WHAT WE DO
Cogenerative Dialogues: Channel student voice into student engagement
Cogenerative dialogues are weekly meetings with a rotating group of students and their teacher, that generate strategies to make their class better. Dialogues embrace a range of students, from those highly engaged to those feeling disconnected. We facilitate developing and sustaining this practice that blends academic rigor with social-emotional learning, is equity-centered, and embodies culturally responsive-sustaining education.
To learn more about the 20+ years of urban research behind this critical pedagogy, check out this primer on cogenerative dialogues.
Verdant’s Dialogues incorporate complementary methodologies including nonviolent communication, motivation theory, and the instructional core.
In practice:
After a successful pilot in Winter 2022 at JHS 123: The Bronx Urban Community Magnet School, we began implementing cogenerative dialogues schoolwide in 2022-23, working with one grade each year.
Teacher Testimonials
“Cogenerative student dialogues are a consistent bright spot in my week. I always look forward to our dialogue day, because it is a chance to hear my students’ honest ideas and opinions. A dialogue is a roundtable discussion between 4 students and myself; together, we identify strengths and challenges in our classroom. Students brainstorm solutions and follow through on their plan. This time to share openly with each other allowed me to form deeper connections with my students. They felt like active participants in their own learning. As a result, students felt more comfortable in our classroom and contributed with greater frequency during class.”
“Dialogue is an opportunity for the teacher and students to have a talk. It gave me the opportunity to get to know my students in a small group setting...[and] talk about how to best help the students but also make the students into leaders in the classroom. It helped me reflect on my teacher’s practice in a positive way. All teachers should take part in this amazing group.”
“This program helped my students to grow, show responsibility, and initiative in their coursework. It helps students and teachers build relationships outside of the classroom, in a small group setting. The smaller group setting allows teachers to gain insight from the students’ perspective. This program helped me become a better educator for my students. ”
Data-supported Program Management: Streamline student outcomes Schoolwide
For any program, existing or developed with us, we help leadership clarify desired student outcomes and determine daily actions that tap into student and adult motivation. We pair this with progress trackers that are intuitive, informative, and interactive. The result is more effective programs, that can be sustained.
In practice:
Since Spring 2020, we have partnered with A-Tech High School and their lead CBO, Counseling in Schools, on a range of programs to improve student outcomes and build school capacity. Some highlights:
Attendance Improvement: In collaboration with school leadership, we developed tiered attendance outreach strategies, created a dashboard to enable monitoring and continuous improvement, and facilitated attendance team meetings. We subsequently developed school capacity to manage the teams and strategies.
Success Mentor Team: In collaboration with Counseling in Schools, we have developed a Success Mentor protocol to build trusting relationships with students who have experienced chronic absence. We train mentors, facilitate team meetings, and support with a progress tracker. We are developing school capacity to manage the program.
Student and Parent Needs Escalation: In collaboration with school leadership, we have designed an escalation process and progress trackers to expedite student, parent, and tech needs, and resolve them in a systematic way.
where we work
We have extensive experience working with New York City DOE community schools, renewal/receivership/turnaround schools, and magnet schools. We are open to working with schools of any type and location.
In NYC’s Community School District 8, Verdant Learning has been supporting JHS 123: The Bronx Urban Community Magnet School, Grades 6-8, since January 2022. In April 2022, JHS 123 was awarded the 2022 Secondary Magnet School of Merit Award of Excellence by the Magnet Schools of America.
In Community School District 14, we have been supporting A-Tech High School since Spring 2020. Previously, we supported IS 71 Juan Morel Campos School of the Arts, Grades 6-12, from 2016 to 2020, PS/IS 157 Franklin Magnet, Grades PK-8, from 2018 to 2020, and MS 582, Grades 6-8, from 2016 to 2018. In Community School District 13, Verdant supported Park Slope School 282, Grades K-8 and MS 266 Park Place Community School, Grades 6-8 in 2014-15.
Verdant also partners with Counseling in Schools, to support A-Tech High School, PS/IS 288 in Community School District 21 since 2022, PS/IS 007 in Community School District 4 since 2023, and PS 398 in Community District 17 since 2023. Previously, we partnered with Grand Street Settlement as a Community School subcontractor, and with Center for Supportive Schools as a consultant on program development and innovation.
