Network for School Improvement (NSI) is designed to support middle schools across New York City focused on college and career readiness for Black and Latino students and students who are experiencing poverty. Our aim is to increase the percentage of students who will be on-track to graduate from high school and be academically prepared for college.

A 5-Year Pilot Program

Funded through a five-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, NSI is a pilot program through 2025 that is focused on culturally responsive literacy practices in schools with a continuous improvement approach. Our aim is to identify and evaluate what works across different school contexts to ensure improved outcomes for Black and Latino students and students who are experiencing poverty.

The three programmatic components are: ELA teacher support, leadership, and attendance. ELA teacher support helps educators implement high-quality curriculum focused on Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education practices. New ideas are tested, changed, and implemented based on prior research and learning on the ground to determine its effectiveness in improving student outcomes. The leadership component considers equity as it applies to 8th grade ELA performance. We help school leaders evaluate their plans for school improvement and instructional leadership to consistently measure progress. Lastly, the attendance team seeks to identify and address barriers to attendance. We strive to achieve a 96% daily attendance rate for every student that positively rewards classroom attendance.

Our Schools

We are a network of 16 middle schools across four boroughs: Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. We partner with 150+ educators in order to serve approximately 4,000 students.