Education in Harlem

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Education in Harlem, a community in New York City, is provided in schools and institutions of higher education, both public and private.

For many decades, Harlem has been a center of controversy over the lower quality of public education in African American and lower-income communities in the United States.

Contents

Boundaries [edit]

Harlem includes East Harlem and is in Manhattan, New York, N.Y. The boundaries are not defined in law but are generally known by custom. For a relatively more precise set of boundaries, see the Wikipedia articles on Harlem and East Harlem. For purposes of this article, the modern boundaries are considered to be West 110th Street, Fifth Avenue, East 96th Street, the East River, the Hudson River, and 155th Street, although some variation occurs with the southwestern boundary.

Historically, the boundaries may have varied according to who lived where and who considered which blocks to be in Harlem. With respect to history, this article focuses on Harlem within any boundaries applicable to the time period being discussed.

Community School Districts [edit]

New York City is divided into many Community School Districts (CSDs), although many functions formerly performed at the district level are now distributed elsewhere. Those districts with jurisdiction in parts of Harlem are Districts 2 through 6 plus District 75. Some or all of these districts also serve parts of Manhattan outside of Harlem. District 75 is for special education and therefore is a City-wide district that encompasses Harlem.

District 4 was written about in a 1993 book.[1]

Education from outside [edit]

Some schools located outside of Harlem may have programs that take place in Harlem. An example is City-As-School, a public noncharter high school headquartered in downtown Manhattan that supports education in conjunction with internships across the city, thus potentially including Harlem.

History of quality of education [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion. (September 2010)

As of 1993, Harlem, as home predominantly to people of African descent with incomes below the current national median, many living in poverty, and thus subject to racism and classism, found education disadvantaged. "East Harlem was consistently at the bottom in reading and math test scores."[2]

In the 1930s, overcrowding in schools in Harlem was identified as a major impediment to education and a subject for reform efforts. Lucile Spence, Gertrude Elise McDougald Ayer, and Layle Lane were educators involved in the reform efforts.[3]

"Opportunities to enter a racially mixed high school were minimal, and by 1913 fewer than two hundred Black high school students attended racially mixed high schools."[4] Also in "1913, only fifteen Black male students . . . [p. 57:] . . . were registered at ["DeWitt"] Clinton ["Evening High School (for Men)"] [(the school was at 59th St. & 10th Av., not in Harlem)]."[4]

"[I]t was not until 1905 that an evening high school was established in the 'Negro district.'"[5]

Modern controversies [edit]

Dropout rates high [edit]

Not receiving Regents high school diplomas on time is more common in Harlem than in most other communities in the city, at least as of 2006. This does not include GEDs, special education diplomas, or alternative certificates, as they're unhelpful for career development or college entry. But the lower graduation rates are partly concealed in official statistics, because they're not based on good reasoning about who gets counted and who does not. For example, children in the criminal justice system are not counted, thus when many of them drop out they're not counted.[6]

Quality of public noncharter schools [edit]

The public noncharter schools in Harlem and kindred communities have been criticized for decades as being educationally among the worst in the city. By contrast, the charters in Harlem have been praised for their quality of education, even when compared to charters elsewhere in the nation.[7] The operator of one group of charter schools, Eva Moskowitz, wrote as an opinion that well-performing charter schools have led to an improvement in the performance of public noncharter schools, although much more improvement is still needed.[8] Charters have been criticized on other grounds, but not uniquely to Harlem, except for objections to there being so many charters in Harlem competing with public noncharter schools for classroom space.

Transfers of teachers involuntarily into Harlem in the 1960s, by sending the teachers to schools with difficult students, were reputedly intended by the City's Board of Education to drive unwanted teachers out of the profession altogether.[9]

Campus expansion and competition for land [edit]

Columbia University has periodically planned physical expansion, competing for space with residents, and seeking coordination with New York State for the application of eminent domain on the ground of blight.[10][11][12]

Elementary through high school [edit]

This covers pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Public schools [edit]

Publicly funded schools include noncharter and charter schools, generally not charging tuition, and getting their funds primarily from state and city governments.

