PENCIL Partnership Program: Private Sector/Public School Partnerships to Improve Student Achievement in STEM
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Partnering for Excellence: Innovations in Science + Technology + Engineering + Math (STEM) Education competition.
PENCIL seeks to harness the talent, skills and resources of all sectors to improve public schools and proactively develop our nation's future talent. By forming and supporting long-term substantive relationships between the private sector and public schools, PENCIL is leading the effort to improve public education. We have nearly 40 Partnerships between professionals in finance, science, technology, engineering, architecture and construction and public schools. These Partnerships are working to increase student engagement in STEM to lay the groundwork for future careers in these fields – and are resulting in measurable improvements in student achievement.
About You
About You
First Name
Allison
Last Name
DiPerte
About Your Organization
Organization Name
PENCIL
Organization Website
Organization Phone
(646) 638-0565
Organization Address
30 West 26th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010
Organization Country
United States, NY
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, NY
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
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Innovation
Entry Form title
PENCIL Partnership Program: Private Sector/Public School Partnerships to Improve Student Achievement in STEM
What change do you want to bring to the world?
PENCIL seeks to harness the talent, skills and resources of all sectors to improve public schools and proactively develop our nation's future talent. By forming and supporting long-term substantive relationships between the private sector and public schools, PENCIL is leading the effort to improve public education. We have nearly 40 Partnerships between professionals in finance, science, technology, engineering, architecture and construction and public schools. These Partnerships are working to increase student engagement in STEM to lay the groundwork for future careers in these fields – and are resulting in measurable improvements in student achievement.
What are the primary activities of your project?
PENCIL forms Partnerships between the private sector and public schools to advance student educational attainment by outlining key objectives and developing a series of action steps on which Partners collaborate. While Partnerships can tackle a variety of school challenges, the organization supports 39 STEM Partnerships in NYC, Rochester, and Baltimore.
Project implementation is a multi-year process, as PENCIL has found that sustainable change is best achieved through long-term interventions. While each STEM project differs based on the specific needs of the students and the expertise of the private sector volunteer, all share the common goal of providing hand-on opportunities for students to develop core STEM competencies through interactions with professionals in the field. These professionals have been culled from senior executive positions with such corporations as IBM, Bloomberg, JP Morgan Chase & Co., ARUP and Turner Construction.
For example, at the School for Integrated Learning (Brooklyn, NY) a team of engineers from ARUP developed a hands on math and science project for special education students. Students worked with the engineers weekly to learn about acoustics and structural engineering principles as they designed a school music room. The students successfully prepared a design proposal for the room; indicating that they were able to synthesize new math and science concepts and apply them to a real-world project. Student on-time attendance also significantly improved as a result of the Partnership, since the ARUP team came during the first school period.
What is innovative about your initiative? How is it a new contribution to the field?
PENCIL Partnerships are enhancing students’ learning experience by utilizing the private sector to provide linkages between academics and real-life applications. PENCIL creates an opportunity for STEM professionals to use their expertise to make a meaningful, long-term impact on schools and students by shaping innovative STEM learning opportunities in partnership with principals.
What makes the PENCIL Partnership Program so innovative and successful is that each project in the program is completely unique. PENCIL guides project development as the STEM professional and the principal discuss the challenges facing the student body in STEM subject areas. PENCIL then helps the Partners to brainstorm projects in which the private sector volunteer can use his or her professional skills and expertise to get students excited about STEM and encourage their long-term success and interest in these subjects through hands-on projects.
PENCIL is the only organization of its kind that supports customized solutions to addressing the STEM deficet in public schools. Through PENCIL, the private sector has advanced STEM learning in public schools with such projects as:
• technology workshops for elementary students on new media with the president of a software firm.
• career awareness workshops with a Latino engineering society that exposes 100 4th and 5th graders to different technical careers.
• large-scale experiments with technology company scientists that integrate activities like constructing a spaghetti bridge into the 5th grade math curriculum.
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
Tell us about the community that you engage? eg. economic conditions, political structures, norms and values, demographic trends, history, and experience with engagement efforts.
PENCIL serves students who attend urban public schools that are typically marked by staggering student poverty, low graduation attainment and dismal college-readiness rates. This is evidenced by many of the students we serve being eligible for free or reduced priced lunches. In NYC, 72% of the student body qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Only 21% of NYC public school students graduated last year with high enough state math and English test scores to be considered college-ready.
