RG10 Subgroup 12: Selma Sapir papers

Selma Sapir received a B.S. in education from New York University (1935), an M.A. in psychology from Sarah Lawrence College (1956), and a doctorate in applied clinical psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University (1962). Sapir’s background in psychology and early childhood education facilitated her work with learning disabled children and their families, which led to the founding of the Learning Disability Laboratory, or Learning Lab, at Bank Street College.

The Learning Lab was a “child service demonstration center and interdisciplinary training project” that provided Bank Street College graduate students with hands on, practical experience working with learning disabled children from New York City’s public schools. In addition to graduate students, the center conducted workshops for pediatricians, teachers, psychiatrists, psychologists, speech and language therapists, disability therapists, and other individuals involved in early childhood development. Once a week, students from area schools would come to Bank Street for one to two hours for individual attention and education, subsequently both the graduate student and the child were evaluated through workshops and group meetings by watching videotapes of individual sessions.

Dr. Sapir’s achievements include multiple publications and the development of four tests: Sapir Dimension of Learning, Sapir Learning Lab Language Scale, Sapir Self-Concept Scale, and the Sapir Developmental Scale. Sapir worked as a delegate for the International Council of Psychiatrists to the United Nations, prompting her research into the relationship between the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations.