Darling-Hammond Backs Out of Job

A graph of the Harvard School of Education's well-being over the past two years would rise and fall like a yo-yo.

The first low point came in early 1991 when Dean Patricia A. Graham, who brought innovative programs and tenured faculty over her nine-year stint, announced that she would leave the University to head the Chicago-based Spenser Foundation.

The school was buoyed by the fall announcement that Associate Dean Catherine E. Snow would serve as acting dean. But the morale dipped again as the dean search dragged on longer than anyone had predicted, with several can didates withdrawing themselves from consideration.

And when Columbia Teacher's College Professor Linda Darling-Hammond enters the picture, the fluctuations get sharper and closer together. High: Darling-Hammond, a respected national leader in public school restructuring, look to be a leading candidate. Low: she takes herself from the running in January. High: she reconsiders, accepts, and in May isgreeted into the University inner circle withtypical Harvard fanfare.

The Ed School is back on a downswing now thatDarling-Hammond has re-reconsidered and withdrawnher acceptance. And for a school with a smallendowment, a dearth of wealthy alumni andperpetual financial troubles, the ups and downsmay be lasting too long.

"It's not good for the school, obviously," saysLarsen professor of Education and HumanDevelopment Robert A. Levine. "We haven't had apermanent dean for this past year, and that meansthat is continuing."

In fact, Ed School faculty members predict thatRudenstine will find a permanent dean as quicklyas he can. Rudenstine informed Ed School facultyof Darling-Hammond's decision at a meeting on June17, and told them he was reopening the search assoon as that day, says Professor of Education KurtW. Fischer.

Faculty members say a new dean is needed soon."All things equal, probably having someone inplace in early fall would be a big plus," saysProfessor of Education Richard J. Light.

The time constraints, many faculty membersspeculate, make Rudenstine more likely to choosean internal candidate for the deanship. Snow,professor of Education and Urban Studies CharlesV. Willie and former academic dean Jerome T.Murphy were rumored to be top candidates in theoriginal search.

After a year at Harvard, Rudenstine "probablyhas come to know some of the internal candidatesbetter," making an internal transition morerelaxed and natural, Light says.

"I know that Neil Rudenstine was veryenthusiastic about several internal candidateswhen he was doing the original search," he said.

The Ed School's lack of leadership stillworries some faculty members, who hopedDarling-Hammond would move the school forward.

'Matter of Concern,"

"Its a terrific disppointment for us, and it'sa matter of concern," Levine says. "We werelooking forward to what we felt was going to befine leadership."

But Light says Graham left the Ed School on astrong enough foothold to withstand thedean-related turmoil. Citing enthusiasm among thefaculty and a financial situation that hasstabilized, Light says that in his 25 years hers,the Ed School is the strongest he has seen it.

"That's in a way the most important thing--thattranscends who in particular in the dean nextweek," Light says.

Chair of the Institute for Education Arthur E.Levine says Ed School faculty members willpersevere through these lows. "I didn't see anyonerunning through the halls wringing their hands andsaying oh, what's going to become of us," he says

The Ed School is back on a downswing now thatDarling-Hammond has re-reconsidered and withdrawnher acceptance. And for a school with a smallendowment, a dearth of wealthy alumni andperpetual financial troubles, the ups and downsmay be lasting too long.

"It's not good for the school, obviously," saysLarsen professor of Education and HumanDevelopment Robert A. Levine. "We haven't had apermanent dean for this past year, and that meansthat is continuing."

In fact, Ed School faculty members predict thatRudenstine will find a permanent dean as quicklyas he can. Rudenstine informed Ed School facultyof Darling-Hammond's decision at a meeting on June17, and told them he was reopening the search assoon as that day, says Professor of Education KurtW. Fischer.

Faculty members say a new dean is needed soon."All things equal, probably having someone inplace in early fall would be a big plus," saysProfessor of Education Richard J. Light.

The time constraints, many faculty membersspeculate, make Rudenstine more likely to choosean internal candidate for the deanship. Snow,professor of Education and Urban Studies CharlesV. Willie and former academic dean Jerome T.Murphy were rumored to be top candidates in theoriginal search.

After a year at Harvard, Rudenstine "probablyhas come to know some of the internal candidatesbetter," making an internal transition morerelaxed and natural, Light says.

"I know that Neil Rudenstine was veryenthusiastic about several internal candidateswhen he was doing the original search," he said.

The Ed School's lack of leadership stillworries some faculty members, who hopedDarling-Hammond would move the school forward.

'Matter of Concern,"

"Its a terrific disppointment for us, and it'sa matter of concern," Levine says. "We werelooking forward to what we felt was going to befine leadership."

But Light says Graham left the Ed School on astrong enough foothold to withstand thedean-related turmoil. Citing enthusiasm among thefaculty and a financial situation that hasstabilized, Light says that in his 25 years hers,the Ed School is the strongest he has seen it.

"That's in a way the most important thing--thattranscends who in particular in the dean nextweek," Light says.

Chair of the Institute for Education Arthur E.Levine says Ed School faculty members willpersevere through these lows. "I didn't see anyonerunning through the halls wringing their hands andsaying oh, what's going to become of us," he says