WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 9, 2020 17
$13M in funding to go towards helping
New York City’s multilingual learners
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
ADOMENECH@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
More than 160,000 students
received some form of computer
science education during the 2018-
2019 school year, a record high, the
DOE reports.
That number represents a 72
percent increase in the number
of students from receiving computer
science education since the
Computer Science for All initiative
was launched in 2016. During its
first two years, the number of New
York City high school students taking
an AP computer science class
quadrupled from 1, 137 to 5,190.
“Computer Science for All means
a record number of students are
learning to code, program, design,
use new technologies, and are set
up to succeed in a 21st century
world,” said Schools Chancellor
Richard A. Carranza. “We celebrate
the progress we have made,
acknowledge the hard working
teachers who make this a reality,
and double down on our commitment
to bringing computer science
education to every one of our
schools by 2025.”
Since the initiative launched,
1,900 teachers in 800 schools across
the city have been trained in computer
science through Computer
Science for All. The number of
students receiving CS education in
the 2018-19 school year was 163,734,
in the 2017-18 school year it was
134,429 and 93,146 in 2016-17.
The ultimate goal of the program
is to bring computer science education
to every school in the city by
2025. The jump has been attributed
the city’s efforts but also schools
launching or expanding their own
computer science programs.
“Where you live shouldn’t
determine whether your child
has access to the technology and
skills to succeed in the 21st century,”
said Mayor Bill de Blasio,
in a statement.“Computer Science
for All is working – over 160,000
students participated last year
and we will reach all 1.1 million
students by 2025. The face of the
future is New York City public
school students and we’re going to
make sure they have the tools they
need to succeed.”
EDUCATION
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
ADOMENECH@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation is giving a $13 million
grant to New York City for
will be used to better equip middle
school teachers to instruct multilingual
learners, Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza announced at I.S.
96 in Brooklyn.
“Every year there is a diverse
range of students in our classrooms
and every year it is our responsibility
to understand who is in that
classroom and to look and act on
the data that is generated so we can
continue to evolve our practices,”
said Carranza.
The funds will go towards providing
teachers with instructional
coaching from the DOE and the
creation of “instructional networks”
in 45 middle schools across the city
over the next five years. It will build
on improvements DOE previously
made to its multilingual learner
program through a 2016 Gates
Foundation grant benefitting 17
South Brooklyn schools, including
I.S. 96.
“When I first came in, I had never
been in such a diverse classroom
before,” said John Herron, a 6th and
8th grade social studies teacher at
I.S. 96. Among his fellow students,
there were 15 languages being
spoken in one class.
Through the program, Herron
and others were able to learn how
to get students from “point A to
point B.”
But it is unclear as what techniques
he was equipped with to help such
a diverse group of students better
understand their lessons as they
tried to learn English.
The schools that received help
from the initial grant saw an 86
percent increase in the number
of multilingual learners scoring
Proficient or Advanced on the New
York State ELA exam, according to
the DOE.
Multilingual learners test out of
ESL services once they score a 3 or
a 4 on the state ELA exam.
“This is really a colleague to colleague,
peer to peer instructional
coaching,” said Carranza.
The grant will allow for teachers
to visit colleagues classrooms and
to observe teaching practices. The
first $10 million of the grant will go
towards the coaching for teachers
via the Fund for Public Schools and
$2 million will given to the schools
directly to use as they see fit. Some
of the funds will go towards hiring
coaches.
None of the 45 schools to receive
help have been identified yet but according
to the DOE, 20 schools will
start to receive expanded services
starting in the 2020-2021 school
year.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza at P.S. 96 in Brooklyn.
Photo by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
File photo
Record number of NYC
students are receiving
computer sci. education
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