Robert Irwin Sperber Papers

Robert Irwin Sperber was born on June 15, 1929, to Jacob and Alice Schwartz Sperber in New York. He received his B.A. in History from Western Reserve University in 1951, followed by his Masters of Arts in Childhood Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and his Education Doctorate in General Administration from the same university in 1957. Sperber married Edith Winter, a kindergarten teacher, in 1958. They had three children: Matthew, Laurence, and Beth. Edith died in 2012.

Dr. Sperber began his career in education in 1952. In that year, and again from 1954-1956, Sperber taught third, fifth, and eighth grade in Levittown, New York, as well as served as a consultant for foundations and universities, focusing on moral education, school health, teacher education, collaboration, personnel, and community relations. From 1956-1961, Sperber was the Administrative Assistant for the Superintendent of Schools in Plainview, New York, and Westfield, New Jersey.

In 1961, Sperber and his family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when he accepted the job of Assistant Superintendent of Personnel for the school system. While in this position, Sperber was responsible for recruiting new teachers. In the midst of the Civil Rights movement in the United States, Sperber desegregated the teaching staff of the Pittsburgh school system under a “conscious preferment” policy to increase the number of African-American teachers in the schools. The community was divided over the decision of the school board, with some community members applauding the school system’s efforts, while others were hostile to the policy. Sperber received a number of letters, both positive and negative, as well as anti-Semitic and hate propaganda, in response to his policy.

In 1964, Sperber accepted the position of Superintendent of Schools for Brookline, Massachusetts. In this role, he hired personnel, created programs, implemented curriculum, and equalized educational opportunities so children from the less affluent schools received the same level of education and resources as those from schools with more resources. More funds were put into instruction and staffing at schools with fewer resources.

Beginning in 1964, Sperber met with various community members in a collaboration that ultimately resulted in the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) inter-district busing program. METCO provided the opportunity for students in Boston to attend suburban school systems.

Sperber also founded the Brookline Early Education Project (BEEP) in 1975, which provided educational, social and medical services to pregnant women. One-third of the 285 families recruited for the project were from the Heath Bromley Housing Project. When these children turned five years old, they were enrolled in Brookline Public Schools through the METCO program. BEEP was heavily evaluated; children were tested in Kindergarten, and second grade and again 25 years later. All studies indicated that early intervention and high quality services made significant impacts on a child’s academic success.

Also during 1975, in a culmination of meetings and collaborations with Margot Strom and William Parsons, the resource book “Facing History and Ourselves” was published by Strom and Parsons. The resource guide provided lesson plans and resources for teachers interested in educating their students about the Holocaust. The goal of the collaboration was to create and organization that would work with teachers on developing curricula about the Holocaust. Sperber served on the Board for many years, assisting Strom and Parsons with fundraising and helping build the organization.

While at Brookline, Sperber was also a statewide coordinator for Vote No on Prop 2 ½, which in 1980 was passed by ballot measure and went into law in 1982. Prop 2 ½ limits property tax increases in Massachusetts by 2.5%.

Sperber also taught courses in administration at Harvard University Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the International Education Seminar Programs in conjunction with the HGSE, during his tenure as Superintendent in Brookline.

In 1982, Sperber retired as Superintendent and began his twenty-year career at Boston University (BU), first as a Special Assistant for Urban Education to President John Silber, and later as a professor of Urban Education. While at BU, Sperber served as co-director of the Boston Leadership Academy (BLA), a project that helped train Boston school personnel in leadership and management roles. In addition, he represented Boston University on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Pre-Engineering Program (MassPEP); supervised the Boston High School Scholars Program, a program that provides four-year scholarships for Boston high school graduates to attend BU; and was a member of the management team for the BU/Chelsea Project, coordinating field work training for students, fundraising, teaching, planning for new school buildings, and hiring new administrators for the Chelsea Public School. He retired from BU in 2002.

In addition to his work at BU, Sperber was also the Executive Director of the Boston Higher Education Partnership (BHEP) from 1982 to 1998. A consortium of 28 colleges and universities, BHEP sought to improve the Boston Public Schools through providing grants and scholarships, and collaborating on efforts with a variety of public school committees, the Private Industry Council Education Committee, the Higher Education Information Center Advisory Committee, the ACCESS Advisory and Trustee committees, and the Compact Work Group. The Compact Work Group, which developed out of the Boston Compact, was charged with implementing the Compact’s goals to ultimately increase access to high performing schools.

On October 17, 1998, the Brookline Education Center was renamed the Robert I. Sperber Curriculum Center. The Brookline Foundation also established an award in Sperber’s name, the Robert I. Sperber Fund for Educational Leadership, to be awarded annually to a member of administrative personnel.

June 15, 1929

Robert Irwin Sperber born to Jacob and Alice Schwartz Sperber.

