HGSE Introduces Urban Scholars Fellowship

Andrew Weiss was walking in the halls of his Miami middle school among hundreds of preteens rushing to class when Harvard Graduate School of Education dean Kathleen McCartney called to let him know he was an Urban Scholar Fellow. Mortified by all the background noise, he told her he would call her back.

Once he reached his classroom, he needed to get his students to cooperate while he returned the call. "We all celebrated for a minute, then I begged them to quietly do some Internet research on Henry the Navigator," Weiss says. "I have never had a room so silent in my entire life. It was amazing."

Weiss is one of nine HGSE students who received the call from McCartney awarding the new Urban Scholar Fellowship, a program that provides tuition and health insurance fees for selected educators from urban school systems.

For many of the students awarded the fellowship, graduate school--especially at HGSE--wouldn't be an option without the fellowship. It is a reality of education that it is increasingly difficult for educators to finance their own continuing education.

"We want to provide a reward to people who have worked in urban public schools, which we view as an important public service to this nation," McCartney says. "We believe that this fellowship will provide an incentive for people to return to urban public schools in leadership roles."

During her year as acting dean, McCartney first began thinking about creating a prestigious fellowship for educators in urban school systems. The program builds off of the success of Harvard's Zuckerman and Reynolds fellowships which offers tuition and a stipend for selected students attending the Ed School, the School of Public Health, and the Kennedy School of Government.

According to Jim Stiles, associate dean for degree programs, HGSE's leadership team believed it was important to create a prestigious fellowship to encourage the best students to come to the Ed School--and return to their urban school systems--without a financial burden hanging over their heads.

"In a way this fellowship is a challenge to us, our friends, and supporters of the school," Stiles says. "Educators working in public schools in urban systems are helping children already. Their salaries barely cover living expenses, much less create savings to go back for more education. If they want to go back to school and advance professionally, they have to borrow money which they then have to pay back in loans. So, we wanted them to get everything they could out of Harvard, but also be able to return to the work they love unburdened by heavy loan payments."

The Urban Scholars program is part of a larger effort at the Ed School to provide additional financial aid to master's and doctoral students. This year 10 percent of master's students will be receiving support from targeted fellowships such as the Urban Scholars program. "This is something that has been improving over time and hitting the 10 percent mark is a milestone for us," says Mohan Boodram, associate dean for enrollment and student services. "We are working diligently to sustain the progress we have made and expand these kinds of opportunities for our students."

Funding for the Urban Scholar Fellowship comes from a new unrestricted endowment designated by McCartney for this purpose.

"Harvard College has a tradition of funding the full needs of students and we [HGSE] aspire to do that too," Stiles says. "The Ed School's financial situation has operated in a different paradigm. This is our way of beginning to change the paradigm. We want to make our education affordable for all students, and this is a first step towards that goal. We need to challenge ourselves and others who care about education to provide better access."

The selection process was rigorous. Each of the 13 master's admission committees reviewed their top candidates and nominated students based on their experience, background, test scores, academics, and engagement with problems facing urban education. Finally, an Urban Scholar selection committee comprised of faculty, admission and financial aid staff, and two of HGSE's associate deans selected the final nine students.

"I can't underestimate the power of telling a teacher you can take a year off," says Matthew Welch, Urban Scholar. "What this program makes possible is for you to stop teaching and do this."

Marilyn Hylton agrees. She says she is thrilled to see HGSE doing something to help urban educators rather than seeing urban schools as hopeless.

Throughout the year, the nine urban fellows will have monthly meetings under the guidance of Stiles and John Collins, HGSE head librarian. These meetings will provide the students with information from researchers and practitioners in the Boston area who focus on issues facing urban educators. In addition, the students will also get behind the scenes opportunities at the university on a wide range of issues, such as how geographical information systems are being used in scientific research on urban education and where to find hidden secrets in the university library or museums. Ultimately, these sessions are to engage the students with each other and practitioners from across the country.

Many of these Urban Scholars are teachers who set out to work in urban settings, which they say are stereotyped with negative images portrayed throughout the media and country. These teachers are fighting the perceptions of urban schools, which they say are depicted as having nothing going on, parents that don't care, poor teaching, and apathetic students. But that, they argue, is really the exception to the rule.

"There is a non-monolithic picture of what an urban school is," Hylton says. "There is so much there--potential and pitfalls."

As for the future of urban education, these scholars hope to take back the lessons they learn at HGSE and bring them to their schools. Ultimately, they view their opportunity at HGSE as an opportunity for all the students, parents, and teachers back in their respective schools.

"My hope is that all kids have an equal chance regardless of the zip code they are born in," says Emily Murphy, a member of the inaugural Urban Scholars class.

Sonya Irving agrees. The goal, she says, is "to have the choice up the street be just as good as across town--not equal, but equitable."

Image: 2006-07 Urban Scholars, pictured from left to right: Matthew Welch, Learning and Teaching; Sonya Irving, School Leadership (Teacher Leader); Kelly Langan, Language and Literacy (Reading Specialist); Jonathan Chapman, Higher Education; Emily Murphy, Education Policy and Management; Marilyn Hylton, Teacher Education (History); Andrew Weiss, Teacher Education (History). Not pictured: Gina Musumeci, Mind, Brain, and Education; Mayme Hostetter, Mind, Brain, and Education.