“You will know how to snap [your fingers] once you leave here,” one girl warns with a smile.

At Coastal Studies for Girls (CSG), there is neither angst nor the bored stares one might expect from teenagers. Instead, these girls are engaged, mature, and talkative, and they care about receiving the best education possible. In fact, the latter is what brought these sophomore girls from around the country to attend the nation’s first-ever residential science and leadership semester school for girls. Incorporated in 2005, the 16-week, tuition-based program has become the “life’s work” of Edith Aronson, Ed.M.’97.

“They are wonderful kids and have a spark because they took the leap to come here,” Aronson says, noting that many of the 15 students discovered the school on their own. “They have this need for self-discovery, and we fuel that fire. We give them a set of tools that they can take back to their own schools and their own lives.”

Aronson’s involvement with the school began one summer evening around a campfire as she listened to fellow educators dream about what a school could be. It was there that Pam Erickson spoke passionately about a school focused on science and leadership for high school girls. Erickson, who would go on to start CSG and currently serves as its executive director, hoped to address the plentiful research that documents how teenage girls’ interest in science and math drops off around sophomore year.

Aronson perked up with interest.

“Pam’s vision was so compelling. I was hooked,” she says.

Edith Aronson

Still, the former public middle school teacher was hesitant to take on the initial role of founding board chair. Despite coming from a family of philanthropists, it was a huge shift in gears.

“It’s been great, but the role is not the role of the educator,” she says. “I love teaching. I love working with kids. I love working with other teachers. I have to work pretty hard to stay out of classrooms.”

The CSG classroom experience is unique. The Coastal Marine Ecosystems course, for example, relies heavily on using the neighboring ocean and surrounding wild. There are rigorous courses in math, English, foreign language, and history as well. The girls also take a leadership adventure course, designed to cultivate a deeper connection between themselves, others, and the natural world in order to explore their roles in leading change to create a more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable future.

“If I had done this when I was 15, I would’ve had 30 more years of the kind of passion, success, and gratitude that I feel now,” says Aronson. “I tell the girls often how they are getting a head start on what a lot of women struggle to find much later in life.”

The all-girls environment adds a special element to their learning. The girls live, sleep, and attend classes together within the same house, where they learn to support one another. Many of the students cite fewer distractions in the all-girl environment.

“It’s nice to get the all-girl school where no one judges me,” says Chiara, a student from Ouray, Colo.

All girls from across the country are invited to apply for the fall or spring semester of their sophomore year, and the school includes students from public and independent schools, as well as those who are homeschooled. Now with 83 alums in the world, the members of the first cohort are nearing the end of their freshman years in college. And Aronson’s work has evolved, now focused on transitioning the school from startup to mature nonprofit. But her eye remains on the real prize.

“From an educator’s perspective, every kid in the country deserves an experience like this one,” she says. “Boys and girls; blacks, whites, and everything in between; wealthy and poor. All kids deserve an educational experience that proves to them that they are valued in the world and that, collectively, they have the passion, creativity, and responsibility to make positive change in the world.”

“While the upcoming year is going to be an extremely busy one, I am excited to be opening the school as well as forging ahead with my research,” Beauregard says. Here he discusses the ins and outs of opening a new school.

What makes Unity Prep unique?
To realize this mission of empowering our students as scholars and citizens so they may lead fulfilling academic, personal, and professional lives, we will rely on seven core elements that we believe collectively make Unity both unique, and most importantly, beneficial to kids and their learning. Some of these elements have been borrowed from other terrific schools in Boston, New York City, and beyond while others are specific to our model.

What are they?
Chief among our core elements are: our college-prep curriculum in the liberal arts and sciences that fosters in students the desire and capacity to learn independently, think critically, and communicate proficiently; our supportive school culture in which students are given tools to develop character, gain confidence in their ability to learn, take responsibility for their own learning, and both support and feel supported by the entire community; and a strong co-curricular program in athletics, performing arts, and a host of after-school clubs that pique and develop students’ interests.  We are also excited about our innovative teacher career ladder and professional development systems in which we recruit talented educators, provide them with opportunities to develop their craft, and retain them through formal recognition of their expertise, generous compensation, and a manageable yet challenging workload.

Have there been any unexpected challenges in opening a new school?
The application process here in New York is rigorous and requires a great deal of time, attention, and resources. The sheer amount of work, including conducting community outreach; developing curricula; and planning out the various systems, structures, and programs within our school design has proven to be quite challenging. Fortunately, I am working with a strong team of talented colleagues who have all played instrumental roles in addressing each of these areas.

