| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Education Reform

Page history last edited by Noah Gordon 13 years, 2 months ago

Share your thoughts and work:

 

Core client docs: Main one, addendum

 

Final Report

 

Presentation Materials

 

Our Website

 

Baystate Medical Center - 2007 Community Benefits Report

 

Promise Neighborhoods across the country

 

Proposal Outline

 

"A Demographic and Economic Analysis Of the City of Springfield" 

 

Promise Neighborhood Indicator Comparisons.xlsx

 

Promise Neighborhood Indicators and Results by Frequencies.xlsx


Schedule  

Weds 1/19/2011 .

Email Azell Cavaan, Chief Communications Officer of the Springfield Public Schools, questions.  

 

Thurs 1/20/2011 .

Call Stephen Mahoney, principal of Springfield Renaissance Charter School, to schedule interview or ask questions.

Call Michael DeChiara, of United Way of the Pioneer Valley, to schedule interview or ask questions.

Wait for the Parent & Community Engagement Office of the Springfield Public Schools to call back for scheduling interview or answering questions.

 

Fri 1/21/2011 .

11AM Call Frank Robinson's secretary to confirm that we're going.

1PM Interview with Frank Robinson

2:30PM Interview with Vanessa Otero @ New North Citizens' Council

 

Sat 1/22/2011 (tentative)

Volunteer at El Centro of Nuestra Raices in exchange for interview with Diego Angarita, program coordinator.


 

For a comparison of Promise Neighborhood indicators please view the two Excel (.xlsx format) above.

 

-Larissa


Promise Neighbourhood Needs Assessment Guide

 

Larissa's Building a Performance Measurement System is a great teaching guide to data collection and analysis, and I have recently discovered some more.

 

1. Promise Neighborhoods Needs Assessment Guide

Methods and data sources for a comprehensive community needs assessment

http://alliance1.org/sites/default/files/pdf_upload/report_pp/needs_asessment_guide.pdf

Remark: This guide is particularly helpful with its stream-lined research plan (which we may well use ourselves) and a detailed list of indicators (p.3) that we need to make a case for Springfield.

 

2. A Community Needs Assessment Guide

http://www.luc.edu/curl/pdfs/A_Community_Needs_Assessment_Guide_.pdf

Remark: Step-by-step guide to how to complete a needs assessment. Includes tips on focus group interviews, survey design and data analysis. Also includes detailed templates for focus group interviews and questionnaires.

 

3. 2009 Allen County (Ohio) Health Risk and Community Needs Assessment

http://www.allencountyhealthdepartment.org/pdf/Allen_County_Health_Risk_&_Community_Needs_Assessment_2009.pdf

Remark: An actual report that identifies the community issues and health issues of Allen County residents.

 

4. Promise Neighborhood Research Consortium

http://promiseneighborhoods.org/ 

Remark: The BEST resource that I have found so far. Created by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Detailed research guide. Detailed list of best practices. And many, many more.

 


Promise Neighborhood Demographic Comparison Charts

See "A Demographic and Economic Analysis 

Of the City of Springfield" in the link above for more detailed demographics of Springfield, MA  

 

Crime (United States=100)

 

 

Springfield

Harlem

Worcester

Houston

Los Angeles

Total Crime Risk Index

125

104

144

219

173

Personal Crime Risk Index

224

157

194

216

251

 

Population

 

 

Springfield

Harlem

Worcester

Houston

Los Angeles

Total Pop.

146, 949

39, 926

174, 539

2, 091, 691

3, 738, 137

Pop. Density

4,578

28, 728

4, 647

3, 610

7, 969

Age 0-4

6.92%

8.05%

6.03%

8.01%

6.79%

Age 5-9

7.59%

8.35%

5.64%

7.64%

6.68%

Age 10-14

7.02%

6.93%

5.95%

7.02%

6.66%

Age 15-19

7.75%

6.89%

8.43%

6.98%

7.31%

Age 20-24

9.38%

5.8%

10.44%

7.49%

8.03%

Age 25-29

7.9%

5.42%

7.76%

7.62%

7.63%

 

Race*

 

 

