2022 Power Players in Education

David Coleman joined the College Board in 2012. Over the past decade, he has led a comprehensive redesign of the SAT and the development of the first digital version of the exam; invested in a dramatic expansion of the Advanced Placement Program to reach more students of all backgrounds; and guided the College Board’s mission-driven response to the Covid pandemic, helping millions of students remain on track during a time of unprecedented challenge for American education. Before coming to the College Board, David was a co-founder of Student Achievement Partners, a national nonprofit devoted to raising standards of student achievement in math and literacy. A native of New York City and a proud graduate of its public schools, David earned a degree from Yale University and attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He is the father of two young children and a deep believer in the power of education to change lives for the better.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
New York City Public Schools is a pioneering leader in ensuring high-quality classwork for all students that is relevant to their lives. Through its AP For All initiative, every student has the opportunity to take advanced coursework during their high school career. We believe equity and excellence go hand in hand, and New York City Public Schools’ AP For All initiative is helping to make that a reality. Policymakers in New York can continue to build on their admirable record of supporting access in high school to rich and relevant advanced coursework through AP.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Having a great teacher is the most transformative experience a young person can have. The effects of a remarkable teacher on students’ learning and trajectory dwarfs all others.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
In college, one of the most enduring learning experiences I had was tutoring students in New Haven Public Schools. I learned firsthand that everyone is equal before a text. At times, I would hear seventh graders ask more penetrating and perceptive questions than my classmates at Yale. It was humbling and thrilling to see.

Carol Conklin-Spillane is recognized nationally as a progressive school leader for her achievements in developing programs and practices that transform teaching and learning. She has presented to the U.S. Department of Education, College Board, and the American Educational Research Association, among many other organizations. Under her leadership, Sleepy Hollow H.S. was identified as A Best Practices School by The Magellan Foundation, featured on the U.S. Department of Education’s Doing What Works website, and was named a Breakthrough H.S.  by NASSP/MetLife Foundation.  

A former superintendent of schools, high school principal and special education teacher, she is now a consultant to New York districts, specializing in executive coaching and leadership development, inclusive practices, supporting English language learners, building school climate, innovative school scheduling and providing equity and opportunity through open enrollment. Carol currently serves as president of the Empire State Supervisors and Administrators Association. 

Dr. Charles “Chuck” Dedrick, executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, is recognized throughout New York State and on a national level as an outstanding educational leader. As executive director, he leads a professional and advocacy organization representing over 875 New York State superintendents and assistant superintendents. Before leading Capital Region BOCES, Chuck served as superintendent of the Cohoes City and the Green Island UFSD. He earned a B.A. degree at Excelsior College and two master’s degrees from the University of Albany. He was awarded a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Russell Sage College Graduate School.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
New York needs a funding formula that works for all communities and will continue to work into the future. One that takes into account community and student needs and is less reliant on population. All students, regardless of where they live in New York, should have access to a high quality education.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Every student should have an adult (examples: teacher, counselor, coach) who knows them and their family. Identifying issues before they become problems is key to a safe and effective learning environment.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
I learned most through “hands on” activities and have always encouraged that, whether I was a teacher, principal, or superintendent. Standing in a stream with my science teacher learning about geology taught me more about earth science than any textbook could.

Since 2019, Michael Deegan has served as superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of New York. He brings decades of instructional and administrative experience to the position, including time spent as a Catholic school principal and deputy superintendent of schools. Mr. Deegan has been honored with both the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Compassionate Educator Award and the John J. Bruno Catholic Service Award.

