About NCSC

The mission of the National Center for Schools and Communities is to:

• Provide analysis and information to strengthen grassroots efforts for school reform.
• Use research, evaluation, and policy advocacy to enhance the quality of child- and youth- development programming serving public school students.
• Defend an equity perspective in local and national education policy debates.

A joint project of the Fordham University Graduate Schools of Education and Social Service, the National Center for Schools and Communities (NCSC) supports and reinforces grassroots organizing to win better public schools in low-income communities and communities of color.  Driven by a conviction that quality public education is a fundamental right, we provide policy analysis, research, advocacy, and technical assistance to community-based and parent-led efforts in our home city of New York and across the nation.  Our work helps committed activists mobilize their neighbors, capture the attention of the news media, define the public debate, and, ultimately, reclaim their role as stakeholders in their children's education.

In a nation with 15,000 school districts, the struggle for education justice exemplifies the notion that all politics are local.  We develop customized analytical tools specific to different cities, write and edit reports, and consult with staff and leadership of local groups about how to present the facts about their children's schooling most effectively.  Our policy and advocacy work highlights the relationship of the outcomes of public schools, such as test scores, graduation and dropout rates, suspensions, expulsions, and attendance to the distribution of essential educational inputs such as teacher qualifications, experience levels, enrichment programming, and technology and information infrastructure.  Our evaluation services contribute to the ongoing improvement of school-based youth development programming serving thousands of public school students.

We actively seek working partnerships with organized groups working to ensure that all children, regardless of color, language, or poverty, have access to high quality public schools in their communities.