New York City implemented an open enrollment policy for high school admissions in 2004, allowing schools to set their own admissions policies and students to apply to schools outside their geographic zone—leading to an increase in admissions screenings based on factors such as student attendance and past academic performance. The Capstone team explored the impact of this policy on public school fundraising, hypothesizing that families seek out “opportunity hoarding” within screened schools. The team examined fundraising by school-supporting organizations as one measure of opportunity hoarding, constructed an original dataset linking publicly available tax records to school-level data to identify the change in per-pupil fundraising by school, and conducted a difference-in-difference analysis comparing the NYC school system to zoned districts within Long Island’s Nassau County. While the team found that overall fundraising increased after the 2004 policy change, the small sample of available data limits the statistical significance of the findings. The final report presents a model for linking fundraising data to individual schools and suggestions for improving data availability.

A Better Jamaica (ABJ) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 that is dedicated to offering a broad range of programs, from arts and culture to educational support, to strengthen the community of Jamaica, Queens. ABJ engaged a Capstone team with the goal of increasing access to local music education. The team reviewed data to identify relevant trends in existing music education offerings in middle schools in three school districts. The team held task force meetings with eight experienced music educators and conducted a qualitative analysis, which highlighted the stark dropoff in the availability and quality of local music education and means of implementing change. The team created a final report that included a literature review synthesizing the significance and impact of music education, qualitative data on the state and history of music education in the community, quantitative data visualizations showing the rates of offerings and engagement, and funding sources to support increased music education. The team presented its research to key stakeholders—task force members, educators, principals, and elected officials—at a final meeting to further the client’s vision and collaborate on potential solutions.

ExpandED Schools is an education nonprofit that provides after-school programming in New York City, and has served over one million children since 1998. Its mission is to close the learning gap by increasing access to enriched education experiences. Since its current data collection processes are not formally coordinated across the organization, ExpandED Schools enlisted a Capstone team to create an organization-wide strategy to measure its overall impact across all programs. The team conducted a literature review, analyzing best practices in the after-school industry, and developed and implemented a survey to investigate ExpandED School’s current program goals and data collection activities. Following this research, the team designed a roadmap for strategic goal-setting and data collection to measure organization-wide impact in the near term and beyond.

Queens Community House (QCH) is a multi-service settlement house with the mission of providing individuals and families with tools to enrich their lives and build healthy and inclusive communities. QCH’s Young Adult Food-Sector Employment Initiative (YAFSEI) is a workforce development program that targets at-risk young adults in Queens and prepares them for job opportunities in the food sector. QCH engaged a Capstone team to develop a business plan for a café in partnership with the Queens Museum that would allow YAFSEI trainees to receive instruction and gain real-life experience in the food industry. The team researched and evaluated various business models and crafted a comprehensive and effective business plan based on programmatic and socioeconomic data to guide the museum café’s operations.

Citizens Committee for Children of New York (CCCNY) is a New York City-based nonprofit that advocates for policies that enhance the lives of young people. CCCNY enlisted a team to develop strategies to enhance its civic engagement techniques, widen the reach of its impact, and inform the development of an online advocacy hub. The team conducted a literature review to research best engagement practices, including digital usage, and performed a field scan to gain insight into the current civic engagement landscape. The team provided CCCNY with a final report that includes recommendations on techniques for overall and online civic engagement, as well as sample systems and content to guide CCCNY in the launch of its advocacy hub.

TakeRoot Justice (TRJ) leverages legal and policy expertise to help community-driven movements dismantle systems of racial, economic, and social oppression. TRJ engaged a Capstone team to evaluate its role in community campaign advancement and ensure that its legal representation of individuals feeds into an organizing strategy for systemic change. The team conducted a literature review on movement lawyering and administered a survey to twelve of TRJ’s partner organizations. They also carried out focus groups across four key TRJ practice areas: consumer justice, housing rights, immigrants’ rights, and workers’ rights. Drawing on its findings, the team produced a report with guiding documents to increase internal capacity for organizing and a toolkit to facilitate stronger partner relationships.

Ek Kadam Aur, Hindi for “One Step Ahead”, is a nonprofit organization that provides education and skill-building resources to disadvantaged children in India and Nepal. Their High School Leadership Program (HSLP) offers world-class education to high school students in India. Ek Kadam Aur enlisted a Capstone team to aid in the development of their Technology for the Visually Challenged Program. Since the existing curriculum has not been adapted to meet the needs of students with visual impairments, the team was tasked with evaluating its accessibility and effectiveness. The team conducted a gap analysis to identify limitations of the current program structure and developed specific recommendations to improve accessibility and the inclusion of visually challenged students.

Participatory budgeting is a process in which community members decide how a portion of public funds should be spent. Participatory budgeting in New York City (PBNYC) began with four City Council districts in 2011 and has expanded to 31 of the 51 districts in 2019. One of the goals of PBNYC is to make public spending more equitable. Using publicly available data, the team conducted a difference-in-difference analysis to determine whether PBNYC results in a reallocation of capital project funds within districts and the extent to which these effects are moderated by neighborhood income level, gentrification, and political engagement. The team’s findings provide insight into whether PBNYC actually increases resources where most needed and are particularly relevant for policymakers and other stakeholders planning for PBNYC implementation citywide.

Students with special needs have historically been overlooked in the American public school system and only in the last 50 years has the federal government provided explicit protections for these students. Existing literature shows evidence of ongoing and significant differences in referrals to special education services based on race and gender. The Capstone team sought to understand whether, and to what extent, disparities in special education access contribute to disparities in educational outcomes for marginalized groups. The team analyzed data from the 2011 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and developed a final report outlining its findings to help inform special education support and services.

Broadway for Arts Education (BAE) is a nonprofit organization that partners with the Broadway community and schools to bring transformative arts education programs to underserved youth around the world. BAE’s growing operation runs programs in New York, India, and Haiti with limited staff and resources. As a young organization, BAE is wary of staff burnout and its current strategic plan is disconnected from daily operations and programming. As such, BAE engaged a Capstone team to design performance development and review systems to achieve maximum organizational health, efficiency, sustainability, and impact. The team conducted extensive research with a literature review and an environmental scan consisting of interviews and case studies. An internal examination included surveys and interviews with BAE staff and board members. With its research, the team developed a report with five critical performance development and review recommendations, including a timeline for implementation and a toolkit with templates and resources.