Springfield

Harlem

Worcester

Houston

Los Angeles

Asian/Pac. Islander

~2%

~2.01%

~ 4.92%

~ 6.01%

~ 11.62%

Black

~20%

~ 42.06%

~ 6.74%

~ 24.81%

~ 9.88%

White

~45%

~ 27.72%

~ 76.79%

~ 48.3%

~ 54.05%

Hispanic

~30%

~ 46.28%

~ 18.94%

~ 44.78%

~ 49.88%

 

Household Inventory/Expenses

 

 

Springfield

Harlem

Worcester

Houston

Los Angeles

Med. Home Sale Price

$105, 000

$782, 849

$150,000

$154, 520

$325, 000

Households: with children

35.41%

39.45%

32.46%

36.05%

35.09%

No vehicle

22%

83%

16%

10%

13%

One vehicle

42%

14%

43%

43%

39%

Never married

30.22%

37.17%

30.98%

24.77%

29.75%

Now married

28.85%

14.54%

32.03%

34.19%

32.18%

Separated

5.65%

14.25%

4.9%

6.57%

7.05%

Widowed

5.81%

5.07%

6.23%

4.14%

4.28%

Divorced

7.95%

5.76%

8.22%

7.64%

6.59%

 

Income

 

 

Springfield

Harlem

Worcester

Houston

Los Angeles

Med. Household

Income

$38, 155

$18, 191

$44, 645

$46, 490

$45, 413

Average Household Income

$47, 624

$35, 542

$59, 667

$66, 814

$73, 866

$0-$10k

14.1%

35.46%

11.98%

9.43%

11.25%

$10k-$15k

7.05%

9.21%

5.79%

5.01%

5.77%

$15k-$20k

7.37%

8.33%

6.03%

5.56%

6.22%

$20k-$25k

6.54%

6.36%

5.5%

5.8%

5.9%

 

Education Level

 

 

Springfield

Harlem

Worcester

Houston

Los Angeles

Edu. Climate index (1-5)

3

3

4

4

3

Less than 9th grade

5.07%

11.58%

4.81%

9.65%

10.4%

Some HS

7.52%

10.2%

5.56%

6.94%

7.12%

HS graduate

22.09%

15.26%

19.12%

15.16%

13.98%

Some college

10.66%

7.54%

11.25%

10.56%

10.15%

Associate

4.11%

2.74%

4.54%

3.07%

3.9%

Bachelors

7.35%

9.37%

10.5%

11.07%

12.41%

Graduate

4.55%

7.29%

7.76%

6.42%

6.55%

 

 

 

*Cross reference these percentages with other sources if you are intending to cite this source. 

 

-Larissa


 

Information on Level 1 Schools in Springfield Public Schools

General Information:

     ·        There are seven Level 1 public schools, six out of those seven are elementary schools

     ·         The only non-elementary school is STEM, a magnet middle school

Programs in the Level 1 schools:

 v  Mary A. Dryden Veterans Memorial School

     §  Cornerstone Literacy Initiative:

 v  Glenwood School

     §  Promotes philosophy of: Respect, Responsibility, Safety

     §  Business Partnerships:  Stop & Shop, Hampden County Physicians Associates

 v  Warner School

     §  Partnership with Wilbraham through the Springfield School Volunteers’ Partners in Education Program

 v  Washington School

     §  Student of the month Recognition

     §  Classroom volunteers: Read Across America, Read Aloud, Read/Math Tutor

     §  Partnership with Western New England College, Springfield College, Bay Path College, Elms College, Westfield State

     §  One class in each grade designated as ELL

     §  Two Social Emotional Behavior Setting Classes

     §  Art, PE and Writing teachers

 v  STEM Middle Academy

     §  All coursework is integrated with STEM

     §  Extensive highlighting of student achievement

     §  Partnership with Western New England College

     §  Celebration of Learning parties

     §  Presentations from relevant speaker

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After researching the 21 Promise Neighborhood Initiatives, I've discovered several significant commonalities. I will post them here along with some additional observations; the specifics on the initiatives I focused on can be discussed at our meeting if necessary.

