The Metropolitan Center for Research and Development and Training (Metro Center) was born out of an American dream- the dream of achieving equity in public education. Its founder, NYU professor LaMar P. Miller, had a vision to examine and find solutions for the problems facing the country’s public schools, especially as they affect low-income and minority children.
| Mid-1970s | Professor Miller petitioned Dean Griffiths to create Metro Center |
| 1976 | Metro Center began operations under Teacher Corp
Grant From the U.S. Dept. of Education |
| 1978 | Metro Center formally recognized as a part of
SEHNAP New York University's School of Education, Health, Nursing and Arts Professions |
| 1981 | Metro Center establishes Desegregation Assistance
Center Created under a $62,000 grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education. Now known as the Educational Assistance Center. |
| 1983 | Upward Bound Program established serving five NYC boroughs |
| 1984 | Metro Center began Conference tracking Brown v. Board of Education |
| 1985 | Metro Center initiated a "Stay in School" 10-year
partnership With select New York City Public Schools to help "at risk" students achieve their full potential Metro Center awarded a Safe and Drug Free Data Project agent |
| 1989 | Metro Center produced The State of the Black Male
in the Public School System Television program facilitated by Lee Daniels, journalist of The New York Times |
| 1991 | Metro Center helped design Teacher Opportunity
Corp (TOC) program With the New York State Education Department (NYSED) |
| 1992 | Metro Center awarded TOC grant to develop
cooperative teacher-training program In collaboration with Brookhaven National Lab and NYU's Dept. of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education. |
| 1994 | Metro Center produced "Brown Plus Forty: The
Promise." Second in series of National Invitational Conferences tracking Brown v. Board of Education. |
| 1995 | The New York Technical Assistance Center (NYTAC)
founded. Funded by U.S. Department of Education to work with state and local educational agencies providing professional, research-based technical assistance to educators. |
| 1996 | Metro Center changed its name. From Metropolitan Center for Research and Development and Training to Metropolitan Center for Urban Education. |
| 2002 | John Sexton, NYU President, recruited Dr. Pedro
Noguera From Harvard Graduate School of Education, where Dr. Noguera was the Judith K. Dimon Professor of Communities and Schools. |
| 2004 | Metro Center produced "Brown Plus Fifty."
Third in a series of National Invitational Conferences tracking Brown v. Board of Education, dedicated to Judge Robert L. Carter. Dr. Pedro Noguera named executive director Metro Center. |
| 2006 | The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded
landmark study. Three-year study on Black and Latino males in single-sex schools. |
| 2007 | Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank funded APEX
Scholars program. The Adolescent Post-secondary Education Exchange (APEX) Scholars program provides on-site mentoring and a Saturday program around college readiness. Upward Bound funded by U.S. Dept. of Education for an additional five years. |