Leaders outside the classroom
Talented teachers and principals play an important role in education reform, but they”™re not the only people needed to institute change. You also need leaders outside of the classroom, said Tanya Ramos, an executive director for Education Pioneers.
“When we think about education reform and everything that”™s really needed to improve outcomes for students, we need a lot of folks,” Ramos said.
Whether it”™s administrators, nonprofit executives, policymakers or philanthropists, there are a lot of jobs in the education sector that need talented applicants, especially in challenged districts like Bridgeport, Ramos said.
To help feed the talent pipeline and contribute to the district”™s turnaround efforts, Education Pioneers launched a new fellowship program in Bridgeport earlier this summer.
Founded in 2003, Education Pioneers is a national fellowship program that places individuals in schools and nonprofits to work on mission-critical projects outside the classroom.
Already the program has placed 12 fellows in positions within the Bridgeport Public School system, the Connecticut Department of Education, Achievement First charter school and three nonprofits. Within the next two years the program hopes to expand in Hartford and New Haven.
“We couldn”™t have come at a better time,” said Ramos, who oversees the Education Pioneer programs in New York, New Jersey and now Connecticut. “There”™s a lot going on and we can really support these turnaround efforts.”
Currently the projects Bridgeport fellows are working on include analyzing student achievement data, developing new systems to track attendance and financial operations, analyzing department audit information, and designing talent recruitment plans. One fellow is also working with the mayor”™s office to analyze the costs and benefits of 24 after-school programs funded by the city.
“Education Pioneers is a valued partner to our office and the city of Bridgeport,” Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said in a statement. “They are contributing to the local education landscape by building a pipeline of talented leaders to guide strategic education reform initiatives that not only add value for the duration of the fellowship, but also strengthen existing processes and infrastructure.”
Many of the fellows come straight out of graduate school, but the program also recruits young professionals working as analysts at companies like Deloitte L.L.C. and McKinsey & Co, Ramos said. Many project fellows will work on projects involving data analysis; they don”™t necessarily need a background in education.
In just over 10 years, Education Pioneers has placed more than 1,600 fellows into programs within 17 cities across the nation. After the fellowship is complete ”” which happen after either 10 weeks or 1 year ”” nearly 70 percent of fellows will choose careers in education, according program directors. Two of the fellows in Bridgeport are already in discussions with their project employers about creating permanent positions.
“We”™ve really impressed with the dedication of our partner organizations,” Ramos said. “We just want to be a part of the solution.”