 

Commonalities

  • Strong leadership by a clearly defined organization with a history in the area.
  • Partnerships with local universities for various purposes: policy analysis, providing area kids with college scholarships, providing quality teachers, etc.
  • Partnerships with community organizations such as the YMCA and YWCA, as well as neighborhood councils, youth groups, and teachers’ organizations.
  • Strong focus on community stability; education is improved indirectly by providing a stable environment for learning.
    • We will have to work closely with the other two policy groups, because the idea of a “promise neighborhood” is very closely tied into issues of safety and health.
    • ONLY A FEW of the 21 proposals mention charter schools; only one is centered on the incorporation of charter schools. Charter schools are not the issue here; the issue is the stability of the learning environment.

 

Additional Observations

  • Springfield’s North End shares commonalities with many of the 21 Promise Neighborhoods.
    • dominantly Latino immigrant community.
    • High school dropout rate is much higher than the ideal.
    • According to Aron, a groundwork has been laid for improvement.

I suggest we do some more research on Springfield’s North End and find out what sort of efforts have already been made there. This way, we might find the leadership we need for a Promise Neighborhood to become a reality.

 

-Noah

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recipes for Success: Key factors behind HCZ's achievements

 

Based on my research on Harlem Children Zone and general performances of charter schools, I have arrived at these preliminary findings:

 

Academic Performance:

 

  • In general, many charter schools perform below the average: for example, a NYT article reports that HCZ's Promise Academy students achieved a pass-rate of 38% in a city-wide English test, still significantly below the 42% city average. Promise Academy students, however, outperformed their counterparts in Harlem by a noticeable margin of 7%.
  • Based on a Stanford study on charter school performance in 15 states and DC, charter students report better academic growth than their counterparts in public schools. The gain is especially significant for students who are from low-income families and/or racially-disadvantaged backgrounds.
  • Many charter school students report a learning decline during their first year, though a rapid upward trend usually follows in their second and third years. This may be attributed to difficulties in adjusting to new school environment and learning requirements.

 

Key factors that contributed to HCZ's success

 

  • Funding
    • As reported by NYT, an average amount of $16,000 is spent on each individual student in Promise Academy, compared to $14,425 on a student in a traditional public school. This cost, however, by no means cover costs of the other community initiative, such as its after-school and family counseling programmes, which are critical components to HCZ's success. The school now boasts an asset of over 200 million dollars and continue to receive incoming donations from individuals and organizations.
    • Currently no information is readily available about fundings for other charter schools, especially the under-performing ones.
  • "Cradle to College" approach
    • The continuity of Promise Academy's services and programmes distinguishes HCZ from other promise neighbourhoods in the country. For example, the Academy's graduates continue to receive academic and career support after their promotion to universities.
  • Supporting programmes
    • Underlying assumption: Enhancing school performance is not enough; diseases in the community must be cured at the same time. 
    • Though many charter schools adopt a community-based approach, few boast the range and scale of Promise Academy's, which include regular family counseling, asthma prevention initiatives, and pre-school readiness programmes.
    • The key, therefore, is to find ways to deliver the same range of quality services in the target neighbourhood we identify. 

 

Louis

 


Brief List of Community Organizations in North End, Springfield or within a 10 minute radius

 

Springfield Community Organizations

North End, Springfield, MA

 

Partners for a Healthier Community

 

Partners for a Healthier Community, Inc (PHC) was founded by concerned community leaders in Springfield who wanted to have a measurable impact on the health of our city. Over the past twelve years PHC has been a leader in public health policy advocacy, building collaborations and leadership capacity to address various public health issues such as youth development and school health. 

The key to our work is prioritizing collaborative relationships, testing innovation and believing that our community can be the solution to its own challenges. Current initiatives include mobilizing around strategic health equity areas such as preschool oral health and access to healthy eating and physical activity. Together with our community partners, we continue to build a measurably healthier community.  

 

Dunbar Center

33 Oak Street

Springfield, MA 01009-4249

 

Dunbar Community Center, Inc. (DCC) is a non-profit agency hat has provided services to the community since 1913. We are funded by government and private foundations, grants and corporate contributions.

DCC's greatest strength is its ability to reach and effectively serve underserved groups, primarily African-American and Latino children, their families, and persons with disabilities.