Noncharter schools [edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
PS 46

The New York City Department of Education runs public noncharter schools in Harlem and provides a locator service for finding them. These include:

Charter schools [edit]

Charter schools are authorized by any of three authorizing agencies and operate under fewer rules than do noncharter schools, and often have higher expectations for students. In Harlem, many charters outperform noncharter schools,[15] doing a better job of educating students in math and English as measured by state examinations. Charters are generally free of tuition to attend. When a charter school receives more qualified applicants than it has classroom space to admit, it usually runs a lottery and places everyone who is not admitted that way onto a waitlist for possible openings later in the year. Schools offer classes in various grades and some add a grade each year, so that a student, once started, can continue studying in the same school.

In Harlem, about 20 percent of children who are eligible by age are enrolled in charters, and that does not count applicants who are denied admission because of lack of room.[7]

Charter schools in Harlem include:

Success Academy Harlem 1 schoolhouse
Schoolhouse
Success Academy Harlem 1

Private schools [edit]

Private schools generally charge tuition to attend.

Parochial schools [edit]

Parochial schools are generally run by religious institutions. Some include:

Nonparochial schools [edit]

Some private schools are not run by religious institutions. Some include:

Nurseries [edit]

Nurseries, sorted by the youngest age they generally accept, include:

Age 6 weeks old and up:

  • Rita Gold Early Childhood Center, for children 6 weeks to 5 years old, 525 W. 120th St.; nursery's website:
    • Only for families associated with Columbia University

Age 3 months old and up:

Age 6 months old and up:

Age one year and three months old and up:

Age one and a half years old and up:

  • Family Annex, for children 1 year 6 months to 5 years old, 560 W. 113th St.; nursery's website

Age 1.7 years old and up:

Age 2 years old and up:

Age 2.9 years old and up:

  • Broadway Presbyterian Church Nursery School, for children 2.9–5 years old, 601 W. 114th St.; nursery's website

Age 3 years old and up:

Higher education [edit]

Colleges and universities include:

Libraries [edit]

Morningside branch

Public libraries are suited to self-directed learning and the New York Public Library offer free online access from home to databases for research. In Harlem, the NYPL system has one research library and ten local branches (listed here with the research library first followed by the local branches approximately from south to north):

See also [edit]

Portal icon Education portal
Portal icon New York City portal


Bibliography [edit]

Directories [edit]

  • Haynes, Aquila E., ed., Directory of NYC Charter Schools: New York City Department of Education: 2010 – 2011 (Dep't of Educ.) (editor of N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., Charter School Office) (updates website)
  • Goldman, Victoria, The Manhattan Directory of Private Nursery Schools (N.Y.: Soho Press, 6th ed. 2007 (ISBN 978-1-56947-449-5)), esp. for neighborhoods or areas Uptown and Eastside
  • Private Independent Schools (Wallingford, Conn.: Bunting & Lyon, 62d ed. 2009 (ISBN 0-913094-62-5) (ISSN 0079-5399)) (The Bunting and Lyon Blue Book)

References [edit]

