Michael Haberman

Millenials, Baby Boomers, and Why You Should Get Involved: Celebrating National Volunteering Week

2013-04-19T13:12:37-04:00

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 educators today.

But the week is even more important to me as a parent: Volunteering represents one of the noblest values that we have as a culture. And if we as individuals and as businesses can make volunteering more visible, our children will be more likely to take up our mantle and continue our important work.

I've spent a lot of the last year reflecting on and talking about volunteering -- and I've spent even more time marveling at what we can accomplish when we donate our time, energy, passion, and expertise.

Explaining why businesses should volunteer, why our youngest employees value volunteering, and what we can do to recruit more Baby Boomers are all important ways to both observe National Volunteering Week and encourage more of us to do more together and for one another:

Volunteering is good for your business. Doing good is its own reward, but there are other perks too. Volunteering:

Attracts new employees and helps to retain older ones

Boosts employee engagement -- which in turn, boosts profits

Serves as a valuable form of "public relations" that endears you to your local community.

Apart from these benefits, Skills-Based Volunteering (SBV) -- a particularly effective form of volunteering that asks volunteers to use their professional skills in a different capacity -- is also a valuable professional development skill.

If you want your business to be its best, make sure that it does more than a good job -- make sure that it does good.

Your youngest employees want to make a difference and they'll help you if you help them. I said before that volunteering programs help you recruit new employees. That's particularly true for Millenials: PriceWaterhouseCoopers discovered that 88 percent of Millennials gravitated toward companies with pronounced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, and 86 percent would consider leaving if their employer's CSR no longer met their expectations.

Zain Pasha, a Deloitte Consulting Business Technology Analyst who volunteers as a PENCIL Partner at the Community High School for Social Justice, discussed what inspired him to volunteer, and why volunteering was so important to him and his peers in a recent interview:

According to the 2011 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey, 61 percent of Millenials said a volunteer program would be a factor "when choosing between two potential jobs with the same location, responsibilities, pay and benefits."

Businesses are only as good as their employees -- to hire the best and the brightest, you'll need to find a way to help them give back.

We need to to get Baby Boomers involved. "Boomers, hang your heads in shame," a recent Forbes article begins before explaining that the "number and percentage" of 45- to 65-year-olds who'd volunteered in the last year had dropped faster than the national average.

Historically, Boomers have been among the most passionate and consistent volunteers out there, so their recent absence is incredibly disturbing.

One of the best ways that we can attract more Boomers to volunteering is through SBV. Boomers have a wealth of experience and unique intellectual capital that nonprofits and other organizations absolutely need: To put a dollar amount on it, a United Way blogger estimated that traditional volunteering was valued at about $18 to $20 an hour; in SBV, volunteers' expertise is valued at $40 to $500 an hour.

Those estimates aren't an exaggeration: I've seen the incredible difference that volunteers make when they use their expertise to address school needs -- they've helped our students, teachers, principals, families, and entire schools perform even better.

If you think you can make a difference (and trust me: you can!), please find some way to get involved.

Why School Culture Matters, and How to Improve It

2013-04-10T20:52:48-04:00

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 attending kindergarten in the fall.

When families finally do find out, it will mark the end of what is often a months-long process that involved visiting schools and ranking their picks. That ranking was based on any number of dimensions, including the school's rating, location, and neighborhood. But I'm sure that when they chose their favorites, the school's culture was just as important as its scores.

Culture is intangible, but it's essential: you can walk into a school and know immediately whether you want to be there or not. The same thing goes for the students, and the staff.

But just because culture is intangible doesn't mean that it's undefinable; Nadine Engels and her co-writers describe "a shared sense of purpose and values, norms of continuous learning and improvement, collaborative collegial relationships... and sharing experiences" as factors that contribute to a positive school culture. Innovation, leadership, teamwork, and "goal-orientedness" are also important.

That sounds like the ideal school to me (if not the ideal work environment). Imagining a school that embodies those values, it's easy to see why Engles wrote that school culture "has an effect on students' learning," and why education reform leader Michael Fullan argued that principals should prioritize their school's culture over everything else.

But knowing that school culture is important and even knowing what makes for good school culture doesn't guarantee that principals will be able to create it. In fact, principals are at a decided disadvantage when it comes to creating organization-wide change: a recent Education Week story notes that most principal training provides "less focus on the skills and strategies for creating a workplace culture, which are more commonly found in management training for other industries."

Instead, principals often try to tackle individual symptoms (like attendance, graduation rates, and grades) rather than addressing their cause. And when principals do try to shift a school's culture, one of the problems they typically encounter is that they first act without getting stake-holders' buy-in first.

That's a mistake: having every member of a school community -- teachers, students, family members -- work together toward a shared vision is just as important as the vision itself. John Brown and Cerylle Moffett write that without that buy-in, a school leader's vision becomes "mandates without meaning" that costs principals the "support [school leaders] need most."

For businesses, creating the right culture is essential for the bottom line. Google famously encourages its engineers to take 20 percent of their time to pursue a new project that they're passionate about. Why? Because it makes those engineers work even better: Gmail, Google News, and the WiFi-equipped buses that bring Google employees to work all arose from that 20 percent time.

If you think that investing that much time -- and ultimately money -- to fund 'pet projects' isn't worth it, think again: Google reported earning $14.2 billion last quarter, and hitting $50 billion in revenue last year.

Or take JetBlue Airways. Its famous brand is an extension of its corporate culture -- and a selling point for its customers.

The airline lives up to its values, particularly by investing in talent and delivering on customer service. But equally important is the fact that the airline's leadership creates a tight-knit team that works together: President and CEO Dave Barger greets new employees by saying: "I'm Dave. It's a first-name-basis airline. My door is open."

The result of that deliberate cultural strategy is a growing airline -- and growing revenues. And as a PENCIL Partner, Barger applied the same managerial and organizational principles to help then Principal Monica George take PS 153 from failing to a model of success.

Obviously, school leaders can't always mimic businesses -- but they can learn from them. When business leaders teach principals the skills that they use to build a strong organizational culture, school leaders can completely transform their schools.

I already mentioned Dave Barger, who helped Principal George and PS 153 cut teacher attrition from 25 percent to 3 percent, and raise the school's grades on the NYC progress Report from an "F" to an "A."