 

North End Youth Center Branch YMCA

1772 Dwight St.

Springfield, MA 01107

 

Arise for Social Justice

94 Rifle Steet

Springfield, MA 01205-1632

 

Arise for Social Justice is a low-income rights, anti-oppression membership organization in western Massachusetts. Arise was started in 1985 by four women on Welfare who met around a kitchen table and decided to organize and advocate for their Rights. Since then Arise has broadened their mission to include all low-income and oppressed people. Our membership is made up of mostly the low-income people that they are designed to serve. Their membership, though, is not limited to low-income people. Instead there are also other members of the community of Springfield and it's surrounding areas involved. Some such are teachers, students, and business people as well. Even their donors are varied from professionals down to low-income people. 

 

Universal Community Voices Eliminating Disparities

 

Junior Achievement Program

1500 Main Street

Springfield, MA 01103

 

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy and value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. 

 

Goodwill Industries of the Springfield/Hartford Area, Inc

 

Springfield School Volunteers

1550 Main Street, 3rd floor

Springfield, MA 01103

 

The mission of Springfield School Volunteers is to promote and facilitate learning-focused community involvement in support of the Springfield Public Schools' goal of ensuring that every child attain a high level of academic achievement in a safe and supportive environment. 

 

Springfield Girls’ Club Family Center

100 Acorn Street

Springfield, MA 01109-2430

 

Springfield Girls' Club Family Center, an affiliate of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, provides facilities for girls, boys, and adults; regardless of race, color, creed, sex, age, national origin, ancestry or marital status.

Clubs are designed to give girls and boys, ages 6 to 18, responsible adult guidance, thereby filling needs frequently not met elsewhere. By offering continuous, concerned leadership, Boys & Girls Clubs help youngsters grow into mature, constructive adults, better able to benefit from and meet the responsibilities of life in our community. 

 

StandUp For Kids

 

StandUp For Kids is committed to the help and rescue of homeless and street kids. We do this, every day, in cities across America. We carry out our mission through our volunteers who go to the streets in order to find, stabilize and otherwise help homeless and street kids improve their lives. We have been on the streets since January 1990 and continue to grow our organization to help America's homeless youth.

 

Council of Churches of Greater Springfield

39 Oakland Street

Springfield, MA 01108-1701

 

The Council of Churches of Greater Springfield (the Council) shall be the vehicle that will bring local congregations and community together in the spirit of unity. In living out the gospel, the Council shall be a prophetic voice for Christians and non-Christians alike, addressing issues of social and economic justice, consumerism, education, and political and social responsibility. In doing so, we profess three goals:

1. To bring local congregations and the community together in the spirit of unity by providing information and serving as a clearinghouse and center for community outreach, and by educating churches and community organizations in the greater Springfield area of the mission and work of the Council.

2. To serve as a bridge builder among people of different faiths, cultures, and classes by providing and promoting opportunities to work collaboratively through service and social action, and by providing spiritual opportunities for healing, forgiveness, and agape.

3. To remove barriers promote ecumenism and positive interfaith relationships, creating opportunities which promote cooperation and ownership in learning, action, and fellowship among all people of faith, and by expanding the membership of the Council.

The Council is striving to establish youth outreach centers that would help in counseling, mentoring, and character development. To accomplish this we are partnering with various governmental and community agencies.

 

Action Centered Tutoring Service (ACTS)

35 Chestnut Street

Springfield, MA 01103-1705

 

ACTS provides free one-to-one academic tutoring and mentoring to "at risk" inner-city children in grades K-5. 

 

Teatro Vida/Hispanic Resoures, Inc.

 

We focus on the creation and performance of original work relevant to our times, reflecting the diversity of our city by the artists who live here. We encourage and create venue for local artists to collaborate with regional, national and international artists. We create opportunities for intergenerational artisic collaborations and mentoring relationships between professional and emerging artists. We believe that the arts create healthier communities, support literacy, inspire a love of learning, interrupt violence and foster economic growth and human fulfillment. 

 

The Foundation

 

The Foundation is an IRS registered, tax exempt, nonprofit, charity, dedicated to helping people obtain a higher quality of life through education, counseling, and innovative aggressive self help programs. 