What is the hardest of opening a new school?
The hardest part for me has been in managing the long list of tasks that must be completed by the time we open our doors this coming fall.

And, the easiest?
The easiest part has been the part that I enjoy the most – gathering best practices being used by other terrific schools and figuring out ways to incorporate them into our model.

Any worries when you envision the opening this fall?
I am confident in the overall model and design of our school, but there are so many moving parts and components. I get somewhat anxious when thinking about general implementation and whether all the various elements of our model will coalesce once we open.

Do you have advice for fellow Ed Schoolers thinking about opening a new school?
First, work with a team – don’t go it alone! Second, take advantage of your time at HGSE to begin developing your school design and seek out courses that will directly inform your decisions. Third, have a deep knowledge of the community your school will serve and be proactive in engaging community members to gather their ideas and feedback to inform your model.

Heather Fountain (left) leading a class at Kutztown University.

Young children often fantasize about what they will be when they grow up, and Heather Fountain, Ed.M.’97, was no different. However, while her classmates may have dreamed of being astronauts, doctors, zookeepers, or deep-sea divers, Fountain’s dream was simple — she wanted to teach.

“I have known from an early age that teaching was my gift,” Fountain says. “For as long as I can remember I have loved the challenge of finding ways to help others connect to learning.”

Now, years later, Fountain has a well-established career as an arts educator, teaching art education courses to graduate and undergraduate students — as well as to special education and elementary education students — at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, where she serves as the chair of the undergraduate art education program.

“I do so many different things, but I think a good summary of the work I do is that I help current and future educators learn strategies to help reach and teach all students in and through the arts,” Fountain says. “Art is a powerful tool to help reach all types of learners, and, at the core, everything I do is about social justice and ensuring that all students, no matter who they are or where they are from, have access to both the arts and dynamic educators that see students for their potential.”

Fountain says that her “greatest inspiration” for the work she does today came from the youth, families, and adults with disabilities at camp Oceanwood in Maine where she started working when she was 15. It was here that she recalls first seeing the power that art had to “open doors to understanding and connection for those who have been barred from that opportunity, whether due to limitation of access, understanding, or communication.”

Fountain favors a one-on-one style of teaching, allowing students to meet and work with those with disabilities first-hand. She also pairs art education pre-service teachers and local middle school students with community volunteers that have various disabilities, and together these two groups work in teams to design innovative products intended to make life more accessible for a person with a disability.

In 2012, Fountain was honored by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association (PAEA) with the Special Needs Art Educator of the Year award. “I do not think that I would have made it this far in my pursuit for higher education without Dr. Fountain,” Kutztown University student Misty Young said at the time. “She kept me going when I thought that giving up was my only option.  She made me believe in myself and … I now use my disabilities to help others.”

Although honored to have been chosen to receive the PAEA award, Fountain almost declined to accept on account of its title. “I take issue with the term ‘special needs,’” she says. “‘Special’ has taken on a negative connotation in relation to those with disabilities as it perpetuates the outmoded idea that individuals with disabilities are different, less than, or ‘other.’” However, she says that after “much consideration,” she concluded that she would have a better chance of promoting change from on the inside.

Fountain’s work was further honored at the beginning of this year by the National Art Education Association (NAEA) with the Council for Exceptional Children, VSA Peter J. Geisser Special Needs Art Educator Award, which is given to recognize excellence in scholarship, community, service, professional leadership, teaching, and impact on individuals with disabilities.

“It is a wonderful honor to be recognized at both the state and national levels for my work,” she says. “It is rare for someone to be recognized nationally with an award of this magnitude so soon after being granted tenure.”

Moving forward, Fountain says she is considering writing a book centered on the use of art to differentiate literature instruction, a topic of renewed interest to her due to the focus on literacy in the new Common Core standards.

“I taught literacy through art in my own classroom and also helped elementary school teachers use art to differentiate literature instruction for years now,” she says. “I have found that this is a strong way to reach students who otherwise might not connect with learning goals through other methods.”

Kwan Hansongkitpong, Ed.M.’10, lives in Bangkok, Thailand, where she is clinical director of the Little Sprouts Children’s Centre, president of Autism Awareness Thailand, and director of the Rainbow Room Foundation, a special needs awareness group. She was recently named by the Bangkok Post as one of the “66 Young Leaders Shaping Bangkok’s Future.”

