Bank Street in the 1980s
Historically, Bank Street has responded to urgent and emerging needs
in education. In 1980, Bank Street saw powerful new information technologies
on the horizon and was concerned about their effect on children's learning.
So the College founded the Center for Children and Technology (CCT), the
first of its kind devoted to research and development exclusively for
children. Center researchers examined the impact of new technologies and
created such models of interactive software as Earth Lab and Project
Inquire to foster children's thinking, problem-solving, and literacy
skills. The Center also found ways to use new technologies to improve
the organization of learning in the classroom and to provide new information
to help with the restructuring of educational goals and methods in the
Information Age.
In 1981, Bank Street was awarded a $2.65 million grant from the U.S.
Department of Education to create a television series, computer software,
and books that would enhance children's interest in and understanding
of science, mathematics, and technology. The resulting materials, known
collectively as The Voyage of the Mimi, established yet another Bank Street
milestone in the history of American education. In 1984, the TV series
– based on a humpback whale research expedition – premiered
on Public Broadcasting System stations across the country. Related computer
software and print materials were published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
The Voyage of the Mimi received high praise, won awards for excellence
in children's television and educational software, and – most important
– is still bringing science alive year after year in classrooms across
the country. Bank Street's Project in Science and Mathematics, which created
the Mimi materials, also got involved in helping schools use the
new materials to their fullest potential through a spinoff project called
MASTTE (Math, Science, and Technology Teacher Education). The great success
of the first Mimi voyage led to The Second Voyage of the Mimi,
which was funded jointly by the U.S. Department of Education and the National
Science Foundation. On this voyage, released in 1988, the Mimi sailed
to the Yucatan to explore Mayan ruins and solve an ancient mystery. The
Second Voyage is also widely used in schools today. Mimi materials
continue to be published by Sunburst Communications, a division of Houghton
Mifflin.
In another spinoff, this from The Second Voyage, CCT staff created
one of the earliest interactive videodiscs. Palenque allowed students
to "walk" through the Mayan ruins at Palenque on the Yucatan peninsula,
to take "photographs" of the site and store them in an "album," and to
call up, on screen, expert archaeologists to answer their questions about
the ruins and about Mayan civilization.
In 1982, the Bank Street Writer, the College's first venture into
computer software, set new industry standards for ease of use. The Writer
was for several years the most widely used word-processing software in
schools across the country and was also a bestseller among adults for
home use. It was followed by other award-winning Bank Street software,
including the Bank Street Filer and Bank Street Wordbench.
In 1984, Bank Street formed the Media Group, which consolidated the longstanding
Publications Division with newer ventures in software development, television,
video products, and records. The Bank Street setting provides unique opportunities
to draw on staff resources and to field-test products with children and
teachers in actual classrooms.
The 1980s also saw the College conducting a series of major research
studies, including The Prekindergarten Policy Study, an analysis and evaluation
of Project Giant Step, New York City's prekindergarten program; The School-Based
Mental Health Study; the national Public School Early Childhood Study;
"Women and Technology: A New Basis for Change"; "Home is Where the Heart
Is," an examination of the plight of homeless preschoolers in New York
City; and "Who is Teaching? Early Childhood Teachers in New York City's
Publicly Funded Programs."
In 1989, Bank Street, as the lead organization in a consortium that included
Harvard and Brown Universities, won a five-year, $5 million award from
the U.S. Department of Education to serve as the national Center for Technology
in Education, its mission being to examine and evaluate the uses of technology
in the classroom and to explore innovative ways to improve education through
the new technologies.
Although CCT left Bank Street after the grant was completed to become
part of the Education Development Center (EDC), we still collaborate on
a number of major projects, with funding from both government and private
sources. In two of those projects, CCT has played an important role in
Bank Street's efforts to integrate technology across the teacher preparation
curriculum.
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