TheTop-Performing Large Urban School District in California For six consecutive years, SFUSD has outperformed the seven largest California school districts on the California Standards Tests (CST). As State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell recently stated, "SFUSD continues a record of steady improvement in student performance. San Francisco has brought a greater percentage of students to proficiency than any other urban district in California."
Approximately half of SFUSD Schools Rank Above Average in State Test Scores
In 2007, approximately half of SFUSD schools scored in the above average category (a ranking between 7 and 10), placing them in the top 40% of schools statewide.
Yearly Gains on California Standards Test SFUSD students improved their California Standards Test scores for the sixth consecutive year in 2007. More SFUSD students have now earned a score of Proficient or Advanced (at almost every grade level in both English Language Arts and Mathematics) than students in similar districts across California.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of students tested in 2007 earned a score of Proficient or Advanced in English Language Arts, up from 35% in 2002. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of (2-7 grade) students tested in 2007 achieved Proficient or Advanced scores in Math, up from 37% in 2002.
SFUSD takes great care to ensure that school staffs understand their achievement data and that they use strategies to raise achievement each year. All schools teach a standards-based curriculum in the core subject areas (reading/language arts, mathematics, science, and history/social studies). Additionally, teachers and principals receive professional development to focus on the implementation of that curriculum.
Broad Prize Finalist
The renowned Broad Foundation named SFUSD as a finalist for the 2005 Broad Prize for Urban Education. The award is given annually to honor the country’s urban school districts that are making marked improvements in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among ethnic groups as well as between high- and low-income students. More than 80 districts in the nation were eligible for the Broad prize, which began in 2002.
National Blue Ribbon Schools
In 2005, two SFUSD schools were recognized by the federal government as No Child Left Behind Blue-Ribbon Schools. John Yehall Chin Elementary and Yick Wo Elementary were among only 41 schools across the state to receive the honor. Blue Ribbon schools are singled out for scores in the top 10% for math and reading statewide, or for dramatic gains in test scores.
4 High Schools are Among Newsweek’s Best
Newsweek Magazine’s national ranking of “America’s Best High Schools” (2008) named four SFUSD High Schools among the top 5% in the country. Schools that ranked among the 1,200* were: Lowell, Washington, Mission and Balboa.
*Newsweek ranks schools according to the “Challenge Index,” which is determined by several factors, including the number of Advanced Placement (AP) scores (with 3 or better, out of 5) divided by the number of graduating seniors at a school.
National Title 1 Achieving Schools
SFUSD has 65 schools named as national No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title 1 schools. Twenty of those schools were recipients of the national Title 1 Academic Achievement Award for the 2006-2007 school year. Criteria to qualify for the award becomes more rigorous each year; Title I schools must double their Academic Performance Index (API) growth targets - both school-wide and within socio-economically disadvantaged students groups at the school - for two consecutive years. Schools also must have made Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) for two years in a row, and at least 40 percent of the enrolled students in each school must meet the poverty index. (For more information on NCLB Title I schools, visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html)
Graduation Rates
A greater percentage of San Francisco students graduate from high school than almost any other large urban public school system in the country. According to a 2008 report from the EPE Research Center, San Francisco ranks 5 out of America’s 50 largest cities. The report analyzed graduation rates using the US Department of Education census data and calculated graduation rates using the Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI).
The Only Large Urban District in California to Meet Proficiency Targets for Special Education
Students
In 2007 San Francisco Unified School District was the only large urban district in California to meet the federal proficiency targets for students with disabilities who took the state tests in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
19 Language Immersion Programs Over the past 23 years, SFUSD has been preparing students for an increasingly global economy. The District currently provides immersion education at 17 schools with Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean programs. Studies show students in language immersion programs do as well -- if not better -- than their peers in English-only classes in all aspects of academic performance. Among the highest-performing elementary schools in SFUSD are West Portal Elementary and Alice Fong Yu Alternative, both with Cantonese Immersion Programs.
Experienced Teachers
Across the District, the average teaching experience of our Kindergarten -12th grade instructors is 11.3 years, which is higher than the California average of 10.4 years.
National Board Certified Teachers
SFUSD has a 104 Nationally Board-Certified Teachers. These teachers have at least three years certificated teaching experience and must undergo rigorous qualification by presenting an exceptional portfolio of classroom practices and passing tests to show deep knowledge of the subjects they teach. Further, they must demonstrate exceptional commitment to students and highly effective classroom management skills. Finally, they must prove an ongoing ability to improve their teaching and share their expertise. Certification is renewed every ten years with a similar qualification process.
Extensive Educational Partnerships San Francisco is invested in its public schools. In addition to the recent signing of the “Partnership for Achievement” with the Mayor’s Office (formalizing collaboration between the city of San Francisco and the District), more than 1,200 community-based organizations, businesses, and government agencies, along with parents and community volunteers, partner with our schools to help improve and enhance the quality of education for all students today — and for generations to come.
