When I tell people I work in outreach, their response is generally, “What do you call outreach?” This is a sticky question with a lot of grey areas; one whose answer changes depending on our outreach audience and climate. It is much better to define the work my colleagues and I do in Cyberchase Outreach by the goals we set:

• Develop new and nurture existing partnerships
• Present interactive training sessions for formal and informal educators
• Support the STEM education goals of organizations and individuals that work with children
• Develop, organize and facilitate hands-on activities at children’s events
• Overall, extend the impact of Cyberchase educational resources and lessons nationally.

That last one sounds a lot like the last line on any job description – “and other duties as assigned” – a dubious statement that I prefer to shine in a more positive light as an open door to innovation.

2008 has been a pioneering year for Cyberchase Outreach as we found and acted upon new ways to meet our goals and expand the scope of our outreach. Some year-end highlights include:

• The launch of a new Outreach page online. We created this page in order to support our partners and place resources particular to their operations in an easily accessible space. This page will allow us to post specific information related to outreach news, events, resources and trainings.
• Designing new web based trainings through a partnership with the Educational Enterprise Zone at New York Institute of Technology. Through online trainings we intend to extend our reach without expanding our budgets. By using the open source software, Moodle, we will manage our trainings while creating a collaborative resource for partners and Cyberchase teacher consumers.
• Extending our collaborative efforts to new children’s and science museums and events including World Science Festival in NYC; Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ; and Minnetrista in Munice, ID.
• An increased acceptance to educational conferences nationwide including New Jersey Educational Association Conference, International Technology Education Association Conference and the National Conference on Science and Technology in Out of School Time.

The New Year brings more exciting opportunities to redefine Cyberchase Outreach from broadening our relationship with PBS through PBS Teacher Connect, to launching our web based trainings nationally to facilitating an informational summit with professors of pre-service and in-service teachers. Only a few days in and 2009 is already on its way to exceeding 2008!

At NYIT/NUPT Nanjing, China we are endeavoring to find out. So far we have found PBS materials not only helpful but crucial.

In 2007, New York Institute of Technology opened its American-style Nanjing campus in collaboration with Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT). Four academic degree granting programs are offered to qualified Chinese students. All programs are taught in English by NYIT professors; the curriculum mirrors the programs offered in the United States.

The Problem

As the only American degree granting program in China, NYIT/NUPT found their entering students to be in need of EFL help. Though their grammar and reading were adequate, writing coherence and listening comprehension were not.

The Solution

In 2007 an intensive six-hour-a-day, three-week program was created to address this. The program was taught by three American ESL instructors and nine Chinese English teachers. Limited improvement occurred in the 300 students. Comprehension studies included excerpts from NPR shows as well as PBS films (without educational support materials).

In 2008 the program was expanded to five weeks using all American ESL or speech instructors and incorporating new materials.

Thirteen’s Education Department Materials Introduced

The primary tool for this was the use of PBS programming and their collateral teaching aids. Program choice was based on student need to prepare for an American education based in western culture; preparation for future course work, concepts; and vocabulary, with a simple to moderate degree of difficulty.

The students had had ten years of Chinese-taught English. They all had the same materials, and the same vocabulary They had memorized and learned by rote. English conversation was limited, and comprehension of anything of length was nearly impossible.

The PBS materials were excellent tools, as they are visually arresting and of the highest quality. The programs were well received in rooms of 150 students with no air conditioning and 90 degree temperatures (with humidity to match).

We started and ended with CYBERCHASE. Cartoons are favorites with these 18 year olds. We also showed WHAT’S UP IN FINANCE (Economics), WILD TV (Environmental studies), THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN (science and psychology), and the WIDE ANGLE presentations “The Empty ATM” and “Turkey’s Tigers.” Also included as part of educational readiness was the POV special, “The Hobart Shakespeareans.” The WIDE ANGLE ‘Back to School’ segment gave them a global perspective.

Each presentation was divided into 40-minute segments. We accompanied each with vocabulary, outline topics, discussion items and listening goals. We followed up the presentations with break out Q&A sessions of 25-30 students.

We tested their comprehension and note taking with open notes quizzes. We held to an English only, no dictionaries or electronic devices rule.

Conclusions

Though rules of the Chinese educational system prevented us from formal pretesting, using informal short tests and subjective written student feedback we concluded the following.

Students improved in listening for main ideas and listening for details. Listening for inference was still a challenge. The students’ abilities and backgrounds were not as uniform as anticipated. The non-urban students were less prepared. Motivational levels of students were highly mixed. The students appreciated the openness of the classroom, the opportunity to freely ask questions, and the “kindness” of the teachers.

Subsequent teacher evaluations, as the students began their academic term, noted that the students had an increased readiness from 2007, participating in class discussion with original and well articulated ideas.

Most significantly, Chinese students, fearful of school, exhausted from the rigors of a high school experience concerned only with the test score, expressed a first-time joy of learning.

