AU students can do more to affect change in D.C. Public Schools, School of Education, Teaching and Health Dean Sarah Irvine Belson said during a forum Saturday.
"It's great when people volunteer in schools," Belson said during the "Improving Student Achievement in Urban Schools" forum. "It's amazing that people work for Teach For America. That's great. But they should know they can do the same thing in their own backyard. That the next step is walking out there and actually being a teacher."
Presenters at the SETH-sponsored forum included Pedro Noguera, an education and sociology professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture.
Noguera spoke to an audience of D.C. public school teachers and principals. They discussed ways to reform and improve public education, both in D.C. and nationwide.
Belson pointed out the lack of AU undergraduates in the hall.
"We don't have enough AU alums," she said, gesturing at the crowd gathered to get Noguera's autograph on copies of his recently published book, "City Kids, City Teachers." "People who get recruited tend to be mid-career professionals. We don't want to lose that. But we want to work with more AU students."
SETH currently offers graduate programs in early childhood education, elementary education and secondary education, according to briefing materials. Tuition ranges between $4,000 a year for an elementary education teaching certificate and $6,000 a year for a secondary education certificate.
"Basically, you go to work in a D.C. public school or public charter school and get a master's for ridiculously cheap," Belson said.
The graduate programs include fieldwork in the D.C. public school system. Noguera said he believes that kind of experience is critical.
"It takes time to become a good teacher," he said during his speech. "How you talk to the students matters. Trying to stifle children is not the best way to educate them. A lot of those things you need to learn as a teacher you learn on the job."
Belson said she cares more about getting students involved in AU's education graduate programs than simply their cost. She referred to public school students who attend AU-sponsored educational programs.
"You get AU alums, you get them to bring their students on campus," Belson said. "Those students start thinking about college."
That is the sort of community engagement Belson, who helped draft AU's new strategic plan, said she wants to foster.
"[There is this perception that] here we are sitting up on the hill and we're not part of the community ... that it's not easy to be part of D.C.," she said. "[But] there's even more of a need now in D.C. public schools, especially with the high turnover."
AU first received funding for the graduate programs in 2002, with a $2.4 million grant from the Department of Education. The program was active in 30 D.C. schools.
"That was before No Child Left Behind," Belson said. "The idea was you could change schools by putting in great teachers."
The program's funding is now four times the original grant. It has had aided, in various forms, every D.C. public school and public charter school, she said.
Belson said she is frustrated that most AU students remain unaware of the program.
"I heard the School of Education's pretty good," said Rosie Jung, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. However, Jung said she never heard of their graduate programs.
Katie Solitrin, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said she thinks more AU students should get involved in D.C. public schools.
"Students should help D.C. public schools, especially since the schools are failing to help schoolchildren," she said. "I think we have a social obligation to get involved with DC public education."
Solitrin said she was unaware of AU's graduate partnerships with the D.C. school system.
Belson said reaching students is her next major objective.
"I want AU students to know they can participate," she said. "I want them to know it's an easy thing for AU students to get involved in DC public schools."
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