The students in the PENCIL affiliate cities Rochester, Baltimore, and Philadelphia also live in communities of great need—the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch in Rochester and Baltimore is 84% and 72% in Philadelphia. Only 6% of students in Rochester meet college-readiness standards.
One of the reasons for PENCIL’s success in the communities in which we work is tied to the role that principals play in shaping project design and implementation to best address the needs of the community’s public school students. Communities within large urban school districts like the ones that PENCIL serves are extremely varied. PENCIL believes that a principal is key to synthesizing how community norms, values, and trends affect the school’s student population’s educational experience and outcomes. This thoughtful assessment is critical to shaping projects targeted towards the school community that will have a tangible impact on student success.
Share the story of the founder and what inspired the founder to start this project
PENCIL was founded by Lisa Belzberg, Ph.D. in 1995. Deeply passionate about providing all children with the best education possible, Belzberg was inspired to start PENCIL while she was working for the political consultant David Garth and saw no public outcry over the poor achievement outcomes of public school students. Believing that it is everyone’s civic duty to take an active role in improving public education to prepare the next generation for success, Belzberg founded PENCIL. PENCIL began as a one-day public awareness event, Principal For A Day® through which business and civic leaders served as visiting "principals" in New York City schools. The organization has evolved into year-round programming that is making a tangible impact on public schools and students.
Belzberg was named one of the "10 Most Influential New Yorkers" by New York magazine in 1998. In 1999, she was presented with the John Stanford Education Heroes Award from the U.S. Department of Education for her "extraordinary work in helping children learn." Crain's New York Business included her in its list of "40 Under 40." In 2000, Lisa was honored as one of Redbook's "Mothers and Shakers," was featured in Harper's Bazaar's "A View From The Top: Seven Power Women," and was named one of George magazine's "Citizens of the Year." Belzberg’s commitment to PENCIL and to public education continues today as Chair Emeritus of PENCIL’s Board of Directors.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Please describe how your project has been successful and how that success is measured
Through PENCIL’s full-time evaluation staff position, the organization has implemented formal evaluative procedures and methods to assess programmatic success:
• consistent process evaluation
• systematic data collection, including:
• the total number of schools served by the Partnership Program
• the duration of Partnerships during the school year and the transition rate from one school year to the next
• evaluating the success of program implementation through year-end surveys
Overall, 94% of principals reported that the PENCIL Partnerships positively impacted their school communities. Over one-third of principals report that the Partnership Program has benefited the school more than they originally thought it would.
The good news does not just end with our Principals. In the project development phase, Partners define concrete project goals and how success of the project will be measured. PENCIL Partnerships are making a tangible impact on student achievement in STEM subject areas, as evidenced through such systematic data collection as:
• the use of an evaluation rubric for final presentations to assess student learning about commodities concepts in an elementary school. The average presentation received a 90%.
• assessing the success of math tutoring for academic-borderline students using the number of participating students who went on to pass their math Regents, which was 91%.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
More than 10,000
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
More than 10,000
How will your project evolve over the next three years?
Over the next three years, PENCIL will evolve to serve more schools to effect greater educational success for public school students. It is anticipated that the number of school served in NYC will grow annually by over 20%.
Over the last several years, PENCIL has increased the number of youth served through expansion to the affiliate cities of Rochester, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. PENCIL plans on bringing our highly replicable model to two cities annually and is in exploratory discussions in Boston and Chicago.
PENCIL’s rationale for expansion is multi-dimensional. PENCIL is often called on to present our work at national conferences, indicating that while many of the nation’s school districts are failing students; key leaders are looking for a model of change that works.
Sustainability
What barriers might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?
PENCIL’s continued success is contingent on attracting talented private sector volunteers and linking them to every public school which requests one.
To ensure that we grow our pool of dedicated private sector volunteers, PENCIL is launching a marketing campaign, developed pro bono by Ogilvy. This campaign seeks to reach a broad pool of talented business leaders and challenges them to think about how their unique combination of skills and business acumen can be utilized in public education. It will feature many of PENCIL’s private sector volunteers (many of whom are engaged in STEM projects) and the impact they have had on their school. With the ad campaign creating increased awareness among the private sector about PENCIL’s work, the organization will also be developing a robust recruitment program to leverage this interest.
The recruitment program that is accompanying the effort has a strong focus on engaging STEM professionals. This fall, a women’s initiative will bring together senior female business executives and influencers around education to take an active role in moving the needle on STEM achievement by becoming involved in PENCIL. This year, engagement initiatives will tap into professionals in the finance, technology and design industries. Additionally, work is underway to more effectively engage professionals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds-including Hispanic and African-Americans. Having STEM professional role models from underrepresented groups in these sectors encourages students to envision their own post-secondary achievement in these fields.
