Training
The FRNYC community will convene on a quarterly basis for Summer Institute and Community of Practice (CoP) Sessions. Attendance at quarterly convenings is mandatory. The purpose of these events is to bring schools and partners together to deliver key content and expectations, uplift best practices and support cross school learning. Following these sessions, schools will engage in regular coaching to apply learnings and facilitate the development of their implementation plan. SY 24-25 convenings kick off during the summer with the FRNYC Summer Institute. This exciting 3-day training and the school year convenings that follow serve to build community, ground FRNYC schools in a common purpose/goal, and align on implementation expectations. Below are descriptions of these convenings:
- FRNYC Summer Institute: A 2-3-day training to orient new and returning school leaders and their teams on the components of FRNYC and prepare to implement the program in SY24-25. Schools should plan to register at least three members including the WBL Coordinator, an administrator, an advisor, and a teacher. Other team members to consider include special education teacher(s), transition team leader, ENL coordinator. Registration information for Summer Institute will be shared directly with FRNYC schools via the FRNYC newsletter.
- Community of Practice: The Office of Student Pathways hosts Community of Practice (CoP) sessions for FRNYC schools to meet on a quarterly basis. At these mandatory CoP sessions, schools will partner with their implementation coaches, the Central FRNYC team, and external partners to design programming for the school year and troubleshoot potential issues. CoP sessions provide hands-on time for schools to focus on FRNYC implementation through 6 key lenses:
- Operations
- Curriculum & instruction
- Partnerships
- Data and continuous improvement
- Equity and engagement
- Leadership and change management
- Characteristics of Most CoP Sessions:
- CoP sessions last a few hours and feature a mix of whole-group learning, small-group learning across schools, and working time for school teams
- Content will be intentionally aligned with, and drawn from, timely priorities to support schools with implementing FRNYC. The CoP will incorporate expertise from a number of sources including outside national experts, local community-based organizations, NYCDOE central office team members, CUNY partners, and knowledge from within the FRNYC school community
- Sessions will also be leveraged as opportunities to reinforce priorities and timelines for implementation so that schools share a common understanding of expectations
- School attendees should ideally include the school principal and up to two other school-based faculty and/or staff members responsible for implementing major elements of FRNYC
- Roles to consider for participation include assistant principals, teachers, school counselors, advisors, CN liaisons, WBL and/or pathways coordinators.
Coaching
There is a Pathway Director and Pathway Instructional Coach (PIC) for each pathway. These Office of Student Pathways personnel are schools’ first point of contact for FRNYC specific and operational questions.
Schools will also be provided with coaching via a FRNYC Coaching Collective partner for schools in cohort 2 and 3 in SY24-25. Cohort 1 schools will also be matched with a coach, but FRNYC Directors will be included here as coaches. Coaching Collective partners include Education Strategy Group, the Bank Street College of Education, Pencil, Eskolta School Research and Design, The Urban Assembly, ExpandEd, NAF, the Internationals Network and Big Picture Learning. This collective serves to:
- Provide schools with content expertise, thought partnership, and supplemental capacity to fully implement the FRNYC core components as demonstrated by completion of the Key Implementation Measures, and integrate FRNYC as part of a school-wide effort at fostering a culture of career connected learning
- Support with integrating FRNYC with additional programming supported by the Office of Student Pathways including Career Readiness and Modern Youth Apprenticeships, Career and Technical Education, Learning to Work, etc.
- Nurture a coordinated multi-stakeholder learning community to implement and iterate on high quality career-connected learning programs
- Provide school leaders with specialized coaching and a community to drive innovation and accelerate learning in the design of their pathways
- Build capacity of NYCPS and external partners to grow and sustain high quality career connected learning program
For schools not assigned an external coach (those in cohort 1) for SY24-25, Pathways Directors will provide support and accountability.
Professional Learning
The Professional Learning Catalog supporting all five core components will be made available at the beginning of the school year. Please view all professional learning PL calendar for SY 24-25 here.
Schools should review all Professional Learning (PL) offerings and ensure that the appropriate staff complete all required PL for their pathway. PL includes CCI and curriculum training for the pathway, as well as trainings for Work-Based Learning coordinators, College & Career Advisors, Career Foundations teachers, etcetera. Schools should coordinate with their FRNYC Director and coach to ensure they’re completing all required PL.