MORE TO EXPLORE: Education

CREATING AN EQUITY-FOCUSED TALENT STRATEGY

Client
FUTURES AND OPTIONS
Faculty
Quintin Haynes
Team
Stephanie Bennaugh, Ryan Chiew, Nou Moua, Ashley Richardson

Futures and Options is a NYC-based youth workforce development nonprofit organization that aims to empower underserved youth by providing paid internship opportunities to high school students. Since 1995, Futures and Options has worked with over 7,000 students and 500 businesses. The organization has expanded to provide additional programming that includes career essentials and college counseling. The organization partnered with a team to create a strategic plan that reduces employee turnover and equitably recruits, retains, and develops employee talent. The team conducted market research and an environmental scan on current competitors, mapped the trajectory of former employees, researched talent retention best practices, developed and implemented a survey, and conducted interviews with current employees. Using this data, the team produced a report outlining recommendations for strengthening Futures and Options’ talent pipeline by creating consistent and transparent organizational processes.

Capstone Year

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF NEW FINANCIAL AND SERVICE MODELS

Client
OPENING ACT
Faculty
John Ceffalio
Team
Xuanqi Bao, Erik Freels-Vargas, Junqing Yan, Xibai Yu

Opening Act is committed to advancing arts equity in New York City and beyond by providing free, high-quality theater programming to the city’s highest need schools. The organization works in 57 schools throughout NYC and has served over 5,000 young people over its 20 year history. Opening Act engaged a team to explore new service models and revenue streams, and identify its potential impacts on the organization. The team evaluated the adoption of a fee-for-service model and new earned income opportunities. It conducted staff and alumni interviews, school partner surveys, desktop research, and a competitive analysis. The team’s recommendations and resources include insights into fundraising trends, feedback from stakeholders, an actionable guide to the NYC Department of Education contracting process, and market research on professional development classes and online education platforms.

Capstone Year

ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF THE “RACE TO THE TOP” PROGRAM ON STUDENT OUTCOMES

Client
SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM
Faculty
James Dunham
Team
Annie Chean, Qi Cheng, Zhiran Zhao

In response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the Obama administration signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to stimulate job creation and jumpstart the economy. Under the Recovery Act, Race to the Top (RTT) was the largest federal competitive grant program focused on education. It aimed to improve school standards, increase the effectiveness of teachers and staff, promote failing schools, and identify better methods for tracking student and teacher progress. The team conducted research to estimate the causal effects of RTT on reading and math scores by comparing students in states that were awarded the RTT grant and students in states that were not. The team detailed its findings in a final report that may be used to inform the design and implementation of current and future competitive grant programs amid the ongoing debate over school finance.

Capstone Year

EXPANDING CREATIVITY EDUCATION PROGRAMS TO NEW REGIONS

Client
CHILDREN’S ARTS GUILD
Faculty
Tricia Davies
Team
Kathryn Falato, Gracie Gottlieb, Sara Pattiz

Founded in 2010, The Children’s Arts Guild is a New York-based nonprofit organization that partners with parents, educators, and students to build supportive and creative learning spaces where children in grades K-12 can become socially engaged, emotionally intelligent, and productive citizens of the world. The organization enlisted a team to provide recommendations as its Authenticity in the Classroom program undergoes a period of strategic growth and endeavors to enter new domestic markets in 2022. The team completed case studies of potential school partnerships, conducted interviews with teachers, and attended an Authenticity in the Classroom day-long session. The team then produced a presentation and a final report that included a research tool for the client to use and recommendations on marketing and market entry and expansion.

Capstone Year

CREATING IMPACT ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR A GARDEN EDUCATION PROGRAM

Client
LAND TO LEARN
Faculty
Erica Foldy
Team
Marlene Artov, Shruti Bengani, Alexis Contreras, Christal Somar

Land to Learn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to growing food justice and community wellness through education. Its SproutEd Program brings garden education to students in grades K-2 in the Newburgh, Beacon, Kingston, and Garrison areas of New York State. Lacking easy-to-use and adaptable assessment tools to measure the program’s impact, Land to Learn engaged a team to construct effective and efficient impact assessment tools for its limited staff to use and sustain over time. To gather data in support of the organization’s short- and long-term goals, the team conducted educator interviews, researched case studies and best practices in garden education, and piloted tools with participating school districts. The team created a final report that includes a case study analysis, literature review, logic model, and recommendations for usable impact assessment tools that meet the organization’s needs.

Capstone Year

DESIGNING A SCHOOL-BASED SUBSTANCE USE EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR PARENTS

Client
PARTNERSHIP TO END ADDICTION
Faculty
Rain Henderson
Team
Rahitul Bhuiyan, Yi Ping Bong, Sherline Dolin, Shivani Mehra, Kiely Turgeon

The Partnership to End Addiction provides services to families impacted by substance use and addiction through its helpline, educational resources, and toolkit of training sessions. With the help of a Capstone team, the organization sought to deliver fee-based substance use programs for parents and caregivers through schools. The team conducted a needs assessment to identify potential barriers to successful implementation and a competitor analysis of the landscape of existing substance use and prevention programs. The team worked with the client to develop strategies for financial sustainability through mixed revenue sources, program implementation, toolkit marketing, and increased accessibility. The team also provided a framework to measure program success and effectiveness.

Capstone Year

Mara Schiff, Ph.D.

PhD in Public Administration
1993

Julianne Bozzo

MPA
2017