Deborah Meier Video Activity

Line in the Sand

Special Thanks to the Center for Educational Leadership for the use of this video.

For 20 years, Deborah Meier helped revitalize public schools in New York City’s East Harlem district. In 1974, Superintendent Tony Alvarado asked Meier to test her theories in a new elementary school in Harlem’s District 4, where test scores were the lowest in the city. She founded Central Park Elementary School (CPE), a highly successful alternative school emphasizing active learning. Within the next dozen years, Meier opened two other Central Park elementary schools and, in collaboration with the National Coalition of Essential Schools, the Central Park East Secondary School.

In the attached video, Deborah Meier talks about reform moving to the extreme and poses concern about how far standards and reform will go. Watch the short video segment and then have a discussion about where do you as an educator decide when enough is enough. In other words, where do you draw your line in the sand?

Video Link – Line in the Sand

Question for dialogue

At what point do you draw your line in the sand?

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