  1. ^ Miracle in East Harlem, op. cit. (this Bibliography), esp. ch. 2.
  2. ^ Miracle in East Harlem, op. cit. (this Bibliography), p. 23.
  3. ^ Johnson, Lauri, A Generation of Women Activists: African American Female Educators in Harlem, 1930–1950, in The Journal of African American History, vol. 89, no. 3 (Summer, 2004), New Directions in African American Women's History, in JStor (database), as accessed Jun. 26, 2010, pp. 223–240 (biographies "of three African American female educators and community leaders who lived and worked in Harlem from the 1920s through the 1950s", id., p. 223; "overcrowded public schools disproportionately affected the average Harlemite", id., p. 224; "Harlem in the 1930s . . . became the site of intense organizing and social reform efforts . . . . [and] [p]rime areas of concern included . . . school reform", id., p. 225 (fn. omitted); add'l content not quoted here) (Stable URL).
  4. ^ a b Perry, Jeffrey Babcock, Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883–1918 (N.Y.: Columbia University Press, cloth [2nd printing?] 2009 (ISBN 978-0-231-13910-6)), pp. 56–57. Id., p. 57 n. 12, cites "[f]or the statistics" Blascoer, Francis (sic (probably should be "Frances")), Colored School Children in New York (1915; N.Y.: Negro Universities Press, 1970).
  5. ^ Perry, Jeffrey Babcock, Hubert Harrison, op. cit., p. 55 (endnote, with further citations, omitted).
  6. ^ Losen, Daniel J., Behind the Dropout Rate, in GothamGazette: The Place For NYC Politics and Policy (§ Archives), Mar. 20, 2006, as accessed Oct. 5, 2010 (website by Citizens Union Foundation) (author sr. educ. law & policy assoc., Civil Rights Project, Harvard Law School) (the article does not mention Harlem but the map in the article shows higher dropout rates in Census tracts that approximately coincide with Harlem).
  7. ^ a b c Brill, Steven, The Teachers' Unions' Last Stand, (Single Page online URL), in The New York Times, in the Magazine, Sunday, May 23, 2010, p. MM32 (print version may differ), as accessed Jun. 10, 2010.
  8. ^ Moskowitz, Eva, Another Charter School Test Passed, in The Wall Street Journal, vol. CCLX, no. 94, October 20–21, 2012, p. A11, [§] Opinion (Moskowitz is CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools).
  9. ^ 36 Children, op. cit. (this Bibliography), p. vi (Introduction to the 1988 Edition (Mar., 1988)).
  10. ^ Bagli, Charles V., Court Upholds Columbia Campus Expansion Plan, in The New York Times, June 24 or 25, 2010, p. A1, § N.Y. / Region (N.Y. ed.), as accessed Sep. 20, 2010.
  11. ^ Irwin, Demetria, Columbia's Expansion Plan Moves Forward, in (The) New York Amsterdam News, vol. 99, issue 1 (ISSN 10591818), Dec. 27, 2007 – Jan. 2, 2008, pp. 3 & 31 (article), in Academic Search Premier (EbscoHost) (database) (PDF Full Text), as accessed Sep. 20, 2010.
  12. ^ Boyd, Herb, Harlem Says No: Community Board Soundly Rejects Columbia Plan, in (The) New York Amsterdam News, vol. 98, issue 35 (ISSN 10591818), Aug. 23–29, 2007, pp. 1 & 30 (article) (cover story), in Academic Search Premier (EbscoHost) (database) (PDF Full Text), as accessed Sep. 20, 2010.
  13. ^ Meier, Deborah, The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem (Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press [1st printing? printing of [19]95?] (ISBN 0-8070-3110-0) (author bio per id., dust jacket, rear flap).
  14. ^ Corcoran, Carrie, Single-Sex Education After VMI: Equal Protection and East Harlem's Young Women's Leadership School, in Univ. of Penna. L. Rvw., vol. 145, no. 4 (Apr., 1997), pp. 987–1033, esp. pp. 990–993 (Comment) (Part I) (school description), in JStor (database), as accessed Jun. 26, 2010 (Stable URL).
