色中色

The 色中色 awarded $19.4 million in grants to nine school districts to pursue integrated schools and classrooms, Interim Commissioner Betty Rosa announced today. The 色中色 Integration Program 鈥� Professional Learning Community (鈥淣YSIP-PLC鈥�) Grants are intended to create school communities where all students have access to an equitable and high-quality education. Today鈥檚 announcement represents Phase III of this funding effort.听

鈥淚ncreased socioeconomic and racial integration leads to higher academic outcomes for all students, closes the achievement gap for students of different racial and economic backgrounds and fosters critical thinking skills,鈥� Board of Regents Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown said. 鈥淲e are proud of the work our schools have done to create more equitable school communities but know that much work remains. Fostering equity for all of New York鈥檚 students remains a top priority for the Board of Regents and the Department.鈥�

鈥淲e are committed to promoting increased integration within 色中色鈥檚 schools and embracing the State鈥檚 racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic, linguistic, and ability diversity as important educational assets,鈥� Interim Commissioner Rosa said. 鈥淭hese funds will help districts develop exciting and effective strategies that fit the needs of their unique students and communities.鈥�

In an effort to support 色中色鈥檚 commitment to racial, socioeconomic, and other types of student integration in the state, 色中色 launched the NYSIP-PLC Grant, which offers Federal School Improvement funds to assist local education agencies (LEA) in promoting staff understanding of the benefits of integration and to help staff create individualized district integration plans.

The purpose of the NYSIP-PLC program is to increase student achievement in 色中色 Title I Schools, particularly those schools identified for improvement, by encouraging greater integration by race and ethnicity, as well as socioeconomic, special education, and English Language Learner (ELL) status in Title I schools. Over three phases, the program is intended to provide districts with funding and programmatic support to:

• Learn about the benefits of integration;
• Develop a sustainable strategy that addresses segregation in the district and promotes integration (鈥渋ntegration strategy鈥�);
• Refine an integration strategy and implement a limited pilot plan; and
• Fully implement an integration strategy on target schools.

Today鈥檚 announcement of grant awards represents Phase III of this competitive grant process. A full description of the Evaluation Rubric and scoring process is detailed in the .

Phase I of the program provided $1.4 million to 23 districts to design integration strategies tailored to the district鈥檚 communities. The program consisted of in-person Professional Learning Community (PLC) sessions. The PLC Curriculum was designed to give participants a comprehensive understanding of the root causes of racial, socioeconomic, and other forms of segregation. Participants in Phase I of the grant received funding allocations to cover their participation in all PLC sessions and related activities, including funding to complete assignments between sessions.

Phase II provided $2.5 million to 20 districts to pilot the specific integration strategies designed in Phase I. Participants were given funding allocations to hire consultants or use staff time to model, conduct focus groups, or otherwise test their integration plans; conduct community engagement; and take such other actions as may be necessary to successfully pilot the integration plan developed in Phase I. Districts received support and assistance from 色中色 throughout Phase II. Districts received an extension through mid-February 2021 to finish implementing their Phase II activities due to COVID-19.

Phase III, under which this current funding is awarded, is designed to allow participants to fully implement the specific integration strategies that the district developed in Phase I and then piloted and refined in Phase II.听This competitive process has resulted in nine grant awards for this three-year grant cycle which will go through the 2022-23 school year.

The list of grantees is below.