One Brooklyn
February 17, 2016
BROOKLYN, NY, February 17, 2016: Today, Medgar Evers College (MEC) President Dr. Rudy Crew and Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams announced a joint effort to expand the Brooklyn Pipeline at Medgar Evers College (Pipeline), an ambitious effort to help thousands of local students from disenfranchised communities in and around Central Brooklyn to succeed in college and careers. To date, the Pipeline has delivered enrichment and developmental learning opportunities to more than 1,000 public school students, taught hundreds of parents to better support their children’s education, and facilitated professional development training to teachers and school leaders in partnership with more than 80 schools across the borough.
As MEC resumes Pipeline programming for 2016, Borough President Adams announced he will double down on his financial and institutional commitment to provide resources in the coming fiscal year, which will build on the Pipeline’s success to ensure that students and families in the program receive comprehensive academic support from kindergarten through college. Over the past two years, Borough President Adams has allocated millions of dollars in capital funds to Pipeline schools.
“Medgar Evers is an oasis of hope in Central Brooklyn, where too many students in our backyard are living in the shadow of an economic boom,” said Dr. Crew. “Each year, vast numbers of students arrive on campus requiring years of remedial education. With the help of Brooklyn Borough President Adams, we are attacking that situation head-on. We are building an ambitious pipeline that will help our most disadvantaged kids succeed in school, starting in kindergarten and continuing all the way past graduation.”
Dr. Crew, who served as New York City Schools Chancellor from 1995 – 2000, said that shortly after arriving at his post as MEC president in 2013, he was alarmed that nearly 86 percent of MEC freshmen were receiving one to two years of remedial education each year. The developmental coursework they needed was consuming limited financial aid and delaying their ability to earn a degree.
With the encouragement of Borough President Adams, Crew devised what has become the Pipeline Program, a large-scale endeavor offering remedial training to neighborhood K-12 students, teachers, and parents at MEC’s campus. Since the launch of Pipeline programming in summer 2014, the percentage of MEC freshmen required to take remedial coursework has decreased to fewer than 68 percent.
Borough President Adams supported the effort by pouring millions of dollars from his discretionary funds into Pipeline schools to build out STEM labs and other modern facilities. To support the Pipeline, Borough President Adams has allocated more than $3 million in capital grants to 14 participating schools, funding STEM educational infrastructure such as technology centers and science labs. He has committed to dedicating additional capital dollars to Pipeline schools that apply for and have high need for STEM infrastructure.
“I am proud to oversee a true research and development administration, where we are not afraid to tackle big problems with outside-the-box pilot approaches that have game-changing potential,” said Borough President Adams. “Our partnership with Dr. Crew and Medgar Evers College has fostered a unique education solution to previously intractable challenges in Central Brooklyn and throughout the borough. Last year, I dedicated millions to schools in the Pipeline, and this year I intend to do even more as Brooklyn Borough Hall and the college formalize our partnership to improve outcomes for children and families that need wraparound educational support.”
An analysis conducted by MEC of English and math proficiency at participating Pipeline schools illustrates how the gap in basic skills between students in Central Brooklyn and the larger population of students in New York City starts well before college. In 2014, elementary school students at participating Pipeline schools were 8 – 10 percent less proficient in English and 12 – 14% less proficient than New York City students generally. This gap further widened in middle school, with students at participating Pipeline schools 10 – 11 percent less proficient in English and 13 – 17 percent less proficient in math.
The Pipeline consists of programming for four central stakeholders: school leaders, teachers, parents, and students. Current Pipeline programming includes:
- Parent Academy, attended by local parents, occurs bi-weekly. It features modules and experiences designed to help parents support their children inside and outside the classroom. Lessons cover a range of topics, including applying for financial aid, decoding critical numeric learning indicators, and effectively helping a child who struggles with reading. More than 300 parents at participating Pipeline schools have attended one or more sessions with each lesson typically attracting between 30 and 40 parents.
- Fridays at the College, a five-week program, is held throughout the school year for high school and middle school students requiring additional support in reading, writing, and math, or seeking enrichment in science and computer programming. It is an effort to help them enter college without needing remediation and expose them to new fields and areas of study.
- Summer Institute, a six-week program, offers enrichment opportunities in the sciences and arts to middle school students. In the past two summers, more than 1,000 students have attended MEC’s Summer Institute.
- Pipeline Scholars Program, featuring expanded dual credit courses in math, English, science, and the humanities for high school students, exposes students to early college courses in a variety of subjects and allows them to earn course credits.
- Health Care Careers Pathway, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)-funded dual credit program launching in February 2016, will enroll its first cohort of more than 50 high school students seeking to pursue careers in health care professions. Participating students will take two years of relevant coursework at MEC, graduating high school with an associate’s degree with guaranteed placement at MEC for the remaining two, tuition-free years.
- Computer Science Saturdays (COMSAT), a weekly Saturday program dedicated to teaching students the basic principles of computer science and coding, while coaching a teacher on how to teach a class of their own or begin a computer club at their school.
- Monthly Leadership Seminar Series for school principals and superintendents includes an in-depth discussion about school leadership and management from Dr. Crew and other experts as well as introductions to new educational tools, curricula, and instructional techniques.
- Professional development for more than 100 local teachers, featuring experts in pedagogy such as Lincoln Center Education and National Training Network.
Concurrent with the programming above, MEC is working to improve its enrollment and retention efforts. Just last year, MEC’s college enrollment rose by five percent. MEC has hired 11 new faculty members in the past year, and launched a Global Lecture Series, bringing experts in science, journalism, and technology to MEC’s campus. In the coming year, MEC will continue working with school leaders, teachers, parents, and students at every level to ensure the Pipeline Program remains responsive to the needs of its participating schools, families and students.
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