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Part multiple intelligences expert, part assessment specialist, part quick-fix therapist, librarian, lesson planner, curriculum designer, team teacher, general shock absorber, patience giver, decision facilitator, and success strategy coach—that is an abbreviated list of the muscles Carla Finkelstein, Ed.M.’91, flexes as academic coach at Baltimore’s Morrell Park Elementary/Middle School. The former English and social studies teacher describes teaching as an endless process of reflection and problem solving: “You can’t do one without the other,” she says.
Finkelstein immerses herself in the work teachers seldom have time to do: She steps back and thoughtfully examines the daily efforts of the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade teachers in her charge. Her ability to envision and plan for enriching classroom experiences translates to both improved student performance and improved teacher morale. She chuckles, adding “I’m trying to make myself nearly obsolete.” She is far from becoming obsolete, however. With the goal of extending Finkelstein's sound work even further, Baltimore city administrators recently appointed her to help guide the academic direction of the entire district's academic coach force and to help boost principal effectiveness in her subdistrict.
Although she is honored by the opportunity to serve a larger population, Finkelstein says her roots remain at the Morrell Park School because of her unwavering personal goal to support one of the city’s lower-income schools. Located in a neighborhood of workers who migrated from Appalachia during World War II to look for jobs at the local steel mill, the school now serves students from largely single-parent homes who are living in poverty. As the daughter of a doctor and a lawyer, Finkelstein grew up in a very different Baltimore neighborhood—one that is tree-lined and generously dotted with large Victorian homes. Her education at schools that tracked gifted students from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds, however, took her to the less pristine parts of the city. “Early on, I realized that kids who didn’t come from the kind of privileges I knew had to learn to negotiate for what they want and need; I got that at home.” Soon after earning her teaching certification, Finkelstein returned to her hometown to offer teachers and students the support they need to reach their true potential. Such a laudable goal requires that Finkelstein begin work each morning at 6:30 A.M., before most teachers arrive. On “a good day” she prepares constructive feedback to teachers’ daily educational objectives, seeks out new reading materials to support a small group of struggling students, devises strategies to make standardized test preparation more efficient, team teaches in several math classes so she can observe classroom progress, and administers assessment measures to new students—all before the last bell rings. Strenuous as this sounds, she is revitalized each day by helping others achieve the kind of confidence that can be life changing. “People have always asked when I’ll become a superintendent or open my own school—they believe that that’s where success is supposed to lead me. But the longer I support teacher and student improvement, the more certain I become that the biggest changes anyone can make take place right in the classroom.” About the Article
HGSE News, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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