The Search for Progress Elementary Student Achievement and the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative's Focal Strategy

A number of forces have increased the momentum for school districts to develop district-wide reform strategies as a means of initiating and sustaining school improvement. First, districts have sometimes found it easier to manage and support a single districtwide initiative rather than many different school reform models. Second, they have come to recognize that some educational problems, such as high student mobility, are better addressed above the level of individual schools. Finally, new standards of accountability, including requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, have created an audience for new ideas about the appropriate role of districts in spearheading reform. The Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC), located in San Francisco, California (and known now as Springboard Schools), is a grant-making organization that supports districts' efforts to improve the quality and equity of student outcomes. BASRC's "focal strategy" is a district-level reform strategy being implemented in six districts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Emphasizing process rather than particular approaches, the focal strategy relies on three key features: coaching of district and school leaders; evidence-based decision-making throughout the system; and networking within and across schools to share experiences and lessons. This report suggests that the BASRC focal strategy is not associated with districtwide improvements in average elementary student achievement. While there is the hint of a relationship between participation in the focal strategy and improved performance among lower-achieving, disadvantaged students, the differences tend to be small and are not statistically significant. Moreover, any relationship that exists appears to be limited to the upper elementary grades.