By Sybil Berry, Producer, VITAL

September, 2008 marked the re-launch and re-branding of VITAL, one of Thirteen’s premier offerings for teachers. The site, now known as VITAL New York, was created with funding from the US Department of Education. Through a strategic collaboration with WGBH/Boston’s Teachers’ Domain service, VITAL NY offers a dramatically expanded–and growing–collection of media-based resources supporting the New York State standards and core curriculum. In addition to mathematics and English Language Arts for grades K-8, VITAL NY also includes resources aligned to the New York State Regents curriculum in Global History and Geography, Living Environment, Earth Science, Physics, and Chemistry. In the coming weeks, we will be adding social studies and science resources for grades K-8.

WHERE WE STAND: America’s Schools in the 21st Century, premiering Monday, September 15th at 10pm on PBS, examines the major challenges for U.S. schools in the face of a changing world. Divided into five segments, topics include globalization; measuring student progress; ensuring that all students achieve; the current school funding system, and teacher quality.

Hosted by Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the documentary visits a range of socioeconomic and geographic school districts. The program features schools in Ohio, an important swing state, but this program is about all of our schools and where they stand.

WHERE WE STAND introduces students, parents, teachers and administrators whose stories illustrate the overwhelming odds and shining successes of education in America. They include Bin Che, an educator from mainland China who teaches Mandarin in rural Ohio; Cherese Clark, principal of a high-poverty school struggling under the pressure of low test scores; Alex Perry, who, at age 16, has already taken three college-level math classes, and Finnish exchange student Anne Kuittinen, who earns no school credit for her year in the U.S. despite her straight-A record.

Nationally recognized education experts and leading proponents of educational reform will put these examples in context. They include Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone; Diane Ravitch, education historian; Wendy Puriefoy, President of Public Education Network; Chester Finn, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute; Rick Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies, AEI; Michael Rebell, Executive Director of the Campaign for Educational Equity; and Sharon Lynn Kagan, Associate Dean for Policy, Teacher’s College at Columbia University.

WHERE WE STAND is airing at a critical time in our country’s history. Along with its companion Web site and a variety of dynamic outreach activities across the country, the program will inspire a national dialogue in the weeks prior to the November elections.

Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, a division of Boys & Girls Harbor, Inc., is now celebrating over 38 years as one of New York City’s leading performing arts schools offering high caliber, low-cost training in music, dance and theater to over 1,100 students annually. The Conservatory provides introductory, intermediate and pre-professional training to students ages 4-21. The Music program is open to adults, and is recognized internationally for its comprehensive Latin Music Program. The Conservatory is unique in its focus on pre-teen and teenage talent development through special ensembles, public performances, and career and college counseling and placement. Harbor students have been accepted into professional schools and conservatories, and have performed for commercials, sitcoms, public television, and on Broadway. While the Conservatory prepares young people for careers in the arts, it also helps those who do not pursue this direction gain the skills and confidence that are needed to succeed in education, employment and positive family and community life.

The Music Program at the Harbor Conservatory takes pride in its commitment to serving children, teenagers and adults in a diverse range of styles from Classical and Jazz to Folkloric and Latin. The two main pillars of the music program are a strong theory foundation as well as an active performance calendar with monthly “in-house” student recitals, three major outside recitals and a guest artist series which hosts a variety of well-known performing artists and master teachers to work with our students. A large number of ensembles and workshops in all styles and levels are offered to our young performers as an important part of their musical development. The Harbor Conservatory is recognized internationally as the leading school for Latin music and is home to the Raices Latin Music Collection.

The Harbor Conservatory Dance Program introduces young children to the world of dance, and nurtures and trains talented teenagers for future professional dance careers. Studying with accomplished dance professionals, Harbor Conservatory students build a solid technical foundation in classical ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip hop, African and folkloric dance. Students progress through varied technical levels and new classes are continually being developed to better serve a diverse age range of dance students. With an emphasis on performance, all students participate in “Footworks.” Advanced students at the junior and senior levels are able to audition for Gestures, our resident student dance company, which helps them develop performance technique and experience a vigorous public performance schedule.

The Conservatory’s Theater Program, inspired by the vision of the late Bertin Rowser, aims to preserve the tradition of Musical Theatre and the craft of acting through classes that cultivate future actors for the stage and new audiences for the theatre. The curriculum gives young people the opportunity to explore themselves body, mind and soul as people, actors and future professional artists. With a diverse faculty of working actors, directors and playwrights, the Conservatory’s Theater Program celebrates the great contributions made by artists of color from the past and inspires students to see how they fit, as artists, within the more diverse professional landscape of the future.

Faculty of the Summer Music Camp consist of Manhattan School of Music Precollege faculty members, student teachers from the School’s Arts-in-Education Program, and NYC public school teachers. The camper/faculty ratio is approximately 3:1.

Concerts took place twice a week and each camper had an opportunity to perform for his or her peers. During the last two days of camp, campers presented an exciting grand finale of performances that was free and open to the public.

This summer’s camp was a rousing success of creating great music and strong friendships. We all look forward to returning to camp in July 2009!

Our six-week Conservatory program, which has grown to include more than fifty 11-17 year olds, draws a talented pool of students from New York City and across the country. Students spend half of their day in classes, including acting, voice and speech, singing, dance, stage combat, as well as many others. The other half-day theatre students are in rehearsal for their play, which we cast in the first week. Plays are specifically chosen with the student group in mind.

