The Goldman Sachs Scholars Conclude Second Year:
Initial Study Shows Signs of Success
by Richard Rivera

Bank Street College's Goldman Sachs Scholars presented the Second Annual Open House and Student Showcase at Union Theological Center on May 18. This showcase, for scholars' families and guests, celebrated their academic work. This year, 105 high school students, from four New York City Catholic high schools, — Aquinas, Cardinal Hayes, Cardinal Spellman, and Rice — helped to develop and present the Open House and Student Showcase.

I-LEAD Program
These scholars realized their academic dreams through a partnership between Bank Street College and The Goldman Sachs Foundation. Two years ago, as part of its signature initiative of targeting the development of talented youth and its overall focus on educational excellence and academic achievement, The Goldman Sachs Foundation awarded Bank Street College a $1.2 million, two-year grant to create the Institute for Leadership, Excellence and Academic Development (I-LEAD), a college preparatory program designed to prepare high-potential youth attending Catholic high schools for admittance to selective colleges and universities.

Over the course of four years, Goldman Sachs Scholars experience an enriching and cooperative learning environment that expands and strengthens their academic skills, helps them to identify their college and career interests, and develops their entrepreneurial and leadership abilities. The I-LEAD program consists of three academic components: a one-day-per-week after-school program, a Saturday Academy that meets twice a month, and a three-week Residential Summer Institute.

Scholars take courses that incorporate the skills and standards they need to succeed in their schools, but that also excite student interest. For example, for the last two years, ninth-grade scholars have taken an intriguing science course entitled "The Bio-Pod Racer Challenge" an interdisciplinary science course that explores various facets of biology, chemistry, and physics through study of the design of flying structures that are powered by fruit "engines" (bio-pods). Besides taking challenging and engaging courses, scholars are supported by a team of academic advisers who monitor each student's progress. (Any scholar whose grades fall below a ninety average is required to work with tutors.) Advisors review each scholar's course load to make sure he or she takes the most rigorous courses available.

Evaluative Study
The Foundation also supports an in-depth quantitative evaluation study to carefully track and assess the achievement of the scholars. Under the guidance of Dr. Michael Nettles, Professor of Education at the University of Michigan and a prominent national researcher on educational assessment, a detailed evaluation plan has been designed that tracks the progress of the scholars over the course of the four years and compares their progress to other groups at each school. To date, qualitative and quantitative academic data have suggested promising evidence of success. Attendance by the Goldman Sachs Scholars during the first year of the program was quite high (ninety-two percent), and the attendance rate has increased in the second year to ninety-four percent.

The academic data also reveal that a significant number of these scholars are well prepared to take advanced placement (AP) classes by their senior year. Seventy-five percent of the sophomores are currently enrolled in English Honors classes and therefore eligible to take AP English, while sixty percent of the freshman and forty-eight percent of the sophomores are eligible to take an AP Science class.

Starting in the ninth grade, scholars participate in SAT preparation classes during the After-School Program and Summer Institute. Signs of initial success are evident, based on scholars' PSAT scores. The national average score (verbal and math combined) for juniors was 970. (The highest an individual can score is 1600—800 in each section.) Fifty-one percent of the Goldman Sachs Scholars scored above 970. While Bank Street is proud that half the scholars scored above the national average, we recognize that there is still much work to be done. Research suggests that students who score in the 1100-1300 range include a large number of students who attend selective to very selective institutions. Currently, twenty percent of our scholars are scoring above 1100. Our challenge is to prepare the other eighty percent to score above 1100 by their senior year.

The most important evidence of the success of this program are the reflections of its scholars, a number of whom have been interviewed for their school alumni newsletters. The following is a sampling of their experience thus far:

Matthew Berenguer, a sophomore at Rice High School: "I've had opportunities that should be available to everyone. For example, the summer courses are great preparation—particularly for the PSAT course. They introduced me to the format of the test, and exposed me to the test a year before I would have taken it had I not been a Goldman Sachs Scholar. As a result, I improved my PSAT score by 170 points over the pre-test PSAT exam."

One Sophomore: "With each year that passes, I appreciate being a Goldman Sachs Scholar more. It's helped me academically, socially, and developmentally. Every course I've taken has helped me in a different way. The time management course helped me battle procrastination. The PSAT class helped me prepare for the SAT. I now know what to expect. The I-LEAD program complements my school courses and offers a global approach to history. I now see the world from many perspectives. Before, I thought there was only one perspective. And, since September 11, we know just how global we are. Being a Goldman Sachs Scholar has helped me realize that we're interdependent."

Rachel and Elisabeth Prosper from Cardinal Spellman High School: Both credit being Goldman Sachs Scholars with engaging them scholastically. "I'd be missing the other scholars telling me I need to be in intensive classes," explained Rachel. "I wouldn't be in honors classes or AP classes." Elisabeth concurred: "If it were not for this program, I would not have known to participate in afterschool activities that can help you get into college."

The Foundation has renewed its commitment to this important program for another two years with a $1.6 million in grant. which will ensure that current scholars complete high school, and allow Bank Street to expand the program to two additional Catholic high schools, totaling seventy new ninth graders in 2002-3 and 2003-4. By the end of the fourth year the program will serve a total of 245 students from six catholic high schools in New York City.