But Barger is just one example: through PENCIL's school-business partnerships, business people are helping principals throughout New York City turn their schools into vibrant communities. At PS 330Q in Queens, Principal LaShawnna Harris is working with Morrison Healthcare's Charles LaMonica on a coordinated approach to establish a more positive school culture and improved results. By emphasizing team-building and professional development among the school staff, the two partners are promoting Harris' vision of a unified school community that's founded on the school's values. And the staff appreciation days that Harris and LaMonica have brought to the school are a small but significant way of thanking the staff for the work that they do on behalf of students.

Since LaMonica and Harris began working together, the school has seen a 22-point increase in the percentage of teachers who believe that the principal communicates a clear vision of the school, as well as a 43-point increase in the percentage of teachers who feel supported by Principal Harris.

At PS 48, Principal Pat Mitchell has seen her school's scores go up on both the Progress Report and the Learning Environment Survey. To continue this recent progress -- and to ensure that the rest of the school community is on board with her new direction -- Principal Mitchell worked with marketing consultant Ruth Zsolnai on new vision and mission statements that capture the school's new ideals. They've also worked together on a new logo, brand, and marketing materials that communicate and symbolize those ideals.

Zsolnai and View Higher Pictures also worked together to make the following video to re-ignite school pride, and to recruit new supporters and partners:

We need to help more principals get the same support that principals George, Harris, and Mitchell did. We also need to ensure that all principals receive the professional development that they need to assess, create, and refine school culture; they also need to know how to effectively 'sell' that vision to their school community. Because whether it's in a school or a business, organizational culture is like the air that we breathe: invisible, intangible, and absolutely vital.

Businesses Can Create a Better Economy by Teaching More Than Job Skills

2012-12-20T11:32:38-05:00

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 children for the 21st Century.

Interestingly, at each conference there has been at least one voice of skepticism in the crowd. As panels and audiences discuss "job skills" and the need to ensure that our students have the math and science degrees that today's jobs demand, someone inevitably asks: "Are we too focused on preparing our students for work? Are we forgetting about the importance of great literature? What about educating our children to become well-rounded citizens who can make thoughtful decisions about all aspects of their lives?"

The answer I've now heard equally as many times is a convincing one: this is a false dichotomy. In today's complex society, the skills needed to succeed in the workplace are broad and sweeping and, in fact, require a well-rounded education that goes beyond technical expertise.

As a university professor responded at one of the conferences I recently attended, "I've come to the conclusion that it's pretty difficult for someone to be a productive member of society if they don't have the basic skills needed to get a job."

A recent McKinsey study underscores the way that "job skills" and a more well-rounded education are part of the same continuum: worldwide, 75 million youth are unemployed, and nearly 40% of possible employers say that a lack of basic skills is the main reason for persisting entry-level job vacancies.

To their credit, businesses are stepping up to provide young people with the skills they need: they're not simply looking for 'their' future workforce, but they are making the investments needed to develop our future leaders and our future citizenry.

The 3 R's: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic

No one disputes that basic skills are crucial to academic, and career, success. Students can't succeed if they don't know how to read and write; today math and science skills are equally important .

Research shows that students learn these basic skills faster and perform better when they understand the connections between what they're learning and the wider world. And so while the businesses I talk with believe that teaching these basic skills is the purview of skilled teachers, they are helping teachers engage their students by enhancing curricula and providing project-based learning that provides real-world applications for what students learn in the classroom.

The engineering firm Arup, for example, partners with PENCIL to support the International High School at Prospect Heights and The School of Integrated Learning. Arup engineers developed separate bridge and wind turbine projects that enabled students to learn firsthand ways that science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) are applied in the real world.

Sure, they hope some of these young Brooklynites will become tomorrow's engineers. But they know that the majority won't. Despite that, they know that instilling a sense of curiosity, teaching critical thinking skills, and opening their eyes to new opportunities will benefit these students in countless ways.

College Readiness

In New York City, only 23% of students graduate ready for college and careers, and only 46% of students graduate on time and pursue college. And according to a report from the Apollo Group, "between 1940 and 1980, the average level of schooling for the typical American increased by just under a year per decade." But over the last 30 years that "education growth rate" has slowed by 50%: today, our population as a whole is missing about 200 million years of collective education, as compared to the 'high-water mark' set in the 1980s, and our workforce alone is missing more than 100 million years of education. That missing time costs the U.S. GDP as much as $2.3 trillion; if we could recapture those years, we could add $670 billion every year to our GDP.

That's why business can't just concentrate on helping students who are interested in their line of work. Rather, businesses need to focus on early and broad college awareness and preparedness programs that make students aware of the vast opportunities higher education provides.

At an elementary school in Harlem, communications consultant Ivy Cohen is working with Principal Christopher Ogno to get elementary schoolers thinking about college now. Through partnerships with more than 20 colleges and universities, the students (and their parents) are learning firsthand about the benefits of college and what it takes to get there. In addition to having a strong presence in the school, the Partners host student visits to area colleges as well as "college nights," helping students and parents alike envision college as an achievable goal for their family.

New Skills for a New Millennium

One of today's workforce development buzz words is "21st Century skills." Companies are looking for people who, in addition to having the technical and academic skills, are critical thinkers as well as disciplined, persistent, and flexible as situations change. Sound like skills that are only about "finding a job"?

Through career preparedness and internship programs, businesses are teaching just that. Through training delivered by business professionals and through workplace experiences, students learn about professional expectations and behavior: how to communicate with their colleagues, function as a team, network, dress professionally, and use office technology.

Those are just a few examples of how businesses are addressing the increasing overlap between "job skills" and the broader expertise that are needed to become a "well-rounded citizen."

A New Yorker article published earlier this year explored the rise of Stanford University as a Silicon Valley tech incubator. Included in the piece were findings from a study of their undergraduate program. It simply articulates why education matters:

The long-term value of an education is to be found not merely in the accumulation of knowledge or skills but in the capacity to forge fresh connections between them, to integrate different elements from one's education and experience and bring them to bear on new challenges and problems . . .

With this in mind, it's time to stop creating this false dichotomy between teaching "job skills" and offering a more general education. When we do both, we're not just training our future workers--we're educating the future.

How NYC Businesses Help Local High School Students Get to Work

2012-12-11T15:33:56-05:00

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 workforce tomorrow.

