Page 3 - Project ALPHA Brochure FINAL 042919

Project
Teach Out of the Box
ABOUT THE BRONX INSTITUTE
The Bronx Institute at Lehman College was chartered on September 24, 1981, by the Committee on Academic Policy, Program, and Research of the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York (CUNY). Professor Herminio Martinez explains the vision of The Bronx Institute (BI) as being, "to foster and promote equity and excellence in the education and learning of Bronx students in K-20, by involving administrators, teachers, parents and students in high quality programs that support and enhance educational opportunities."
The Mission of The Bronx Institute is to further research and advance leadership relevant to the improvement of education and the quality of life in The Bronx and to provide a forum to discuss, analyze, and identify potential solutions to contemporary social, political, cultural, and economic challenges facing The Bronx community as well as other urban areas.
As a community resource, The Bronx Institute is committed to act in cooperation with other academic institutions, community groups, and organizations to develop joint projects, especially those that enrich the educational needs of Bronx students.
THE WORK OF THE BRONX INSTITUTE IN SUPPORTING TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Prior to the awarding of Project ALPHA, The Bronx Institute at Lehman College had three previous projects funded by the US Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition that resulted in 150 teachers prepared to raise ELL student outcomes. They were Project STELLAR, Project InTELL, and Project TELL. These projects formed a strong basis for the design of Project ALPHA in 2015. For example, these teacher preparation initiatives were mounted to respond to six critical conditions identified in public schools in the immediate vicinity of Lehman College: (1) increasing numbers of untrained monolingual teachers serving ELLs; (2) teachers unprepared to teach and support recently mainstreamed ELLs (former ELLs); (3) teachers lacking knowledge and understanding of students’ primary culture; (4) teachers unprepared to bridge ELL’s language acquisition and development needs; (5) inadequate preparation to develop advanced literacy skills of second language learners; and (6) inadequate knowledge of methods to integrate content area instruction to teacher middle and secondary school ELLs. Thus, an enduring underlying goal of the teacher preparation programs was to provide Bronx middle and secondary school teachers with the necessary knowledge, understanding, and practical classroom
application in the following five areas: (a) second language learning and acquisition theories; (b) historic, legal, anthropological, and pedagogical foundations of bilingual education; (c) methods to teach in multicultural/bilingual settings; (d) literacy development for second language learners; and (e) methods for instruction of English as a second language through the content areas.
More recently, The Bronx Institute was funded by the New York State Education Department Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages for The Blueprint Initiative—ELL Roadmap to College and Educators Guide to College Access of ELLs in New York State. The Blueprint Initiative is based on New York State’s Blueprint of ELL Success. Though a Memorandum of Understanding between the SEA and The Bronx Institute at Lehman College, the “Roadmap to College for ELs” brochure has been developed and translated into eight languages with college readiness information for ELs and their families. It helps ELs learn with their parents steps to (1) target college as a viable option; (2) pay for college; and (3) follow a timeline for ELs to graduate high school and enter college. An “Educator’s Guide to College Access for ELs in New York State” has also been developed to foster “college going cultures” in schools that ELs attend.
Project ALPHA - Teach Out of the Box 3