecture series that provided teachers in the area access to leading scholars, teacher and student workshops and special seminars for teachers. Other affiliations with the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Pepsico Summer festival at SUNY Purchase enriched the arts offerings for teachers in the district.

The STI Mini-Grant Program, begun in 1993, provided grants for “new and promising ideas.” The program continued to expand through the decade and has become an important part of the STI program. A subcommittee of the STI Policy Board serves as the readers of the grant applications and makes the awards. Over 300 teachers have been awarded grants, now ranging up to $1000. Many of the projects have had a great influence on individual teachers, benefited students, and brought about changes in school programs. Teachers have presented their projects at Policy Board meetings, and many of the projects ultimately become the basis for new STI courses.

With the advent of the New York State Compact for Learning, the schools geared up for shared decision-making initiatives. The STI played a crucial role in offering programs for teachers, parents and administrators on collaborative decision making and shared communication. Courses such as “Educating Our Children for the 21st Century” demonstrated the collaboration among all groups in the school community. These internal collaborations were augmented by a number of other programs taking place in the district. The STI Poetry festival brought leading poets to the district for a weekend celebration of poetry and language. Cross cultural institutes, writing, computer and research training and myriad content and curriculum programs continued to engage teachers throughout the district.

The Scarsdale-Edgemont Affiliation 1995 - 2004

In 1995, the Edgemont School District joined the STI. After a year of conversation and negotiations, the Scarsdale Policy Board voted to accept the Edgemont School District. After 25 years as a single district center, the STI now became a small consortium serving two districts. This collaboration began slowly. It took a number of years for the Edgemont teachers to become fully integrated into the STI. Edgemont teachers, administrators, Board member and union president became members of the STI Policy Board. The Edgemont Board contributed negotiated funds to the STI, and the Edgemont Teachers Association/Board of Education contract includes terms for awarding of credits and stipends aligned with Scarsdale’s contract.

This affiliation benefits both districts. Teachers learn from one another to share practices and to enrich their programs. Edgemont teachers have been able to design courses for each of their schools, and they have also adopted and developed a Mentor program for their new teachers. Scarsdale teachers take courses led by Edgemont teachers and vice versa.

Technology became a natural meeting ground for most teachers in both districts, and courses offered by the computer teachers continued to increase in popularity. The development and implementation of the districts’ technology plans, the wiring of the buildings, the acquisition of equipment and the increasing sophistication of the teachers and students drove the need for continuing education for the staff. Summer Institutes in Technology, led by Gerald Crisci and Kenneth Holvig, attracted teachers from both districts to think about the uses of technology in the classroom. Their work has led to many national awards for them and for the Scarsdale district.

Throughout the late 1990s the STI program, fostered by teacher interest, current issues in education, the demand for technology skills and changes in curriculum and student population continued to expand. When the STI began 10-20% of the faculty participated. By the 1990s that percentage grew to 89% of the staff engaged in STI programs each year and almost 100% over any three year period. This remarkable rate of participation on all levels of the school districts is accounted for not only by the immediacy of the offerings and the opportunities for teacher leadership, but by structural changes negotiated into the STA contract over the preceding years. Noteworthy among these changes are two. First, in recognition of the seniority, and median age of the faculty of mid to late forties, and the desire to maintain a stable teaching force, the STA and the Board agreed to provide a stipend $200, then $250, for each course completed by a teacher at the top of the salary schedule. These stipends became part of the teacher’s salary and thus were included in the final average salary that determines retirement benefits. This stipend paved the way for the over 50% of the faculty at maximum to have the incentive to continue their professional education until retirement.

The second innovation that spurred enrollment was the removal of credit limitations on STI programs. Again through the negotiated agreement, the STA and the Board agreed that all courses meeting district goals would be exempt from an original eight credit limit per year on courses. Planning for each year’s program is done through an extensive needs assessment process that consults with all interested parties at the department, grade, school and district levels. The Accreditation Committee approves for salary credit or stipend only those courses that, in their judgment, meet district goals. Thus, the STI program is designed to be consistent with district objectives. Teachers can participate in all programs that they find useful for their professional growth and earn salary credit or stipend.

Another benefit of the negotiated process was the recognition of the position of director of the STI as a full time position carrying with it a stipend for summer work making the position equal to the other leadership positions within the district. Finally, the Board’s commitment to the STI was noted by the increase in funding for STI programs from $3000 in 1969, to anticipated funding through the end of the current contract of almost $90,000. With the restoration and increase in funding from New York State, the contributions from the Edgemont school district, teacher tuition, Board contributions and occasional external grants, the STI is able to maintain a financial security that permits it to provide the services required by a talented, reflective staff and student body.