The PENCIL Fellows Program provides high-performing high school juniors and seniors with comprehensive career-development training that includes paid summer internships. Last year, beginning with the Fellows application, more than 300 students spent over 29,000 hours learning about and developing the 21st century skills they'll need to excel in the workplace.

Students learn those 21st century skills -- like flexibility, persistence, discipline, the ability to network, and a familiarity with technology -- while experiencing the rigors of the modern job application.

To be accepted in the PENCIL Fellows Program, students must participate in training sessions, create "business-ready" resumes, and participate in at least one interview.

Aleyda Meyers, the recruiting director for the NYC Transit Authority, said that most Fellows applicants "were better than the average resume I receive from applicants twice their age!"

It's only after the application process that we approach businesses with the screened applicants. After the extensive PENCIL Fellows application process, we're confident that these students both welcome the responsibility of a job and can contribute something to their hosts. Over the last 5 years, we've placed nearly 600 PENCIL Fellows at jobs throughout NYC.

For nearly all of the Fellows, their experience that summer represents the first time that they've worked in an office. Yet despite the fact that they're just starting their careers, their time on the job truly changes them.

Last summer, we profiled three PENCIL Fellows (Anna, who worked at Davler Media Group; Rasheen, who worked at American Airlines; and Kevin, who worked at HBO) in a recurring series called the "2012 PENCIL Fellows Web Diaries." At the end of the summer, we asked each of them to sit down with Gayle Villani, PENCIL's vice president of programs, to discuss their experiences:

Hearing them speak about last year's experiences makes me excited for the hundreds of students who are applying for the Fellows Program now.

The first round of applicants will start hearing if they're accepted to the program in February at the earliest. That's also when they'll start to learn where they'll be working that summer.

The next round of applicants will begin the same process in February, and will hear if they're accepted in late spring.

Why Volunteering Is Good for your Business

2012-09-05T09:10:29-04:00

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 principals who can effectively tackle these issues.

Fortunately, as students return to school, thousands of business volunteers are walking alongside them, putting their skills to work to help schools overcome many of these challenges -- with impressive results. In the last school year alone, nearly 80% of principals working with business volunteers through PENCIL felt more confident as school leaders; nearly 80% saw an increase in family engagement in their schools; and more than 95% saw an increase in student awareness about college and career awareness.

Because they see the impact they are having on our students, nearly 80% of PENCIL's business volunteers return to work with their schools from one year to the next. But they also return because helping our schools through skills-based volunteerism (SBV) is good business.

The facts are clear: promoting and providing employees with meaningful volunteer opportunities helps to attract top talent; engage, develop, and retain employees; boost public image; and improve the bottom line.

Recruiting and Engaging Employees

Increasingly, today's employees are entering the workforce with an expectation that volunteering will be a part of their professional careers. PriceWaterhouseCoopers discovered that 88% of Millennials gravitated toward companies with pronounced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, and 86% would consider leaving if their employer's CSR no longer met their expectations.

And according to the 2011 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey, 61% of Millenials said a volunteer program would be a factor "when choosing between two potential jobs with the same location, responsibilities, pay and benefits."

"Attracting and retaining great talent is the lifeblood of our business," says Gil Krakowsky, principal at global consulting firm A.T. Kearney. "So when candidates say that our volunteer work through PENCIL clinched their decision to join our firm over others, it makes our commitment to volunteering that much more beneficial to the firm itself."

Once on the job, employees also feel better about their corporations -- and themselves -- when they're presented with the opportunity to volunteer.

Deloitte found that over 50% of Millennial employees that volunteer are very loyal toward their
company, proud to work there, satisfied with their employer, and likely to recommend their company to a friend. And Millennial employees who participate in a company's volunteer program are more than twice as likely to rate their work culture as "very positive," as compared to those who don't volunteer.

Professional Development:

In an SBV volunteer program -- in which volunteers use their professional skills in a different capacity to benefit a nonprofit or other organization -- the gains that a business' employees make are two-fold. First, they'll hone their day-to-day skills: employees who participate in SBV programs are 142% more likely to report job-related skills gains than traditional volunteers, according to a True Impact report.

Secondly, exposure to a new environment -- and new challenges -- will allow employees to break out of their 'comfort zone' and develop other skills away from the office. According to Deloitte, 91% of Fortune 500 HR managers said that "volunteering knowledge and expertise to a nonprofit can be an effective way to cultivate critical business and leadership skills," such as project management, communication, goal-setting and evaluation. These 'soft' skills might not be as easy to quantify, and they might not even be a part of an employee's daily work, but they can make all the difference in cultivating leadership and planning for future success.

Apart from developing their skills, SBV programs have the added benefit of being especially good at creating more engaged and fulfilled employees. According to True Impact, volunteers in SBV programs are 47% more likely to report higher satisfaction from their involvement than traditional volunteers, which means that in developing their employees' skills, businesses are more likely to retain their talent as well.

Public Relations

By 'public relations,' I don't just mean the good press in local newspapers (though that's likely as well).

Volunteer programs also help companies ingratiate themselves to their customers, who will see -- and respect -- a business' efforts to improve the community. It's something that consumers expect: according to the 2011 "Pulse Survey," 40% of a company's reputation is determined by volunteering and corporate social responsibility. And according to a McKinsey study of CSR, "CFOs, investment professionals, and corporate social responsibility professionals agree that maintaining a good corporate reputation or brand equity is the most important way [volunteering programs] create value."

The Bottom Line

Recruiting top talent, keeping them engaged and burnishing a business' reputation -- it all adds up to a bigger bottom line. In a recent Forbes article, Tim Mohin writes: "More engaged employees make for more profits...companies with highly engaged employees have three times the operating margin...and four times the earnings per share... of companies with low engagement."

And according to Deloitte's 2010 Volunteer Impact Survey, 64% of executives surveyed say that corporate citizenship produces a tangible contribution to the company bottom line. "CA Technologies has a long standing commitment to CSR and volunteer programs, particularly in education because we recognize it's a good investment for our business," said Erica Christensen, senior director, Community Affairs, CA Technologies.

When our employees are engaged in community activities that leverage their professional skills through volunteerism, we find them to be happier and better connected with their colleagues, which benefits the entire company. Doing good work in the community is its own reward, but there are positives for business, too. In short, everyone benefits from these efforts.

