To support a Senior Director, Program Implementation who will play a critical role by implementing a new support model for effective team teaching in 10 New York City public schools. The position will operationalize a shared vision for effective co-teaching that can drive better outcomes for secondary students by developing instructional coaches’ and administrators’ expertise, identifying gaps, and helping them to better determine how and where to prioritize and focus their time to enable deeper learning within their respective schools. They train teachers on how to better use data and leverage strong relationships to address their individual students’ specific skill gaps. As they now enter this next phase of Blue Engine’s work, they are helping to ensure that teams of school teachers and other instructional leaders are better prepared to meet the needs of all learners, while also executing upon a multi-year plan to drive their agencies’ impacts more widely and cost-effectively.

To help support a new Academic and Tutoring Coordinator to oversee and manage the organization’s academic resources and tutoring programs for local youths aged 5-18. This new position seeks to address the (pandemic-exacerbated) learning gaps that their youths face. The Coordinator’s main tasks are to: establish a resource library; hire and train tutors and certified teachers; coordinate with school administrators; engage the parents in supporting their children; organize all necessary physical resources including books, tablets, and appropriate learning spaces within the Clubhouses; and conduct assessments and then report upon data and program progress. This position could enable the Club, which has been providing minimal tutoring during the pandemic years, to increase its academic supports to some 250 youth per week at 2 locations in Paterson and Passaic, two of New Jersey’s more socio-economically challenged communities.

For renewed support of the Case Manager of the Middle School Transition Initiative Road Map project who will work with youths aged 11 to 15 and their caregivers to help them to better map their career paths while transitioning from middle school to high school. The Case Manager will provide: one-on-one counseling; workshops; resource materials; and referrals related to the selection of a high school major – and the high schools which offer coursework in that major. Help with the completion of high school applications will also be provided following in-person and virtual visits to high school campuses and high school fairs. The Case Manager will help each youth and their caregivers to develop a long-term plan to map a path from middle school to the beginning of his or her prime working years. Youths and caregivers will better understand the importance of long-term career planning, how to use reference materials to support their planning, and the much-increased lifelong earnings potential, and improved job satisfaction, that may result. BronxWorks is a settlement house whose mission is to improve the economic and social well-being of low-income individuals and families in the Bronx who are most in need.

For support of a second Social Worker, each counseling 200 scholars in grades K-3 and providing resources for supportive services to their families at their elementary school which will grow to serve 500 students in grades K-4 in school year 2024-2025 for a total of 900 K-8 students. CQA’s elementary school program complements their middle school program and prepares their scholars early to be academically competitive and successful. Social-Emotional Learning and culturally informed counseling, which have always been a part of CQA’s program, have become more vital to their scholars’ health and well-being in a post-pandemic world. They expect that the counseling and services the Social Worker will provide to their scholars and families will result in a more positive school experience for them and better social and emotional health, which will ultimately result in academic gains. A key goal for CQA in opening their elementary school was to reach their scholars at the start of their academic experience, not only reducing the amount of remediation necessary by the time they reach middle school, but also preparing them for much more rigorous elementary school coursework. Their mission is to prepare students for eventual success in college, the workforce, and the community through a school that integrates literacy, high standards-based academics, and culturally-responsive supportive services.

For a new Program Manager position to support the expansion of their Teacher Led Programs (“TLP”) through which classroom teachers at under-resourced NYC schools are trained to deliver Code Nation’s web development curriculum, enabling the teachers to better teach the fundamentals of coding, a cutting-edge and high-paying computer skill. In the TLP model, Code Nation provides ongoing, in-person training to classroom teachers who teach their Intro to Web Development curriculum. They provide classroom teachers with a full curriculum including: lesson plans, guided notes, activities, and homework; weekly check-ins with a Code Nation Program Manager; biweekly classroom observations; weekly volunteer support; and field trips to tech companies. A cohort of 6-8 volunteers commit to coming in-person to classrooms on a bimonthly basis. The volunteer experts alternate so that one of them can physically be within the classroom every week to provide feedback and guidance on technical projects, and to better form personal relationships and helpful linkages to members of the tech industry. Code Nation equips students in under-resourced schools with the fundamental coding skills and professional experiences that can together better create interest and access to fine careers in the technology sector.