Tell us about your partnerships
The PENCIL Partnership Program objective is to increases student achievement by engaging the private sector in sustained, customized, impact-oriented partnerships with public schools. STEM Partnerships are in 39 public schools, reaching approximately 7,200 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
Private sector volunteers are strategically matched with public schools based on how the volunteer’s interests and skills align with the challenges facing the school community. STEM Partnerships bring professionals working in the field into the classroom to enhance the student learning experience, encourage interest in pursuing post-secondary STEM study, and promote student achievement in these core subject areas.
For example, Nancy Ruddy of the architecture firm Cetra/Ruddy has developed a practical application of the common-core standards in science and math for third-graders at Community School 300 (Bronx, NY). Through constructing their own bridge models students have been exposed to structural engineering principles that have lead them to have increased confidence in tackling challenging math concepts in the classroom.
Most Partnerships within the program span several academic years as part of PENCIL’s long-term intervention strategy to affect sustained positive student outcomes. Of all active Partnerships, 43% are over three years old and for Partnerships that ended this year, only 4% were less than one year in duration. On average, successful Partnerships devote 35 hours a year to project implementation.
Current annual budget of project, in US dollars
$100,000‐250,000
Explain your selections
During the current fiscal year (ending June 30, 2012), PENCIL projects raising 1% of its support from government grants, 2% from earned and investment income, 7% from individuals, 35% from corporate and private foundations, and 55% from corporate sponsorships and special events. PENCIL provides free long-term programs to more public schools than any other education non-profit in New York City.
To ensure the sustainability of the Partnership Program, PENCIL has been increasingly diversifying and growing its donor base, seeking new grants from foundations and government and increasing the number of individual donors to the annual fund.
How do you plan to strengthen your project in the next three years?
Over the next three years, PENCIL plans on strengthening the PENCIL Partnership Program by focusing on the quality of Partnerships in order to heighten their impact on public school communities. PENCIL strategically plans on the strengthening the program by:
• increasing the percentage of Partners accessing support tools (PENCIL Exchange, library of support materials, etc.)
• increasing attendance at PENCIL Partnership workshops and trainings
• increasing orientation attendance
• increasing professional development activities of PENCIL Partnership Coordinators
PENCIL will measure the success of this strengthening strategy through the following outcomes:
• maintaining the percentage of Partnerships reporting impact at 95%
• increasing the percentage of Partners reporting moderate or significant impact
• increasing the percentage in Partners who reporting that PENCIL Partnership Coordinators play a significant role in Partnership success, particularly for Partnerships 2 years or less in duration
Partnerships and Accountability
Please tell us more about how your partnership was formed and how it functions. What specific role does each partner play? What unique resources does each partner bring to the initiative?
PENCIL seeks to effect long-term, substantive positive improvement in the achievement of public school students through these key components of the Partnership Program:
School and Volunteer Application and Intake: All public schools in PENCIL’s footprint are invited through e-communications to apply to be part of the Partnership Program. Schools and potential private sector volunteers are asked to complete a formal application and then are subsequently screened by PENCIL through teleconference and in-person meetings. The screening process evaluates the potential volunteer or applicant school principal in key areas—commitment, responsiveness, and understanding of role—that are proven preconditions of successful Partnerships. This intake process also allows PENCIL to perform a needs assessment to identify the greatest challenges in the school community impeding student achievement as well as to assess the goals, interests, and skills of the potential volunteer.
Partnership Formation: Once PENCIL has identified the area of greatest importance to enhancing student achievement in the school, the organization assesses which potential private sector volunteer possesses the attributes needed to effect change in the challenge area. The school and the private sector volunteer are matched based on the intersection of the school's needs and the expertise and resources of the volunteer.
Project Development /Project Implementation: Once the Partnership is formed, PENCIL then begins the process of project development in collaboration with the Partners. Every Partnership is assigned a PENCIL Partnership Coordinator (PC) to guide the development of a unique project that addresses the greatest challenges in the school community. As part of this process, the PC helps to outline key objectives, establish goals and timelines, and share best practices. Throughout project implementation, the PC ensures Partners are on track to meet goals and objectives, documents accountability and progress for each step.
