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Can Hasidic Schools Learn Something From Charter Schools?
By: Yonit Tanenbaum
The influence of a secular educational model on the “school culture” of Jewish learning:
On Friday, November 25, 2011, the Menachem Education Foundation (MEF)—an organization dedicated to facilitating elevated learning opportunities in the Jewish world—hosted Norman Atkins, Co-Founder and President of Relay Graduate School of Education and Founder of Uncommon Schools, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Educators from many local Hasidic schools, as well as a handful from out of the state, gathered to see what they could learn from Mr. Atkins’ two decades of experience in urban education.
There are currently 20,000 students in the Northeastern United States benefitting from the innovative charter schools and classrooms that have been founded or influenced by Mr. Atkins’ work. That is about the same amount of students currently in the Chabad-Lubavitch educational system today—a system that Mr. Atkins said he feels faces so many of the same challenges as other Jewish and secular schools. How wonderful it would be to take the very same techniques that have been implemented successfully in those charter schools and implement them in our Jewish schools, thereby providing the same level of learning and culture experiencing.
MEF was founded with the goal of raising the bar on Jewish education in Orthodox communities. Mr. Atkins said he believes that building a strong school culture in the Jewish community is achievable and that the Lubavitch school system might even have a leg up on other schools given strong sense of shared values, meaningful rituals, and focus on preparing world emissaries.
The Master’s degree program that Mr. Atkins founded for teachers in 2008 is unique in its approach and application; the teachers and professors collaborate on teaching techniques gleaned from a variety of studies, and evaluate one another based on video clips of themselves teaching. Mr. Atkins shared his findings with the educational leaders who attended the seminar, highlighting the ways in which the Orthodox Jewish educational system is on the right track and the elements that can be implemented for stronger student learning.
To Mr. Atkins, the Orthodox Jewish community already has a strong educational infrastructure that can benefit from this learning model. Putting in the time to assist Lubavitch schools is something that Mr. Atkins said he is happy to do because he and so many people he knows have benefited from the global network of the Chabad-Lubavitch network. “When [the Lubavitch community and MEF] come knocking at my door,” he added, “I have to open mine to them as well.”
Mr. Atkins underscored the importance of the values taught in school. The culture created in the classroom is so central to students’ overall learning experiences. There is so much responsibility on the shoulders of educators, in their roles as leaders, to shape the lives of students so that they can go out and lead the lives we want them to lead. The tools are at our fingertips; they’re in the collective work of educators sorting through the issues they find in their schools and in the educators sharing their wins.
Exemplary learning can be drawn from one of the most well-known mashpiim (spiritual mentors) in Chabad, Reb Mendel Futerfas. Reb Mendel, as Mr. Atkins relayed, had a unique way of continuing his learning while exiled in Siberia. In his memoirs, Reb Mendel writes about how he was able to learn, even without his texts, by envisioning the cheder (traditional Jewish elementary school) in which he learned as a youngster and the manner in which his rebbe (schoolteacher) taught the boys. This is re-experiential learning at its best.
Children pick up on things adults might not often take into account. It is therefore of utmost importance, stressed Mr. Atkins, that teachers focus not only on what is taught but also on how it is taught and who they are as human beings and as educators. How a teacher sets up the classroom, looks, feels, smiles, and interacts with the students will be decisive in his or her student’s memories. Those memories directly influence what the child learns and how the child relates to his or her tradition.
Reb Mendel Futerfas, in his flashback to the cheder he grew up in and the rebbe who taught him, remembered his teacher’s kind, patient demeanor and love. Mr. Atkins suggested that this is the goal we should aim for—positive memories for students to come back to when they recall their learning experiences.
Setting big goals along with specific goals along the way will help us to achieve ultimate learning for Jewish students. Every child is capable of learning on an elevated level. And character is malleable. Every person is born with certain dispositions, personality, and general makeup, but each one of us, emphasized Mr. Atkins, has the capacity to change and develop.
The following eight character traits, according to research conducted by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman, are seen as the most vital for a happy and successful life and, said Mr. Atkins, should be incorporated as much as possible into educational systems:
- Zest. Excitement for life is the number one component for a happy existence. A teacher must have charisma in the classroom for students to appreciate what they are being taught. The joy factor experienced on joyous occasions should be felt throughout a child’s learning career. An example of the application of zest in the classroom is shaking each student’s hand as he or she enters the classroom. When a child is greeted individually, he or she will feel excited to learn.