Dr. Sharon B. DeVivo has been with Vaughn College since 1996 and president since 2014. She is the seventh president of the institution and the first woman, and has led three strategic planning efforts that transformed the College from primarily a training institution to one that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in aviation, engineering, management and technology. Dr. DeVivo was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as chair of the Youth Access to American Aviation Jobs Task Force and serves on many organizations’ boards in the aviation and engineering arena.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
Vaughn College serves students from primarily low socioeconomic backgrounds who are motivated to change the trajectory for themselves and their families. Our outcomes speak to that progress — Vaughn is number one in upward mobility and the best at moving students from the bottom to the top in income. New York state has always provided financial support through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). In recent years, TAP has not kept pace with the rising costs of providing a quality higher education. I encourage lawmakers to increase TAP as an investment in the future economic development of the state and its residents.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Creating a sense of belonging is a key component to an environment that supports effective learning. Diversity is Vaughn’s superpower! 80 percent of our students are from communities of color and more than half of our faculty and staff also reflect underrepresented groups. “Embrace Diversity” is one of Vaughn’s core values and central to our learning community. We couple that with a responsive faculty and staff who support students in their journey to a degree.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
I was fortunate to attend the University of Maryland in Munich, Germany, for my first two years of college. As the daughter of a Navy Master Chief, I had lived around the world and when I got to Munich my fellow students had a similar background. That is where I fell in love with attending a small institution and the incredible sense of belonging I experienced. It is one of the reasons I enjoy being at Vaughn, as I am able to get to know students, support their success, and understand how our educational experience made a difference in their lives.

As president of New Visions, Mark Dunetz draws on his experiences as a high school social studies teacher and the founding principal of the Academy for Careers in Television and Film, a public high school in Queens. At New Visions, Dunetz has driven investment in the organization’s data and analytics capacity and the creation of widely used open source high school curricula in core subject areas. Among other priorities, New Visions is currently collaborating with New York City public schools and businesses to expand students’ access to career preparation.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
We’ve spent years making sure that educators have routines and tools to effectively support students. When explicit plans don’t exist, collaboration breaks down, support is inconsistently provided and students fall through the cracks. Building strong student support systems is critical and unexpectedly hard to do. We spend too much time reinventing and not enough time understanding what works and how it can scale. My advice is to spend time in schools that are particularly effective and ask questions about the systems that enable that success. Well organized schools are a prerequisite to translating resources into equitable outcomes.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Strong and trusting relationships between adults in schools and students are absolutely essential. These relationships help make schools places students want to attend, feel motivated to engage, and know how to access support. Currently, we’re supporting a large network of our partner schools to implement advisory models, which is a structure that many schools use to successfully nurture these types of relationships.

Dr. Berenecea Johnson Eanes was appointed permanent president of York College, CUNY in summer 2020, following a year as interim president. As president, Dr. Eanes works collaboratively with all stakeholders to achieve the College’s strategic priorities and goals. She believes now is the opportune time to partner with new and veteran community supporters to access available federal and state opportunities to fortify York as the college of record for Southeast Queens and cross-borough residents. With more than 60 undergraduate majors and numerous graduate-level programs, York is primed for continued growth under her leadership.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
Equitable access to quality education begins with level-setting through policy backed by financial support. Prioritizing funding for college access and incentives for college completion while ensuring a commitment to help advance civil rights by providing resources for programs and services related to supporting historically underserved or marginalized communities in their quest for higher education is a start, and must continue.

Students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students, undocumented students, minority students, students whose family or personal income keeps them below the national poverty line . . . no matter where anyone comes from or how they identify as an individual, each person must be afforded the opportunity to become a student if they wish to, and obtain an education that will transform their lives as well as the lives of those around them. It’s the greatest equalizer in this country and beyond, and policymakers have the capacity to make it accessible for all here in New York.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Apart from the obvious: a safe, accessible, and welcoming space for ALL — students, faculty, and staff alike — there are conditions that contribute to effective learning and students’ ultimate success. Student participation that is encouraged and respected is key to their positive experience. Constructive feedback and providing outlets for self-expression while celebrating the diversity that is one of York College’s greatest pride points, and ensuring consistent support of the whole student, from academic guidance to personal counseling, from emergency financial aid through career mentorship and more, are crucial to student success.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
I’ve spoken about this before, but one of the pivotal moments in my educational journey was actually when I was in middle school. I clearly remember being in the guidance counselor’s office with my Dad and she looked at him and said, “I think you need to think about an alternative for her, she’s never going to go to college”. He stood up and thanked her for her time, but also underscored for her (and in many ways, for me, as young as I was) that she didn’t know me, or who was standing behind and beside me on my journey. The fact that my family believed in me at a time when an educator had given up hope for me to be successful in higher education no doubt helped propel me in my pursuits. And look where I am today.

