Dr. Michael Curran

Dr. Michael Curran, associate professor of teacher education, is a visionary when it comes to enhancing the training of teachers at the middle school level.

Curran has traveled the country addressing a wide variety of issues, but his primary interest is in reforming middle school education -- a highly transitory period in young adolescent development. It began in 2002 when he gave a keynote address to middle school administrators at the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Convention in Atlanta.

“Following my presentation, I was asked to become involved with middle level reform,” said Curran, who served as interim assistant commissioner for vocational education in New Jersey prior to his faculty appointment at Rider. “The association took my suggestions seriously. I have a passion for leadership, whether in business or education, and have followed a path providing seminars for educational leaders on leadership.”

NASSP, the national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals and aspiring school leaders, provides members with professional resources. One of the major initiatives that Curran helped to formulate is its new program, “Breaking Ranks in the Middle (BRIM): Strategies for Leading Middle Level Reform.”

Curran worked toward the development of a BRIM field site at Fisher Middle School in Ewing. Coordinating the sophomore level program there are Nancy Chodoroff, a teacher at G.J. Fisher Middle School and chair of the Rider education advisory committee, and Joan Villano, the librarian. Chodoroff was recently named as the only teacher on a 12-member task force on Middle Level Leadership and serves as an adjunct in Rider’s teacher education department.

“We have begun to train administrators from around the nation on strategies to improve teaching techniques and student achievement,” said Curran, who became a nationally certified trainer for the BRIM program this past summer. “There have been two training sessions so far. The program is so comprehensive that it enables administrators to completely reform their middle level thrust over a year or two.

“The aim is to train all middle level administrators within a five-year time frame using the methods in the 2006 BRIM training guide. This helps to start the conversation for change.”

Curran is currently preparing a journal article for the NASSP in their juried research document, “NASSP Bulletin.” He will also co-author an article for an upcoming issue of NASSP’s magazine, “Principal Leadership.” The article will feature undergraduates who are the first class in the nation to be trained on the new reform methods.

“Since I am a product of Rider, I am pleased to be at the forefront of this movement,” said Curran BS ’71, MA ’74 (business education). “After my high school teaching career and my service to the New Jersey Department of Education, I came back to Rider to prepare teachers. With my exposure to other states and other institutions, I believe we have one of the finest teacher training programs available.”

 

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