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E-Newsletter, September 2008
New at the
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Community Groups Leverage NYC Middle-Grades Reform
The role of the community-based NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) in identifying and proposing solutions to the crisis in NYC’s middle-grades schools was front and center at the NYCDOE’s launch of its Campaign for Middle School Success on August 27. With about 300 middle school principals in attendance, the DOE’s presentation included most of what CEJ has been calling for over the last two years: recognition of the depth and breadth of the middle-grades crisis; recognition of the significant impact of middle-grades education on high school graduation rates; and a comprehensive plan for middle-grades reform with more than $30 million to support its implementation in low-performing middle-grades schools. Support for partnership building and strategic planning from the Annenberg Institute’s Community Organizing and Engagement staff has been instrumental in emergence of CEJ as NYC’s preeminent parent organization working for effective schools in low-income and working-class neighborhoods.
> About the Institute’s support for community-based organizing
> About the Coalition for Educational Justice
Institute Endorses the Community Agenda for America’s Public Schools
Warren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute, will be among the national education leaders participating in the launch of an action plan to ensure that children enter school healthy and ready to learn and leave school ready for postsecondary education and productive lives as community and family members. The plan has been developed by the Coalition for Community Schools and will be unveiled at a media briefing and signing at the Press Club in Washington, DC on September 24. The Community Agenda focuses on the vital need to improve the lives of struggling youth, families, and communities through school/community partnerships that support student outcomes.
> Information on the Community Agenda Meeting [PDF: 1 page]
Youth Find Community Supports Inadequate for Getting into College
A group of North Philadelphia high school students has concluded that the opportunities and supports for postsecondary education in their communities and schools are woefully inadequate. The students were participating in the College Ambassadors action-research project, designed to complement the award-winning documentary First Person which follows six Philadelphia high school students as they try (and fail) to make it to college. In 2007, the project trained nine young Black men to analyze the supports available to college-bound students in their North Philadelphia neighborhoods and schools. Their “report card” gave poor grades in all five areas they investigated. In support of their work, the Annenberg Institute has published Building College Pathways Takes a Village: Findings from the North Philadelphia College Ambassadors Project, which describes the motivation for the project, how the Ambassadors were recruited and trained, and details of their findings and recommendations.
> Download report
> More information about the report
> First Person Web site
Building Cadres of High-Quality Teachers
Teacher quality is the most important school-related factor in student achievement, yet there is widespread concern about the quality of instruction in the nation’s schools. One reason is that the rules and procedures that affect teacher quality are often haphazard. Unlike leading-edge private companies, many school systems have failed to focus on developing human capital. The latest issue of Voices in Urban Education looks at various ways in which school districts and their partners can build a system that attracts and prepares high-quality educators and supports them effectively. Articles in this Human Capital issue are by David Sigler and Marla Ucelli Kashyap; Barnett Berry, Diana Montgomery, Rachel Curtis, Mindy Hernandez, Judy Wurtzel, and Jon D. Snyder; Richard D. Kahlenberg; Thomas Toch and Robert Rothman; and Robin Lee Harris.
> VUE 20 articles, excerpts, resources, author bios
Spotlight on Smart Education Systems: Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative
The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative is a public/private partnership between the state department of education and an intermediary organization that, with the help of community providers, offers academic and enrichment opportunities in an expanded school day to improve student performance and increase engagement. The Annenberg Institute is highlighting on its Website a variety of district and community efforts to build what we call “smart education systems”: systems that bring together schools, families, and communities to develop and coordinate high-quality learning opportunities in all areas of students’ lives. While no school community in the country has completely realized the vision of a smart education system, we are featuring a number of urban communities that have begun to build the essential components.
> Story, video, resources
E-Newsletter, September 2008
New at the
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Community Groups Leverage NYC Middle-Grades Reform The role of the community-based NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) in identifying and proposing solutions to the crisis in NYC’s middle-grades schools was front and center at the NYCDOE’s launch of its Campaign for Middle School Success on August 27. With about 300 middle school principals in attendance, the DOE’s presentation included most of what CEJ has been calling for over the last two years: recognition of the depth and breadth of the middle-grades crisis; recognition of the significant impact of middle-grades education on high school graduation rates; and a comprehensive plan for middle-grades reform with more than $30 million to support its implementation in low-performing middle-grades schools. Support for partnership building and strategic planning from the Annenberg Institute’s Community Organizing and Engagement staff has been instrumental in emergence of CEJ as NYC’s preeminent parent organization working for effective schools in low-income and working-class neighborhoods.
> About the Institute’s support for community-based organizing
> About the Coalition for Educational Justice
Institute Endorses the Community Agenda for America’s Public SchoolsWarren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute, will be among the national education leaders participating in the launch of an action plan to ensure that children enter school healthy and ready to learn and leave school ready for postsecondary education and productive lives as community and family members. The plan has been developed by the Coalition for Community Schools and will be unveiled at a media briefing and signing at the Press Club in Washington, DC on September 24. The Community Agenda focuses on the vital need to improve the lives of struggling youth, families, and communities through school/community partnerships that support student outcomes.
> Information on the Community Agenda Meeting [PDF: 1 page]
Youth Find Community Supports Inadequate for Getting into College A group of North Philadelphia high school students has concluded that the opportunities and supports for postsecondary education in their communities and schools are woefully inadequate. The students were participating in the College Ambassadors action-research project, designed to complement the award-winning documentary First Person which follows six Philadelphia high school students as they try (and fail) to make it to college. In 2007, the project trained nine young Black men to analyze the supports available to college-bound students in their North Philadelphia neighborhoods and schools. Their “report card” gave poor grades in all five areas they investigated. In support of their work, the Annenberg Institute has published Building College Pathways Takes a Village: Findings from the North Philadelphia College Ambassadors Project, which describes the motivation for the project, how the Ambassadors were recruited and trained, and details of their findings and recommendations.
> Download report
> More information about the report
> First Person Web site
Building Cadres of High-Quality Teachers Teacher quality is the most important school-related factor in student achievement, yet there is widespread concern about the quality of instruction in the nation’s schools. One reason is that the rules and procedures that affect teacher quality are often haphazard. Unlike leading-edge private companies, many school systems have failed to focus on developing human capital. The latest issue of Voices in Urban Education looks at various ways in which school districts and their partners can build a system that attracts and prepares high-quality educators and supports them effectively. Articles in this Human Capital issue are by David Sigler and Marla Ucelli Kashyap; Barnett Berry, Diana Montgomery, Rachel Curtis, Mindy Hernandez, Judy Wurtzel, and Jon D. Snyder; Richard D. Kahlenberg; Thomas Toch and Robert Rothman; and Robin Lee Harris.
> VUE 20 articles, excerpts, resources, author bios
Spotlight on Smart Education Systems: Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time InitiativeThe Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative is a public/private partnership between the state department of education and an intermediary organization that, with the help of community providers, offers academic and enrichment opportunities in an expanded school day to improve student performance and increase engagement. The Annenberg Institute is highlighting on its Website a variety of district and community efforts to build what we call “smart education systems”: systems that bring together schools, families, and communities to develop and coordinate high-quality learning opportunities in all areas of students’ lives. While no school community in the country has completely realized the vision of a smart education system, we are featuring a number of urban communities that have begun to build the essential components.
> Story, video, resources
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