Sam Chaltain

Sam Chaltain is an educator and First Amendment activist. He is the National Director of the Forum for Education and Democracy -- a DC-based education think tank -- and the founding director of the Five Freedoms Project, a national organization that equips local educators with the leadership development, coaching and support they need to address two of America’s greatest challenges – improving the performance of our public schools, and strengthening the quality of our civic discourse.

In addition to his work with the Forum and the Five Freedoms Project, Chaltain works with individual U.S. schools and school districts providing professional development and consulting on issues ranging from First Amendment law to whole-school change.

Education and work history

Before founding the Five Freedoms Project, Sam spent five years at the First Amendment Center as the co-director of the First Amendment Schools program, a national K-12 reform initiative. Chaltain came to the Center from the public school system of New York City, where he taught high school English and History. He also spent four years teaching the same subjects at a private school in Brooklyn.

Sam’s first teaching experience was in Beijing, China, where he joined the faculty of the Foreign Languages department at Beijing Normal University as a visiting lecturer. He taught two American History & Literature courses to third-year undergraduates.

Chaltain’s writings about his work have appeared in both magazines and newspapers, including "Education Week" and "USA Today". He is also the author of two books: "The First Amendment in Schools" (ASCD, 2003), and "First Freedoms: A Documentary History of First Amendment Rights in America" (Oxford University Press, 2006). His next books are "Degrees of Freedom: A 21st Century Handbook for School Leadership" (Cafe Press, 2008), and, with Ron Collins, "We Must Not Be Afraid to be Free" (Oxford, 2009).

Chaltain developed teaching tools for Channel One's '1 Voice' Campaign, a three-year program started in 2007, funded by a $2.25 million grant from the Knight Foundation. [cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011700881_pf.html|title=Rights Campaign Kicks Off|date=January 18, 2007|author=Jillian S. Jarrett|publisher=Washington Post]

elected publications

Articles

*" [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/9826447.html Balancing Freedom and the Greater Good] " (September 17, 2007) "Philadelphia Inquirer"
*" [http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/10/25/09chaltain.h26.html?qs=chaltain To Make Schools Safe, Make All Children Visible] " (October 25, 2006) "Education Week"
*" [http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/pdf_files/Chaltain.PDF Does the First Amendment Have a Future?] " (April 2005) "Social Education"
*" [http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2005-03-29-redlake-shooting_x.htm Red Lake Shooting: No More Quick Fixes] " (March 30, 2005) "USA Today"
*" [http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/pdf_files/SchoolAdministrator.pdf Laboratories of Democracy] " (May 2004) "School Administrator"
*" [http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/pdf_files/social_ed.pdf Lessons in Liberty] " (October 2003) "Social Education"
*" [http://www.tolerance.org/teach/magazine/features.jsp?p=0&is=27&ar=288 Is Freedom Safe?] " (Spring 2002) "Teaching Tolerance"

=Books =
*"", Oxford University Press 2006
*"", ASCD 2003

References

External links

* [http://fivefreedoms.org Five Freedoms Project]