Improving Achievement in
Urban K-12 Classrooms
The Hayward Unified School District implemented systemwide initiatives to improve the achievements of English learners.
Student achievement and graduation rates in high-poverty urban schools remain far below the U.S. average. In 2006, we focused support in three areas that promise long-term, sustained improvement in these schools:
- Backing district reform demonstration projects. We funded and evaluated district reforms that set clear student performance standards; focus on systemwide curriculum changes; and continuously improve classroom practices to meet student needs.
- Developing strategies for large improvements in student achievement. We backed research and evaluation of three strategies—formative assessment, extended learning time, and early health interventions—that carry the potential to fundamentally change classroom life for low-achieving students.
- Promoting technology-enabled tools for improving teaching. We invested in innovative tools for high-need areas, such as mathematics, science, reading comprehension, and English language learning.
2006 Highlights
In 2006, the most effective district reforms transformed both administrative and classroom practices. Our collaboration with the Ravenswood City School District provided each classroom with intensive support for teachers and students while helping the District manage the process of reform. This year’s California Standards Test results suggest this strategy is working: schools with the most intensive interventions showed significant gains in both English language arts and mathematics.
Our goal is to advance the most promising strategies for educational reform, so that these strategies can be used nationwide. In 2006, we asked the Center for Policy Research in Education to establish a new research and development program on formative assessment. Using this method, teachers obtain frequent feedback about student learning to guide their instruction. With CPRE established as the leader in this area, we will identify other research institutions to conduct work on extended learning time and early health interventions.
As we explored ways to improve teaching through technology, we invested in two instructional tools: AgileMind and Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading (FAST-R). AgileMind, developed at The University of Texas at Austin, is a Web-based tool for middle and high school mathematics that offers online curricula for students and professional learning support for teachers. Together with the Irvine Foundation, we are supporting its implementation and evaluation in forty low-performing California schools.
2007 Goals
- Support district demonstration sites and their evaluation
- Provide research-based guidelines for district-led instructional reform
- Engage district leaders in sharing knowledge and improving practice
- Develop research evidence for large-scale student achievement strategies and disseminate to policymakers
- Advance the development, adoption, and evaluation of technology-enabled tools
For more information, please visit the Foundation Web site.