- Grit. Persistence and endurance are vital to a person’s success in this world. This can be promoted in the classroom by encouraging good sportsmanship.
- Humor. Laughter and good humor has been proven time and again to play a huge role in creating excitement for learning. Creating a positive atmosphere in the classroom will encourage good behavior and instigate the student’s desire to stay on top of his or her game.
- Loving-kindness. Students can tell when their teacher likes them or not. The teacher must be a loving, kind individual; one who loves all people, his students in particular. It is critical for administrators to hire kind instructors.
- Hope. Always having good outcomes in mind will foster good behavior and the student’s eagerness to succeed. This can be implemented in the classroom by introducing ideas of a better future and by providing positive reinforcement.
- Self-Control. This is already stressed in the Jewish community and can be practiced in the classroom by the teacher calling attention to a student who refrains from responding to another student’s mean comment.
- Social Intelligence. This means understanding oneself and one’s role in society. Someone with social intelligence knows that people are different and yet they can live harmoniously. Social intelligence can be introduced into the classroom through the student’s learning about each other and about other communities.
- Gratitude. Being grateful for the little things people do makes them feel important and necessary to society. Teachers can show appreciation to students for little things such as coming to class or fulfilling a request.
Following the presentation, Dr. Charlotte Frank, Senior Vice President, Research and Development for McGraw-Hill Education, said that the success in good education “depends on how much we care that our students be proud learners, participants in our community, and uphold the dreams and aspirations of the Torah.”
Many things are being done effectively in the Orthodox Jewish school system. “Taking these lectures,” said Dr. Frank, is one of them. To ultimately succeed, she added, is to “take well-researched methods and use that knowledge to improve the quality of life in Jewish schools.”
Teacher Training Program Begins with a Bang!!
The Menachem Education Foundation (MEF) is at the forefront of upgrading educational standards in the community. Their Teacher Training Program (TTP) under the co-direction of Rabbi Mendy Yusevitch and Rabbi Levi Eisenberg, was created to ensure quality education by providing participants with cutting-edge educational theory and new techniques. To date, the program has graduated over sixty teachers improving Jewish education across the country.
This year, thirteen ambitious participants joined the program to benefit from the professional training program. The course has been updated with a focus on first year teachers of elementary students. These formative years are the foundational stage of child education, and the need for skilled and proficient teachers is vital for the proper development of every child.
The TTP curriculum teaches trainees how to build academic skills, keep students interested, and detect strengths and weaknesses. Engaging workshops begin with teaching the basics - how to prepare, plan, and execute in the classroom. As the course progresses, the teachers are introduced to increasingly advanced methods to enhance classroom efficiency and monitor individual progress. The program places heavy emphasis on student assessments, particularly Data Driven Instruction.
Presentations for the TTP program are given by a wide range of instructors, from pioneers in the educational profession to young teachers who add innovation and creativity to the program. The instructors are carefully chosen to represent a wide spectrum of philosophies and theories, giving the teachers comprehensive exposure to modern education.
Even the best philosophies cannot substitute real life experience. To combine theory with practical application, some TTP students intern daily in actual classroom as part of a newly initiated mentoring track. Following outstanding results in its trial phase, the mentoring track is now a core component of the training workshops. In this program, the trainees acquire experience through working with weaker students who struggle in non-focused classroom environments. The teachers-in-training are guided by specialized mentors from the Jewish New Teacher Project, a partnership which has been successful on many levels. By learning through experience and practical application, our graduates develop the skills and knowledge to achieve full potential in their future classrooms.
Through making proper and pre-planned investment in teacher development there are maximized returns in educational quality. The result is long term and lasting gains throughout the child’s life.
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Founded in 2008, the Menachem Education Foundation is bringing revolutionary change to religious Jewish education by creating and promoting professional educational practices. Through our Teacher Training Program, Principal Leadership Program and Standards & Data Driven Instruction Program, we are inspiring educators to grow, to innovate, to nurture, and to apply the best practices of education to their students,
For more information regarding the Menachem Education Foundation and the programs it offers, please contact Mrs. Mushka Deitsch at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or www.mymef.org
DDI Teachers Awarded Across the USA
Menachem Education Foundation, an non-profit organization founded in 2008 to break the cycle of poverty in underserved communities through professionalizing the structure of education, is honored and excited to announce that following a most successful year of the Data Driven Instruction (DDI) Pilot Program in four schools across the US, The Teacher Award sponsored by Daily Steals will be presented to the select teachers who have devoted countless hours this year to implementing this revolutionary program. The award is being made possible through the incredible generosity of Matt Wiener of Dailysteals.com.
The nationwide DDI Program piloted at the start of this school year in the first grades of Beis Rebbi and Cheder Menachem of Los Angeles, CA, and in the Boys and Girls Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, PA. Inspired by the work of Norman Atkins of the North Star Academy, and following the development of standards by the principals of our Principal Leadership Program in the summer of 2010, a final list of Standards for first grade Chumash was developed by Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum with the help of Dr. Hershel Fried. The program enforces standard and data driven instruction, based on real data from interim assessments given to the students every six weeks.
Wiener’s hopes the teacher awards will serve to acknowledge the efforts of these hard-working teachers and also further the idea of goal-centered education. “This program focuses on standards and working toward educational goals,” says Wiener. He uses his own education as an example of the need for standards and goals in education. “In school, I fell through the cracks,” says Wiener. “I didn’t learn how to learn. Teachers at that time had no way to gage where I was holding.” Wiener acknowledges that although he has come so far, he still feels he lacks skills that a good education should offer. “With this program, we can make sure kids don’t have that issue. They’ll have a better chance at succeeding in school and after it.”
The Teacher Award Presentations will be taking place on June 13th in Los Angeles during the auction program which begins at 8:15pm at The Gilmore Adobe, 6301 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA, and in Pittsburgh on Friday, June 17th, at the Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh. The events are open to the public.
Changing Standards in Education - The Huffington Post
by Kim Silverton, for the Huffington Post
What skills do you expect your child to know by the end of 1st grade? Reading comprehension? Basic spelling? In the world of religious Jewish education, these are relatively new questions.
One organization, the Crown Heights-based Menachem Education Foundation, set out to find answers. The resulting initiative -- the Data Driven Instruction program, which was launched in September and is currently implemented in first and second grades in four Orthodox Jewish schools in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh -- is catching on.
Inspired by Norman Atkins, co-founder and CEO of Teacher U, the Menachem Education Foundation created their Data Driven Instruction program (DDI) which emphasizes student learning. Frequent tests and periodical assessments are used to gather data and ensure students are absorbing the class material. “Why are we focusing on a program for Judaic studies?” asked Rabbi Zalman Shneur, executive director and founder of the Menachem Education Foundation. “The reality is in Orthodox Jewish schools, Judaic studies are the primary focus and so many skills can be utilized from Judaic studies that are crucial to children’s success: critical thinking, analysis, creativity. Also, there are so many organizations to improve general studies, but few for Judaic studies, until now.”
“DDI is not changing what children are being taught, but it is hopefully changing the outcome,” said Rabbi Menachem Greenbaum, principal of Cheder Menachem in Los Angeles where DDI is currently operating. “These skills always existed and teachers always taught them. But before we were focusing on what was being taught as opposed to what was being learned.”
DDI offers oral and written assessment tests every six weeks and data analysis based on those tests. This data gives a lot of insight into how well students are learning, said Greenbaum. Teachers can then see which skills are not being mastered by individual students or the class as a whole.
Prior to the school year, skill standards are created for each grade. According to Chani Altein, first grade teacher at Girls’ Yeshiva School of Pittsburgh, much of these skills were already being taught to her class. But some skills were new. “It never even occurred to me to introduce them because I didn’t think the girls were ready,” Altein said. “But with enough practice and explanation they really got it. It’s nice to see how much can be accomplished with standards.”
DDI allows for different classes to operate at different paces. According to Greenbaum, one of his two first grade classes mastered the material and one needed more time and practice. With individual assessments, teachers can see which students need additional assistance before they move on to the next topic. “One first grader was having a harder time,” he said. “It was brought to light. Chances are without this program, he would go until third or fourth grade without people realizing.”
