QUESTION
What are the details and goals of the personalized letter initiative for students?
0:43:27
·
7 min
New York City Public Schools and the City University of New York (CUNY) officials explain the personalized letter initiative aimed at students' academic achievements and potential college pathways.
- The initiative's first iteration involved customizing letters based on students' GPA and academic data to assess admissibility into different CUNY institutions.
- The letters consider thematic components of a student's high school experience, such as Career and Technical Education (CTE) or career-connected learning programs.
- Language access is a significant focus, making the initiative accessible in the most widely spoken languages.
- Depending on their academic profile, students received one of two types of letters, one for community colleges and another for comprehensive and four-year institutions.
- Future iterations aim for deeper personalization, integrating students' interests, career pathways, and academic plans more thoroughly.
Eric Dinowitz
0:43:27
I think both in the in both testimonies, it was talking about a personalized letter.
0:43:33
Can we talk a little more about what you mean by personalized, customized and tailor to each student's high school academic profile and accomplishments to date.
Melanie Mac
0:43:53
Melanie Mack, New York City Public Schools.
0:43:55
Thank you.
0:43:56
Chair for your question.
0:43:58
This was a version 1 of this this welcome letter to to our student citywide.
0:44:03
So I think that Arquini Partners And New York City Public Schools are clear that there's a long trajectory here in in terms of how far we can go with personalization.
0:44:16
I think that there were a few things that were really important this first go around.
0:44:19
We were looking at GPA.
0:44:21
We were looking at we, as New York City public schools, were looking at student data points to look at admissibility into different CUNY Institutions.
0:44:31
We looked at where there were thematic components to a student's high school experience, whether it was a CTE program or a career connected learning program, and and where there might be programs to uplift in the larger frame of you're going to college in service of your longer term career, your longer term passion and purpose, and and and what is it that's, you know, prompting you to consider postsecondary education?
0:44:55
So those were a few of the things that we were looking at in terms of personalizing for this for this first go around, and I would say that we have a lot of aspirations about how we would continue to iterate on that.
0:45:06
And just uplifting that language access was a big part of that too and making sure that broadly available in in our are most widely spoken languages.
0:45:16
I'll pass it to my unique colleagues to add on.
Reine Sarmiento
0:45:18
I I believe we've supplied you with copies of that.
Eric Dinowitz
0:45:24
Yeah.
0:45:24
Yes.
Reine Sarmiento
0:45:25
So you see them.
0:45:26
Right?
0:45:26
So they're very bright and they're very colorful.
0:45:29
It has their name.
Eric Dinowitz
0:45:30
You're a lot of my blue ink, but it was it was fine.
Reine Sarmiento
0:45:33
You had to get the full effect, Jared Dewitz.
0:45:37
Not only did we do that, but we also sent notifications to the families.
0:45:41
There are very important decision makers in this process, so they got the email they got the personalized letter where they could actually open it and we had the opportunity of having both chancellors in a room where students got to open their personalized letter many of which never thought that college was possible and to be able to receive that and to know that it's as simple as a QR code has really kind of open up what we feel pathways that wouldn't be there and get them to act earlier, which is a key initiative instead of them waiting until the last minute to apply.
Eric Dinowitz
0:46:15
Yeah.
0:46:15
I mean, it sounds like a very nice moment.
0:46:17
I and I wanna clarify.
0:46:19
We were sent 2 letters.
0:46:22
Are those the same two letters, one one or the other that a student would have received?
Reine Sarmiento
0:46:30
So let me clarify that based on their academic profile and their achievements to date, they got each student got one of those two letters.
0:46:39
So one was accepting them to 1 of the 7 community colleges, and the other one was accepting them to all of the comprehensive that and 4 year institutions.
0:46:50
So depending on where they were academically at the moment, they received 1 of those 2 of those letters.
Eric Dinowitz
0:46:56
Right?
0:46:57
So the So, I mean, this is a great, I think, idea and really important that I I can't overstate that the importance of that moment a kid must have opened this and felt great.
0:47:08
But the implementation of this sounds a little different than your description of it, the way you describe it sounds more like the way it should be.
0:47:16
Looking at a student's profile, looking at their academic history, their interests, maybe where they live, what they want to do their academic plan.
0:47:25
But what actually how it was implemented sounds like and, Craig, if I'm wrong, if they're GPA 70 or above, they receive one letter.
0:47:32
And if their GPA 69 or below, they receive a different letter.
Reine Sarmiento
0:47:37
Along with our colleagues, at the New York City Public Schools.
0:47:42
This is the but this is our first iteration and to be able to launch this mail it, and to be able to activate this for this fall.
0:47:52
That was our first iteration.
0:47:54
I think that absolutely based on college students' interest, we could absolutely take tailor the letter.
0:48:03
But
Eric Dinowitz
0:48:03
Just be I mean, that's
Reine Sarmiento
0:48:05
It that's the way it should be.
Eric Dinowitz
0:48:07
I mean, that's also what was what was testified.
0:48:10
You know, it just it's it's the it sounds like the idea is not matching up with the implementation of it.
0:48:17
Right?
0:48:17
I is that accurate?
Melanie Mac
0:48:20
So I can add that in terms of process, it's good for for me to clarify that there is I think a trajectory for our hopes here in terms of what the version 1 was, and then where we'll go forward with this.
0:48:31
So we've looked at the state that you mentioned upfront, you know, the 20 odd states that have implemented similar programs, collaborative with CUNY.
0:48:40
We've looked at versions of their letters.
0:48:42
We've looked at the agreements with their between their school systems and their higher education.
0:48:46
And since we've looked at test messaging, we tested out a lot of this language with our students to see what would resonate and feel feel real and affirming and also substantive enough given we knew there were limitations to how much personalization could go in the first letter.
0:49:03
The letter that you have in front of you is is pretty comparable to or the 2 versions of the letter you have are pretty comparable to what you see in these other states that have.
0:49:13
And so longer term, where we would go with this is we would start to implement some of the differentiation that I was that I was that I was describing, right, where if if you are attending a a Future Ready NYC program, a Career Technical Education program, you can see some of the degree pathways, the career pathways, and and what what options you have.
0:49:35
What you see an example there is you actually see a couple specific examples there.
0:49:40
I don't have it in front of me, unfortunately.
Eric Dinowitz
0:49:42
I'm happy to give you a copy.
Melanie Mac
0:49:44
That's okay.
0:49:44
I I we have it here on the computer, but there are there are a couple specific examples of of degree pathways.
0:49:51
Right?
0:49:51
And we did some intentional messaging knowing that these letters will not match every student's passion purpose and and and and, you know, per per secondary pursuit that they're aiming for.
0:50:05
However, we can start to narrate the importance of a degree connected to a career pathway.
0:50:11
And I think that there's a long road we can travel.
0:50:13
So for future iterations getting to a deeper level of personalization, but what you're describing and what by chance or Sarmano described was right in terms of our v one that we implemented this year.
Eric Dinowitz
0:50:26
Yeah.
0:50:26
It's sounds very v 1.
0:50:29
Did you say version 1?
Melanie Mac
0:50:31
Version 1.
Eric Dinowitz
0:50:32
It sounds very version 1, an important program with this great idea of tailoring things, and I don't know.
