Message from the Dean
October 2009
Reflecting on a Special Day in the Life of Curry
Dear friends of Curry:
On October 9th the Curry School had the honor of hosting U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for a major speech in the Dome Room of the Rotunda. It was a great opportunity for the Curry School and for our students – as not only did I have the honor of offering a few opening comments, but the Secretary made his speech to a room full of Curry School students enrolled in our teacher preparation program. Secretary Duncan used the occasion of his speech to issue a call to the nation to focus attention on the importance of teachers and the need for more teachers – he rightly emphasized that teachers are perhaps the key element in education and that our nation has an obligation to provide our students with the best teachers we can offer.
Although the Secretary’s speech was notable for its effort to focus on teachers and included comments about the shortcomings of many education schools (not Curry) as part of the problem rather than the solution. What was remarkable, from my perspective, was the question-and-answer period that followed his speech. For almost 25 minutes, Secretary Duncan took questions from Curry School students. For me this was a striking experience – I am midway through my fifth semester as dean of Curry and although I have met many of our students and know them by reputation as top-notch, this was the first occasion on which I was able to observe first-hand (some of) their remarkable skill. Every single student was poised and articulate as they addressed the Secretary, without notes, each with a question that demonstrated a level of sophistication that was on par with any high-level policy-maker, academic, or well-informed citizen. For me it was a moment of great pride in our students; I truly felt that if the nation’s education system could be placed in the hands and minds of people like these, we would all be better for it. And the session renewed for me a commitment to meet more students, to more aggressively “open Curry to the entire University and for Curry to be part of the solution – drawing the talent of the University of Virginia toward the challenges and potential of public education.”
Also on the day of the Secretary’s speech, we hosted a visit by Chris Barbic, the Founder of YES Prep charter schools in Houston, TX. YES Prep is the largest provider of charter education to students in grades 6-12 in Houston and has an astonishing rate of graduation and placement of its graduates in four-year colleges and universities. Chris was at Curry to share his ideas about school design, to recruit our graduates as teachers and school leaders, to speak with the broader University community, and attend the Secretary’s speech. It was a remarkable visit – we are already planning opportunities for our students to student teach at YES and for partnerships between YES and our programs in teacher education and leadership. This is part of our efforts to engage in partnerships that stretch our students and expose them to innovations and ideas in education that indeed are part of the solution.
In some small sense, the events of that day were about Curry and leadership – our students as the present and future leaders of education innovation and success; our faculty as leaders in the preparation of phenomenal students; Curry’s leadership in the University and across the country; and exposure to leaders making a difference for children whether working in Washington or in the neighborhoods of our great cities.
Photos from U.S. Secretary Duncan's visit.
More Photos from U.S. Secreatry Duncan's visit.
Robert C. Pianta
Dean
Novartis Professor of Education
Director, Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning