Arthur Levine, Leader in Education Reform, to Step Down as Head of Teachers College
Arthur Levine, the longtime president of Columbia University's Teachers College, announced on Wednesday that he would step down next July in order to focus on a project to overhaul education schools nationwide.
Mr. Levine, who has led the college since 1994 and is a former president of Bradford College, will keep the title of professor of education and will return to Teachers College in the fall of 2007.
The average tenure of college presidents nowadays is under seven years, Mr. Levine told The Chronicle. By the 10th year, he said, they should leave. "They use up too many chips," he said. "They've done all they're going to do."
Last March, Mr. Levine released the first report in a four-part series on the state of education schools in the United States. The scathing report said that university programs that prepare people for leadership posts in elementary and secondary education suffer from low admission standards, weak faculties, and inappropriate degrees.
This article, written by Jennifer Jacobson, appeared in the September 15th, 2005 publication of The Chronicle.
Published Monday, Oct. 3, 2005