Program: Mind, Brain, and Education
Goal: To influence a positive change in Thai society

Compared with the United States, the number of reported cases of autism in Thailand is low. Up to 10 times lower, in fact. But, according to Kwan Hansongkitpong, a clinical psychologist specializing in children with autism and other special needs, that doesn’t mean it isn’t an issue.

“Autism doesn’t discriminate. It happens in children and families all around the world, Thailand included,” she says. “Autism prevalence here is increasing at an exponential rate. It is becoming one of the prominent concerns for families and schools in affected communities.”

Despite the increase in documented cases in Thailand, autism awareness country-wide remains low. “Thailand is a developing country, and we have many competing issues that need awareness and support. Autism is only one of them,” Hansongkitpong says. “I wanted to bring it to the forefront.”

That’s why, in 2009, Hansongkitpong founded the nonprofit Autism Awareness Thailand. Through activities such as interactive games, films, and social media, the organization is trying to create a sense of responsibility and respect for the issue of autism in Thai children, adolescents, and young adults. This includes promoting an appreciation of diversity and encouraging inclusion. Hansongkitpong says changing perceptions about autism in some communities has been challenging, but she sees progress.

“Meeting like-minded people, seeing families overcoming their struggle to accept autism, watching children with autism playing alongside peers, seeing an inclusive classroom truly appreciating diversity it has been granted, [these are] things that keep me going,” she says.

Hansongkitpong also finds inspiration in a somewhat unlikely place: the small rural villages of Thailand that, as she says, have it all figured out. “They live together peacefully and collectively as one,” she says. “They respect each villager as an equal member of their community, regardless of who that person is, what condition he or she may have, or what he or she looks like.”

It is this attitude that Hansongkitpong and her nonprofit are encouraging other communities to emulate. “The underlying beauty of this is how it works out so simply,” she says. “Seeing these villages reminds me that the key to creating awareness, acceptance, and understanding is rather simple: It is in the heart.”

For more on Chopra’s story, read “Conflicts of Interest” in Ed. Magazine.

Clemmons, Ed.M.’09, believes in public education’s promise for every kid to be successful in life. “The most challenged schools are high poverty and high minority schools, and that’s where we are struggling as a country to fulfill this promise. That’s why I came to my school,” she says. “What [this recognition] means is that we are changing the face of public education because we take excuses away for why a child can’t learn.”

Through Clemmons’ work, as well as that of her staff, the school has gone from 44.8 percent to 70.3 percent proficient on the state exams. Additionally, the school has made vast improvements in math (59.5 percent to 86.9 percent) and science (34.1 percent to 85.5 percent), and continues to improve on reading (34.1 percent to 49.9 percent).

Although she is proud of the school’s progress – previously it had had the lowest performance record in a district of 125 schools – Clemmons says that they still have a ways to go. “We proved that our kids can excel and that raises the bar of what other schools are doing,” she says.

Clemmons, who took on the role as principal this year after having worked as assistant principal, credits a total shift in school culture as the prime reason for drastic improvements. “The culture [now] is that every kid is going to excel,” she says.

She also credits a great staff – of which she hired nearly 85 percent – who do not use excuses such as the students’ backgrounds for their lack of performance. “We have confronted every excuse and developed a culture where we set high expectations and do whatever it takes to get there,” she says, noting that the school has also worked hard to increase parental and community involvement.

At Oak Hill, high expectations means consistently using data to move students forward. “Teachers work together to break down common assessment data and work to intervene with students as soon as possible,” Clemmons says. “There is a community of constantly learning professionals who work diligently to improve instruction based on data.”

Clemmons, who studied in the School Leadership Program, said the different people she met at HGSE really have become invaluable in her role as principal.  She especially relies on a network of principals around the country.

The work of Senior Lecturer Deborah Jewell-Sherman, with whom she studied at HGSE, also keeps Clemmons inspired. Jewell-Sherman quotes adorn her office, the latest addition reading, “Treat others with respect not because of who they are but who you are.”

“That is helpful because as a principal a lot of people will get upset with you,” Clemmons says. “But it’s really about who you are going to be.”

Based on recent projections, says Kevin Wang, Ed.M.’06, there will be about 150,000 computing job openings each year through 2020. However, fewer than 40,000 American students, on average, receive bachelor’s degrees in computer science each year, meeting only a fraction of the need of high tech companies. Why the disconnect? According Wang, the problem can be traced back to high school computer science programs, which have failed to keep pace.

