Ashley Tam joined New Visions for Public Schools in 2018, leveraging her experience in product development to help public school students succeed and transition successfully to college, careers, and choice-filled lives. As Group Product Manager, she leads cross-functional teams in developing digital products that empower educators to help their students succeed. One of five Phase 3 teams in the Learning Landscapes Challenge, New Visions for Public Schools is now working to develop one of its newest solutions — the Every Child and Family is Known program. Ashley recently spoke with us about that solution and the work her team is doing through the challenge.
Tell us about New Visions for Public Schools. How long has it existed? How did it begin?
New Visions for Public Schools has been around for about 35 years. We’ve been serving New York City Public Schools as an Affinity Network, we’ve built charter schools, and we also have expert curriculum and instruction, and postsecondary pathways teams. Around 10 years ago, through partnering closely with school staff in our Affinity groups, we found that we needed to make sense of our data to inform decision making and student outcomes. So we started consolidating data from multiple siloed systems and presenting them together in one view that has turned into a full stack web application available to all New York City Public Schools. We have also expanded beyond schools to provide support for shelters with the New York City Department of Homeless Services.
Can you tell us about your current work on the Every Child and Family is Known program?
We’re proud to be partnering with multiple city agencies: New York City Public Schools, the Department of Homeless Services, the New York City Children’s Cabinet, Social Services, and the Deputy Mayor’s Office for Strategic Initiatives. Together, we’re focused on this program called Every Child and Family is Known. The goal of the initiative is to partner students and families residing in shelters with Caring Adults. These are school staff who are meant to foster deep relationships with students and families to ensure that students have their basic needs met and feel safe and happy coming to school.
Studies show that students who attend school regularly have better outcomes than their peers who do not. But it’s hard to go to school when your basic needs are not met. We believe that centering attention and support on the whole family will create better outcomes for families and children overall.
There’s not a lot of stability for this vulnerable group of children and families, so we empower school staff to be a hub and resource for getting children to come to school. The purpose of a Caring Adult is not only to build deep relationships and trust with students and families in shelters — but also to help families navigate the complicated process of accessing supportive services and benefits. There are millions of dollars of benefits and resources earmarked for children and families who need them, but it’s very difficult for families to know what is available and whether they are eligible. To support this effort, we recently launched a Family Portal. Our goal in delivering this solution — and our hope with the Learning Landscapes Challenge — is to provide a digital front door for families with warm handoffs to the resources that are available to them. Our hope is to build a benefits recommendation engine.
What are your ambitions for New Visions beyond the challenge?
Our ambition is to scale this work beyond pilot schools in the Bronx. We believe that an early warning system can empower stakeholders from agencies and community-based organizations to support vulnerable families and children. Studies show that students who attend school regularly have better outcomes than their peers who do not. But it’s hard to go to school when your basic needs are not met. We believe that centering attention and support on the whole family will create better outcomes for families and children overall.
What has it been like to participate in the Learning Landscapes Challenge?
Our experience with the Learning Landscapes challenge has been awesome. We’ve been able to speak with and learn from experts and brainstorm with the other teams about how to overcome barriers. It has been such an incredible privilege to learn from other people who are so smart, talented, and dedicated and who are facing similar problems but have different perspectives on how to resolve them.
Looking ahead
Over the coming months, the Phase 3 teams will continue to prototype their solutions, develop sustainable funding streams, and create implementation roadmaps. Phase 3 will conclude with a Demo Day featuring presentations in front of a live audience and judges. Judges will evaluate submissions according to Phase 3 evaluation criteria. Up to two grand-prize winners will receive $500,000 each to support implementation of their infrastructure solutions. Stay tuned for additional updates about the Phase 3 teams and their mentors.
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