For the best teachers, teaching is more than a job – it’s a calling. Once you’re in, you’re in all the way. True teachers bring a passion and commitment to the profession that does not dull over time.
These are the type of teachers that the Bank Street Graduate School of Education produces every year. Cecelia Traugh, Dean of the Graduate School, recently renewed her invitation for aspiring teachers to consider becoming a Bank Street educator through the school’s online graduate degree programs.
“Looking for work with meaning?” Traugh wrote in her message. “The field of education holds this kind of promise.”
Becoming a Bank Street Teacher
Bank Street College has educated teachers for more than 100 years. From its origins on Bank Street in Lower Manhattan, the school now offers internationally acclaimed master’s programs for teachers who work in early childhood through middle grades.
Bank Street offers multiple specializations and programs for teachers. As noted by Traugh, the possibilities include classroom teaching, becoming a school leader, nurturing the development of infants and toddlers, working with children and parents in hospital settings, and helping people engage with museums or botanical gardens.
As Traugh noted, “All these settings offer the opportunity for relationship, deep connection, and on-going learning—the opportunity for meaningful work and for meaningful social change.”
The Impact of a Bank Street Education
A study done by the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education found that “Bank Street College and its graduates have been responsible for significant reforms of schooling in a number of schools where Bank Street-prepared teachers and principals congregate.”
The Stanford study looked at a decade’s worth of Bank Street Graduate School of Education graduates. This allowed them to explore the outcomes of a “unique, longstanding institution of teacher preparation that has a clear vision of its pedagogical goals and strategies.”
Among the study’s findings:
- Bank Street College graduates with more than two years of experience added greater value to student test scores in English Language Arts than other teachers in New York City
- 90% of employers said Bank Street College teachers are “well” or “very well” prepared
- 87% of Bank Street College graduates remain in education
- 87% of Bank Street graduates felt their teacher preparation program was “effective” or “very effective,” much higher than the average of 66% reported by graduates from other schools
Bank Street College Programs
Overall, Bank Street College promotes a developmentally grounded, progressive approach to teaching that places children in the forefront and always considers the social context of both students and their families.
The school also supports an education that promotes individual approaches to learning. Doing so requires offering teachers an education that is rich both in theory and practical knowledge. Graduates have a philosophical approach coupled with an ability to roll up their sleeves and dive into the detailed work of teaching.
Bank Street College offers a variety of online master’s degrees for teachers. They include master’s degrees in:
- Early Childhood Special Education
- Early Childhood Special and General Education Dual Certification
- Childhood Special Education
- Childhood Special and General Education Dual Certification
Bank Street College graduates work in the New York City metro area as well as locations around the country. An online education from Bank Street Graduate School of Education could provide a key next step to achieving your goal educational goals.
