Sunday, April 21 marks the beginning of National Volunteering Week, and as the president of a nonprofit organization, it's an important time for me to thank the hundreds of school and business volunteers who team up and make a difference on some of the most endemic problems facing students and...

From elementary school to high school, school choice is an integral part of U.S. urban education today. In New York City, eighth graders just learned if they'd been accepted into one of their top high school selections, and in the coming weeks, families will learn where their children will be...

Over the last few months, I've participated in several conferences all exploring the same issue--how business can help improve our public education system.

That's good news, as there is no doubt that business must be an important player in our schools if we are truly going to prepare our...

Successful businesses understand that it's best to make investments early. And that's why so many of New York City's top firms are investing in local high school students through the PENCIL Fellows Program: investing in our students now and developing their talents today means a better, more productive...

As students return to school across the country this week, our education system continues to face a myriad of complex challenges, including training teachers for the new Common Core standards, preparing students with the academic and life skills needed to succeed in the 21st Century, evaluating teachers and developing strong...

Shyam Nooredeen knows that you can never tell where a job will take you.

In 2010, Shyam was a high-potential high school senior when he was accepted to the PENCIL Fellows Program, which provided him with career readiness training and helped him secure a paid summer internship...

Across the country, students and teachers are saying farewell for the summer. Yet, the reality is that in far too many cases, they are actually saying goodbye for good.

Approximately half of New York City's teachers leave their classrooms after the first year, and that trend extends...

I'm willing to bet that while many people know that February is Black History Month and March is Women's History Month, not many people know that April is National Volunteer Month. I, for one, think that's too bad. While undoubtedly, the time we spend reflecting in February and March is...

For years, education experts have been critical of the amount of time that principals spend on menial administrative tasks. Principals have better things to do than spend their days worrying about when buses are arriving, trying to repair dilapidated bathrooms, or making sure forms are filled out properly.

Instead, the...

Last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced a major new initiative to address the chronic and blatant disparities between thousands of African American and Latino young men and their peers in New York City. A New York City-commissioned study that drove recommendations for the initiative found that across the five...

Shyam is a 19-year-old NYC public high school graduate and college freshman at City College of New York. After waking up at 3 a.m., enduring a two-hour commute to Manhattan from Queens and attending classes all morning, he goes on to work at his part-time job at Meringoff...

What do a public school principal and a CEO have in common?

For those outside the world of education, it might almost sound like the beginning of a joke. But the answer, it turns out, is: A LOT.

Many recent studies show that a principal's leadership is just as integral...

There is a call going out around the country for volunteers to help our public schools. During Education Week, President Obama called upon Americans to get involved in their local public schools. In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg recently launched Alumni for Public Schools to enable the city's graduates to...

Eight years ago, PS 153 had a 25 percent teacher attrition rate, disengaged student and parent populations, was considered failing by basic measures of achievement, and had five principals in five years. Yet by 2007, the school had an attrition rate of 3 percent, markedly higher school spirit and school...