Based on the assessments and data analysis, teachers create action plans to reteach weak areas, but the data is not limited to each individual school in the program. MEF has formed a network between numerous schools, said Rabbi Yosef Rosenblum, Principal of the Boys’ Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh and Director of DDI. The five teachers participating in the program send Rosenblum data from their school’s assessments which can be used to create future teaching plans.
“When Rabbi Greenbaum told me about it (DDI), it just made so much sense,” said Rabbi Shneur Munitz, first grade teacher at Cheder Menachem. “Before the school year even started, we sat for hours. We mapped out the skills we expect first graders to come out of first grade with. We named them. It was such an eye-opener for me.” All schools using DDI, plan to extend it to their upper grades. Munitz marveled that parents and teachers will soon know exactly where their kids are holding.
“Everybody is benefitting from it – teachers and students,” said Fradel Bukiet, principal of Bais Chaya Mushka School in Los Angeles. Bukiet described the student perspective of DDI’s assessment tests. “Students don’t realize anything is different. They don’t even know it’s a test. It’s for our assessment. Students don’t need any pressure, just a worksheet they do in class. But I benefit because I can see what exactly they’re learning and how well they’re doing.”
“Before DDI, we were lacking a certain amount of focus,” said Rosenblum. “Like a GPS that guides us to our destination. If we don’t have a clear destination, then we don’t assess what children are really learning.” Understanding the need for improvement in Jewish education, Shneur formed a group for men’s educational leadership in New York which included both Rosenblum and Greenbaum. A similar leadership program exists for women both programs are led by the New York City Leadership Academy. The group concluded that Jewish education lacked standards and to create and maintain such standards, data needed to be collected and from this came the idea for DDI.
Other schools are following the educational initiative, Rosenblum said. And they're realizing this is the way to go.
“It’s definitely hard work, but it’s worth it,” said Munitz. “In the end any teacher is in the business not because it’s a business, but so the children can gain the most out of their learning experience.”
Women Educators Gather in Chicago
Just a few days ago, on a warm spring Monday morning, 10 participants of Menachem Education Foundation’s Women’s Leadership Program piled into a van that took them to the magnificent Walder Education Pavillion of Skokie Illinois.
This is the fourth set of sessions for the eleven women educators from across the United States, and they have met thus far in different location across New York City and Florida, before meeting in the suburb of Chicago.
The participants were lucky to gather in the Walder Education Pavillion, a space dedicated to helping teachers, made these sessions so unique, as participant Chana Goldberg, of Cheder Chabad of Morristown expressed, “Having the sessions in a place like the Walder Pavilion, where education comes alive and the appreciation for education is so evident, added an extra dimension to our learning.”
The Chicago sessions focused on four major areas: Assessment, Instructional Rounds, Professional Development, and Leadership Vision.
Participants took a “deep dive” into assessment by exploring their beliefs about assessment, reflecting on the assessment practices in their schools, practicing creating sample standards-based assessments to meet the needs of different types of learners, and identifying some next steps for future work around assessment in their schools.
Participants deepened their understanding of the Instructional Rounds process by refining essential questions to serve as a lens for observation. Then they participated in an extended debrief to become more familiar with a process for unpacking their observations, making predictions about student learning, and identifying next steps for instructional improvement. Participants explored the idea that one of the roles of the principal is leader of professional development for staff, and identified the challenges and the opportunities within that role. Finally, participants reflected on their vision as a leader and how they will engage their staff in that vision in service of student learning.
The participants will gather for a few more sessions before the close of the yearlong program, led and developed by the NYC Leadership Academy, under the Menachem Education Foundation.
For more information regarding other programs and services by MEF, please check out mymef.org or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Women's Leadership Program Launched!
Our Principal Leadership Program is a one-year program for men and women principals of Jewish schools, which provides training in transformational and instructional skills. The training and coaching is given by the NYC Leadership Academy. Until this year, the program was only available to male educators, and a generous grant by an anonymous donor made it possible to gather top female educators from across the states to commence this exceptional program.
In this first session we provided an overview of the Leadership Academy’s pedagogical approach to our leadership development work and an overall frame for the year’s workshop series’ content.
