Alex MitchellJournal #1
This summer, I am working at the North Star Academy in Newark, NJ as an Education Pioneers Fellow. Thus far, I am extremely excited about the opportunity and energized from the atmosphere of the school. Other than attending school as a student, I arrived here without previous work experience in the education sector. Upon my arrival, I was happy to see students were still attending classes. This summer will serve as a great transition for me as I dive into the public sector.
The North Star Academy is one of many charter schools managed by Uncommon Schools; a school management organization with several charter schools in New Jersey and New York. North Star currently serves Kindergarten and first grade students on its elementary school campus, fifth through eighth grade students on its two middle school campuses, and ninth through twelfth grades on the high school campus. Eventually, as the school grows, it will serve more than 2,100 students in the Newark area. North Star is primarily focused on closing the achievement gap and the staff is thinking innovatively to change the landscape of urban education.
A key tool to improve student learning and faculty instruction is the use of data gathered from interim assessments. The interim assessment process is a cumbersome, but necessary task and the tests are issued every six weeks. My primary goal this summer is to streamline the process to allow the faculty and administration more time to analyze the data, rather than simply distribute and enter the data. In my first few weeks, I have spent many hours observing classes to better understand the mission behind my work.
The students here are incredibly inspiring and the faculty is extremely motivated and talented. I feel lucky to be a part of this environment and believe that my work here will have a genuine impact on the quality of education for these students.
Journal #2
As I near the mid-point of my summer fellowship with Education Pioneers, I am excited to report that all is going well. In addition to my project with North Star Academy, the Education Pioneers Cohort is meeting regularly to discuss pressing current events in urban education.
As I mentioned in my first entry, my primary function this summer is to determine and create a process that will improve the process behind collecting data for North Star’s Data-Driven Instruction. It is clear to me that resources, both financial and human, are critical to the school’s success. Unfortunately, both are strained as faculty and administration are now busy preparing the school for the fall term. This is where I can contribute the most to the school as I have been spending my time developing a Microsoft Access Database that will drastically reduce the administration and faculty’s efforts in the collection and analysis of the data. I hope to provide an overview of this new tool toward the end of the project.
In other areas, I have been fortunate enough to belong to the Education Pioneers New York City Cohort consisting of 44 other fellows. We have met several times now and I feel even more inspired to explore even further into the world of education. Our weekly workshops have challenged my existing views and provided numerous opportunities to learn from some of the future’s brightest stars.
Journal #3
I have concluded my fellowship and, in terms of my summer project, I was able to provide a service to North Star Academy which I truly believe will save their staff hundreds of hours over the next year. My primary function this summer was to create a new system for collecting and analyzing data from the interim assessments administered to students. I spent the first six weeks of my internship experimenting with new technologies and even developed a Microsoft Access Database to ease the data entry process for all users. Ultimately, the time was too short and the customized reporting was too specific for me to completely incorporate the database into the process. I do, however, feel that it will serve as the blueprint for the future. In the end, I created a streamlined Excel template for the school to use that will ideally save people time in the year ahead. On the flip side, I feel incredibly privileged to have worked with such incredible people while at North Star and Uncommon Schools. I learned from the best this summer and feel that my skills have been enhanced and my professional career path has been sharpened.
My experience overall with Education Pioneers was incredible and inspiring. In addition to the summer placement, I had the opportunity to work and share my experiences with 44 other fellows this summer. We participated in weekly workshops discussing highly sensitive current events in urban education but also found the time to enjoy each others’ company and network effectively. The members of the cohort challenged my existing views and pushed me to see simple challenges through new lenses.
Overall, I am thankful for this experience and look forward to keeping everyone informed of my progress down the road. Thanks to all who contributed to the Social Enterprise Fellowship!