“Because so few students graduate from U.S. schools with degrees in computer science, the pay is quite good at tech companies, with a starting salary averaging about $90,000 for a 22-year-old graduate,” Wang explains. “So it is really hard for high schools to compete in the same talent pool for the same people when they try to recruit teachers to teach a computer science program.” Consequently, only about 8,000 high schools in the America education system offer computer science programs, and only 2,100 offer computer science courses at an AP level. As a matter of fact, out of the millions of AP tests taken in the United States last year, only about 0.7 percent of those were in computer science.

At a time when five of the top 10 fastest growing jobs are in computer-related fields and two of the top three bachelor’s salaries are in computer science and engineering, Wang argues that this scarcity of computer science teachers is a major problem in the United States. As a computer science graduate himself, Wang was faced with choice between teaching and taking a job at a tech firm, and understands that choosing to take a big pay cut to teach may not serve as a huge attraction for some. Though he did teach computer science for a few years after graduating from UC Berkeley, after completing the Technology, Innovation, and Education (TIE) Program at HGSE, Wang took a job with Microsoft. However, when a local Seattle school needed a computer science teacher a few years ago, Wang decided that the choice between a big tech firm and a teaching job did not have to be mutually exclusive.

“I had a job at Microsoft that I wasn’t going to quit in order to teach,” he recalls. “But I didn’t have to be at work until 10 or 11 a.m., so I thought, why not do both?”

And that is exactly what he did. After coordinating with the school, Wang had the computer science class moved to first period so that he could teach in the morning before heading to Microsoft. As soon as other local schools caught wind of what he was doing, they all wanted in.

“Before I knew it other schools in the area were on the phone, calling to see if I could help them out and come teach for them as well,” he says. “And as much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t be everywhere at once.”

But that did not stop him from helping out where he could. As a result, Wang founded TEALS — Technology Education And Literacy in Schools — a grassroots, employee-driven program that recruits, mentors, and places high-tech professionals who are passionate about computer science education into high school classes as part-time teachers. Much more than “a bunch of industry people teaching a class in their spare time,” Wang explains that the TEALS program is a highly organized team-teaching model implemented in school districts that are unable to meet their students’ computer science needs on their own.

The goal of the TEALS program is to build sustainable computer science programs in schools over the course of 2 to 3 years. This is achieved through a progressive system, in which in-service teachers learn alongside the kids for a two semesters, as industry professionals — who were trained in the summer — teach the class. In the third semester, TEALS evolves into a coteaching program, and, finally, during the fourth semester, the industry professional takes on the role of a “teaching assistant” as the reigns are handed over to the in-service teacher, who will eventually be completely independent.

“Think of it as everyday professional development,” Wang says. “The kids and the in-service teacher learn a lot about the technical side of things from the industry expert who, in turn, is learning about things on the educational side.”

Starting as a program that Wang organized and coordinated in his spare time, it was not until last year that the development and expansion of TEALS became a full-time job. “I was very fortunate that the VP of my division [at Microsoft] heard about the program and took me to see our divisional president,” he says. “When the president heard about what I was doing, he suggested that I make it a full-time effort, developing the TEALS program as a nonprofit project that is incubated and grown within Microsoft.”

With all of his energy now being channeled into the program, Wang has made great strides over the past year, and the TEALS program has expanded into 37 schools across eight different states reaching about 2,000 students — 300 of whom are AP computer science students. And for Wang, this is just the beginning. With schools from all over the country showing interest and contacting him to ask how they can join TEALS, the ultimate vision for Wang would be to make sure that there is some sort of computer science program in every American high school.

But of course, there is still a lot to learn. “Growing an organization that is volunteer-based is a unique experience and we are still figuring out the best ways to scale,” Wang says.  “But the environment in the TIE Program at the Ed School really encouraged me to think outside the box, and those interdisciplinary experiences in the classroom at HGSE and as a teaching fellow at MIT, and on the ground, combined with my engineering and business background, have really prepared me to approach any problem and come up with a workable solution.”

“That’s just not good enough or acceptable,” Scott says. “We want deaf children to have the same opportunities as everyone else.”

For this reason, Scott focuses her research on ways that deaf students can increase their English and literacy skills.  When she first arrived at HGSE, she intended on earning her master’s degree and leaving to work as a reading specialist. However, within two months at the school, she realized the one-year program wouldn’t be enough for her. “I had more questions than I did answers,” she says. “This population [deaf students] is not often addressed. I wanted to be a part of looking for answers.”