Every day, more and more businesses like CA Technologies, UPS, Starbucks, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Target -- along with nonprofits like PENCIL -- are joining movements like A Billion + Change, which is mobilizing companies across the country to engage in skills-based volunteerism.

But, there is still so much need. And that's why as children across the country sling on their backpacks, we need more and more businesses to get on the school bus as well.

You Never Know Where A Job Will Take You

2012-08-03T18:27:13-04:00

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 to practice the professional skills he'd learned -- and to develop new skills that come only from real work experience.

As PENCIL Fellows, Shyam and his peers spent their summer cultivating their professional skills: they learned about personal branding, networking, how to dress for success, office communications and the skills and values needed to excel in today's workplace.

It's a program that addresses an immediate need. This summer, more than seven in 10 U.S. teens will be without a job, and in New York City the teen unemployment rate is 35.6 percent. Summer jobs correlate with increased income and better job security later in life -- by hiring teens, businesses invest in the future.

Shyam is proof of how enriching that investment can be. While working at Meringoff Properties, Inc., Shyam distinguished himself and, when the program ended, Stephen Meringoff, the Chairman of Meringoff Properties, Inc., hired Shyam as a part-time employee.

Shyam could only work part-time because he was going to college: he got up at 3:00 a.m. and left the house at 5:30 to make it to class. In the afternoon, he'd head right to the office, where he kept learning, growing and excelling. You can watch him tell his story about his experience with Meringoff Properties in the video below:

But Shyam's journey with Meringoff Properties wasn't over. Because of his experience at Meringoff, he decided he wanted to transfer to Pace University, because it had a stronger business program than his current college. Stephen Meringoff helped him with the application and when the tuition bills started to stack up, his boss helped him find a way to manage them.

Shyam's story is just one of many life-altering journeys that PENCIL Fellows have experienced -- and another addition to the body of evidence showing that meaningful summer employment can be life changing. We've placed nearly 600 Fellows at companies over the last five years, and they unanimously agree that the program has shaped their plans for the future. Our research also finds meaningful improvements in work skills, self-efficacy, teamwork and professionalism. Many of them have gone on to accept full- or part-time positions at their host companies once the program is complete.

This summer, nearly 100 PENCIL Fellows are working at businesses throughout New York City. But there are countless other students just like Shyam who demonstrate the same potential that he did. Like Shyam, they deserve the same opportunity to develop their professional skills -- and the only way they can really do that is on the job.

We tell the wonderful companies that participate in the PENCIL Fellows Program that their involvement isn't philanthropy -- it's an investment. Shayam is certainly proof.

Students Leaving School for Summer, Teachers Leaving for Good

2012-06-26T16:37:01-04:00

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 beyond the five boroughs. According to a Harvard Education Review survey, 30 percent of teachers left after the first three years in the classroom and 50 percent left after five years.

Granted, not everyone is well-suited for teaching, and some turnover is healthy. Yet no business would survive if 50 percent of its employees left after their first year, and no leader could ever be effective in that environment. That's why, to retain the best and brightest, the most successful businesses pay competitive salaries to recruit talent; invest in and empower their employees to retain them; and then evaluate their employees to hold them accountable and reward them for their success.

So at a time when it is universally accepted that the most important factor in a child's education is the quality of the teacher in their classroom, are our schools doing the same as successful businesses to recruit and retain the best and brightest to be teachers? The answer is a resounding 'no.'

Pay

Nationwide, first-year teachers earn a median salary of $31,333 according to the United Federation of Teachers/TeacherPortal, 33 percent less than the median salary of someone with a bachelor's degree. In New York City, the 2008 starting salary for teachers was $45,530, whereas entry-level PR professionals earned a median salary of $53,139 and financial analysts earned $57,442 in their first year. About one in five teachers work part-time jobs just to make ends meet.

It is true that teachers have never been at the top of the pay scale. But as Susan Moore Johnson at the Harvard Graduate School of Education states, it's also true that until a few decades ago, women and men of color were often closed out of other careers. As a result, we had created a "hidden subsidy" for public education: "well-educated individuals who had few professional options and, therefore, were committed to teaching at pay levels far below those of professions in other fields." Not anymore. Professions that once shunned talented women and people of color now have special initiatives designed to recruit them.

At the same time, students coming out of college with expertise in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) -- the same expertise we so desperately need in our schools -- are being highly recruited by the Facebooks, Instagrams, and Googles of the world with six-figure pay packages to start and the opportunity to make multiples more while working in an office filled with free food and basketball courts. Compare that to a New York City teacher who, after 30 years, will max out at roughly $100,000 and who, according to conventional wisdom, will be more likely to have a urinary tract infection than the average employee in other professions because they can't leave the classroom to go to the bathroom.

While we can't try to compete dollar for dollar or attract to teaching people whose primary goal is to make money, we can at least make sure that we are paying our teachers a competitive salary that doesn't require working a second job.

Professional Development

Smart businesses invest in their employees so that they stay at the top of their game. Yet as 45 states are about to launch the Common Core Standards, 51 percent of teachers said they were only somewhat prepared and 27 percent said they were highly unprepared to meet these new standards. In New York City, it was recently reported that $100 million has been spent on professional development yet there is no indication of whether it has had any impact on our teachers.

In addition, Johnson found that too often new teachers are hired just before, or even after school started, leaving no time to prepare for their new responsibilities. And many times they are expected to teach outside their field or to take on the most challenging students, courses, or schedules.

Teaching is a profession -- an ever-changing one. And we have to invest in teachers as professionals so they continue to grow as professionals and build on their knowledge, skills and expertise to most effectively educate our children.

Accountability

While businesses compensate and invest in their employees, they also hold them accountable. Those who aren't performing don't last in their jobs, and those that excel are compensated for their achievements. Teachers, on the other hand, are not rewarded for success; they're rewarded for longevity. As stated by Educators 4 Excellence, teachers' careers advance through an outdated system that rewards time spent in classrooms and graduate school classes that "have shown no correlation with teacher effectiveness." Rather than be rewarded for their professional success, teachers wait for incremental raises at predetermined intervals.

Although we are working on it, we are still yet to develop a comprehensive method for evaluating teachers that takes into account the numerous indicators of whether they are performing well -- and where they need help. And the reality is that, for too many, teaching is a life-time job regardless of whether they are helping, or hurting, our students.

