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Nanette Shaw
After-School Program Aimed at Community, Home, and School Learning Project STRETCH and the TLRC have been created, and actively managed, by the Stanton/Heiskell Center for Public Policy in Telecommunications and Information Systems at the City University of New York Graduate Center. FFunded primarily by two $300,000 grants from AT&T and the Citigroup Foundationscorp, respectively, the TLRC will function as a home- and community-based supplement to the school, providing instruction and support where experts believe it will ultimately have the greatest impact on in-school skills. "We’re using innovative technology and the combined experience of seasoned educators to make a difference in kids’ lives. It’s a great thing to be a part of," said Charles V. Raymond, President and CEO of The Citigroup Foundation. A partnership has been formed with the primary funders, the New York City District 3 Schools (to which Joan of Arc belongs), Goddard Riverside Community Center, the Computers for Youth Foundation, and the CUNY Graduate Center to oversee the Technology Learning Resource Center and to provide support to Project STRETCH, the Stanton/Heiskell initiative that is creating the TLRC. Enrollment in TLRC is voluntary. y, but heavily encouraged by the school. Once enrolled, students participate in severaltwo one-and-a-half hour periods each week of structured learning, where they build cognitive skills, learn to use and create interactive computer technologies, and develop close working relationships with mentor-tutors. There is also unstructured time, which will be awarded only after a student has completed his or her structured learning time, for playing skill-building computer games and other activities. "In today’s world, we know that access to technology and education are key to economic opportunity," says Esther Silver-Parker, President of the AT&T Foundation, which is the project’s other primary funder. "This project can not only excite and motivate student learning, it can empower the entire community," she adds. Though TLRC is a community-based supplement to the school, teachers participate in crafting the program’s curriculum. The TLRC has also developed a World Wide Web site (with the help of Gaspra Technologies, Inc) that identifies, and provides access to, educational software. It is anticipated that the TLRC, in its pilot phase, will enroll between 100 and 200 and 1,000 students inafter its first full year of operation, when it will be replicated in after-school programs throughout the City. The Technology Learning Resource Center will operate in conjunction with the Soros-funded After School Corporation (which provides at-risk students with opportunities for learning in sports, the arts, and technology). In addition, each participating student will receive a reconditioned computer for the home donated by the Computers for Youth Foundation. The CUNY Graduate Center’s Stanton/Heiskell Center is an interdisciplinary institute that brings the private and non-profit sectors together with educators to study the impact of technology on teaching and learning in the school, the workplace, the home, and the community. The ultimate aim of the Stanton/Heiskell Center is to expand educational and economic opportunities and to write and disseminate studies that assess how the tools of technology can be used to promote lifelong learning and career opportunities. It has just completed Project TELL, a landmark seven-year study of the educational benefits of placing computer and Internet technology in the homes of over 120 at-risk under-served students in New York City. Professionals, academics, and experts from a wide range of institutions and corporations including Verizon, CBS Chase Manhattan Bank, the FCC, IBM, MTV Networks and Brooklyn High Schools, serve on the Stanton/Heiskell Center Advisory Board. Says Stanton/Heiskell Center Executive Director Helen Birenbaum: "Project Stretch focuses on mobilizing the community as a resource to the schools to help under-served students succeed. It is a concept that can be emulated anywhere." The Graduate Center is the doctorate-granting institution of the largest urban university in the U.S. The only consortium of its kind in the nation, it draws its faculty of more than 1,600 members mainly from the CUNY senior colleges and cultural and scientific institutions throughout New York City. Established in 1961, the CUNY Graduate Center has grown to an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students in 32 doctoral programs and seven master's degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The Graduate Center also houses 28 research centers and institutes and administers the CUNY Baccalaureate Program. According to a recent National Research Council report, more than a third of The Graduate Center’s rated programs rank among the nation's top 20 at public and private institutions, nearly a quarter are among the top ten when compared to publicly supported institutions alone, and more than half are among the top five programs at publicly supported institutions in the northeast. Further information on The Graduate Center's programs and activities can be found on its Web site at: www.gc.cuny.edu, and further information on the AT&T Learning Network is available at www.att.com/learningnetwork. Further information about Citigroup is available at www.citigroup.com. |