Research Brief
Early Warning Systems in Action
The first year of high school is challenging for students (Felmlee, 2018). Research indicates that, during that year, students are more likely to show declines in key measures of school engagement and academic success including Grade Point Average (GPA) and attendance rate, both of which are predictive of high school graduation (e.g., Allensworth et al., […]
Early Warning Systems in Action
Examining Attendance Patterns for SFUSD Students in Mission Promise Neighborhood Schools: 2013-14 Through 2016-17
The Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) in San Francisco offers coordinated supports and services to help children and families connected to the Mission neighborhood achieve health, education, and economic goals. The Mission Economic Development Agency and San Francisco Unified School District partnered with the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University […]
The Impact of Stereotypical Social Representation of the Native American Community: A Summary of Three Journal Articles
This research brief summarizes three articles focused on the negative influence that limited and stereotypical social representation has on the Native American community. For Native American students in particular, the lack of social representation in the media and within educational institutions could lead to a negative self-image, difficulty relating to positive academic role models, an […]
A Summary of iLab Design Thinking Innovations Research. Project Team: Shelley Goldman, Keith Bowen, Brian Fox, Jenny Hoang, and Rachelle Cole
This research brief presents the findings from a two-year study, iLab Design Thinking Innovations Research (Year 1 Report1 and Final Report2). The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) iLab began in 2014 to support the district’s Vision 2025. The iLab strategy leverages human centered design as a signature practice to build environments and practices that […]
A Study of Instructional Leadership Teams in Three San Francisco High Schools
This brief describes research investigating: 1) to what extent does the work of administrators and teachers in instructional leadership teams (ILTs) seem consistent with the concept of shared instructional leadership; and 2) what conditions support or constrain shared instructional leadership?
Summary of “Fostering Pre-K to Elementary Alignment and Continuity in Mathematics in Urban School Districts: Challenges and Possibilities”
Fostering Pre-K to Elementary Alignment and Continuity in Mathematics in Urban School Districts: Challenges and Possibilities1 analyzes the efforts of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), to connect educational experiences from Pre-K through the early elementary grades. The study focuses on mathematics, however, the authors state that the findings are useful to other subject […]
A Summary of School Selection, Student Assignment, and Enrollment in a School with a Open Enrollment and Mandatory Choice Policies
This brief summarizes a study by Matt Kasman that examines the open enrollment policies of the San Francisco Unified School District. Open enrollment programs aim to increase racial integration in schools by allowing parents to choose their children’s schools as opposed to automatic assignment to a neighborhood school. This study, a series of three papers, […]
A Summary of School Selection, Student Assignment, and Enrollment in a School District with Open Enrollment and Mandatory Choice Policies
This brief focuses on an examination of open enrollment policies which aim to increase racial integration in schools by allowing parents to choose their children’s schools as opposed to automatic assignment to a neighborhood school.
Young Students’ Participation in a Voluntary Transfer Program: A Summary of The Bus Kids: Children’s Experience with Voluntary Desegregation
This brief highlights findings from a qualitative study of kindergartners participating in a voluntary school transfer program allowing families of minority students from an under-resourced school district, to apply to transfer to a better-resourced elementary school districts in surrounding communities. The students faced many challenges including long bus rides and social isolation in their transfer […]