ME

David Edelman has been a teacher and instructional coach in NYC public schools for over a decade. David is staffed as a Peer Collaborative Teacher and provides instructional coaching, mentoring and professional learning to colleagues, in addition to teaching Social Studies. David’s classroom serves as a learning lab and demonstration classroom to foster school wide collaboration.

David works at Union Square Academy for Health Sciences a new, small, public high school in NY, NY. David’s grandmother went to school in this building and graduated in 1932, when it was an all girls technical high school. He has spent hours sifting through old records wrapped in butcher paper and twine unsuccessfully trying to locate her transcript. David likes to start off the school year by taking students on an in school field trip to analyze the various murals that can be found around the building. David is currently working with retired NYC teacher and collector Marty Raskin to develop a Museum for Public Schools to preserve and celebrate America's history of teaching and learning.

David graduated from The University of Michigan with a BA in Economics, received his Masters in Education from Hofstra University and obtained School Building Leadership certification through LEAP, the NYC DOE’s internal School Leadership Program.

​It was David’s service in AmeriCorps NCCC, a yearlong national community service that solidified David’s desire to follow in his mother’s footsteps and become a public school teacher in NYC. During 2005, David helped build houses with future homeowners with Habitat For Humanity in Miami, FL, helped run an Easter Seals respite camp for children with special needs in Des Moines, IA, organized and taught summer youth programs for refugees from East Africa in Minneapolis, MN and taught civic engagement with Learn & Serve to students across Colorado in an educational theater troupe. You can learn more about David’s experiences in AmeriCorps NCCC in the TRAVEL section which inspired his blog.

On February 27, 2007, David was invited by Representative Carolyn McCarthy, to testify before Congress to the merits of AmeriCorps service and advocate for H.R. 2857, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Service Act, or the GIVE Act, a bill to reauthorize funding which passed and was signed into law.

In 2019, David was honored with the Alfred P Sloan Foundation’s Teaching Champion Award for Economics Education. The award was presented to him by one of his students, making the the experience incredibly meaningful. See the image below to learn more about David’s approach to teaching Economics with a focus on personal finance and financial literacy below.

Additionally, David was recognized as Teacher of The Year by Union Square Academy For Health Sciences staff for his work elevating student voice and project based learning

David was acknowledged by The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence in 2020 for inspiring learning through creativity, passion, and commitment. 

In 2021, David’s lesson on How has The Supreme Court interpreted The Bill of Rights as it applies to schools and students was selected by a panel of judges as Constituting America’s as lesson plan o their lesson plan of the year.

David likes to write Op-Ed’s on education, develop social studies and educational leadership curriculum, travel and learn about tea, street art and wild edible plants. You can learn more about David's thoughts on education policy and pedagogy by reading his articles below.

MY
​SCHOOL

Almost all Union Square Academy for Health Sciences students will be first in their family to attend college. David’s students take classes in either dentistry or pharmacy in addition to receiving a standard liberal arts education. All students have paid internships their senior year and take a certification exam to become a dental or pharmacy technician. All students have mentors assigned to them who expose students to their careers and options after high school.

​MY
​THOUGHTS

My student Raul Baez and I are interviewed on this episode of the Ethical Schools Podcast

My journey as an educator and my students’ activism is discussed in the chapter titled: Waves of Activism. Click the cover above to read this excerpt.

Budget Challenge: Teacher Spotlight:
https://www.budgetchallenge.com/blog/teacher-spotlight-david-edelman

Hear from my student Brisa and I, as well as other educators and students across New York State during Columbia’s Teachers College’s Igniting Youth Civic Action: Making a Difference In and Out of School forum

​MY
​WRITING

Equity in Education Starts with Student Voice
https://medium.com/hope-street-group/equity-in-schools-starts-with-student-voice-5b61694c2df
​
Fearless Teaching & Learning
https://medium.com/hope-street-group/fearless-teaching-learning-8c35502ac8b1

Good Guidelines Can Foster Growth: A Teacher’s Perspective on ED Teacher Prep Regulations
https://dataqualitycampaign.org/good-guidelines-can-foster-growth-teachers-perspective-ed-teacher-prep-regulations/

Teacher Evaluation That Goes Beyond Check Boxes
https://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25919971&bcid=25919971&rssid=25919961&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Ftm%2F%3Fuuid%3DBB143998-1E9E-11E6-BCC6-8E99B3743667

All Teachers Are “Developing”
https://medium.com/@David.Edelman/all-teachers-are-developing-7f59171f798b​

Teachers Talk Back: David Edelman
https://e4e.org/blog-news/blog/teachers-talk-back-david-edelman

​Perhaps this is the type of global education you want students to be engaged in, but don’t know where to start? 

I am happy to share that my students’ activism and others like them across the country have been developed into an online curriculum to help other educators interested in this work. The U.S. Department of State has launched Solving Global Problems a free, self-paced online course, funded by the U.S government and developed administered by IREX, to help educators prepare to ignite students’ critical thinking and creativity through a focus on tackling global problems.