We often hear that teaching is just different -- that it is not the same as business. No one knows that better than PENCIL, where we have developed a model to engage business leaders in public education in a way that supports principals and teachers, rather than "take over" public education. Yet the evidence shows that some business principles are 100 percent transferable. The Washington Post notes that the top-performing countries on standardized tests in math, science and reading all "selectively recruit for teacher training programs. The pay is much higher than in the United States. Professional work environments are excellent. And the cultural respect for teachers is very high. In Finland, the country with what is now considered one of the finest education systems in the world, teaching is the most admired job among top college students."

Recently, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and representatives from other organizations committed to finding and keeping better teachers in their "shared vision for the future of the teaching profession," which included recommendations to provide teachers with continuous growth and professional development, a professional career continuum with competitive compensation, and other suggestions that will produce better teachers and express America's respect, support, and pride for our educators.

We say that there is nothing more important than our children's education. Yet we aren't making the investments we need to recruit the best and brightest to become teachers. It doesn't take a great teacher to explain why that math doesn't add up.

National Volunteer Month: Celebrating the "New" Volunteerism

2012-04-10T16:09:30-04:00

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 of crucial importance, it is equally important that we honor the people who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in our communities.

And there are a lot of them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 64 million people volunteered at least once between September 2010 and September 2011. The Corporation for National and Community Service says it's collectively dedicated 8.1 billion hours to a wide variety of organizations. That donated time and expertise is valued at $173 billion. Talk about economic impact!

One of the greatest aspects of volunteerism is that there are so many different ways to do it, and sometimes, we volunteer without even making conscious recognition of it -- for example, helping out at church or coaching your child in soccer. Sometimes we can only fit in one day and we serve food at the local soup kitchen or clean up the local park. These acts all deserve to be applauded, and as the leader of an education organization that cannot do its work without them, I say thank you to every one of those 64 million people who are giving back to their community in their own way.

National Volunteer Month also provides a great opportunity to reflect on how much volunteerism has changed since President Nixon created the first National Volunteer Week in 1974.

• Since 1989, the number of people who volunteer has increased by 60 percent.
• Older Americans from the Baby Boom generation are 40 percent more likely to volunteer than the same age groups were in 1989.

Not only has the amount of volunteerism increased, but the impact of volunteerism is increasing as well. As corporations encourage their employees to engage in meaningful volunteer activities, long-term, skills-based volunteerism is becoming more popular. According to Deloitte, nearly two-thirds of Generation Y employees would like to use their business skills in their volunteer efforts.

That's why Deloitte itself calls skills-based volunteerism the "heart" of their community involvement efforts. And they are not alone. By attending a conference on volunteerism or even conducting a quick surf on the net, you'll see that corporations across the country are recognizing the power of providing their employees with opportunities to do what they love and do well in a volunteer capacity.

When done right (see my previous post here), the power of skills-based volunteerism is unparalleled. I'm lucky enough to see it play out every day in our public schools through scenarios like this:

• Christine Marchiselli, an executive recruiter at JPMorgan Chase, knows what it takes to impress a prospective employer. She uses the skills she has developed to help students at Leon M. Goldstein High School develop effective resumes and improve their interview skills.

• Jessica Rovello, president and co-founder of major gaming company Arkadium, has helped burgeoning International High School at Union Square develop a brand identity and logo to effectively communicate the school's values and mission to prospective students. They've also developed the school's website.

• Rossana Salaris, a principal at Radix Consulting Corporation, has helped the principal of Central Park East Middle School develop a strategic plan focused on improving instruction, improving technology integration, and developing school branding and messaging. Now she helps him track his progress against the plan.

So as we celebrate National Volunteer Month, let's recognize those who give themselves to help others. Let's motivate others to join the effort. And let's stay focused on how volunteerism can continue to evolve to bring maximum value to our communities.

Meet Our New President of External Relations

2011-10-27T12:27:48-04:00

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 argument goes, principals should be focused on their role as "instructional leader." They should be spending most of their time managing curriculum, monitoring lesson plans, and evaluating and mentoring teachers.

While I think there is universal acceptance that principals' days should not be consumed by broken toilets, a decade-long study by University of Pittsburgh Professor Carrie R. Leana, finds that contrary to conventional wisdom, "instructional leader" is not the most effective area in which principals should focus their energy. Rather, the study finds, principals should spend more of their time collaborating with people and organizations outside the school.

"When principals spent more time building external social capital, the quality of instruction in the school was higher and students' scores on standardized tests in both reading and math were higher," says Professor Leana in an article about the study in The Stanford Social Innovation Review . Conversely, principals spending more of their time mentoring and monitoring teachers had no effect on teacher social capital or student achievement.

As the leader of an organization that focuses on building relationships between school principals and business leaders, obviously this is music to my ears. However, it isn't surprising.

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the New York Post's Liberty Medal Award ceremony as Sana Nasser, Principal of Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx, received the medal in education. Nasser transformed her 3,000-student school by creating small, specialized learning academies. She told the Post it was the external relationships she built that enabled her to develop the structure and bring in the outside expertise she needed to create the small learning communities that dramatically improved her school.

Nasser's relationships began with Charles Bendit of Taconic Investment Partners, who provided her with crucial management coaching that enabled her to begin delegating and empowering others at her school. Charles then connected her to Paul Neuman, the owner of a catering company who helped her open a fully operating kitchen and helped her design a real-world cooking curriculum certified by the Culinary Institute of America. Next, they connected with the general manager of a television station, who arranged for the school's television studio to be renovated so that a journalism curriculum could be started. Ultimately, Bendit and Nasser formed a business advisory committee for the school, and the results of their efforts are indisputable. The graduation rate at Truman has increased by 10 percentage points, and the percentage of students who are "on track" for graduation is 20% higher -- and attendance 10% higher -- among students in the small academies than for those in the general education curriculum.

On the other side of the Bronx, Linda Rosenbury had just become the principal of Junior High School 22 and was struggling to figure out how to inspire her students to do their homework every day. Enter Steve Altman, an attorney who helped her create "HOMEWORK MATTERS!" Students participating in the program commit to doing their homework every night and, if they do, they are invited to attend a monthly pizza luncheon. Each luncheon features a prominent guest speaker, from music executives to not-for-profit leaders. The program has grown from three pilot classes to nine classes, as more and more students -- and teachers -- want this opportunity to connect with the outside world.

