New York City Organizing
In New York City, we provide intensive strategic support and facilitation to community organizations to help them develop neighborhood-based collaboratives with sufficient power to improve the quality of education in low performing school districts.
CIP coordinates a citywide coalition, The New York City Coalition for Educational Justice , comprised of three parent- and community-led collaboratives: the Community Collaborative for Bronx Schools (formerly the Community Collaborative for District 9), the Brooklyn Education Collaborative, and the Brooklyn-Queens 4 Education Collaborative. Each collaborative unites public school parents, unions and community residents across a cluster of neighborhoods to work for improved educational outcomes.
New York City Youth Organizing
CIP is also at the forefront of youth organizing for high school improvement. We coordinate the Urban Youth Collaborative, a coalition of five youth organizations, and the UYC Student Union, a network of 15 youth organizations. We also provide intensive training on education policy issues to high school youth activists through our annual Youth Organizing Institute.
Community Engagement
Nationally, CIP supports community engagement strategies in three city school systems —Boston, Chattanooga, and Providence— involved in the redesign of large high schools into small learning communities, as part of the Carnegie Corporation's Schools for a New Society initiative.
Education Data and Analysis
We support community-based action with publicly available data. We work with public agencies and community-based organizations to ensure the flow of data to inform policy decisions and to promote greater public accountability.
Research and Policy Studies
Our research includes studies of the effectiveness of large-scale educational reforms in increasing equity and quality in urban school districts; case studies of community organizing for school reform; and research on the impact of community organizing for reform on the capacity of schools and districts to improve student learning.