Henry C. “Hank” Foley, Ph.D., joined New York Institute of Technology as president in 2017 after serving as interim chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Foley earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Providence College, a master’s degree in Chemistry from Purdue University, and doctorate in Physical and Inorganic Chemistry from Penn State. He has held faculty appointments at MU, Penn State, and the University of Delaware. Foley holds 16 patents, has written more than 150 articles and a textbook, and has mentored nearly 50 undergraduate and graduate thesis students.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
They should continue to fund and increase funding for Bundy grants and other related programs for students who choose to go to private sector schools. If they want to be really effective, they would also extend the Excelsior scholarships to students who attend private colleges and universities in the state. Let the funds follow the student. This would benefit New York’s higher education sector. Students would be beneficiaries of increased competition. More than anything else, K-12 education has to be revitalized and revamped. This is especially the case for students of color in schools that are not in affluent communities.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
As a result of the pandemic, we learned that some students thrived in the new online and hybrid formats. For example, many were more comfortable asking questions online. That said, faculty thrive on being in class and in contact with their students. The experience of student learning is invigorating. We have learned much but will continue to evolve teaching and learning. The hybrid approach that blends online and in-person will become the new way forward.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
As a student, learning through doing was effective for me. Undergraduate research convinced me that I wanted to be a scientist. Later, as a professor, I learned from the questions my students asked. I also loved teaching chemical engineering analysis using Mathematica in a computer lab. I could work with students in going from their analysis of the system, to setting up their model equations, to solving them, and then examining the model’s behavior. That kind of hands-on learning with the professor was superb. The future of analysis, modeling, and computation will get better with time and that is exciting!

Christina Foti serves as chief of special education for the New York City Department of Education. She oversees citywide special education strategy, support, and implementation. Her work reaches over 300,000 preschool and school-aged students and their families in various schools within the district, charter, and nonpublic sectors. Christina holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies from Vassar College, a master’s degree in Special Education from City College, and a postgraduate degree in educational leadership from Hunter College. She is currently a doctoral student at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

What can New York policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality education?
Policymakers need to uncover hidden narratives and long-standing equity issues that have historically marginalized some of our students. Nationwide, these narratives have created policies and practices steeped in separatism — separate programs and separate communities are often the response to addressing specialized needs. Inclusive programs teach students to value difference and focus on each other’s strengths; however, they are only successful if they can also provide students with the specialized support needed to thrive. We need to create policies that ensure truly equitable access to quality education and direct resources to initiatives that support the success of all students.

What conditions or resources are conducive to a safe and effective learning environment?
Our work as educators is to create school communities that meet the needs of all students, thereby creating conditions in which students are more likely to invest in the collective success of their peers and communities. The New York City Public School’s specialized programs at their best are examples of impactful initiatives that equip schools with the resources necessary to serve students in inclusive settings while meeting their academic, social, and emotional needs.

Describe a learning experience from your own education that stands out.
The students I serve have always been my greatest teachers. I began my career 20 years ago as a middle-school teacher, supporting, almost exclusively, Black and Brown boys. I quickly witnessed the ramifications when children feel unsuccessful in school. This struggle often resulted in students receiving the former IEP label of “emotionally disturbed.” Thankfully, most states, including New York, have since replaced this label. While this example is steeped in questions about equity, access, and what children need to thrive, it also reminds us that words matter, and our children are so much more than any label they ever receive.