Make it work …Make it Better…Make it Best Beyond the Talk

1. Make it work …Make it Better…Make it BestBeyond the Talk Closing the Achievement Gap in San Francisco Unified School District

2. Student challenges and opportunities exist, but…

3. Five Year Strategic Plan Clear Instructional Guidance Assessing & Building Professional Capacity Student Centered Learning Environment School Leadership Parent-Community Ties

4. Superintendent’s Zone SWOT Analysis

5. 2 Categories of Underachievers English Language Learners English Proficient African Americans and Latinos • Challenges are connected to SES, teacher/curriculum • SFUSD best practices in pedagogy and technology exist and can be transferred across general teaching population with proper systems/structures • Challenges are diverse, multi-faceted, and hard to isolate • SFUSD best practices in the pedagogy and technology do not exist and specialists needed to identify and implement solutions

6. 2 Models for Organizational Learning Collaborative Culture Assessment – Feedback Loop Use to build capacity for serving English Language Learners Use to extend capacity as successes are identified

7. Build Capacity for English Language Learners • Focus on reduction of long term ELLs • Early and regular identification and disambiguation of learning disabilities • Improve teacher capacity to interact with students in focus categories

8. ELL Focus: Bryant High School • Current State: • ELL’s represent 27% of students (2010-2011) overall • 61% at Bryant • Homogeneous population: 90% Latino • Mission zone average for long-term ELL students: 48% • Recommendation: • Test case at Bryant: Increase instructional focus on improving long-term ELL proficiency levels • Budget impact can be positive • One school experimental focus enables testing on small scale

9. Extend Capacity on Zone Level Successes • Formalize collaboration structures for teachers and principals • Transition network resources from trainers/facilitators to building connections among educators • Integrate social network and knowledge management technologieswith district data systems

10. 1. Formalize collaboration among teachers and principals Data Director

11. 2. Transition Network Resources • Shift priority from trainers/facilitators to connectors • Community School Coordinators • Instructional Reform Facilitators • Academic Acceleration Teachers • Instructional Coaches • Shift professional development hours for teachers/administrators from formal training to collaboration

12. 3. Create a Formal Social Network to Complement District Data System • Benefits: • Less complicated than SharePoint • Avoids FERPA challenges with full integration • Contract eliminates need for IT resources • Long-term cost saving solution • Wealth of data for analysis • Costs: • More and more social networks – “yet another account” • Many not familiar with social networks. Don’t trust.

13. It’s Time!!* A private and secure enterprise social network service that allows users to connect and share information with the community *Note – Sample solution.

14. Features to Consider Conversation Strings Simple interface Multi-Functionality Groups

15. Integration Strategy for a Social Network • Transition coaches from field to social network administrators • Content creators/control information flow • Data analysts • Focus on early adoption • Release to high # of users • District assigned groups • Single channel for information exchange

16. Other Budget Crisis Considerations • Environment: • $21M Year over year decrease in general fund balance (2009-2010) • Imminent Budget cuts of $80-$100 million over two years • Teacher costs 50% of budget • Current State: • Furlough days: teaching days reduced to 176 • Reduction of non-teaching staff • Reduction of 200 teaching staff • Other cuts include staff and non-personnel cuts in central office, fewer paid professional development days for teachers, reduced summer school classes, and a reduction in bus transportation

17. Other Proposed Responses • Encourage community involvement • Elicit involvement of community members i.e. students • Look for ways to enable independent student learning • Cost-benefit analysis of student learning assessment models weighted by cash outflow, elimination of lowest scoring metrics • Replacement with new technology driven models: Use short-term funds to develop student database and survey software for teachers to provide quick feedback on EL learners. • Strategic hiring of younger teachers upon attrition • Develop initiatives around multicultural focus

18. Questions?