During this first session, the school leaders explored a number of key concepts that they will revisit throughout the series this year. Participants explored their experiences with effective and ineffective leaders, examined the Leadership Academy’s leadership dimensions and reflected on their own leadership strengths and challenges. The women reflected on their visions for their schools and examined their schools’ current performance. They analyzed the gap between their schools’ current and desired states in order to identify areas on which they might focus for improvement. Participants went on to examine the opportunities and challenges that data provide schools. They considered the ways in which data are currently used in their schools and explored how data can support their school improvement efforts. Finally, the educators examined their teaching staffs in order to develop differentiated approaches to supporting and developing them. They also explored strategies for having difficult but effective conversations with staff about performances issues.
The session ended with a conversation about the coaching aspect of this program in which the NYC Leadership Academy shared their approach to coaching and learned more about the participants’ needs and expectations for their relationship this coming year. Throughout the two days, the educators were actively engaged in leadership development activities, applying the concepts to their own particular school context. They drew on the knowledge of their colleagues in the room, used one another as thought partners as they explored challenges in their schools and practiced strategies that they can apply in their day-to-day work.
Menachem Education Foundation looks forward to this year as they join their educators in effecting improvement and change in our educational system.
Mendy Yusewitz to Head Teacher Training Program
The Menachem Education Foundation is pleased to announce that Rabbi Mendy Yusevitch will be heading this year’s Teacher Training Program. Rabbi Yusevitch, himself a graduate of the program, brings three years of experience in both teaching and curriculum development. He is set to take the program to even greater heights.
Drawing on the success of the recent lectures, Rabbi Yusevitch assembled an all-star lineup of instructors and mentors to lead the program. “This year the program will be results-oriented – every minute of instruction will be structured to lead directly to improving teaching practice,” explained Rabbi Yusevitch, Director of the Teacher Training Program.
The program will meet twice a week over the course of the year at Ahavas Chesed, located at 271 Kingston Avenue, in Brooklyn, New York. “This year’s classes will be shorter and more focused than in previous years, and we are confident that these changes will lift the impact of our program,” said Rabbi Shlomo Kleinman, Program Director at The Menachem Foundation. “I am very excited about the facelift that the program is undergoing; it will effect real improvements on Chabad classrooms across North America!”
The instructors slated to teach in this year’s program include:
Rabbi Mechel Rotenberg, Principal of Adas Yeraim Vien
Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, Principal of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh
Rabbi Avigdor Spitzer, Director of Uvocharto Bachaim
The program is scheduled to begin on Monday, the 8th of Kislev, November 15, 2010.
New Program to Support New Jewish Teachers Launched: The Jewish New Teacher Project
It is no secret that new teachers are commonly faced by a myriad of challenges and obstacles that stand in the way of success for students, teachers and schools. The many challenges are compounded by a sense of isolation and loneliness that many new teachers experience during the toughest years of their career cycle.
The Menachem Education Foundation has recently taken a giant step to rectify this problem by partnering with the Jewish New Teacher Project to provide coaching to graduates of its Teacher Training Program who go on to begin their teaching careers.
The data-driven program pairs up new teachers with an experienced teacher/mentor who observes and mentors the new teacher for at least 1.5 hours weekly.
The Jewish New Teacher Project is funded by Jim Joseph Foundation, Avichai Foundation and the UJA Federation of New York.
“This is something very close to my heart,” says Rabbi Zalman Shneur, Executive Director of the Menachem Foundation. “We were sending guys out to become new teachers and many complained that they felt isolated when on the job. I am extremely impressed with the Jewish New Teacher Project and I am confident that they will support our graduates properly.”
This partnership is currently underway as a pilot project at the Cheder Chabad of Monsey, one of the fastest growing Chabad schools. So far the program has been successful in helping new teachers face their day-to-day struggles.
“This project is bringing a new energy into our school! It provides new teachers the ability of reflecting honestly in a non threatening environment,” remarks Rabbi Avrohom Wowlowik, principal of the Cheder Chabad of Monsey. “The focus on supporting new teachers is crucial for the future of the Cheder and the success of the children in our classrooms.”
This project was made possible through the generous support of the U’Foratzto Foundation.