Dean's Perspective

Kathleen McCartney

Dear Alumni and Friends:

Since assuming the role of Acting Dean on July 1, I have heard from many HGSE alumni and friends. I appreciate your warm wishes, your suggestions, and your generosity. Leading the school is a joy, thanks to your support. As I learn of your many successes in education practice, policy, and research, I am keenly aware that the HGSE faculty continues to be successful in teaching the future leaders of education.

Although this is an interim year, the HGSE faculty believes it is important for the school to continue to move forward. We are searching for new faculty to join us, we are continuing our development efforts, and we are beginning a process of strategic planning. As we prepare for a permanent dean, it is important for us to reflect on the future of HGSE. What is our vision? What is our mission? What are the strategies we will purposely develop to meet our goals? As we begin this process, we are mindful that there are pressing problems that educators today face. We believe that it is critical to study these problems from four perspectives: children's learning, best practices in the classroom, school leadership, and effective education policies. We are united in the belief that our work must be grounded in cultural context and that solutions lie in our ability to integrate these perspectives.

In the spirit of moving forward, this issue features three stories about alumni and faculty who are finding solutions through education entrepreneurship. The first feature story, Story of a School, is a glimpse into the Ben Franklin Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. The school, which was founded by Wood Smethurst, Ed.D.'70, takes a radically different approach to student learning and has had astonishing results. The second feature, Piecing It Together, looks at how the Ed School itself continues to forge connections with other schools throughout the university to tackle education issues together. The final feature story, Wired for Learning, looks at the efforts of HGSE graduates to use technology--in all its forms--to improve student progress.

We have fortuitously timed these stories about education entrepreneurship with an innovation of our own--the reinvention of Ed. magazine. First, and most important, we are going to be sharing more stories about HGSE's impact on education through the work of alumni and faculty. Our mission must be guided by impact--this is what differentiates the work of professional schools from other schools. Second, we have redesigned the format of the magazine to make it more engaging. Through these changes, we hope that we will create a publication that will draw you to each and every story. And we hope that you will share our sense of pride in the innovative work that characterizes our community.

The HGSE faculty looks forward to hearing from you and to reconnecting on Appian Way. In the meantime, please accept our warm wishes this holiday season.

Sincerely,

Kathleen McCartney
Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education
Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development
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