Queens College Center for Improvement of Education Records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: SCA-0102

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of historical materials created by the Center for Improvement of Education at Queens College, including both Center administrative records and records generated by and about partnership programs with local elementary and middle schools in Queens. While the Center still operates today within the Queens College School of Education, these materials date from just before the Center was formally founded in 1980 through the 1990s.

Internal records include reports, correspondence, memos, program evaluations, grant documentation, and audiovisual materials. These materials were generated by Center administrators at Queens College and school partners at IS 227 (Louis Armstrong Middle School), PS 56Q, and PS 71Q. In addition, there are many items solicited from the communities the Center serves and the student teachers placed in partnership schools for feedback and support included in these internal records.

Public-facing records include journal articles and monographs (published both by the Center and externally), advertisements and flyers, newsletters, and commencement and graduation records.

Of special note in this collection are the court records and notes of Marcus BRODY-JONES et al., Plaintiffs, v. Frank J. MACCHIAROLA et al., Defendants, a case challenging racial discrimination in Queens schools and leading to desegregation policies and the creation of IS 227, the main and most-celebrated partnership from the Center's early years.

Dates

1979 - 1999

Creator

Queens College (New York, N.Y.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Appointments to examine materials must be made in advance. Please email QC.archives@qc.cuny.edu for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

Reproductions may be provided to users to support research and scholarship. However, collection use is subject to all copyright laws. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Historical Note

The Queens College Center for Improvement of Education was founded in 1980 as the Center for Improvement of Education in the Middle Grades at the Louis Armstrong School. The first Director of the Center was Dr. Sidney Trubowitz.

The Center (CIE) was created to steward a collaboration between Queens College (specifically the School of Education) and the New York Board of Education, centered on the administration of IS 227, the Louis Armstrong Middle School. IS 227 was founded as a new kind of public school in Queens, demographically diverse by court mandate and as a site for new kinds of pedagogy, developed by QC faculty and implemented by QC student teachers as a kind of learning lab for both the elementary students who attended IS 227 and the graduate students who taught there.

In 1979, two Queens school districts, District 24 and District 30, were in direct contention over the use of a vacant school building in East Elmhurst. Additionally, at the same time, the NYC BOE was being sued by the NAACP for maintaining segregated schools in District 24. The judge in that court case (Brody-Jones vs. Macchiarola) mandated a solution that required the creation of a new school that, by law, had to be not only integrated but reflective of the racial composition of the borough of Queens. The NYC BOE Chancellor Dr. Frank Macchiarola approached Queens College to collaborate to develop "an exemplary middle school that combine 'all that is best for 10- to 14-year olds.'" (Connections, 1999)

At its founding in conjunction with IS 227, the CIE had two major goals. The first was to "establish and maintain the school [IS 227] as a model for effective education in the middle grades", and the second was to "seek ways to significantly improve instruction for early adolescents generally". Areas of research and pedagogical focus included curriculum development, documentation and research (data analysis), teacher education, child development, family and community life, and adult education; many of these areas are represented in the records (Connections, 1980). Graduate students from the School of Education, Library Science, Art, and other departments taught at first IS 227 and then additional Queens and NYC schools. Dr. Trubowitz and Dr. Paul Longo, plus many other QC faculty, published profusely on the advantages and challenges of school-community partnerships, shaping public school pedagogy locally and on a broader national platform.

Over the decades, the CIE has expanded its partnerships to other schools, some represented in records in this collection (PS 56Q, PS 71Q), and some more contemporary partnerships for current Education students at Queens College (Townsend Harris High School at QC; PS/IS 499 (the QC School for Math, Science, and Technology); the Queens School of Inquiry, an early college secondary school; and PS 247: The New York City College Partnership Elementary School). While IS 227 is no longer affiliated with QC or CIE, intensive and innovative pedagogy research and practice with local connections continue to be major goals of the Center.

As of 2026, the Center for Improvement of Education is directed by Dr. Paul Longo.

Extent

4.17 Linear Feet (10 Hollinger boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Queens College Center for Improvement of Education Records include the Center's administrative records and materials from partnerships with Queens borough elementary and middle schools, dating from the late 1970s (creation of the Center) through the 1990s.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in six series:

CIE administrative files

CIE publications and publicity

IS 227 Louis Armstrong/Queens College partnership

PS 56Q/Queens College partnership

PS 71Q/Queens College partnership

Audiovisual material

If subseries exist, they reflect kind/format of record (report, correspondence, etc). Audiovisual material is cataloged at item level, with titles.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Audiovisual materials may be restricted; viewing these materials requires conversion from original format.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials transferred to the archives from Library staff and/or administrators. Dates of transfer largely unknown; they were retroactively accessioned in August, 2024.

Related Materials

See also the Library Department Records, and the Home Economics Department Records, for more historical materials about different academic departments at Queens College.

Deaccessions

Archivist weeded about 15 open reel video tapes from the collection in April 2026. Content on weeded tapes included external conferences and general parent interviews and footage.