Our Unique Approach

Blue Engine is thinking differently about extended learning time in high-need public high schools.

With thousands of college graduates looking to effectively serve their communities and school districts looking for cost-effective ways to accelerate learning and prepare more students to complete college, Blue Engine Fellows provide a way forward.  The following combination of characteristics makes the Blue Engine fellowship year unique.

• Teams of Blue Engine fellows work with every student in the 9^th and 10^th grades in our partner schools—not just those who are struggling to catch up and keep up, and not just those who are high performing or decide to opt into the program.  Because we work with entire grade levels at the same time (broken down into small groups), our instructional model has been designed to accelerate the achievement of top students, average students, and underperformers simultaneously.
• Our tutorials are integrated directly into the regular school day.  Students are required to attend tutoring sessions and receive credit for their effort.
• The instructional dosage and frequency of Blue Engine tutorials adapts to the evolving needs of students.  Some students will benefit, for example, from one-on-one attention while others will thrive in collaborative learning groups.
• In addition to programming during the regular school day, Blue Engine has partnered with The After School Corporation to provide high-quality after school programming from 3:30 to 6:30 every day.
• Unlike teaching corps, our fellows are not classroom teachers.  We provide a combination of intensive tutoring and mentoring designed to help students reach levels of mastery that are hard to sustain in crowded, socially complicated classroom settings.
• Blue Engine is a part of the school—not an add-on.  Fellows are encouraged to forge close working relationships with school faculty and parents in order to create a secure web of support for each student.
• The Blue Engine fellowship appeals to accomplished, recent college graduates who aim for a career in social change leadership and who want to work directly with teenage students during one-year terms of service in high need public high schools.

Check out the charts below to see how Blue Engine compares to other school-based service and teaching programs in the U.S.

(Please click on the chart images below for enlargements)

(Please click on chart image below for an enlargement)