And over the past five years, CA Technologies has worked with two schools in New York City. Their work has helped students to develop crucial technology, cultural literacy, and other Twenty-First Century skills needed to compete in today's workforce. They've introduced robotics programs, brought smart boards into the classroom, and created a unique electronic pen pal program that connects students in one school with peers at the CA-HOPE School in Hyderabad, India. The result: greater student engagement, higher school standards for innovation, and new educational opportunities for teachers.

These examples (and hundreds more just like them) are different in many ways, but they all bring to life the finding that external relationships can significantly move the needle in student achievement. However, they also illustrate another important point that we at PENCIL have been espousing for years.

To be effective and truly affect positive change in student achievement, external relationships must be created with purpose. When creating a relationship, it is crucial to think about what the school needs and how an external partner can help achieve that goal. Altman, for example, doesn't throw pizza parties for the entire student body because it would be a fun thing to do -- he does it to incentivize students to do homework because Rosenbury believes strongly that her students will not succeed if they don't do their homework. Similarly, many of the other partners we work with don't help arrange random field trips for students because it would be a "nice change of pace." Rather, they develop thoughtful "awareness" programs that open students' eyes to new opportunities, provide exposure and experience in the "real world," and bring to life the value of education -- and, ideally, the joy of learning. Moreover, by enabling school leaders to forge meaningful, long-term external relationships that target specific school needs, principals are effectively strengthening the instructional leadership of their schools.

The solutions to the problems confronting our nation's education system are complex, and no one person or organization has all of the answers. Likewise, the challenges confronting each school are complex, and no single principal has all of the answers. But, if principals reach out into their community, they will find that many solutions are waiting just outside their doors -- in the form of talented, motivated, compassionate professionals eager to be invited in to help.

Opening Doors and Closing the Gap: Workforce Development for Urban Youth

2011-08-16T17:51:34-04:00

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 boroughs, African American and Latino men ages 18 to 24 have a poverty rate that is 50% higher than white and Asian young men, and an unemployment rate that is 60% higher.

Obviously, this is a worthy effort -- especially during these turbulent economic times when the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted only about 25% of all teens ages 16-19 would be able to find a job this summer -- the lowest rate since the government began tracking the statistics in the 1940s.

We know that many of these young men attended, or attend, urban public schools. And in recent years, there has been much debate about what our schools should be doing to reduce the racial achievement gap in education. Yet, as the Mayor's initiative demonstrates, schools are just one critical key to success.

At PENCIL, we've been working to expand employment opportunities for underserved young people through the Fellows Program, our own summer internship program designed solely for NYC public high school students. A sizable percentage of the students in the Fellows program are African American and Latino young men. What we've discovered is that many of the challenges confronting African American and Latino young men are not unique to them but are also experienced by the vast majority of urban public school students. Through the Fellows Program, we've placed nearly 500 students in paid internships over the past four years, but without the relationships we have with their host companies, only a handful would have gotten the opportunity. Why?

1. Networking: Too many urban public school students lack access to the professional networks that are necessary to find jobs. One major company with whom we work said 30% of new employees are found through referrals, which puts students without these references at a distinct disadvantage. Most of our Fellows aren't born into a professional network, don't have access to one, and don't yet understand the importance of networking. So as part of their training, we teach that whether one is unemployed, seeking a new job or promotion, or building a reputation at a company, networking is one of the most important weapons in their arsenal. We then teach our Fellows some basic skills behind networking effectively.

2. Professional Brand: If a student is fortunate to land a coveted interview, do they know what to do with it? Do they know how to answer the question, "Tell me about yourself. Why should we hire you?" Do they know how to present themselves, to arrive well before the scheduled meeting time, to dress appropriately for the place of business, to give a firm handshake, to make eye contact, and speak with confidence? Too often the answer to these questions is no -- and so often, the interview ended before it began.

Developing a "professional brand" begins with a personal statement -- an elevator pitch, if you will -- summarizing an individual's education, professional experience, skills, interests, and best qualities. And our Fellows learn that it's not just what they say, but how they say it -- with confidence, with sincerity, and with a professional presentation -- that will land them the job.

3. Attitude: An internship is an audition. We teach our Fellows that simply "punching the clock" is a road to failure. Rather, show an eagerness to learn, a desire to work hard, and a willingness to step up during times of crisis. And we remind our students that there are parts of the job they will love, and parts they could do without. But they are all worth learning about, and must all be done with equal dedication.

Here's the great news: given the chance, all of the students in our Fellows Program learn -- and shine. The vast majority of participants report the Program has a significant impact on their lives, improving their feelings of self-efficacy and influencing their future career plans. And, even better, they are outstanding employees.

Since we launched the Program, companies that were once reluctant to hire high school students have come back, year after year, many have taken on more student interns each year, and dozens of Fellows have been asked to stay on as part-time employees after their internships have ended. Already this summer, at least three Fellows have turned their internships into ongoing jobs.

Many more students can do that, too, given the chance. So as the Mayor launches this laudable effort, we know he can't do it alone; we'll need the business community to do its part, as well. First step: open your doors to an unorthodox candidate, and give them the chance to shine by being part of a program like PENCIL Fellows. And then invest in the students while you have them. It may take some work to bring them up to speed on workplace skills and rules, but it's an investment worth making.

Help Needed: Workforce Development and What the Ordinary Citizen Can Do

2011-05-06T12:42:48-04:00

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 Properties.

Shyam is a young man of exceptional character and perseverance. Unfortunately, the fact that he is employed also makes him exceptional -- according to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate in June 2010 for youth ages 16-19 was 25.7 percent, the highest since the government began tracking the data in 1947.

The high rate is not due to economic turmoil alone; employers are reporting that young adults are not prepared for job success. In "Are They Really Ready to Work?," a survey of several hundred employers by The Conference Board and three other organizations, employers across sectors reported that young adults entering the workforce lack essential job skills, rating them "deficient" in many areas including oral communication, critical thinking and professionalism/work ethic. When asked where young adults should be prepared with the knowledge and skills needed for job success, 75.6 percent of employers said that K-12 schools should be responsible.

