Academic and Student Resources
The School of Education’s numerous academic resources enrich intellectual inquiry and provoke philosophical debate. There is a strong tradition of faculty carrying theory into community action through the creation of programs and centers that not only advance research and academic dialogue, but also provide models for change and innovation.
Academic Resources
Education House
Located at 179 Bay State Road, Education House is a specialty undergraduate residence house opened in the fall of 1990. Education House provides a unique opportunity for Boston University students to address the future of education from the perspective of those who will be called upon to provide leadership. Students have opportunities to participate in education programs that provide a focus on the serious study of the educational profession.
Eligibility: Boston University undergraduates who are in good standing within the University community are eligible to apply for residence.
Undergraduate Student Government
Undergraduate students are represented within the School of Education and Boston University by an active undergraduate Student Government (SG). In addition to planning and providing educational and social functions, SG is the voice of undergraduate students at the School of Education. Undergraduates, through SG, are also active participants in the Boston University Student Union.
Graduate Student Association Organized over 30 years ago, the School of Education Graduate Student Association (GSA) seeks to promote programming for the graduate students in the School of Education and Boston University Community. The GSA plans and sponsors events to assist School of Education graduate students to acclimate to the University, promote awareness of current issues in Education, and develop a sense of community.
The GSA membership consists of current and former School of Education part-time and full-time graduate students. Meetings are scheduled periodically throughout the academic year. All current School of Education graduate students and alumni are welcome to participate in the GSA and the events sponsored by the group.
Instructional Materials Center (IMC) is a multimedia technology resource center for the SED community. At the IMC, students, faculty, and staff have access to various technologies and expertise that facilitate research, communication, collaboration, and the production of digital and paper-based educational resources. The center supports a wide range of instructional and communications aids, including extensive computing and printing resources, multimedia classrooms, telecommunications, scanning, digital video, and graphics.
The Pickering Educational Resources Library houses early childhood through Grade 12 instructional support materials in print and electronic formats, and a literature collection for children and young adults. The collection also includes education reference books, curriculum and instruction-oriented books and periodicals, elementary and secondary school textbooks, standardized tests, curriculum guides, faculty publications, and recent SED dissertations. Library services include information on literacy, tutorials, and instruction, including training in electronic resources, research counseling, reference services, and maintenance of a reserve reading collection. An electronic classroom houses twenty-five computers with access to electronic resources and Microsoft applications, LCD/document projectors, and VCR/DVD equipment. Students may use the University’s extensive library system, including Mugar Memorial Library and its branches, the Boston Library Consortium, and Interlibrary loan services. Visit the website for more information on the Mugar Memorial Library and the University’s other libraries and special collections.
The Center for Character & Social Responsibility (CCSR) the mission of the Center for Character & Social Responsibility (CCSR) is to support the professional development of individuals and institutions who seek to expand their awareness, knowledge, and skills in the areas of social responsibility and character consistent with principles of healthy personal development. The Center’s first goal is to develop and sustain a learning community among BU undergraduate and graduate students, and professionals, who are focused on social responsibility and character development through course work, certificates, and majors. The second goal is to provide professional development opportunities for in-service professionals who work in the areas of social responsibility and responsibility and character development. The Center was started in 1989 by Kevin Ryan and was originally called the Center for the Advancement of Ethics & Character (CAEC) as the first ethics center in the country with a focus on the education of teachers. The CAEC was built on the belief that character education is an essential and inescapable mission of schools. In 2010, the role of the Center was expanded to incorporate the relationship between character and social responsibility. The CCSR includes Programs for the Advancement of Ethics and Character and the Institute for Athletic Coach Education. It partners with organizations with similar missions within Boston, nationally and internationally. The Center hosts an annual conference with a focus on issues relevant to the character and social responsibility as well as smaller conferences on specific issues such as service learning.
The Kevin Ryan Library for Ethics & Education, which opened in the spring of 2001, houses a reserve collection of books in moral education and ethics, both classical and contemporary, a video library, and practical resources in character education. The library offers students, scholars, visitors, and area teachers a place to study, conduct research, participate in interdisciplinary roundtable discussions and lectures, and review the work of the Center for Character & Social Responsibility (CCSR). The library also provides professional instructional space for CAEC-sponsored seminars and institutes.
The Center for the Study of Communication & the Deaf is devoted to both applied and theoretical research to benefit the Deaf and their families. Faculty and students have focused on three major research themes: the acquisition of signed languages, the impact of language on the education of the Deaf child, and the developmental assessment of bilingual approaches to the education of Deaf children. A variety of community services focus on projects assisting the hearing parents of Deaf children and on workshops and presentations to area agencies. The center has begun to create assessment instruments to determine ASL development in Deaf children.
