NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New Tech Network (New Tech) today announced it has been selected by New York City’s Department of Education to partner with 11 public high schools this fall. The schools, located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, are part of the NYC Department of Education’s “iZone” project, which was created in 2010 to increase student achievement by better personalizing learning for students in NYC schools.
Through strategic coaching and planning, as well as the use of the Echo learning management system, New Tech will provide iZone schools with support in developing schools that are organized around the needs, motivations and strengths of individual students. The network of schools using the New Tech model will expand by 30 sites to more than 85 public high schools in 16 states by September.
“New Tech is committed to transforming schools in a way that engages and challenges students through technology, rigorous, individualized study and project-based learning relevant to the world around them,” said Lydia Dobyns, President of New Tech. “We are thrilled to partner with iZone to incorporate our effective teaching methods and to learn from the NYC schools who have developed innovative practices themselves. Together we will provide the training, tools and technology that empower students to excel in high school and beyond.”
The “iZone” project, or Innovation Zone, was created to help schools design, develop, evaluate, and expand new, personalized models of learning. New Tech will participate as a design partner in the program, working with the NYC Department of Education administrators and teachers, as well as parents, to help innovate and modernize classroom learning in ways that prepare students more effectively for success in K-12, college and careers.
“We are delighted to be working with New Tech Network as a design partner,” said iZone CEO, Arthur VanderVeen. “We chose New Tech for its visionary approach to leveraging project-based learning and 1:1 technology environments to make learning more rigorous, more engaging, and more authentic. New Tech’s coaches have given our schools valuable support as we prepare for New Tech’s debut in NYC this September. In just a few months, they have helped schools think differently about what school can look like.”
New Tech, a nonprofit subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, works with local school districts, principals, teachers, and communities to integrate its transformative approach to learning in public high schools across the country. Teachers in New Tech high schools design rigorous, real-world projects tied to state and district standards that are deeply integrated with technology to create a learning environment that is relevant and engaging for students.
First introduced in Napa, California in 1996, the New Tech model has been successful across diverse student populations in urban, rural and suburban public high schools. While 60 percent of these schools are in their first or second year with the New Tech model, preliminary graduation data are impressive. In the 2009-2010 school year, annual graduation rates for reporting New Tech schools were 95 percent or higher. New Tech students tracked from freshmen through senior year graduated at a rate of 88 percent, far above the national average of 68.8 percent, as reported by the recent study, “Diplomas Count 2010.”
New Tech is emerging as one of the fastest-growing approaches to transforming high school education in the U.S. New Tech is currently in 62 public schools in 14 states, including Texas, California, New York, North Carolina, and Indiana. It recently announced plans to expand to more than 85 schools in 16 states, including more than 25,000 students, by September 2011.
For a full list of New Tech schools, visit our website at: http://www.newtechnetwork.org/newtech_schools
To read or see stories from specific schools, including fresh interviews with students, teachers or administrators, visit the Graduation 2011 edition of News in the Network: http://bit.ly/lnZCpJ
To see New Tech’s highly successful approach in action, please visit http://www.newtechnetwork.org/inside_newtech
About the New Tech Network
New Tech Network is a non-profit school development organization that partners with districts and organizations to implement innovative high schools. New Tech Network is a proven model in its 15th year with 62 schools in rural, urban, and suburban locations throughout the country.
About KnowledgeWorks
KnowledgeWorks is bringing the future of learning to America’s high schools and creating widespread, lasting change in the communities and states we serve. Our portfolio of high school approaches includes New Tech Network high schools, EdWorks high school redesign, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Early College High Schools. Our Strive subsidiary offers a cradle-to-career strategy for bringing all of a community’s resources to bear on solving its most pressing education issues.
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