It was while working as a teacher at a high school for the deaf in Alaska that Scott noticed the difficulty students had reading. In most cases, students had acquired basic reading comprehension but struggled to understand nuance and symbolism within stories. “Most students use American Sign Language (ASL) and they are technically bilingual. Many have the same struggles as English Language Learners might have,” she says. “A lot of students misused pronouns or, for instance, the conjugation of the ‘be’ word.”

Research looking at bilingual students often reveals struggles in reading comprehension. However, one ongoing issue with deaf students is the general lack of understanding about the population. “It’s an awareness issue and a new topic that people haven’t considered,” Scott says, regarding the notion that these students are technically bilingual. “For a lot of these [deaf] students, signed language is their first language and English is a second language.”

There are different forms of signed language, two of which are ASL and signed English, which follows the English language structure and word order using hands. Unlike signed English, ASL doesn’t follow English word order and instead relies on the use of space to set up scenarios or ideas. For example, when ASL signing about two characters, a person would use spatial organization to indicate the character to which he is referring and use facial expression as part of the grammar.

During an early study, Scott researched a school which had switched from using signed English to ASL. She intended to study the students’ writing ability only to discover that there were many issues with the school structure, particularly inconsistencies among the many teachers who had adopted a strict learning process and several other teachers who had abandoned such changes.

“The take away was that, even with all the motivation and training a school gets from outside, the way the school was structured and how a supervisor was not able to oversee what was happening impacted the learning outcomes,” Scott says. “Because leadership was not present, the change wasn’t happening as they thought it would.”

Beyond challenges of school leadership and structure, many deaf students simply struggle to learn English, which makes going to college even more difficult. For this reason, Scott hopes her dissertation will determine whether there is a link between students who do well on ASL assessments and their understanding of academic English.

“There’s no reason if someone is deaf that he or she couldn’t go to college and get a degree like anyone else,” she says, “but in order to do that they need to have a strong grasp of English.”

Meet Brittany: a tough kid from a rough neighborhood, not a single member in her family has attended college. Living below the poverty line, Brittany is six times more likely to drop out of high school than her counterparts in suburban and wealthy districts. Growing up in the face of considerable misfortune, Brittany often doubts her academic potential and wants to give up. But for her 11th-grade social studies teacher, Ed.L.D. candidate Kelly Anne Kovacic, this was not an option.

As a educator and leader at The Preuss School UCSD — a public charter school serving low-income students in San Diego — Kovacic was no stranger to the challenges of an inequitable learning environment. Not only were 100 percent of the students within the school living below the poverty line, but many would be the first in their families to graduate high school or attend college. In the midst of this environment, Kovacic made it her goal to create equitable learning conditions that successfully supported a culture of academic risk taking, intellectual curiosity, and development of both scholars and citizens — all in an effort to change the lives of students like Brittany.

“Helping to transform the lives of students living in poverty transcends any title or trophy,” Kovacic says. “Some of my greatest accomplishments include students like Brittany, who, after taking my class, thanked me for always having faith in her potential and never letting her give up.”

Brittany serves as just one snapshot of the impact Kovacic has had. Whether she was helping students overcome personal challenges or teaching them how to embrace the lessons and opportunities before them, Kovacic recalls how meaningful it was to help students at Preuss achieve goals they never thought possible.

Named the California Teacher of the Year in 2010 — an honor that set her apart from the 300,000 other educators in the state — Kovacic was also one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. However, after 10 years on the front line of urban education, Kovacic says that she was still left with many more questions than answers about how to ensure all children have access to high quality educational experiences. This is what ultimately brought her to HGSE. “Systemic change to address our nation’s educational inequities is difficult to achieve from one classroom or school,” she says. “The Ed.L.D. Program at Harvard provided a singular opportunity to study cross-discipline strategies for transformative and systemic change beyond a single campus.”

This idea of scaling-up a strong educational infrastructure is ultimately where Kovacic’s ambitions lie. “I know what a working model can do on a limited scale, but there are too many children getting lost in our current education system,” Kovacic says. “I want to see our urban school districts and large charter networks play an even greater role in effectively narrowing the achievement gap by reimagining schools in order to create and support equitable learning environments.”

Whether or not this work will take her back to California, Kovacic says, is still an open question, and ultimately she sees her work taking her where the need is greatest.

“An ideal situation in five years may be in a leadership role at a large urban school district, charter school network, or nonprofit organization that serves underrepresented students, especially those living in poverty,” she says. “However, any set plan I once had is being constantly redrawn as I navigate many new and exciting ideas and paths here at HGSE, where the options and opportunities to help transform education seem almost endless.”