 

Mercy Medical Center

 

Baystate Medical Center

 

Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity

33 Elliot Street

Springfield, MA 01105

 

Habitat's mission to provide homeownership opportunities to low-income families is unique as it requires partner families to work alongside the community that is reaching out to help them. Each Habitat partner family provides "sweat equity," or physical labor, toward the construction of their own home, other Habitat family homes and special projects. Partner families provide between 250 - 400 hours of sweat equity and participate in educational programs designed to help them achieve successful homeownership. Habitat partner families are selected based on three specific criteria: · Ability to pay a zero-percent interest mortgage · Need for simple, decent shelter · Willingness to partner with the organization, sponsors and community volunteers Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity has helped over 26 families realize their dream of homeownership over the last 20 years. Of the families helped, more than 50 percent of these families are single mothers looking for an opportunity to allow their children to grow up in a safe, affordable home. 

      

HAP, Inc Prospect Street Shelter

103 Prospect Street

Springfield, MA 01107

 

HAP began providing housing assistance to the people of Hampden and Hampshire Counties in 1973. Originally established to provide innovative forms of assistance to families seeking to rent decent, safe housing, HAP has come to provide a wide range of services to tenants, homebuyers, homeowners, and rental property owners.

 

 Downey Side Adoptions

999 Liberty Street

Springfield, MA

 

Downey Side's philosophy is rooted in the conviction that every child deserves the right to a permanent family. It is our purpose to work in partnership with the government as a licensed adoption agency to place American waiting children who would otherwise be homelessness. We are dedicated to family life for all children and strongly believe that a healthy permanent relationship is the best prevention against homelessness

 

North End Outreach Network

2594 Main Street

Springfield, MA

 

Habitat for Humanity

104 Memorial Avenue

West Springfield, MA

 

United Way First Call

184 Mill Street

Springfield, MA

 

Open Pantry Community Services Inc.

95 Jefferson Avenue

Springfield, MA

 

Open Pantry Community Services, Inc. was established as a private, non-profit organization in 1975 and incorporated as Open Pantry of Springfield, Inc. in 1977.

With humanity and dignity, we endeavor to provide meaningful services and processes which can assist people who are hungry, homeless, or disadvantaged to improve the quality of their lives.

Open Pantry receives wonderful support from area faith communities and houses of worship; however, the agency does not have or promote any religious mission.     

 

New North Citizen’s Council

2383 Main Street

Springfield, MA

 

Mission

The aim of New North Citizens’ Council, Inc. (NNCC) is threefold:

NNCC seeks to provide opportunities for citizen involvement and participation.

NNCC seeks to provide individual and class advocacy.

NNCC seeks to provide comprehensive family supports and social service programs to residents of Hampden County. New North Citizens’ Council, Inc. embraces a philosophy that includes providing: community based, constituent sensitive services; the broadest range of services within the Agency; services to the entire family system; and practical approaches to services.

Vision

The mission of the New North Citizens' Council, Inc. is to provide advocacy, public and human services to Hampden County residents with an emphasis on Hispanic/Latino community for the purpose of enhancing the preservation and support of the family resulting in the improvement of quality of life.

 

The Association for Community Living

1 Carando Drive, Suite 3

Springfield, MA 01104-3211

 

The mission of The Association For Community Living is to create opportunities, build relationships and improve lives for children and adults with developmental disabilities and for others who will benefit from our services.

 

 

-Larissa

 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Our Team & Contact Info

Yi Lu                         ylu14@amherst.edu                 413-695-2594

Emily Pawlowski         epawlowski12@amherst.edu    603-455-6166

Larissa Davis             ldavis13@amherst.edu             843-513-7057

Cynthia (Tak) Chio      tchio12@amherst.edu              917-968-2335

Katrin Marquez         kmarquez14@amherst.edu       305-505-6630

Noah Gordon           ngordon14@amherst.edu         914-400-5311

Toan Nguyen            txnguyen14@amherst.edu        273-345-7225 (?)

 

Group Meetings:

 

Friday, January 7 - 10:00 AM

Frost Study Rooms

Discussion of Research Direction

 

Sunday, January 9 - 7:00 PM

Frost Study Rooms

Research Discussion, Interview Preparation

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.