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On Board: The Consultant Is In

Caroline Rosen (M.Ed. '89, M.A. '87) takes a big-picture view of the individual student.
Caroline Rosen (M.Ed. '89, M.A. '87) takes a big-picture view of the individual student.
Spotlighting the work of TC’s dedicated Trustees

Caroline Rosen (M.Ed. ’89, M.A. ’87) takes a big-picture view of the individual student

Caroline Rosen attended New York City’s prestigious Nightingale-Bamford School and later taught 10th grade, directed student evaluation, served as assistant middle school head and, when her daughter attended, led the Parent Association. She also earned two psychological counseling degrees at Teachers College, learning from Ann Boehm and Jeannette Fleischner about the use and interpretation of sophisticated testing instruments such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scales. Concurrently, she worked with a school psychologist who consulted at four New York City private schools.

Several years ago, Rosen combined that experi­ence to co-found Your Child in Focus, a consulting firm that looks at test results and neuropsychological assess­ments as a part of a comprehensive way to help New York City parents find the right independent schools for their children.

“The pressure on parents today to help children succeed and excel is exorbitant, sometimes overshad­owing their ability to choose the best environment for their child,” she says. “I feel lucky that, with my back­ground from TC, I can help put this in perspective.”

Now Rosen is joining TC’s board because “I’m interested in also looking at the bigger picture — at education as a whole, including public schools.” Student evaluation, for example, is front and center in the na­tional education debate — something Rosen has mixed feelings about.

“We should hold schools to standards, but tests of­fer only a snapshot of a child. My TC professors asked about aspects of success that cannot be measured in a test — creativity, motivation, ability to generate ideas.”

Meanwhile, TC’s psychology faculty are collaborating in new and powerful ways, while key hubs such as the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership, the Dean Hope Center for Educational and Psychological Services and the Teachers College Community School dovetail with Rosen’s strengths.

As Rosen herself might say if she were wearing her evaluative hat: Sounds like a good fit. — JOE LEVINE

Published Wednesday, Nov 30, 2016