Community Outreach

The School District of Philadelphia
In August 2003, the School District of Philadelphia and Drexel entered a partnership funded by the School District involving eight schools (University City High School and seven of its feeder schools). The partnership is a cooperative endeavor that provides the School District with the expertise of Drexel faculty, staff, and students to provide academic assistance, professional development, technological support and business administration assistance. Specific projects have included:

• Dr. Elizabeth Haslam, program director for the M.S. in Learning Technologies program, and a team of School of Education faculty and students developed a web-based orientation for all Drexel students working in the Philadelphia public schools.
• Dr. Mary Jo Grdina, associate clinical professor in the School of Education and a curriculum expert, was contracted to assess the professional development needs of math teachers in the seven elementary and middle schools. The assessment results served as the foundation for a program designed to improve math instruction for the partnering schools. The program was staffed by several students from the School of Education.

The School of Education continues partnering with the school district in its preperation of elementary and secondary education teachers and who are strong in mathematics and science content and pedagogy and able to better use the best and most appropriate technologies in their classroom teaching to work in the District.

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Mobile County Public School System (Alabama), Charleston County School District (South Carolina), Chester-Upland School District (Pennsylvania), and the Philadelphia Coalition of Public Charter Schools and the School District of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania).

The School of Education has partnered with school districts in Mobile, Ala.; Charleston, S.C.; Chester, Pa., and charter schools and the school district in Philadelphia to prepare second career and recent college graduates to serve as secondary education teachers in the fields of mathematics and science. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education through its Transition to Teaching Program.

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MaST (Mathematics, Science and Technology) Community Charter School
The MaST Community Charter School in Philadelphia has contracted with the School of Education for the School to provide services of the Math Forum to MaST faculty, students and their families as well as teacher professional development for teaching mathematics and incorporation of technology integration activities.

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The Lindy Scholars Program at Drexel University
The Lindy Scholars Program is a collaborative effort between the Pennoni Honors College and the School of Education. The Center for Civic Engagement, a division of the Pennoni Honors College, is responsible for managing the program.

The overall goal of the Lindy Scholars Program is to provide mathematics, writing, and literacy improvement programs and related services to selected students in grades 6 through 8 enrolled in Charles Drew, Alain Locke, and Martha Washington Elementary Schools. Drexel staff, faculty, and student volunteers work closely with school administrators, community leaders, students, and parents to help identify needs and then provide services on campus and within the community that are expected to make measurable positive improvements in academic performance and retention.

The program began in spring 2009 with 75 5th grade students from each partnering elementary school. Many of the 5th graders continued through the Lindy Scholars Summer Program at Drexel from June through August. Both the spring and summer programs allowed the students and the program to develop further so that by 6th grade, students are enrolled for the entire school year. As the program progresses, an additional 6th grade cohort of 75 students will be added each year from each school, until by 2011, 225 students in 6th through 8th grade will be participating in the Lindy Scholars Program.