We look to provide work for them that is challenging and will engage all of our students throughout the six-week process. Film students spend their second half of the day creating their film. From initial concept through writing, shooting and editing, the film program provides a comprehensive experience for students who are interested in learning more about the exciting digital filmmaking media.

Summer Conservatory 2008 is already well under way at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, and students are in production for two musicals (Seussical: The Musical and Merrily We Roll Along), one play (The Heidi Chronicles) and two original films. All productions are open to the public and information is available on our Web site. Wingspan offers year-round theatre programming for 11-17 year olds (under the Conservatory heading on our Web site). The first round of auditions for Summer 2009’s group of theatre and film students will be held in January of 2009.

No Child Left Behind has outlived whatever usefulness it ever had. Conceived by accountants, drafted by lawyers and distorted by ideologues, it is too badly broken to be fixed.

What we need—and what we seek—is a new vision of schools for the 21st century, a vision that truly commits America to closing the achievement gap once and for all—and the accountability to ensure this happens: Accountability that is meant to fix schools, not to fix blame. Accountability that recognizes that student, teacher and school success means much more than producing high scores on two tests a year. Accountability that holds everyone responsible for doing their share, including school districts, states and the federal government, which must provide the necessary resources. And accountability that takes into account the conditions that are beyond the teacher’s or the school’s control.

If student success and accountability are the challenges, then NCLB is not the answer. The answer is to make our schools work for all our children—to do all we can to ensure that all our children have the opportunity to reach their God-given potential.

* * *

Can you imagine if, as part of that vision, the federal education law, instead of being punitive, actually was positive? If it helped to promote both proven and promising models of education reform?

Can you imagine a federal law that promoted community schools—schools that serve the neediest children by bringing together under one roof all the services and activities they and their families need?

Imagine schools that are open all day and offer after-school and evening recreational activities and homework assistance. High schools that allow students to sign up for morning, afternoon or evening classes.

And suppose the schools included child care and dental, medical and counseling clinics, or other services the community needs. For example, they might offer neighborhood residents English language instruction, GED programs or legal assistance.

And can you imagine if cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and others where mayors control the schools, actually used that power to integrate services on behalf of kids?

Imagine a federal education law that doesn’t narrow the curriculum, but instead, as Toni Cortese has often said, assures that every child learns to read by being exposed to a rich core curriculum.

Imagine a law that encourages districts to assure teacher quality by paying competitive salaries, and devising career ladders and other professional compensation models that support great teachers and keep them teaching.

Imagine a law that promotes professional development embedded in the job, mentoring for new educators and peer coaching for those who are struggling. Imagine if the staff had common planning time across the disciplines, and a collaborative, respectful relationship between staff and administrators.

Imagine, in other words, a law that supports the great work of some of our own locals, like the teacher recruitment and retention strategies at the ABC Unified School District in California, or the lead teacher program in New York City, or peer review programs in Toledo [Ohio], Rochester [N.Y.] and Cincinnati.

Now imagine if our schools had the educational resources we have long advocated, like quality pre-K, smaller classes, up-to-date materials and technology, and a nurturing atmosphere, so no child feels anonymous.

* * *

That kind of commitment is what American schools need to provide equity and excellence for every child—to make education a civil right, as the AFT has long championed. It’s a commitment worth fighting for. And we are fighters.

These sites offer full episodes of both classic and recent television shows with “limited commercial interruption.” The content differs site-to-site, as each has signed agreements with different content providers, some corporate, some independent.

Hulu, owned by NBC and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp offers a lot of shows and even movies. The other night I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with just four commercials popping up overall. Not bad. Hulu doesn’t offer anything in the way of independent shows, but it does offer “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” (a couple of personal favorites). You can also watch PBS shows like “Carrier” and “NOVA” on Hulu.

The owners of Joost have signed deals with Warner Music and Viacom, and the service, using a peer-to-peer network, offers a wide variety of streaming videos. Miro is a little different in that it allows users to upload content. It also offers a lot in terms of independently produced content. And it uses file sharing device BitTorrent to enable its users to download, not just stream, videos.

LiveStation is unique in that it offers news and public affairs shows streamed live. Right now, you can watch Al Jazeera in English and BBC World on your computer. More stations will be added soon.

It is even possible to stream hi-def television — albeit on a limited basis. You can do that with some movies via Apple TV. Netflix has recently released its Netflix Player, which allows you to play streamed (though not hi-def) content on your TV. TV on the Internet is now truly an alternative to cable TV.

Productions of Thirteen/WNET are also up for viewing online. There is much to choose from, from something as important as “Wide Angle” to something as fun as David Byrne’s music installation in the Battery Maritime Building, the focus of a recent “Sunday Arts.” We even have archived several shows from the early days of public television, including an interesting news show called “The 51st State.” For a nice introduction to the history of public television, go here. Also of great interest is this video of the opening broadcast of Channel Thirteen featuring Edward R. Murrow.