Continuous School Improvement

Our signature services to schools and districts are designed to achieve our primary goal of accelerating literacy achievement for students of color and English Learners. We know, and research shows, that the two most important factors influencing literacy achievement are teaching and leadership and this recognition is the motivating force behind our program design. It is this intense focus on building instructional and leadership capacity that ultimately enables the transformation of low-performing schools and continuous gains in student learning.

Intensive Implementation Sites: PartnersSI provides intensive implementation support to a subset of low-performing schools (typically 5-10) in each of our partner districts. We collaborate with teachers, teacher leaders and principals, utilizing our own research-based Results-Oriented Cycle of Inquiry (ROCI) to establish the systems and habits in mind and practice needed to produce sustainable and dramatic change. We place our School Innovation Partners, outstanding former educators, on-site 2-4 days a week at schools for 2-5 years. Over the course of our partnerships with teachers, mid-level leaders and principals, our theory of change manifests into practical school improvement techniques that help to foster thriving and rigorous learning environments for students.

Leadership Development Networks: In an effort to expand our impact on Bay Area schools, we have established cross-school Leadership Development Networks. These Networks, co-designed with district leaders, enable us to work with a broader range of schools that include both our intensive implementation sites and other low-performing schools in each of our partner districts. The Networks allow school leaders to come together and learn how to establish highly effective systems and structures to drive a continuous school improvement process in their schools. Additionally, the Networks function as a professional learning community where participants come together to share best practices, learn from one another, provide each other with support and hold each other accountable to accelerate student achievement.

The Networks are a critical component in our strategy for transforming schools. They 1) reinforce our work in schools where we provide on-site support, 2) scale our impact by developing leadership capacity across a broader group of schools in each district, and 3) engage district leaders in designing and implementing a coherent model for leadership development that could be spread across more schools in the future.

2008-09 Networks
San Jose Unified School District: Quarterly sessions for 12 schools
San Francisco Unified School District: Monthly sessions for 26 schools
Oakland Unified School District: Monthly sessions for 5 schools

District Leadership Coaching: PartnersSI works with district leaders, helping them to align their priorities and actions with an effective approach towards improving their low-performing schools. We support leaders in their decision-making regarding a broad range of topics including curriculum, instruction and assessments, performance management and principal supervision, all of which are focused on attaining results that close the achievement gap.

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