Additional research interests of the center are the languages (American Sign Language (ASL) and English), family structure, the educational systems, and the social service networks of Deaf children and adults. Currently, the center is conducting four projects. The first project examines the role of language in the thinking of Deaf children. The second project is investigating the relationship of American Sign Language in Deaf children’s process of learning to read English. The third project focuses on the learning of American Sign Language as a second language. This project is currently developing ASL evaluation materials for Hearing persons, as well as for Deaf children. The last project concentrates on the development of an ASL/English curriculum for Deaf children, specifically grades preschool to fourth grade. A primary goal of the center is to provide state-of-the-art information to professionals in the education of the Deaf, related professionals, and the families they serve.
sedGreen is a growing collective of students, faculty, and staff committed to working together toward a greener School and a healthier planet. Founded in 2006 by Associate Professor of Science Education Douglas Zook, sedGreen promotes education and socially responsible, sustainable practices that help human beings to be more compatible with our special home, Earth. Located at the BU School of Education, sedGreen works closely with faculty, staff, and students to support the campus-wide Boston University sustainability initiative. Ongoing successful projects include high compliance recycling, the annual Healthy Planet/Healthy Person Pedalathon, a “Greening Up, Powering Down” energy saving campaign at SED, and the installation of solar panels on the SED roof. sedGreen has also established with the School’s Library a sustainability education resource center for students, staff, and faculty from the whole University. All members of the Boston University community are invited and encouraged to be a part of sedGreen.
The Microcosmos Project in the Science Education Program, available to students and faculty in both the School of Education and the larger University communities, advocates an interactive approach to teaching. The program integrates microbial life studies and innovative science-education pedagogy with the science methods courses, and includes a small study area, a pond and plant display, and gallery exhibits on important science content developed by current students.
International Symbiosis Society Located in the Science Education Program, the International Symbiosis Society is made up of biology researchers and educators from around the world. The society fosters learning and sharing about the importance of symbiotic systems, including coral reefs, lichens, and forest communities.
The Journal of Education Founded in 1875, the Journal of Education is the oldest continuously published education journal in the United States. Since 1952 it has been published by the Boston University School of Education. Addressed to both scholars and practitioners, it includes essays and reviews on a wide range of topics.
Community Outreach
The Boston University School of Education has a long tradition of community service that grows out of the vision of its founders in 1918. Dr. Arthur H. Wilde, first dean of the School, wrote, “Our policy has been to keep in as vital touch with the everyday work of the schools as we could—to know the needs of the teachers and of the school officers and to give immediate satisfaction to those needs, yet with a view to the broader education of these teachers and officers.”
The Boston University/Boston Public Schools Collaborative is the administrative organization at the University that oversees more than a dozen programs created in support of the Boston Public Schools. In 1975, court-ordered school desegregation in Boston stimulated an unprecedented commitment by Boston-area colleges, universities, and businesses to help the city’s schools and children. Boston University has been and continues to be an active participant. University resources contribute to the support of a full-time director who initiates and seeks funding for new programs which involve faculty and students in serving the needs of Boston schoolchildren.
The Boston University/Chelsea Partnership In June 1989, Boston University accepted the invitation of the Chelsea School Committee to manage the Chelsea Public Schools under a unique ten-year partnership agreement. By unanimous vote of the Chelsea School Committee in 1997, that agreement was extended an additional five years. In June 2002, the School Committee once again voted to invite Boston University to extend the partnership, this time through June 2008, at which time the partnership ended by mutual agreement. The Boston University Chelsea Partnership was the only instance in which a private university had accepted responsibility for the overall day-to-day management of a public school system. The University received no monetary compensation for its work; rather, it provided managerial and educational expertise and oversight in order to rebuild an entire urban school system and to construct a model for the reform of urban education. The challenges that faced the partnership in Chelsea were typical of those faced in economically disadvantaged urban areas throughout the United States.
The Boston University Initiative for Literacy Development (BUILD) is a collaborative effort enjoying the support and contributions of the School of Education, and the Boston University Financial Assistance and Student Employment offices. With federal Work-Study funds made available by Boston University in support of the federal America Reads and local Read Boston programs, 150 literacy tutors provide assistance in one hospital, eight after-school, and six in-school programs serving elementary schoolchildren in Boston and Chelsea. For eligibility information, contact the Work-Study Manager at 617-353-2387. For information about the program, please write to Ruth Shane; email: rshane@bu.edu or visit the BUILD website.
Boston University School of Education Consortium In 1977, the Boston University School of Education and a selection of Boston-area school districts, social service agencies, and overseas universities came together to form a consortium for the mutual exchange of expertise and training. Since that time, Consortium school systems and social service agencies have provided SED students with a variety of settings in which to pursue student-teaching, school-based counseling experiences, and administrative internships. For more information, contact Jo-Anne Richard, 617-353-3239, email: jrichard@bu.edu. Website: www.bu.edu/sed/consortium.
Step UP Boston University is one of five universities involved in Step UP, an unprecedented collaboration with the Boston Public Schools and the City of Boston to help ten local schools. Step UP was formed in the fall of 2006 and provides comprehensive, coordinated services aimed at improving student performance. Boston University’s two partner schools are William Monroe Trotter Elementary School in Dorchester and English High School in Jamaica Plain. Based on the needs identified by each partner school, BU aims to help Trotter and English make improvements in areas such as instruction and tutoring, after-school support, student wellness and safety, and family and community engagement.
International Programs
Boston University and its School of Education have a history of offering a variety of programs abroad and to students from around the world. Faculty from the School of Education have led programs in more than a dozen countries on six continents.
A degree from Boston University is well-recognized and highly respected throughout the world, and the University continues to broaden its international activities. The School of Education attracts many international students to several of its programs. For example, of particular interest to international students is our Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Program, which is one of the most sophisticated of its kind in the country. The Physical Education & Coaching and Health Education programs have brought students from many parts of Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa to study at the School.
Since 1985, the School of Education has implemented a student-teaching program as part of a larger International Initiative. This program has promoted opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to study abroad in Australia, Ecuador, and England.
