Research Brief
Loud, but Clear? Exploring Core Values for Recently Arrived Immigrants
San Francisco International High School (SFIHS) promises to provide a safe, supportive environment that prepares immigrant youth for college and their careers. This community-engaged case study explored how the core values system SFIHS can support the integration of recently arrived immigrant youth. The four values – Act with Empathy, Learn Together, Challenge Yourself, and Create […]
Teaching in Culturally and Linguistically Complex Classrooms
The terms culturally and linguistically complex classrooms describes the learning environments that are created when previously segregated groups come together so that there are two or more cultural or linguistic groups in the educational context. Low income, culturally, and linguistically diverse students often experience low academic achievement, high drop out rates, and low college graduation […]
Mission Promise Neighborhood: Residence and SFUSD student Enrollment Patterns 2011-2012
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 […]
Ethnic Studies Pilot Analysis
This brief provides an overview of our analysis of how student participation in SFUSD’s 9th grade ethnic-studies (ES) curriculum influenced several core academic outcomes (i.e., student instructional time, credits earned, and course performance as measured by overall and subject-specific GPA). Our research design leverages the fact that, for five 9th grade cohorts in three SFUSD […]
READY4K! The Effects of an Early Literacy Text Messaging Program for Parents of Preschoolers
This brief presents findings from an evaluation of READY4K!, a school-year long text messaging program for parents of four- year-olds, designed to help them support their children’s literacy development.
Reducing the Racial Achievement Gap: A Social-Psychological Intervention
This brief highlights the findings and implications of study that investigated the administion a self-affirmation intervention to reduce the psychological threat African American students experience in an educational setting where they are being evaluated. The researcher, Stanford Professor Geoffrey Cohen, found that the intervention reduced the racial achievement gap by 40% across two randomized control […]
A Tale of Two Contexts – Achieving equity between and within San Francisco Public Schools
This brief discusses focusing on educational equity to inform a district’s student assignment policy in 2010.
Can a District-Level Teacher Salary Incentive Improve Teacher Recruitment and Retention?
This brief describes evidence from an analysis of compensation increases in the Quality Teacher and Education Act showing that salary increases can improve a district’s attractiveness within their local labor market; increase the size and quality of the applicant pool; and increase the quality of new-hires. View link
Participation Among San Francisco Unified School District Students in Programs Offered by the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families
In 2012 and 2013, the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and their Families (DCYF), San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), and the Gardner Center collaborated to examine SFUSD student participation in DCYF-funded programs. The analysis found that DCYF had a significant presence among SFUSD students that has steadily increased over time. In addition to […]
The Effects of an Early Literacy Formative Assessment System
Background: The best formative assessment programs can enable teachers to better match instruction to student needs by providing them with information on student development and instructional strategies. Historically, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has not had a common early literacy formative assessment system. During the 2011-‐2012 school year, the District introduced Phonological Awareness Literacy […]