Founded at the City University of New York Graduate Center in 1988, the Stanton/Heiskell Center for Public Policy in Telecommunications and Information Systems provides a forum that brings the private and non-profit sectors together with the education community to study the impact of technology on teaching and learning and its effect on school organization and change. The Center focuses on key economic, education, and social policy issues that have widespread implications: issues regarding access, equity, work, and professional development. Our goal is to expand educational and economic opportunities and disseminate studies and reports that assess how the tools of technology can be used to promote teaching and learning in the school, the home, the community and the workplace.
Two major studies, Project TELL, Telecommunications for Learning, a seven-year longitudinal study (1990-98) and currently Project Stretch (2000- present) have identified successful strategies to stimulate learning among underserved students.
Project TELL, a partnership created in 1990 between the New York City Public Schools, the Stanton/Heiskell Center, and Verizon, was among the first studies to analyze the effect of educational technology on low-income students. Computers, printers, and modems with access to electronic networks were placed in the homes of 125 intermediate public school students who read at the 25-50 percentile. A sophisticated electronic learning community was developed that supported the students from the 6th through the 12th grade. 60 percent of the students entered college. Verizon provided tuition assistance to those TELL students who were admitted to college.
Project Stretch, an after-school electronic literacies program, continues to explore how technology and the digitization of knowledge can motivate underserved middle school students to improve their literacy, critical thinking, and communication skills to compete successfully in the information age. Funded primarily by the Citigroup and AT&T Foundations, the model draws on work at the Center with urban youth and telecommunications technology; and provides a research-tested, after-school educational program that other communities can adapt and enrich. The goal is to widely disseminate the program throughout the New York City region.
Stretch is a partnership that mobilizes the home, the neighborhood, the school, the university, non-profit, and business community on behalf of the student. The Project provides a variety of services which involve highly trained staff and teachers, and a curriculum grounded in the lives and needs of students. Instructional materials include an interactive project website (stretch.gc.cuny.edu), and curriculum and staff development guides that serve as a compendium to the web site. Materials are widely distributed to encourage the effective educational use of technology (see Project Stretch Web site, http://stretch.gc.cuny.edu).
The Center sponsors seminars, forums and policy discussions around emerging
and relevant issues in cyberspace. Our forums have included The Digital Promise:
Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (DOIT) featuring Lawrence K. Grossman,
Newton N. Minow, Charles M. Vest, President, MIT, Maxwell L. Anderson, Director,
Whitney Museum of American Art, Ann Kirschner, President and CEO, Fathom Knowledge
Network, Inc. and Martin E. Segal and “After September 11: Avoiding
Computer and Communications Meltdown in New York City” with Paul
A. Lacouture, President, Network Service Group, Verizon; Charles B. McQuade,
President, Securities Industry Automation Corporation; John Odermatt, Commissioner,
New York City Office of Emergency Management; and F.W. Gerbracht, Jr. Director
and Chief Information Security Officer, Global Information Technology, Credit
Suisse First Boston Corporation as speakers. A continuing education seminar
series, Uses and Abuses of the Internet, explored questions of concern
to Internet users regarding privacy and security issues. A Board/faculty committee
meets to suggest topics of interest and speakers. The Center’s work
has been featured in journals, TV, the Internet and at professional conferences.
