The program in childhood education prepares teachers of children in first through sixth grade for initial and/or professional certification in liberal arts, bilingual education, science and environmental education, and mathematics. Through collaborative action, teaching and research, we develop our students' capacities to create socially just, intellectually vital, aesthetically rich, and compassionate communities that value equity and excellence, access and rigor. We design our programs in cooperation with liberal arts and sciences faculties and in conjunction with local schools in order to provide our students with opportunities to develop the knowledge, proficiencies, and understandings needed to work with New York City's racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse populations. Our program is unique in that our students become highly skilled in content and methodology courses, adept in diversified literacy skills, and have the ability to integrate pragmatic tools of technology, including free and interactive Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Our reflective graduates are astutely aware of the digital divide and the need to use source ware (free software) so no child is left behind in the Information Age, and the need to produce globally competitive students regardless of their socioeconomic status.