  15. ^ Brill, Steven, The Teachers' Unions' Last Stand (Single Page online URL), in The New York Times, op. cit. ("Charter schools are not always better for children. Across the country many are performing badly. But when run well – as most in Harlem and New York’s other most-challenged communities appear to be – they can make a huge difference in a child’s life.").
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t New York School Test Scores, in The New York Times, § N.Y. / Region (online), as accessed Sep. 26, 2010. See also About This Data, in The New York Times, § N.Y. / Region (online), as accessed Sep. 26, 2010.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v N.Y.C. Department of Education, New York City Charter Schools, as accessed Sep. 26, 2010, column listing Charter Authorizer as "NYCDOE", "SUNY", or "NYSED".
  18. ^ Herszenhorn, David M., Teachers Barter with Work Rules, in N.Y. Times, Sep. 16, 2003, § N.Y. / Region, as accessed Sep. 26, 2010.
  19. ^ Bovino, Arthur, The Fresh Air Fund; Lessons on Country Life, With Tea and Rappers, in N.Y. Times, Jun. 9, 2002, § N.Y. / Region, as accessed Sep. 26, 2010.
  20. ^ Hicks, Jonathan P., A Vigorous and Clamoring Campaign in the City's Dominican Heartland, in N.Y. Times, Aug. 21, 2001, § N.Y. / Region, as accessed Sep. 26, 2010.
  21. ^ Tough, Paul, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, [1st printing?] 2008 (ISBN 978-0-618-56989-2)) (author is a N.Y. Times Magazine editor).
  22. ^ Letter (untitled document) from Regina A. Loughran, First Deputy Commissioner, to Joseph P. Merlino and Philip Pallone, Co-Chairs, Board of Trustees, Opportunity Charter School, New York, N.Y., dated May 19, 2010, as accessed May 21, 2010.
  23. ^ a b Deutsch, Kevin, & Meredith Kolodner, Manhattan's Opportunity Charter School Accused of Using Disciplinary Goon Squad to Beat Problem Kids, in N.Y. Daily News, May 19, 2010, as accessed May 20, 2010.
  24. ^ Fleisher, Lisa, New Charters Proposed for Manhattan, in The Wall Street Journal, July 15, 2012, 10:17 p.m., E.T., [§] New York, as accessed July 25, 2012 (a version printed as New Charters Proposed for Manhattan., p. A17 (U.S. ed.), July 16, 2012).
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Goldman, Victoria, & Catherine Hausman, revised by Victoria Goldman, The Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools and Selective Public Schools (N.Y.: Soho Press, 5th ed. 2005 (ISBN 1-56947-389-7)).
  26. ^ a b c d e f Shining Stars: East Harlem's Cristo Rey High School Is an Educational Beacon, in N.Y. Daily News, Jun. 10, 2010 (§ Editorials), as accessed Jun. 26, 2010.
  27. ^ a b c Boyle, Christina, Harlem Graduates of Cristo Rey New York High School Go From Hard Times to College, in N.Y. Daily News, Jun. 11, 2010, as accessed Jun. 25, 2010.
  28. ^ McCloskey, Patrick J., The Street Stops Here: A Year at a Catholic High School in Harlem (Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of Calif. Press (African American Studies ser.), cloth [1st printing? printing of [20]08?] 2008 (ISBN 978-0-520-25517-3)).
  29. ^ Harlem Academy's website, school's mission, as accessed Feb. 22, 2012.
  30. ^ a b The school's home page, as accessed Sep. 26, 2010.
  31. ^ a b The City College: Graduate Bulletin 2008–2010, pp. 26–27, as accessed Sep. 26, 2010.
  32. ^ Overview of the preschool at GreatSchools.org, as accessed Sep. 26, 2010.
  33. ^ Schomburg's Web page, as accessed Oct. 5, 2010
  34. ^ 96th St. Library's Web page
  35. ^ Aguilar Library's Web page
  36. ^ Morningside Heights library's Web page, as accessed Oct. 5, 2010 (the word "library" is not part of the official name of the branch and is not capitalized here, unlike with various other branches)
  37. ^ 115th St. Library's Web page
  38. ^ Harlem Library's Web page, as accessed Oct. 5, 2010
  39. ^ 125th St. Library's Web page
  40. ^ George Bruce Library's Web page
  41. ^ Hamilton Grange Library's Web page
  42. ^ Macomb's Bridge Library's Web page

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