An educational initiative developed by The Stanton/Heiskell Center that pairs public school teachers with tech-savvy CUNY doctoral students in order to collaboratively integrate technology into transformed educational practices. Working with stakeholders within CUNY, the Department of Education, and the private and non-profit sectors, the Stanton/Heiskell Center supports school reform initiatives
that are capable of producing the fundamental and sustainable change necessary in the 21st Century. The center has developed and evaluated models of curriculum and professional development that transform classroom practices in order to increase achievement, retention, and college admission and career success for low-income students of color. CUNY faculty and doctoral students utilize expertise in Social and Natural Sciences, Humanities, Urban Education, Technology, and Literacy as they work with public school teachers to more effectively teach critical thinking, literacy, and social awareness and responsibility across the curriculum. Project Stretch is a collaborative initiative that partners CUNY faculty and graduate students with administrators, teachers, and students in the NYC public school system. The main goal is to leverage the potential of new technologies in order to address the tragic outcomes of the educational status quo on low-income Black and Latino students. Stretch utilizes technology-rich practices to empower both teachers and students in urban schools to make sense of the standards and curriculum in their own lives, in turn developing autonomy and strong goals for the future. Project Stretch offers a blended on-line and onsite Professional Development program for ELA, ESL, Science, Math, and Social Studies teachers that includes pedagogical and technical workshops, on and offline curriculum support and materials, the unlimited use of a dynamic online learning environment/community (www.projectstretch.com/moodle), and the weekly online and onsite support and collaboration of CUNY doctoral students and faculty. Stretch teachers are culturally responsive to the discipline they are teaching and the culture(s) of their students so that Project Stretch students are able to move between “worlds” – their everyday lives, the classroom, worlds of ideas, and the worlds of college and work – without feeling deficient, unprepared, or unwelcome.
