C.W. Post, Yale and Westbury School District Collaborate
on First-in-Nation Reforms for Schools in 'Urbanized Suburbs'
October 1, 1998 - In a first-in-the-nation initiative, a school district
and its neighboring university are teaming up with one of the world's most
prominent universities and have obtained backing from one of the nation's
most prestigious foundations for a comprehensive, multi-year effort to
improve an educational system district-wide.
The Westbury Union Free School District, the School of Education at
Long Island University's C.W. Post Campus, and Yale University are collaborating
on a child-centered educational empowerment process to help students in
one of the nation's growing number of "urbanized" suburbs. The
goal is to foster not only academic advancement but also psychological,
social and physical well-being and ethical development in children. The
Rockefeller Foundation is providing approximately $141,000 for extensive
planning.
The collaboration was announced today by officials of the three participating
organizations. The Rockefeller Foundation's support marks its first grant
for school reform in Nassau or Suffolk counties. The Rockefeller funds
are being used to continue and expand planning that has been under way
for the past year.
The effort brings the world-renowned Yale Child Study Center's School
Development Program to the Westbury District, in collaboration with C.W.
Post's School of Education. The Yale Program utilizes the pioneering "Comer
Process," the approach developed by Dr. James Comer, arguably the
leading school reformer in the country. It focuses on nurturing children
through the shared efforts of teachers, administrators, families and others
in a particular community.
Although the process is now used in more than 700 individual schools
in conjunction with 12 partnering universities across the country, this
latest collaboration marks the first time it has been applied system-wide,
across an entire district, with a local university partner. It is intended
that this pioneering partnership will serve as a national model for school
reform, particularly in towns outside major cities that are struggling
to cope with increasing levels of social stresses caused by racial and
socio-economic changes.
"The key factor here is that the Comer process recognizes what
seems to elude many other pedagogical processes - children need a healthy
environment in order to succeed academically," said Dr. Jeffrey Kane,
dean of C.W. Post's School of Education, who spearheaded the collaboration."Children
need the support and guidance of not only their parents but their teachers,
school administrators, and the community as a whole."
The Collaboration In Action
The partners are establishing a program encompassing pre-kindergarten through
grade 12 and including district leaders and the Board of Education as well
as students, teachers and parents. The effort came about after 18 months
of careful planning. Already, 24 members of the partnership have gone through
several week-long training sessions at Yale.
The collaboration is addressing not just classroom reform but crucial
"backstage" areas like faculty development, curriculum development,
training for new teachers, "in-service" activities for working
teachers, community engagement and action research.
"This collaboration will provide a model for understanding, applying,
and disseminating how best to combine the special talents of a caring school
district, a top-notch university faculty, and the special national experience
and concepts of the School Development Program," said Ed Joyner, Executive
Director of the Yale School Development Program.
"The partnership will build deeper understanding of the ways in
which this model can be of broad social and educational significance in
the many school systems on the edge," Joyner said.
Westbury: The Urbanized Suburb
Westbury is an ideal district for the partnership, demographically and
in terms of need, Kane said. First, it is an urbanized suburb, a largely
unnoticed but growing phenomenon in American life and education.
These districts, on the outskirts of major cities, cope with issues
once considered exclusively urban like poverty, inadequate public infrastructure,
and high proportions of minorities and students with limited English proficiency.
"The Westbury Union Free School District typifies this major socioeconomic
shift," Kane said.
Despite its proximity to Long Island's Gatsbyesque Gold Coast, the district
is racially and ethnically diverse: 44.3% African American; 35.6% Hispanic
American; 14.2% Haitian American; 3.6% white; 2% Asian American; and 3%
other. Eighty percent of students depend on federal free or reduced-fee
lunch programs.
With 3,500 students, the district is "the typical size of most
districts in the U.S.," Kane said. That also makes significant improvement
manageable, he added.
New Pedagogy at C.W. Post
The School of Education at C.W. Post is the right institution to oversee
the effort, Kane said, because it is one of the largest teacher-education
institutions in NY State. The School's focus has been on district-wide
initiatives and activities rather than single schools. Moreover, the school
is committed to addressing the "real life" needs of children
as a foundation for much of teachers' work.
For example, he noted that psychology courses should teach not only
children's stages of development but topics like what is happening when
a young person is in a fight and how children are affected by poverty.
This initiative, said Dr. Robert Pinckney, Westbury School District
Superintendent, represents "a new twist on school reform because it
doesn't involve a government take-over, but rather a collaboration between
higher education and a public school system. This partnership is geared
toward improving the total preparation of a diverse student body that reflects
the America of the next century. In fact, our district and Board of Education
are pursuing this new course of action and welcoming the effort with open
arms! And we're determined to ensure its success by having a year of careful
planning. So, our buy-in is deep and we'll avoid the flash-in-the-pan quality
of many education reforms."
With a modest initial budget including approximately $141,000 from the
Rockefeller Foundation, the partners also hope to show that "systemic
reform doesn't have to cost big bucks," Kane said, adding that he
is currently seeking other funding to support the project beyond its inaugural
stage.
"This agreement," said Marla Ucelli of the Rockefeller Foundation,
"will enable Yale and C.W. Post to help Westbury become a model for
infusing the Comer program throughout the K-12 levels and in these emerging
suburban districts. C.W. Post's School of Education will have the opportunity
to strengthen its teacher education program, while Westbury teachers will
receive expert training. And government, civic, and community organizations,
as well as parents, will learn how to become more effectively involved
in the school community.
"It's a win-win situation for everyone involved, but most important,
it's a win-win situation for the children," she continued.
For more information call the C.W. Post Public
Relations Office at (516) 299-2333 or e-mail pr@cwpost.liu.edu
or send mail to: Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus, 720 Northern
Blvd., Brookville, New York 11548-1300.