1951

Receives a B.A. from Western Reserve University.

1952

Receives an M.A.in Early Childhood Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and works as an eighth grade teacher in Levittown, New York.

1952-1954

Serves in the United States Army.

1954-1956

Returns to teaching grade school in Levittown.

1957

Receives Ed.D in General Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University.

1956-1959

Administrative Assistant and intern in Westfield, New Jersey.

1958

Marries Edith Winter.

1959-1961

Administrative Assistant, Plainview New York.

1960

Lecturer, School of Education at New York University

1961-1964

Assistant Superintendent of Schools for Personnel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lecturer, Carnegie Institute of Technology.

1964-1981

Superintendent of Brookline Public Schools.

1965-1966

Vice Chairman, Southern Division Schools, United Fund.

1965-1970

Member, Commission on Jewish Education of Reform Judaism.

1966-

Chairman, Professional Advisory Board of METCO.

1966-1969

Member, Board of Trustees, New School for Children, Roxbury, Massachusetts.

1966-1970

Member, Committee for Community Educational Development.

1967

Founder and Member, Education Collaborative of Greater Boston (October). Member, Teacher Certification and Preparation Study Commission of Massachusetts Advisory Council on Education.

1968

Member and Secretary, Education Development Commission, Massachusetts State Department of Education.

1969-1971

Lecturer, Administrative Institute: “Issues and Challenges for Public Education and the School Administrator”- State College at Westfield, MA.

1970

Member of the Massachusetts Advisory Council on Education, Committee on Early Education. Member, Task Force on Training of the Governor’s Commission on Elderly Affairs.

1971-1972

Lecturer, Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

1982-2002

Special Assistant to the President, Boston University.

1982-1998

Executive Director, Boston Higher Education Partnership.

1983

Member, Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education.

1983-1993

Coordinator, Boston High School Scholars Program at Boston University.

1983-2004

Co-Founder and Member ACCESS Board of Trustees and Advisory Committee.

1984-1985

Chair, Boston University Planning Committee for Boston Latin School 350th Anniversary.

1984-1990

Member, Fenway Retention Consortium.

1985-1986

Member, Boston Public Schools Dropout Prevention Committee.

1985-1987

Member, Chairman’s Advisory Panel on Holocaust Education of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

1985-1998

Member, Executive Committee for the Higher Education Information Center.

1985-2004

Member, Selection Committee Kahn Career Entry Scholarships, Boston University School for the Arts.

1986-1998

Member, Boston Compact Steering Committee.

1987

Testified before the Boston City Council on Behalf of Boston Higher Education Partnership on the governance of the Boston Public Schools.

1988-2004

Member, Council for Fair School Finance.

1989

Member, School Based Management/Shared Decision Making Steering Committee.

1989-1993

Member, Boston/Chelsea Urban Team.

1989-1996

Member, Management Team Boston University/Chelsea Public Schools Project.

1989-2004

Member, Steering Committee Brookline Civic Association.

1990

Planning Committee for Chapter I Change Institute.

1990-1991

Member, Boston Public Schools Panel on Tracking and Retention.

1990-1992

Member, Board of Overseers Mount Ida College.

1991

Panelist, Kennedy Library Forums, Boston, “The Public’s Responsibility on Public Education.

1991-1993

Teacher/Coordinator, Seminar for Boston University, School of Education, Graduate students serving as administrative interns at Chelsea Public Schools.

1992

Member, Boston Public High School Curriculum Advisory Committee; Chelsea Education Advisory Committee; Education Committee/Black Jewish Encounter.

1993

Member, Boston Public Schools Commission on Excellence and Equity; Harcourt Brace-Initiative for Better Learning Advisory Committee; Harcourt General Fund for Educators.

1994

Speaker, visitors from Tokyo Gakugei At University, Boston University, “The American Education System”; “An Agenda for Urban Education in the Nineties” Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

1995

Member, Steering Committee on School Based Management, Boston Teacher’s Union, and Boston Public Schools; Brookline Development Advisory Board.

1995-1998

Member, Advisory Committee for Boston Public School Center for Leadership Development.

1996-2000

Vice Chair, Critical Friends.

1997

Member, Boston Public Schools Promotion Policy Task Force.

1998

Awardee, Brookline Foundation Award.

1999

Guest Presenter, Boston University School of Education, “The History of the American Superintendency.”

1999-2003

Chairman, Massachusetts Pre-Engineering Program (MassPEP).

2000

Guest Presenter, Boston University School of Education, “BU-Chelsea Partnership: Its History and Implications”; Harvard University Graduate School of Education, “The Boston Higher Education Partnership: History, Accomplishments, Evaluation.”

2003

Member, Search Committee to select a new president for Roxbury Community College.