AFC works to change education policy so that the public school system serves all children effectively. We publish policy reports and data analyses, testify at the City and State levels, speak out in the press to bring attention to the challenges facing the students and families we serve, and join with other advocates, parents, youth, and educators to call for change.
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This briefing paper profiles nine young adults who were able to earn their high school diploma only because the local diploma, which the state is phasing out, existed. The paper calls on officials to develop alternative pathways to earn a regular high school diploma.
This 2009 report by AFC and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) studied the restructuring of two large Brooklyn high schools to understand how the small schools movement impacted English Language Learners (ELLs). The report illustrates how as a result of this movement, ELLs—who experience some of the lowest graduation rates in the city—are left with fewer and fewer options or are simply left behind.
This issue brief summarizes the findings of AFC’s survey of 145 New York City youth on the factors that cause students to leave school. The brief provides insight into the educational experiences and aspirations of out-of-school youth in New York City.
An estimated 138,000 New York City students are over-age and under-credited and are out of school or at-risk for dropping out. The New York City Department of Education began creating new programming specifically for these students, but some students are left with dead ends under the current system. This briefing paper examines the ability of the new schools to meet the instructional needs of English Language Learners (ELLs), students with special education needs, students who are older with few or no credits, and students who are pregnant and parenting.
This joint report by AFC and the New York Immigration Coalition uses enrollment data from the New York City Department of Education to examine the representation of English Language Learners (ELLs) and immigrant students in both small and large schools, as well as the extent to which small high schools have not been created in areas with large and growing immigrant student populations.
This report examines the graduation outcomes of the more than 170,000 children currently classified as having disabilities and in need of special education services in New York City, based on federal, state, and city data from the school years between 1996-97 and 2003-04.
This 2005 article, written by AFC Deputy Director Elisa Hyman and published in the Clearinghouse REVIEW Journal of Poverty Law and Policy, describes the efforts undertaken by AFC to address the push-out problem in New York City.
This report, a joint release from AFC, the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, the Urban Institute, and the Civil Society Institute, highlights the urgent need to address the impending crisis of minority groups not graduating from high school at troubling rates.
This report by the Office of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Advocates for Children of New York examines data documenting students in New York City who have been designated as “discharged” from the school system, an indicator that has received little public attention. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many of these discharges may have been forced “push-outs” of students who have a legal right to remain in public schools.
This 1985 report describes how selective unzoned public high school programs pick and choose among applicants, and how students from low-income, predominantly minority school districts are adversely affected in the process. The report urges the Chancellor to spearhead an overhaul of high school admissions policies and procedures and makes recommendations for change.
A new school year begins!