Candle Still Life
Peggy Aw, Grade 8
Since the mid-1990s, school networks have become increasingly popular and effective tools utilized by both school systems and outside support agencies such as education nonprofits and funders to implement and advance education reforms. In a network, school leaders come together to share ideas, experiences, and strategies in order to address common concerns, issues, needs and goals. By coming together as a network, school leaders are able to provide tangible forms of peer level support, including the pooling of resources, collaborative programming, collective organizing and advocacy, as well as peer reviews and mentoring.
In New York City, CEI-PEA facilitates a Network of more than 220 public schools. The Network provides schools with a number of critical resources and opportunities:
Schools do not educate children in isolation. Students move through sets of schools—elementary, middle and high school—as they progress through educational systems. Bringing the schools together through the School Network makes it possible to establish educational continuity for students as they move through the various schools. The school leaders are able to identify and correct problems in matriculation schedules and other structures that influence the “flow” of students among schools. In addition, they share information about students to help ensure that their needs are met as they transition among schools.
Most school leaders work in isolation because of the nature of the job. The CEI-PEA School Network brings school leaders together to discuss common issues, challenges, needs and goals. This fosters peer-level sharing of knowledge, which is crucial to helping leaders grow and strengthen their practices. In addition, through the School Network, school leaders conduct peer reviews for one another as well as provide mentoring and modeling of best practices in a fully supportive, non-bureaucratic manner.
The CEI-PEA School Network serves as a major vehicle for channeling resources to schools in a cost-effective and high-quality manner. On average, the CEI-PEA School Network brings to participating schools more than $300,000 a year in funds for after-school programming, as well as more than $1 million a year of in-kind after-school programs leveraged through Network affiliations. The School Network also provides leadership development services and direct technical assistance from Network consultants.
Schools often face challenges that can be overcome with focused professional development, but lack the resources to provide such professional development. Through the CEI-PEA School Network, schools identify common needs for professional development, such as training in new literacy approaches, integration of technology in classroom instruction, and meeting the needs of specific student populations. The Network then sponsors workshops, retreats and other collective professional development opportunities.
Working in isolation, it is difficult for an individual school to influence and shape local and state educational policies. However, as the CEI-PEA School Network, schools bring together their human, intellectual and community resources to organize and advocate for policies supportive of their educational communities.
If you would like more information about the CEI-PEA School Network or would like to join, please contact CEI-PEA Senior Fellow John Falco at 914-329-2725.
CEI-PEA's guide to help large schools restructure into sets of smaller learning communities.
Conduct a needs assessment at your school to identify the strengths and challenges present for staff and students.
Use this checklist to conduct a peer review for fellow school leaders.
Meeting ProtocolsIn this 47-minute podcast, Joe McDonald, Professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University, discusses protocols that educators can use to conduct meetings, conversations, and other learning experiences.