It is no secret that our public schools -- especially those in large, urban districts -- are under great stress already, struggling to meet testing standards for just the basic "three R's" (reading, writing, and arithmetic). "Soft skills" like those noted above in The Conference Board survey are often not taught in our schools, yet we know we cannot continue sending our graduates into the workforce without the knowledge they need to succeed.

There is a solution, though, a solution we can all be a part of: internships.

It may sound simple, but internships provide a solid foundation on which a career can be built. In addition to gaining workplace skills, a 2010 study by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation found that students who participated in work-based learning programs are more likely to see the connection between school, work and their career goals, viewing the importance of graduating college in very practical terms. Unlike summer jobs, internships are designed to support and train students while providing valuable services to businesses.

That is precisely why internship programs like PENCIL's Fellows Program were created. The Fellows Program -- run in partnership with Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) -- provides New York City public high school seniors and recent graduates with full-time, paid summer internships, as well as training, guidance and support to prepare them for the workforce. One of the largest and most efficient high school internship programs in New York State, PENCIL's Fellows Program is an effective and successful model that can be adapted around the country.

Fellows are selected from a pool of students who have participated in VEI's year-long business entrepreneurship program and have shown a strong interest in pursuing a professional career in a business environment. They develop resumes, receive tips and training in marketing themselves to prospective employers, and interview for their internships at some of the most competitive businesses in New York City.

Once hired, Fellows perform duties and work that are meaningful both to them and their employers, from filing documents and answering phones to developing websites, editing copy, evaluating data and more. And they are paid -- a crucial component of a successful internship program. For many students, working for free or for school credit is simply not an option they can afford. Equally important, the pride that comes from earning a paycheck remains with them forever.

Throughout the program, Fellows participate in workshops on business etiquette and attend career panels. They are required to complete writing assignments, reflecting on their challenges, successes and the new lessons they have learned in their internships. Fellows unanimously agree that the program has helped shaped their plans for the future, reporting improvements in work skills, self-efficacy, teamwork, professionalism and solution-seeking. The value of the model is best illustrated by the fact that dozens of Fellows alumni have gone on to accept full- or part-time positions at their host companies after the program ends.

As the American economy recovers, it is clear that too many of our students are not adequately prepared to enter the workforce. We cannot depend on public schools alone -- all of us can play a part.

Companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co., Estee Lauder and JetBlue, as well as dozens of small businesses, are recognizing the importance of investing in internships for high school students. Why? Because they are our next generation of workers, customers, clients and leaders. And because there is no better ROI than investing in the future.

Principal CEO

2011-02-15T10:20:01-05:00

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 to a school's success as a CEO's is to their business. In the massive longitudinal study Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago, researchers found that school leadership is one of five essential ingredients in the recipe for school success. Last year, The Wallace Foundation published a report based on six years of research confirming that leadership is second only to classroom instruction as an influence on student learning.

While school leadership is more important than ever, it's also more complicated than ever. Principals are expected to attract and retain talented staff, build morale among their employees and students, manage multimillion-dollar budgets, improve productivity, encourage employee excellence and create a vision and strategic plan. Many also contend with boosting parent engagement, building a school brand to increase student applications and working with multiple external groups from unions to the media to community-based organizations. As U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a recent speech, "Top-flight school leaders are more like CEOs than building managers."

Yet, unlike CEOs, principals often do not get the upfront -- and ongoing -- training they need to be successful. With some exceptions, such as those who go through the Leadership Academy or New Leaders for New Schools, the typical principal often begins as a teacher, becomes a vice-principal and then a principal, but doesn't get the management training needed to run a complex organization. No successful private sector company appoints a CEO who hasn't been groomed for the job. And once appointed, most CEOs receive ongoing professional development and support. Corporations invest in their leaders so that they are prepared for and can succeed in their positions.

Our principals deserve the same support. But who can provide this training, this unique insight into the new role of the CEO principal?

While the question is a complex one, it's obvious that CEOs and other business leaders who handle management and operational issues day-to-day can be a part of the solution. I've seen business leaders across sectors -- from financial executives to fashion icons to record label executives to independent consultants -- begin partnerships with NYC public school principals and get results.

These volunteers from the private sector are not taking over the schools. They are not privatizing public education. What they are doing is known in organizational development as knowledge transfer -- the process of passing on information gleaned from experience from one person to another.

From one leader to another, their partnership provides the space for a personal exchange of ideas, advice and insight. Private sector volunteers are able to share a business-like acumen that often helps principals assess their approach to many aspects of their business-like work, such as strategic planning, team-building, staff retention, effective use of data and evaluation, effective communication techniques, and budgeting and oversight.

With this powerful combination of leaders across sectors, the results are often astonishing:

• There is the principal whose business partner helped her boost the number of students graduating by 38 percent within a school year.

• The Partnership that decreased teacher attrition from 25 percent to 3 percent and transformed a school from a model of failure to a model of excellence.

• And the business partner whose marketing advice helped a principal build a school brand, in turn increasing school pride and increasing student applications by 22 percent.

"I want to empower our principals," said New York City School Chancellor Cathie Black in a recent interview with New York Magazine. "Because the empowerment of principals, I believe, is critical to the success of the system."

I couldn't agree more.

Are Volunteers Overwhelming Our Schools?

2011-01-07T14:09:26-05:00

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 give back to today's students. And on the heels of NBC's Education Nation this past fall, David Gregory called for more volunteers in public schools on Meet the Press, adding on Twitter that "education reform is the new patriotism."

It appears America is heeding the call -- in 2009, there were 1.6 million more volunteers than in 2008, and schools are increasingly the focus of that support.

This, of course, should send tongues (and Tweets) wagging for all of us who are involved in supporting public schools. Yet, we must be careful of what we wish for. We have an educational system that is, in every sense of the word, overwhelmed, and it is not clear if schools can handle an influx of volunteers.

Despite good intentions, volunteers can actually steer our schools off track.

At a recent gathering of New York City-based organizations committed to improving our public schools, we joined the call for more volunteers in our schools, but with one important caveat: we must do a better job of creating structures and systems for using volunteers effectively. That's how we stay on track.

Over the past 15 years, we at PENCIL have connected thousands of private sector volunteers with thousands of public schools. We have seen tremendous success stories where volunteers have literally helped transform a school from a case study of failure into a model of success. But, we have also seen volunteers -- despite the best of intentions -- throw their arms up in frustration and walk away from a school that, in their mind, "doesn't appreciate what I'm trying to do."

