Urban Education Semester
The Urban Education Semester (UES) is an interdisciplinary immersion program that introduces students from all academic backgrounds to the complexity of issues facing urban public education. The program addresses topics ranging from theories of child development and child-centered learning to creating mission-driven schools and the systemic implementation of policies and school reform.
Open to undergraduates attending member colleges of The Venture Consortium, the program offers supervised fieldwork in a diverse selection of classrooms and educational settings in New York City public school classrooms. The coursework as well as individual and group-oriented advising are offered by faculty at Bank Street College of Education, which has been cited as one of the top three teacher preparation programs in the country. Through a programmatic design that integrates theory and practice, students are encouraged to examine their classroom placement experiences, where they spend three days a week, alongside the theoretical frameworks they study in their courses at Bank Street. Students receive a full semester of credit, and students receiving financial aid will continue to do so.