Partnership Resources: In addition to the hands-on support provided by the PC, PENCIL hosts year-round workshops on education issues, provides access to a library of support materials and the PENCIL Exchange. The PENCIL Exchange is a user-driven, searchable database of Partnerships that enables Partners to track and update their progress as well as communicate with one another, share ideas and best practices, and actively collaborate online.
An example of a STEM Partnership that has resulted in tremendous gains in student achievement is the PENCIL Partnership at the Young Scholars Academy (Bronx, NY) with private sector volunteers from Castle Harlan. During the Partner screening and intake process, PENCIL identified one of the school’s greatest challenge areas was the lack of real-world applications to the school curriculum, especially in math. PENCIL matched the school with private sector volunteers from Castle Harlan, a private equity investment firm with extensive experience in problem-solving, team-based projects, and knowledge of finance and accounting. The Castle Harlan Distinguished Scholars Program was developed, in which middle-school students explore corporate finance and private equity concepts with private sector volunteers from Castle Harlan. The program culminates with scholars using the knowledge they have learned to develop a business plan, which the students then presented to the Chairman of Castle Harlan. Of Castle Harlan Distinguished Scholars in the 2010-2011 academic year, 100% completed all of the course work. Completion of the business plan indicates that participating students have mastered grade-level mathematics core standards including modeling with mathematics, constructing viable arguments, and reasoning abstractly and quantitatively.
How are you building in accountability for students' successful STEM learning outcomes? Please provide a summary and examples.
PENCIL builds accountability into each Partnership through the creation of a Partnership Action Plan during project development. The Action Plan serves as the written framework for each Partnership from project development through implementation, data collection, and assessment of project success. Specific outcomes for individual Partnerships are established in the Action Plan, which defines Impact Areas (enhancing the learning experience through STEM-focused projects) and Impact Indicators (i.e. outcomes and how these outcomes will be measured). STEM Partnership Project design is linked to applicable K-12 Core Standards for New York State.
PENCIL meets at regular intervals with the private sector volunteer and the principal to support activities and progress towards the goals in the Action Plan. Specific outcome data measurements for each Partnership are specified in each Action Plan and are tracked and collected by PENCIL and housed on the PENCIL Exchange. Program impact is also measured through a year-end survey that is distributed to every private sector volunteer and principal in PENCIL’s network.
For example:
• Ebbets Field Middle School (Brooklyn, NY) has continuously struggled with student body academic achievement, especially among their male students. A private sector volunteer from CB Richard Ellis worked with eighth grade male students just below academic proficiency on state math exams to encourage greater achievement through project based learning opportunities. The Partnership focused on connecting the math curriculum to real-life applications including touring construction sites and architecture walks. In June 2011, 91% of the eighth grade students who participated in this Partnership passed the math Regents typically taken at the end of ninth grade. Through this Partnership, male students went from being barely proficient in mathematics to being a full grade level ahead in just one year.
• Junior High School 142 (Bronx, NY) turned to PENCIL to help the school address the challenge of poor student outcomes in STEM subject areas. Prior to their PENCIL Partnership, only 20% of students were considered proficient in math, putting them in the bottom 10% of schools in all of New York City. PENCIL matched the school with private sector volunteers from Elizabeth Arden who implemented a tutoring program for students taking the math Regents. As a result of this private sector involvement in improving academic achievement in mathematics, 100% of students passed the math Regents exam this year.
Needs
Investment, Marketing/Media.
Please use this space to elaborate on your selection above and/or to add needs that may not be listed.
Investment in PENCIL is critical to the organization’s strategic plan to grow 20% annually within NYC as well as to bring our model of change to other urban school districts across the country. In order to achieve this program scaling, PENCIL seeks support that will allow the organization to adequately carry out network expansion, including increased program staffing and additional evaluation resources to properly assess model implementation and impact in new affiliate cities. The organization also is interested in networking and collaboration opportunities with educational thought leaders, policy makers, and professional associations in new locations.
Offers
Collaboration/Networking, Innovation/Ideas.
Please use this space to elaborate on your selection above and/or to add offers that may not be listed.
PENCIL mobilizes the private sector to invest in our public school students. By bringing private sector volunteers into the classroom, the organization helps the corporate world to see the potential of the next generation. Our Partnerships not only have a positive impact on the school community and its students, but have generated replicable programs that have enhanced the private sector community. The PENCIL model has informed corporate leaders in the creation of such innovative ideas as VH1’s Save The Music Foundation and Time For Kids. All were started by PENCIL private sector volunteers and have extended the impact of our work to an even larger audience.
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