Learning to Play, Playing to Learn: The Bank Street Developmental Interaction Approach in Liliana\u27s Kindergarten Classroom

This case study of Liliana presents a portrait of a Bank Street alumna in her classroom. Liliana strives for her classroom to be a space where the core principles she learned during her Bank Street education guide the experience of children. The study of her work begins by exploring how a commitment to educating the cognitive, physical, and social–emotional domains of the whole child involves developing systems that promote play as the learning tool to achieve academic and social outcomes. After exploring how Liliana creates conditions for children to engage and learn through play, the case study focuses on how the habits and processes of close observation of children help Liliana develop theories of understanding about each individual learner. The practice and process of looking closely at children, a staple of the Bank Street approach, informs Liliana’s instruction. The case study concludes with a nuanced portrait of a day in Liliana’s classroom that is infused with her commentary and reflections about children, curriculum, and the central and enduring role of her Bank Street preparation in her practice.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/books/1015/thumbnail.jp

A School Growing Roots: The Bank Street Developmental-Interaction Approach at Community Roots Charter School

This case study examines the efforts of a recently established public charter school in a diverse urban neighborhood in Brooklyn to create a school guided by the foundational principles of the Bank Street approach. The efforts to infuse the practice and approach of the school with a progressive ethos is set against the prevailing trend to create schools that deploy highly systematic and didactic pedagogies. The case study begins by describing the rich learning that transpired during a study of the Fort Greene neighborhood undertaken by Community Roots first graders. The study explores the interactions between people in the community and locates the Rosewood unit as an integrated social studies unit. The case study then turns to how Community Roots charter school uses an integrated co-teaching model (ICT) that involves placing a general education teacher and a special education teacher in each classroom. This model enables the school to strive toward inclusion and provides the teachers with opportunity to structure learning in the classroom in ways that enhance the capacity of teachers to meet with students, individualize learning, and engage in an approach to learning grounded in high levels of interaction. The case study concludes with a focus on Community Roots’ intentional efforts to cultivate a sense of community among the many diverse families at the school and within the school’s neighborhood.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/books/1017/thumbnail.jp

The Threads They Follow: Bank Street Teachers in a Changing World

This report focuses on graduates of Bank Street College Graduate School of Education teacher certification programs, by examining the quality of their preparation, their teaching practices upon graduation, and the influence they have on their students’ learning. It also looks at the cumulative effects of school-wide practices at schools supportive of the Bank Street approach. The results conveyed here are based on the combined analyses of extensive surveys of graduates and employers; large-scale administrative data related to the impact of program graduates on pupil learning in New York City public schools; in-depth classroom and school observations; and interviews of graduates, principals, and college faculty.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/books/1013/thumbnail.jp

Artful Teaching and Learning: The Bank Street Developmental-Interaction Approach at Midtown West School

This case study begins by examining the Theater Study, a yearlong integrated social studies unit that serves as a cornerstone of the first grade curriculum at MidtownWest. As Midtown West is located in the heart of Manhattan’s theater district, the study is both an investigation of community and an in-depth exploration of, and engagement in, the many facets that go into the production of a play—from story, to script writing, to the many indispensable jobs, such as creating sets, lighting, and acting. The case study then turns to the “centrality of meetings” and the importance of meaningful discourse as a central tenet in the approach to working with students that guides practice at Midtown West. An extended vignette examining a fifth-grade math lesson explores the significance of conversation around problem-solving and academics. The next section of the case study examines the school’s emphasis on extensive integrated social studies curriculum units. This aspect of Midtown West is illuminated through a description of an expansive study of bridges in second grade. The study concludes by exploring the structural and cultural arrangements in place at the school to cultivate sustained faculty collaboration.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/books/1016/thumbnail.jp

The Preparation, Professional Pathways, and Effectiveness of Bank Street Graduates

Documents the influence of Bank Street teacher preparation programs based upon surveys of graduates, surveys of comparison teachers, surveys of employers, and an analysis of pupil achievement gains. This report is part of a larger study that examines the preparation, practices, and effectiveness of graduates of Bank Street College teacher certification programs over the last decade.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/books/1014/thumbnail.jp