Maeroff, Gene I. 1939–

views updated

Maeroff, Gene I. 1939–

(Gene Irving Maeroff)

PERSONAL: Born January 8, 1939, in Cleveland, OH; son of Harry and Charlotte (Szabo) Maeroff; married Marilyn Eve Horowitz, August 26, 1961 (divorced); children: Janine Amanda, Adam Jonathan, Rachel Judith. Education: Ohio University, B.S., 1961; Boston University, M.S., 1962.

ADDRESSES: Office—The Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, Teachers College, Columbia University, 475 Riverside Dr., Interchurch Center, Ste. 650, New York, NY 10115.

CAREER: Writer and editor. Boston University, Boston, MA, teaching fellow, 1961–62; Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, news bureau director, 1962–64; Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, religious editor, 1964–65; Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, member of staff, 1965–69, associate editor, 1969–71; New York Times, New York, NY, education writer, 1971–86, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, NJ, senior fellow, 1986–97; Columbia University, Teachers College, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, New York, NY, director, beginning 1997, then senior fellow; Columbia University, New York, NY, associate in the university seminar on higher education. Ohio University, member of board of directors, 1999–2002; Jewish Family Service Association, trustee; Ed Bang Journalism Scholarship Foundation, trustee; Guild-Times Scholarship Fund, trustee; Principals' Center for the Garden State, trustee; Harvard University, Institute for Educational Management, member of board; U.S. Department of Education, Educational Resources Information Center, member of board; National Center for Postsecondary Governance, member of board.

MEMBER: Blue Key, Omicron Delta Kappa, Kappa Tau Alpha, Phi Sigma Delta.

AWARDS, HONORS: Recipient of writing awards from Education Writers Association, International Reading Association, Press Club of Cleveland, American Association of University Professors, and Associated Press of Ohio; honorary doctoral degrees from Rhode Island College and Adrian College.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

(With others) The Schools and the Press: A Discussion, moderated by Jacques Barzun, Council for Basic Education (Washington, DC), 1974.

(With Leonard Budner) The New York Times Guide to Suburban Public Schools, Quadrangle (New York, NY), 1975.

Don't Blame the Kids: The Trouble with America's Public Schools, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1982.

School and College: Partnerships in Education, foreword by Ernest L. Boyer, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Princeton, NJ), 1983.

The Empowerment of Teachers: Overcoming the Crisis of Confidence, Teachers College Press (New York, NY), 1988.

The School-Smart Parent, Times Books (New York, NY), 1989.

(Editor) Sources of Inspiration: Fifteen Modern Religious Leaders, Sheed & Ward (Kansas City, MO), 1992.

Team Building for School Change: Equipping Teachers for New Roles, Teachers College Press (New York, NY), 1993.

Changing Teaching: The Next Frontier: A New Vision of the Profession, National Foundation for the Improvement of Education (Washington, DC), 1994.

(With Charles E. Glassick and Mary Taylor Huber) Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professoriate, Jossey-Bass (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

Altered Destinies: Making Life Better for Schoolchildren in Need, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor) Imaging Education: The Media and Schools in America, Teachers College Press (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor, with Patrick M. Callan and Michael D. Usdan) The Learning Connection: New Partnerships between Schools and Colleges, Teachers College Press (New York, NY), 2001.

A Classroom of One: How Online Learning Is Changing Schools and Colleges, Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to books, including The Human Encounter: Readings in Education, 1976; Human Dynamics in Psychology and Education, 1977; Social Problems, 1978; Education Reform in the '90s, 1992; and Teachers as Leaders, 1994. Contributor to periodicals, including the New York Times Magazine, New York, Nation, New Republic, Coronet, Saturday Review, and Parade.

SIDELIGHTS: While working as an editor and journalist, Gene I. Maeroff wrote an estimated 1.5 million words on the topic of education for the New York Times. He was later the founding director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, part of Columbia University's Teachers College. Maeroff has written and edited a number of books on education and related topics.

Altered Destinies: Making Life Better for Schoolchildren in Need is Maeroff's proposal for helping the most at risk students in the United States by improving the school system. He believes that such students have needs, like food and counseling, that fall outside the conventional education system, but are essential for their success in school and in life. Maeroff outlines a four-part plan to remedy the situation. A critic in Publishers Weekly commented that the plan "may someday be considered … integral to educational reform."

In A Classroom of One: How Online Learning Is Changing Schools and Colleges, Maeroff explores a trend in education that uses the Internet as a means of bringing classes to students. While noting problems with the online format, the author also believes that online learning has its roots in correspondence courses and distance learning, which have existed for many years. Maeroff also argues that such classes can give new opportunities for education for some students, though online learning will not replace traditional classrooms. Calling the book "the best general work on the subject for educators and administrators," a critic in Publishers Weekly noted: "His broad knowledge and irreverent style make the dense material more than readable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, January, 2003, Terry Christner, review of A Classroom of One: How Online Learning Is Changing Schools and Colleges, p. 130.

Publishers Weekly, January 26, 1998, Altered Destinies: Making Life Better for Schoolchildren in Need, p. 78; December 23, 2002, review of A Classroom of One, p. 53.