To provide ongoing support for the Alumni Success Director who oversees all college matriculation and persistence efforts for CIP Alumni, and in close coordination with the Alumni Success Manager and the Alumni Success Operations Associate, better ensures that alumni receive immediate and long-term guidance to support their college persistence and college completion. First-generation college students, as many of their scholars are, often face additional barriers on the road to college completion, and they therefore require robust guidance and support to navigate their way past possible pitfalls. The Alumni Success team will stay in touch with their college students, track their progress, and offer academic, emotional, and financial advising and support. They seek to develop more sustainable alumni support systems, as their alumni pool continues to grow year-by-year. CIP is a rigorous college-preparatory charter school located in Brooklyn’s Coney Island community, and serves over 1,000 students in grades K-12.

For the new Associate Director of Elementary School Literacy who will develop and codify a rigorous, vertically aligned elementary school literacy curriculum, serving a vital role in the implementation of their new Science of Reading curriculum. She will spend the majority of her time writing elementary school literacy curriculum and assessments and giving feedback to school-based team members on literacy units and lesson plans. Additionally, the Associate Director will ensure high quality implementation of the curriculum by observing and modeling literacy lessons in DREAM’s elementary schools and supporting effective intellectual preparation. DREAM Charter School is a Pre-K-12 public charter school network which prepares students for high-performing high schools, colleges and beyond through a rigorous academic program that develops critical thinkers who demonstrate a love of learning, strong character, and a commitment to wellness and active citizenship.

To support the Postsecondary Success Counselor who will work with some 200 postsecondary students in their second through sixth years so as to better ensure their persistence and success within their chosen (college or other) postsecondary programs. These individuals have already matriculated into college or credentialed programs, graduated from their programs, are out of school, or are now working. They will benefit from the Counselor’s personal attention and ability to offer guidance, information, resources, and ongoing encouragements to better ensure their persistence and success in their chosen postsecondary option. EHTP’s mission is to prepare East Harlem students with the academic skills, strength of character, and emotional well-being to excel through high school and postsecondary educational and career options, lead in their communities, and realize their best possible selves.

For continued support of the Associate Director of Teacher Development who assists the Director in the expansion of their Teacher in Residence (“TiR”) program, working directly with 9 of their 14 Newark schools. Adding this position during the past school year allowed the TiR program to serve all 14 Newark schools, better supporting the training, conversion, and retention of their new teachers. The program helps aspiring teachers to get hands-on experience and the certifications that they need to become excellent teachers, fusing theory and practice as they work alongside experienced teachers in the classroom while earning their necessary teaching certifications. The TiR program was expanded this year to include logical extensions of this training and retention strategy, first by including teachers new to KIPP schools, and then by extending the program to developing new teacher leaders. Ensuring that “every classroom has a great teacher” is critical to their achieving consistently high levels of academic performance across their school networks, and to closing the achievement gap.

To support staffing by which to further develop and expand their Postsecondary Advising Model (“PAM”), providing high school counselors with an effective, standardized approach to postsecondary advising by which to better meet the immediate and emerging needs of students as they pursue a college and/or career path. They will implement PAM within 33 schools and serve more than 5,000 junior and senior high school students. PAM’s overall aims are to: support all graduating students to better ensure that they have a clear, and supported, “best-fit” postsecondary transition plan; increase college enrollment and persistence rates across schools; and improve upon current postsecondary outcomes, especially for Black and Latinx males. By developing the capacity of college and career counselors and their postsecondary teams – through coaching, training upon — and ongoing usage of — the New Visions Data Portal (their unique online tool for school management), and group counselor learning sessions, PAM works by creating a six-cycle, standard approach to postsecondary advising that centers each students’ purpose as the key driver for his or her postsecondary success. New Visions for Public Schools serves as a laboratory of innovation within NYC’s public-school reform efforts, creating and refining helpful new approaches to systemic challenges.

To support the continued growth and development of their Crew Initiative to bring their signature Crew model, an effort to build strong cultures of belonging and engagement for students, to 50 public schools across the City. In 2021, they rolled out the Crew Initiative as a pilot program, bringing a proven structure for addressing the social, emotional, and academic needs of students and for catalyzing inclusive, supportive school cultures to over 40 public schools across the City. They have grown the program to reach 20,000 students at 50 schools and they aim to further refine and build capacity to support schools to implement Crew in their classrooms and grow to reach 5,000 more students. NYC Outward Bound Schools transforms schools and changes students’ lives by bringing their unique educational approach to NYC’s young people and their public schools, with a focus upon serving students from historically underserved communities.

