Six-Grade STEM High School: Grads Land IT Jobs

IBM is collaborating with the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE), the City University of New York (CUNY) and NYC College of Technology to create a single new public school for grades 9-14 and a new public school program to be replicated in other schools. The new school, called P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) is designed to prepare students to fill entry-level jobs in technology fields or provide them with the foundation for ongoing learning in a four-year college. Upon graduation from the 9-14 school, students would be “certified” in certain industry fields.

While providing its students with a solid foundation across the core academic curriculum linked directly to common core standards, schools using the P-TECH model will focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The flagship school opened in September 2011 with about 100 students in the 9^th grade.

The broader goal is to apply the curriculum and experiences developed in the pilot 9-14 school to serve as a model for use by many other traditional high schools in New York City and nationally. The P-TECH model aims to demonstrate how K-12, higher education and public/private partnerships can substantially raise graduation rates and make a major impact by preparing greater number of students to fill good paying jobs in the IT field and beyond.  

IBM will help guide all aspects of the school, from curriculum and assessment to supporting students both inside and outside of the classroom. This includes a deep workplace learning component for students including externships and mentors. For example, IBM has mapped the skills required for an entry-level job and has recruited corporate volunteers to help mentor every student entering the school.

In addition, IBM will work with the NYC DOE and CUNY to bring together education, government, community, nonprofit, museum and business leaders who will support the 9-14 school. For example, IBM is pulling together an industry coalition, which will serve a pivotal role in ensuring the expansion of this project beyond a single grades 9-14 school. This coalition will be responsible for providing mentors and internship programs; developing the core set of minimum requirements for entry-level IT jobs that will serve as benchmarks and targets; identifying best practices from successful public/private partnership schools; and devising a plan for scaling up the project to other schools in New York City and across the nation.  


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