Step UP: A New Vision for School-University Partnerships

Established in 2006 through a charge from the Office of Mayor Menino, Step UP is a city-wide project that directs key resources from some of Boston's top universities—one of which is Tufts University—to 10 Boston Public Schools (BPS). The goal: to give our city's students the best education possible and to help them reach their full potential. Step UP leverages the combined resources of the Boston Public Schools and its five university partners (Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, and Tufts University) to expand opportunities for BPS students to realize their full potential.

Tufts Department of Education began its involvement with the Step UP program in Spring 2010 through a number of activities related to the arts, mental health, and mathematics education:

• The Arts: After School Image Lab
• Family Arts Night at the Russell School
• School Psychology program’s work with Step UP schools: Spring 2011 Step UP Newsletter
• Mathematics Education professional development at the John Marshall Elementary School
• NSF funded Research Project: Children's Understanding of Functions in Grades K-2: research site John Marshall Elementary School