Digital Commons Network^™

Report Card: Nyc's Student-Powered Newsroom, Julian Roberts-Grmela

Capstones

During my time in the engagement journalism program at CUNY, I aimed to use journalism to serve the community of students in New York City’s public school system. At first, I tried to serve students through my reporting, by aiming to center student perspectives in education-related stories in order to uplift their feedback about the system. But I realized I could do more to report with students, instead of just about them. So, during my final semester, I launched Report Card: NYC’s Student-Powered Newsroom. Report Card is a Substack-based newsletter and a training program for middle-high school aged students …

An Online Hub For Queens Parents, Abe R. Levine

Capstones

I sought to build a common hub for parents across District 28 in Queens to connect with one another. I did this by creating a bilingual newsletter called the Queens Boletín. The goal of the Boletín was for parents to share and find resources, to advance the conversation on equity, and to build community.

Hslda Concerned With More Than Just Homeschool, Griffin S. Kelly

Capstones

My capstone is just one piece of a greater investigation into homeschooling in America. For my piece, my colleague Keith Medelis reported on the Home School Legal Defense Association, a premiere homeschooling advocacy group that provides legal advice to its members and lobbies against any regulations they find restrictive to the homeschooling process.

Our goal was to see exactly what their mission is because beyond homeschooling, the HSLDA advocates for small government, religious (mainly Christian) freedoms and protecting its members from child protective services.

A review of 84 court cases revealed that the HSLDA has occasionally engaged in legal battles …

Federation Divided, Max M. Balton

Capstones

At the start of the 2020 school year, a lack of covid safety plans led teachers like Rosy Clark to protest, urging her union the United Federation of Teachers to act. She and other progressives in the dissident caucus, Movement of Rank and File Educators, were willing to strike to ensure their safety. Union leadership hesitated largely because public union strikes are illegal under the state’s Taylor Law.

This four-part audio documentary looks at the history of the UFT and this contentious state law. The union began striking under more onerous strike prohibition legislation. Its roots are steeped in radical …

The Long Return, Diane Bezucha

Capstones

When COVID-19 hit New York in March 2020, the city’s 1,800 public schools were forced to make a sudden pivot to remote instruction. The scramble to transition 1.1 million students to online learning brought unprecedented challenges for principals, teachers, students and families, leaving everyone eager for a return to “normal.”

For schools in low-income neighborhoods, and those serving students with disabilities, this disruption has been especially difficult. But as the months passed, it became clear that the pandemic was not ending anytime soon. Without clear guidance from the city, schools grappled with the uncertainty of how to safely reopen, and …

From Muhammed To The Jobup: Engaging Malemployed Immigrants Through Journalism, Tiziana Rinaldi

Capstones

I focused my graduate work on the local community of malemployed immigrants. They are foreign-educated newcomers — medical doctors, pharmacists, teachers, lawyers and engineers, to name a few of their professions — who lack the resources to find skill- appropriate work in the U.S. They end up either unemployed or working at "jobs for which they’re overqualified or overeducated or both,” I wrote for NJSpotlight in 20171.

Using the social journalism method2 of engaging members of a chosen group to fill important if not crucial information gaps, I developed The JobUp, a series of free, offline educational events, as my …

Closing The Teacher Diversity Gap, Emily Holzknecht

Capstones

In New York City, 43 percent of boys in the public school system may never have a teacher who looks like them. Recruitment initiatives have brought more men of color into the classroom, but challenging work environments are driving these much-needed teachers to find more profitable work in a less stressful environment.

Nationally, minority and non-minority teachers are leaving the profession at an increasing rate. In New York, men of color represent about 8 percent of the teachers, while boys of color make up almost half of the student population. Taking aim at this disparity, the de Blasio administration plans …

A New Charter Challenges Popular Paradigms, Levi Sharpe

Capstones

Many popular charter schools in New York City, which are highly rated, are known for being heavy on test prep and rigid in structure. Success Academy, the largest charter network in New York City, is the paragon of this type of model. But these models, known as "no-excuse" charters can burn out teachers. Critics also say they squelch students' creativity and their desire to be in class. A New York Times article from April 2015 described Success’ “polarizing tactics," which lead to high teacher turnover. Six months later, The Times also reported on a Success Academy charter in Fort Greene …