For continued support of the Director of Early Learning who provides leadership with regard to rigorous and developmentally appropriate Pre-K-2 instruction, early learning initiatives, and Pre-K-2 extended learning opportunities throughout the Public Preparatory Network. This position is deemed important to their organizational goals as they seek to better ensure that all scholars are reading on grade level (or higher) by the end of the second grade. The Director integrates early literacy and foundational reading, mathematics, social-emotional wellness, and learning to provide a cohesive experience for school leaders and teachers. The Director is a crucial member of the network-wide academic team and ensures that close to 1,000 scholars under the age of eight are on a predictive pathway to and through college. They support a team of early learning coaches who work with teachers to drive strong academic results and build the capacity of teachers who are yet in the beginning stages of their careers. Public Prep supports a network of Pre-K and single-gender elementary and middle charter schools that are located in low-income communities within the South Bronx and the Lower East Side of Manhattan, collectively educating over 2,000 boys and girls.

To support their Educator Support Project Manager who is responsible for strengthening their offerings for their earliest learners and ensuring that their teachers have the resources needed to utilize ReadWorks with fidelity. The science of reading makes clear that early childhood learners need texts where they can repeatedly practice applying their decoding skills from their phonics lessons, which is a gap in the ReadWorks library as well as a current need in the greater marketplace. Using the topics in their Article-A-Day Scope & Sequence, ReadWorks will launch new diverse and rich decodable texts for beginning readers to practice decoding while also building knowledge in a cohesive, structured manner. Each new decodable text will be hand-curated with existing listening-level texts in their library. ReadWorks is on the cutting-edge of the science of reading by bringing together the two critical pieces of learning to read – word recognition and language comprehension – into one easy package for teachers to use to supplement their phonics curricula. ReadWorks seeks to improve teacher effectiveness and raise student achievement in reading comprehension through research-based, classroom-proven instructional practices and curricula, and through free, open-access online technology.

To help fund the salary of an Assistant Director of Training and Academic Advising for SEO High School Scholars, responsible for designing, organizing, and delivering a wide range of curricula to support the success and long-term development of SEO Program Managers, the frontline advisors of their high school students. The person’s primary mission will be to train and coach program team managers about SEO programming, building expertise that will enhance their scholars’ overall yearly program experiences. Through classroom and virtual facilitations, coaching relationships, in-programming workshops, and the development of training resources, this staff position serves as a “bridge” that better unites team members around the U.S., and advocates for SEO’s Program Managers. SEO works to create a more equitable society by closing the academic and career opportunity gaps for motivated young people living in underserved and/or underrepresented communities.

For the ongoing support and expansion of their Jumpstart: Foundations to Early Reading Success program to reach approximately 600 struggling readers citywide. Jumpstart focuses squarely upon Phonics, Phonemic and Phonological Awareness, and upon other critical foundational literacy skills to better address the most challenging literacy issues for children in Kindergarten and first grades. Teaching these skills is often the largest barrier for teachers to overcome to get students reading on grade level. Jumpstart – a standalone, targeted approach –provides professional support for teachers seeking to improve the reading outcomes of students having the hardest time keeping up with their peers through professional learning cycles that include data analysis, demonstration lessons, coaching, lesson planning, and student progress monitoring. Teaching Matters works to increase teacher effectiveness, one of the most critical factors regarding student success, by transforming how educators work together at urban public schools, helping the most effective teachers to develop the necessary skills by which to then lead their peers and drive school-wide improvement.

To support the Career Connections Manager and the Career Connections Team who seek to increase their capacity to form enhanced hiring partnerships with companies, develop helpful professional networks for their students to tap into, and support Bottom Line’s alumni through their job search endeavors after college. The Career Connections Team will focus on creating more mentoring opportunities for their students through the Bottom Line Connect platform; building-out sophisticated new curricular resources and data management infrastructure; and seeking new corporate partners to support their Career Champions and internship work. Through all of these efforts, they seek to achieve significant strides towards better ensuring that all of their students have access to the work experiences and the relationship capital that they need to more successfully transition to the workforce, and fully capitalize upon their college degrees.