After earning a degree in English from Haverford College and a MAT in English from the University of Chicago, Mr. Springer began a 35-year teaching career at Radnor Middle School in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Early in that tenure Mr. Springer developed and taught interdisciplinary humanities, creative writing, and American Studies courses. In 1980, he represented Pennsylvania in an NEH program for developing American Studies curricula for secondary schools. He also co-directed the school’s gifted program for six years before creating, along with co-teacher Ed Silcox, the award-winning WATERSHED Program, which he taught for twelve years. In 1998, Mr. Springer created the Soundings Program, an integrative and democratic curriculum for eighth graders. He implemented this curriculum until retiring from Radnor in 2010.
The author of many articles and chapters on integrative studies, Mr. Springer has written two books about WATERSHED and another entitled Soundings: A Democratic Student-Centered Education. Mr. Springer regularly presents nationally and internationally on middle level philosophy, integrated curriculum development, Project-based Learning, differentiation, formative and authentic assessment, and active learning strategies for school districts, professional conferences, and middle level institutes, including the Association for Middle Level Education’s Middle Level Leadership Institute. He has served on policy committees for AMLE (formerly NMSA), as a Teacher Trustee on the board, and as a member of the 2010 writing team that revised This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents, AMLE’s landmark position paper. In addition to other honors, Mr. Springer was a 2001 top ten finalist for the National Teachers’ Hall of Fame and received AMLE’s first ever Distinguished Educator Award in 2004.
Mr. Springer now develops integrated project-based curricula and continues to serve as a consultant for schools across the United States and around the world.