School leader education to be topic of lecture

UB alumnus Arthur Levine, the sixth president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, will talk about the future of teacher and school leader education at this year’s lecture in the annual GSE Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series on March 28.

The talk, sponsored by the Graduate School of Education, will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus. Those interested in attending the free event can register at the GSE website.

Levine’s lecture, “The Future of Teacher and School Leader Education,” will focus on the six factors — demographics, government, the economy, privatization, technology and the convergence of knowledge producers — that can transform our educational system.

“What remains controversial is how to prepare highly qualified and effective teachers,” says Jaekyung Lee, dean and professor of the Graduate School of Education. “Similarly, the issue is also about the best way to prepare school leaders who shape quality educational environments for teaching and learning success.”

Levine received a PhD in sociology from UB after earning a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University.

Before joining the Wilson foundation, he served as professor and president of Teachers College at Columbia University. He also previously served as chair of the higher education program, chair of the Institute for Educational Management and senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Levine has received numerous honors — including 25 honorary degrees — and has written dozens of articles, reviews and reports for the Education Schools Project about the preparation of school leaders, teachers and education research.

“As a national authority and thought leader on this topic,” Lee says, “Levine will help us better understand new challenges and rethink conventional approaches with forward-looking eyes toward innovations and changes.”