1. September 12- (Friday) OPENING SEMINAR: An introduction to the program, its goals and its format, followed by a historical snapshot of reform efforts of NYC public schools.

• Speakers: Juana Ponce de Leon, ED of NYCMA, Andrew White, President of NYCMA Board and Garry Pierre-Pierre, Program Leader, followed by Norm Fruchter, Director of Community Involvement Program at Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Juana and Gary will set the stage for the fellowship by introducing and explaining the goals of the program as well as the format, speakers, school visits, and writing critiques. Norm Fruchter will then provide historical perspective on the challenges facing NYC schools and the various campaigns to reform them.

2. September 26- (Friday) TODAY'S REFORM AGENDA AND LANDSCAPE: A primer on recent education reform efforts in NYC. What has been tried, what was the result, and what is currently under way?

• Speakers: Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education; Leo Casey, Vice President, United Federation of Teachers.

3. October 9 -(Thursday) – editorial meeting

4. October 23- (Thursday) WHY HIGH SCHOOL MATTERS: An examination of the role of high schools in preparing students for college and work. What should high schools be doing and how are they going about it?

• Speakers: John Garvey, Dean of the Teacher Academy and Collaborative Programs, City University of New York; David Conley, Director of the Center for Educational Policy Research, University of Oregon.

5. November 6 -(Thursday) – editorial meeting

6. November 20- (Thursday) – UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOL REFORM MODELS: An introduction to small schools, early college high schools, and charters.

• Speakers: Garth Harries, CEO of the Office of Portfolio Development, New York City Department of Education; Stephen Engel Phillips, Instructor, Program Coordinator, Adolescence Education College Director, Teaching Fellows Program School of Education Brooklyn College (CUNY); Bob Hughes, President of New Visions for Public Schools.

7. January 8/2009 – editorial meeting

8. January 22- SPECIAL POPULATIONS: SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS: An introduction to and examination of special education in New York City public schools.

• Speakers: Linda Wernikoff, Executive Director, New York City Department of Education's Office of Special Education Initiatives Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC); Katherine Locker, director of the Children's Services Education Unit within ACS.

9. February 12 – editorial meeting

10. February 26- SPECIAL POPULATIONS: ELL STUDENTS:  An introduction to and examination of ELL in New York City public schools. *Site visit to Internationals Network School to be combined with seminar.

• Speakers: Claire Sylvan, Executive Director and Founder, Internationals Network for Public Schools; Representative of NY Immigration Coalition; Deycy Avitia, Coordinator of Education Advocacy at NY Immigration Coalition; Maria Santos, Executive Director of the NYC DOE Office of ELL.

11. March 5 – editorial meeting

12. March 19 -SPECIAL POPULATIONS: OVERAGE AND UNDERCREDITED STUDENTS: An introduction to and examination of the large population of students who are overage and under-credited and the reforms being implemented to meet their needs. *Site visit to transfer school run by Good Shepherd Services to be combined with seminar.

• Speakers: Michele Cahill, Vice President of National Program Coordination and Director of Urban Education, Carnegie Corporation; Theresa Crotty, Executive Director (IA) of the Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation, NYC DOE; Sister Paulette Lomonaco, Executive Director of Good Shepherd Services; Rachel Forsythe, Director of Transfer Schools for Good Shepherd Services

13. April 2 – editorial meeting

14. April 23- TESTING, STANDARDS, AND ACCOUNTABILITY: What are the standards and what is the "standards movement?" How can we make sure that the standards mean something and that students get the support they need to achieve the standards?

• Speakers: Jim Liebman, Chief Accountability Officer, NYC DOE; Ann Cook, Co-Leader, New York Performance Standards Consortium.

15. May 7 – editorial meeting

16. May 21 -PRINCIPALS AS LEVERS OF CHANGE: In the current Joel Klein/Michael Bloomberg reform landscape, principals in New York City schools now act as de facto chief executives. Principals work with their staff and parent and teacher committees to set budgets, choose advisors and partnership organizations. What does this mean in practice? How can principals change our schools? *Site visit to school run by principal in New Leaders for New Schools training program to be combined with seminar (likely to be a College Board school).

• Speakers: Eric Nadelstern, CEO of the Empowerment Schools Support Organization, NYC DOE; Jon Schnur, CEO of New Leaders for New Schools; Jean DesRavines, Chief Officer for Cities and Policy, New Leaders for New Schools.

17. June 11– editorial meeting

18. June 25- THE ROLE OF PARENTS AND STUDENTS: How can parents and students have a voice to help bring about change in their own schools?

• Speakers: Martine Guerrier, Chief Family Engagement Officer, NYC DOE; Barbara Gross, Senior Collaborative Coordinator, Brooklyn Education Collaborative; Oona Chatterjee, Co-Executive Director, Make the Road New York

19. July 9 – editorial meeting

20. July 23- UNDERSTANDING STATISTICS AND RESULTS: A solid understanding of the available data and the various measurements being used is crucial for anyone seeking knowledge about education and the impact of reforms on students.

• Speakers: Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger, Director of DAA in the Office of Accountability, NYC DOE; Representative of Research Partnership for New York City Schools; Elissa Gootman, Journalist, New York Times.

21. Date TBD- FINAL SEMINAR –A convening with upstate and downstate ethnic editors to evaluate Fellowship and explore future editorial collaborations.