New York City Public Schools

ORGANIZATION: New York City Public Schools (located in the Bronx), Inner city elementary and middle schools, enrolling over 3000 students

EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

1. Encourage teachers to be self-reflective
2. Establish strong communities of learning and strengthen team building skills
3. Enrich teachers’ understanding of current educational research and apply to their teaching
4. Encourage teachers to be life-long learners
5. Develop and support leadership among teachers

PLAN OF ENGAGEMENT WITH WIDE:

1. Four elementary and two middle schools in one school district participating
2. On-site workshops in four of the six schools
3. 86 educators/administrators took six online courses (DI, DW, LfU, MI, TfU, TSNT)

PARTICIPATION TIMELINE:  September 2007 - May 2009

IMPACT AND OUTCOMES:

1. Faculty are more reflective about their teaching
2. Stronger relationships between teachers and between teachers and administrators
3. Teachers report discovering their own limitations as educators (“turning the lens on yourself”)
4. Participating teachers demonstrate conscious and ongoing adjustments to goals, performances and assessments in their lessons; internalized research-based approaches; and increased use of technology in their teaching
5. Creating a culture of data within each school.

“I didn’t come in expecting… [to discover] my limitations as an educator. … For me that was very powerful because you spend a lot of time focusing on the children, you know what their strengths and weaknesses are, but sometimes you don’t tend to turn that lens on yourself"
- Teacher, Every Child Elementary School, NYC