- CEJ, working with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the Middle School Task Force, won a middle grades reform package that includes $5 million for measures to improve 50 low-performing middle grade schools, free professional development courses for staff at these schools, the appointment of a Director of Middle School Initiatives and a commitment to put Regents classes in all middle grade schools by 2010. Follow this link to read the entire report of the Middle School Task Force.
- The Brooklyn Education Collaborative, composed of CEJ groups in Brooklyn, secured a commitment of $444 million from the NYC Department of Education to build science labs in every middle and high school by 2010.
- The Community Collaborative to Improve Bronx Schools, composed of CEJ groups in the Bronx, created the Lead Teacher Program, which puts master teachers in low-performing schools to support the development of other teachers. The program begin in District 9 in the South Bronx in 2004 and has since expanded to include more than 100 schools citywide.
What We Want
The NYC Department of Education must guarantee a challenging and varied curriculum, with intensive support, to all students in all low-performing middle grade schools through:
- College preparatory curriculum with more high quality instructional time.
- Middle Grade Professional Development Academy that trains and supports a superior middle grade staff specialized in the challenges and needs of adolescents.
- Incentives to attract the most effective and experienced middle grade teachers to the lowest performing schools.
- Middle Grade Student Success Centers that provide strong social and emotional supports coordinated under one roof.
- Deputy Chancellor for Middle Grades who is accountable for the improvement of middle grade schools.
Target schools must redesign and significantly extend the school day, hire teachers on a voluntary basis to work extra hours for additional pay, reduce the number of students per teacher, and add arts, physical education, Regents-level Math and Science courses, and small group help for struggling students.
Provide stronger mentoring for principals and teachers, and more training for all school staff on adolescent development and learning.
Offer salary bonuses to teach in low-performing schools as well as a lighter teaching load, smaller classes and additional planning and professional development time.
Increase the number of school counselors, including a dedicated high school and college counselor, and coordinate support services in one location to better meet student needs.