The increased demand for programs, the positioning of the STI as the major provider of programs for the district, the security of the finances of the STI and the deepening and enriching of the statewide network of Teacher Centers has given the STI the opportunity to grow. From the initial six courses offered in 1969, the STI program has grown to two hundred courses per year. The STI continues to offer the Mentor Program, computer institutes, school-based and department-based courses, and to support the Professional Performance Review Program. From a few courses in the fall and even fewer in the spring, the STI has evolved into a year round program with a vast array of offerings, short and long term, fall, winter, spring and summer. The catalogue now resembles that of a small college, and the STI is a recruiting tool for the district offering talented young teachers continuing education in a comfortable setting, with their colleagues, at convenient times, and with the opportunity to take on leadership roles soon into their careers.

Because each STI course is managed and organized by a member of the faculty either alone, with colleagues, or with an administrator, teachers have the chance to share their knowledge and skills with their colleagues in a safe setting. Teachers continue to assert that learning together and working together is one of the major benefits of STI programs.

The STI celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1998-99, just in time to prepare for the millennium celebrations. As Gwen Johnson reports in her review of the STI program:

Reflecting back to 1968, it is amazing to see what 30 years of educational growth has produced. Whether its very beginnings in 1968 or its mature state in 1998, the STI has been at the forefront of innovation within the District and the State. The 1998-99 catalogue is a testament to the innovative style and professional approach. A glance at the course offerings from September through July shows the Institute’s involvement in the life of the teachers, and in turn, the life of the students who benefit from teachers engaged in the learning process.

The 30^th anniversary and millennium celebrations prepared the way for another transition for the STI. In 2001, Judith Schwartz announced her plans to retire at the end of the school year. After 22 years as director of the STI and 20 years as president of the Scarsdale Teachers Association, it was time to move on to other ventures. The STI Policy Board began an extensive search process that engaged them for most of the year. Through this process, which also served as an opportunity for their own reflection on the work of the STI and the role of the Policy Board itself, the Broad selected Susan Taylor, Teacher in Charge of the Middle School’s CHOICE Program, long time STI course leader and participant, and STA Middle School vice-president, as its new Director. The Board also authorized a mentoring program for the new director’s first year, so that the transition would be seamless and the STI could continue to grow.

A review of the STI catalogue for 2004 reveals that the transition period was successful, the STI not only continued to grow, but new programs abounded and teacher needs were accommodated regularly and systematically. Now in its 35th year, the STI continues to play a vital role in the life of teachers, administrators, parents, students and the statewide program.

The STI defines its mission as creating a learning community. Major categories of course offerings cover the range of teacher learning: content knowledge, equity and equality, school and community relations, reflective practice, teaching strategies, and technology skills. The STI is still committed to collaboration with other institutes and, in 2004, worked with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the Westchester Technology Coordinators’ Workshop, the Lower Hudson Teacher Center Network, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Westchester Holocaust Education Center, Facing History and Ourselves, and Museum Educators of Westchester.

In addition, the STI continues to support district programs such as the Mentor Program, Critical Friends Group, teacher and student portfolios, and teacher as reader, all programs designated as opportunities for professional growth for the Professional Performance Review Program. Choices are offered in every school, for almost every discipline, meeting both emerging needs as well as reinforcing existing practice.

The Scarsdale Teachers Institute was developed by the individual vision of its founders. The growth, expansion, institutionalization and embedding of the program within the life of the districts and the state are part of a much larger movement to professionalize teaching, to elevate the status of teachers and to make professional development an integral and ongoing part of every teacher’s professional life. While much of the growth of the STI is a result of its leadership, the support of the Board of Education and the faculty, the place of the STI on the state and national landscape is due in no small measure to the existence of the statewide program of teacher centers now celebrating its 20th anniversary. It is through these networks and collaborations that the STI takes its place as part of the larger educational community and brings to Scarsdale and Edgemont the benefits of its affiliation with over 127 other centers. As Helen Hartle, former State Education Teacher Center Program Head, stated:

The Teacher Resource and Computer Training Centers developed by New York State have become a unique and sound educational “infrastructure” which has given new meaning, direction, and purpose to the professional development of teachers and other school personnel. In fact, collectively Teacher Centers have become an effective institution, directly tapping a rich reservoir of skilled and talented school professionals who capably share knowledge, train peers, induct new teachers into the profession and willingly meet challenges of curriculum reform and structural changes designed to effectuate better teaching and learning opportunities for the State’s elementary and secondary students.

This 35^th Anniversary celebration is but a way station for the STI. Its mission remains constant and its goals renewed. The need for continuous professional development does not lag, and the commitment of the faculty and the Board of Education is firm. Teacher leadership in Scarsdale and Edgemont is institutionalized and the norm. The goal and vision of the STI was to make Scarsdale the place talented people came for their careers, and the mission of the STI was and continues to be to offer a variety of challenges and opportunities for teachers to enhance their careers, continue to grow, to have the settings to work with colleagues and to remain on the cutting edge of educational theory and practice. The STI is part of a great tradition of teacher leadership and teacher scholarship, and it will continue to flourish.

coming soon...

New District Leadership, Integration of Arts, Global Interdependence, Institutional Collaborations 2004 - 2014

Foundations, Curricular Connections, STI Abroad, New Technologies 2014 - 2020

STI and the COVID era 2020 - present

Teacher Collaboration in the Age of Coronavirus
Ann Marie Nee, STI Director

Originally appeared in Post Roads: Retired Scarsdale Teachers Association Newsletter, Spring 2020 Edition

New Normal. Social Distance. eLearning. Zoom. Edpuzzle. Nearpod. Padlet. Bitmojis. Pear Deck. Flipgrid. Kami…

It seems that only a few teachers had even heard of these terms three months ago, and now they are part of everyday discourse for most Scarsdale educators. When Scarsdale teachers got the call on Sunday evening, March 8, that schools would be closed, no one expected such an abrupt end of face-to-face instruction for the rest of the year. Or that so much of normal life would be canceled or postponed.

However, Scarsdale teachers, ever resilient and collaborative, reacted immediately to serve their students under new and stressful circumstances, learning new technology and pedagogy around the clock. Many teachers have described it as “building the plane while flying it.” All teachers became first year teachers again, having never taught this way before. Teacher training, as well as student learning, required an overnight pivot to this new eLearning environment that no one wanted.

The STI shifted with the needs of teachers and their students. A few years ago, the Scarsdale Teachers Collaborative (ST@C) came under the STI auspices to offer “mini-STI classes,” ranging from 30 minutes to two hours in length. The product of a Center for Innovation Grant, ST@C (“stack”) offers informal opportunities for teachers to share teaching practices and innovative ideas in education. With the coronavirus closures, ST@C classes became a nimble way to offer “just in time” professional development and to harness the knowledge of our master teachers to assist in the transition to online learning across the district.

In mid-March, nearly 200 teachers from across the district attended a one-hour Intro to Zoom with Chris Casal of Heathcote. For many teachers, this was their first zoom session. Intro to Quicktime Player with Kristen Carroll of Heathcote and Screen Recording with Paul Tomizawa of Edgewood followed with over 100 attendees each. Peter McKenna and Kate Marshall of Fox Meadow helped teachers get their Google Classrooms in order, while Lynne Torrey of Greenacres offered courses on Zoom and Google Forms. Michael Pincus and Doug Rose offered multiple ST@C sessions on iPad Apps for the middle school teachers. Chris Sipe, Mike Giordano, and Meredith Dutra hosted weekly tech-share-a-thons and Tech check-in ST@Cs for the high school, with colleagues from all departments sharing what they were doing and offering suggestions and feedback to each other.

Teachers have been using various combinations of these platforms to offer synchronous whole class, small group and even individual instruction over zoom, complemented by asynchronous independent or collaborative work, organized mainly on Google Classroom. Elementary teachers have created content by screen recording their read-alouds, creating videos for students to work asynchronously, and having students create and share content through the Seesaw blogging application--all in addition to curating online resources from various subscription resources. Most importantly, teachers are using these technology platforms to retain a form of personal connection to their students and keep some semblance of a classroom community. However, special education accommodations are suffering in this environment, and mental health--of students, teachers, and parents--is a concern as well. The magic that happens in teaching face-to-face is IMPOSSIBLE to replicate in a virtual environment, and yet trying to do so remains a priority for the teaching staff.

Building personal connections, attention to wellness and inspiring creativity at home are also common themes of ST@C classes. At the middle school, physical education teacher CeCe Berger led a discussion on Getting Students Outside: Gardening Activities for All which enabled teachers to share new lessons made possible by at-home learning. Students in Steve Goodman’s 8th grade social studies classes planted Victory Gardens at home during his lessons on World War II. SMS Health teacher Cara Forray had students composting in real time, at home, as part of her lessons on sustainability and nutrition. The forum that CeCe hosted led to inspiring conversations about student work, teachers sharing personal interests, and it created new connections between teachers, even remotely.

More than ever, teachers need moments of “intellectual joy,” whether that means discovering new perspectives on current issues or connecting with other educators at home and afar. Along these lines, ST@C expanded quickly to include webinars on current topics from outside organizations that the STI has partnered with over the years, including Facing History and Ourselves, the Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS) at UC Berkeley, Research for Better Teaching, and the New York Historical Society. Individual teachers have also offered sessions through organizations they have worked with, broadening the learning network for all teachers. These include the National Council for Teaching Mathematics, Earthwatch, and Edible Schoolyard, while other teachers connected ST@C to professors at their alma maters such as UC Boulder, Yale, Harvard, and NYU

If the coronavirus experience has taught us anything, it is the critical importance of teaching live, in-person. Students and teachers alike are yearning to be back in school, to know personal, face-to-face connection again. Plans are now underway to prepare a variety of potential scenarios in September: schools with 50% occupancy, social distancing within a school, or a hybrid of face-to-face and eLearning. Amid all of this uncertainty, sickness, and stress, Scarsdale teachers still continue to support each other and congregate to discuss and improve teaching and learning, even if they have to remotely.