To ensure more turnaround stories and fewer stories of disappointment, we have developed a comprehensive structure to support our volunteers and the schools with which they work. We have built this structure around some basic, but often overlooked, principles that can help ensure an effective volunteer program that truly increases student achievement.

Aligning School Needs with Volunteer Skills

Too often, a volunteer has an idea of what they want to do -- but it's not necessarily in line with what a school needs. Principals bite their tongue, as they don't want to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. But if the volunteer experience is truly about helping the school, then the process must begin with identifying what the school needs. Raising money for a new playground is great, but not if what the school really needs is a new science lab. Starting a drama club might be nice, but not if what the principal really wants is a reading club because the students are reading below grade level.

And schools must not be afraid to turn away volunteers who don't meet their needs while seeking out volunteers whose skills are in line with what they are trying to achieve. If a principal's number one priority is helping students improve their math skills, then that principal should look for volunteers who can help the students with math.

When volunteers' skills are in line with the school's core needs, it creates both a more productive relationship for the school and a more rewarding experience for the volunteers.

Setting Clear and Realistic Goals

It's ambitious to say "I want to help ensure that every single child in this school graduates." Well, if only 50 percent of the students are currently graduating, that's not realistic - and it sets the relationship up for failure. Set realistic goals, such as: "We are going to increase the number of students reading at grade level by 25 percent." Or, "We are going to double the number of parents attending parent-teacher conferences."

Similarly, principals shouldn't expect -- and volunteers shouldn't promise -- more than they can offer. Most volunteers haven't been in a school for a very long time and when they encounter the students for the first time, they want to promise the world. Then they go back to home or to the office and say, "What did I commit to? I can't do that." So don't promise to be at the school every day to mentor students, raise lots of money from your friends, and organize a school trip to the local museum. Commit to what you really can do -- not what you wish you could do.

Realistic goals make everyone feel successful, keep everyone engaged and motivated, and, over time, lead to those dramatic, inspiring results everyone is hoping for.

When setting goals, think about how you will know if you've been successful. Will we track attendance rates? Or staff turnover rates? Or how many parents come to back to school night? Which leads us to...

Measuring Impact

In our work life, we all evaluate our productivity. Are we selling as much as we'd like to? Are we providing the level of service our customers demand? And schools evaluate themselves as well -- are our students learning? Are they on track to graduate? Yet, for some reason when volunteers and schools come together, evaluation often goes out the window. This is an enormous mistake. What's the point of donating our time and expertise if it's not having an impact on the school? And why divert principals' and teachers' attentions to volunteer programs if they aren't having an impact?

Rigorous evaluation has another benefit -- we know that if we can show volunteers a tangible impact of their efforts, they are more likely to stay engaged and motivated. And if we're not having the desired impact, we can recalibrate our efforts. The best relationships adapt to changes and evolve over time.

Ongoing and Open Communication

When volunteers join a school community, it's the creation of a relationship. And just like any relationship, communication is a key to success. Both parties need to commit to maintaining regular and honest communication with each other, whether by email, phone, or in person. And communication isn't just talking, but listening and assessing, too. If a particular program isn't having impact, the school and volunteers must be open to hearing the truth and be open to figuring out what changes can be made to achieve the desired impact.

Developing a strategic volunteer program that is in line with the schools goals and objectives is not always easy. But time and again, we have found that it's well worth the effort. In fact, we have found that a structured, strategic, and streamlined approach ultimately reduces the burden on volunteers: A volunteer can have a dramatic impact on a school by donating the equivalent of only one work week of time across the entire school year. And we at PENCIL can proudly say that because we follow these basic guidelines, 95 percent of our volunteers are having a meaningful impact on the schools that they are supporting.

Getting Smart About Education: When The Private Sector Goes Public

2010-12-03T16:38:00-05:00

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 participation, and had achieved an A+ on its School Progress Report.

Five years ago, Bushwick Leaders High School was lagging behind in technology, had low parental involvement, and was lacking the leadership opportunities to which the school was so committed. Today, however, the school has a wireless network, a computer lab that acts as a training center for both students and teachers, expanded opportunities to participate in academic challenges and leadership, and -- as any quick internet search will show you -- glowing reviews from students and parents that have helped boost applications by 200 percent.

In the fall of 2009, the principal of Ralph McKee High School realized that of the 150 students set to graduate that year, only 90 were on track. Nine months later, interviewing workshops and job-shadowing programs had been established, a long-term career readiness program had been created, students were learning about networking and business etiquette, and the principal watched 125 students walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.

No, it wasn't a change in policy, funding, or school leadership that transformed these schools. Instead, the catalyst for the transformation of these three schools was the creation of a partnership between private sector leaders and each school principal.

For PS 153, a partnership with JetBlue President and CEO Dave Barger helped former Principal Monica George lower teacher attrition and increase student participation and all around excellence. Through his partnership with Principal Catherine Reilly, Frank Bisignano, CAO of JPMorgan Chase and an alumnus of Brooklyn public schools himself, helped transform Bushwick Leaders High School and shaped the way Principal Reilly leads her community. You needn't be a large company to make a huge impact, either, as Ralph McKee High School's Principal Sharon Henry can attest. Her partnership with Valarie Contrino, a local business owner and President of Contrino Travel, helped the career and technical high school turn around its graduation rate within the school year.

The plight of public education in this country, and in New York City in particular, is a complicated one, with debate raging about teacher tenure, charter schools, budgets, testing standards, and so much else. With principals carrying more weight on their shoulders than ever before, they have been turning to more innovative solutions to meet their challenges, including embarking on partnerships with the private sector. At PENCIL, the nonprofit organization of which I am President, we build and support partnerships between public school and private sector leaders, carefully matching, overseeing, and measuring the impact of each relationship. I am proud to say that we count the aforementioned three schools among our participants, and I am prouder to say that we have facilitated hundreds of similar success stories.

We at PENCIL know public-private partnerships are not the ultimate and only solution to the many challenges facing public education. Forming effective, high-impact public school-private sector partnerships is not easy -- they are created literally one school at a time. But we have proven again and again that PENCIL's model offers a real and proven remedy that is an important part of the solution.