CSS Featured in The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education!

The April 2010 newspaper Outlook in Higher Education just came out with front page article entitled "Making a Difference - Cultivating Minority Students in STEM" that profiles CSS. The article is a highly laudatory account of the CSS approach to science and math education. It presents a very favorable review of the many innovative aspects of our curriculum, the uniqueness of our diversity when compared to other specialized schools, and how our relationship with Columbia University enriches student and faculty experiences.

Can a Selective Secondary School Connect with an Ivy League College?

Did!

By Gary M. Stern

By now, most people know the statistics about the scarcity of minorities, particularly Latinos and African-Americans, who establish careers in math, science and engineering. Only about 6.5 percent of all bachelor’s degrees in engineering in 2008 were earned by Hispanics; and 4.7 percent, by African-Americans, according to the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME). Without encouraging Hispanics, the fastest-growing population in the U.S., to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the country might lose its competitive edge. Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science & Engineering, located on the top two floors of a Harlem elementary school in New York, is showing early signs of making a difference in developing minority students’ skills in science and math. Can this school serve as a nationwide model? Columbia Secondary School opened in fall 2007. It currently has about 300 students enrolled in sixth to eighth grade and is projected to peak at 700 students as it adds a year annually until it reaches 12th grade. Of its students, 50 percent are Hispanic; 21 percent, African-American; and 29 percent, White and Asian. To be accepted into Columbia Secondary School, students must live above 96th Street in Manhattan, take the New York City Department of Education’s admission test, have a middle school average above 90 percent or higher, and score 4 (the highest rating) in the Education Department’s English and math tests. There are about 10 applicants for every spot at the school. Hence, this selective school is attracting the best and brightest students interested in an accelerated curriculum in Upper Manhattan. The high school attracts a large minority population because of the predominantly Hispanic and African-American students enrolled in public schools in Upper Manhattan; it’s not choosing students based on their race or ethnicity. However, since its student body is mostly minority, it is dedicated to encouraging diverse students to consider careers in math and science and showing them that these subjects can be fun and challenging. Columbia Secondary is a specialized public school that operates as a partnership between New York City’s Department of Education and Columbia University. It was conceived by Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, Mayor Bloomberg of New York, and Joel Klein, New York City Education Department chancellor. “The city wanted to promote private and public school partnerships,” explained José Gabriel Maldonado-Rivera, principal, Columbia Secondary School"(...)

To read the full text of this article, please visit The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education web site www.hispanicoutlook.com/ - You can also download the pdf version here