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Today, the Stuart Foundation announced a $5.2 million two-year investment to improve student achievement in public school districts in California through a district-to-district collaboration and a study to pinpoint some success points in school districts and education systems.

“We know that there are great teachers and great schools,” said Christy Pichel, the foundation’s President. “However, we need to move beyond one class and one school – and make them work for all students in a district system. We intend to support the capacity and leadership of strong districts, advance new district practices and programs to improve opportunities for all students, and enable other districts to replicate those gains in student achievement.”

The Stuart Foundation has awarded the first half of a $1.55 million two year grant to the California Office to Reform Education (CORE), a seven district collaborative which combines resources and shares learning to implement practices and programs that improve opportunities for students district-wide. The Effective Education Systems Initiative, funded through a $3.7 million investment, will seek to uncover the common elements of eleven California districts and education organizations which have shown student success system-wide.

“Research and educator experience tells us that when local and state education systems are addressed as a whole, they can become more effective,” added Pichel. “No single intervention or marginal policy change can achieve the necessary improvements for students. Our education work is based on this critical understanding.”

The California Office to Reform Education (CORE) – “The Win is the Collaboration”

Serving more than one million of California’s six million students, the CORE collaborative is comprised of Clovis, Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Sanger unified school districts. “CORE brings together some of the most outstanding and effective superintendents in California who are committed to the students they serve, the continual improvement of their districts, and sharing what they learn from each other,” said Christy Pichel, President, Stuart Foundation. The CORE leaders have a history of working together, including their high stakes Race to the Top II application that didn’t receive federal funding, but was a basis for the formation of CORE.

“Together the CORE school districts are piloting innovative practices such as the early implementation of ‘common core’ academic standards that will go into effect nationally in 2014,” said Christopher J. Steinhauser, superintendent of schools for the Long Beach Unified School District. “This collaborative work includes the development of much needed assessments and teacher training aligned to the new national standards. In the process, we will nurture effective teachers and great school leaders, and we will build our capacity for continuous improvement, especially in support of turnaround schools.”

With the grant to CORE, the Stuart Foundation intends to enhance and expand the innovative district efforts already underway and accelerate them through the collaboration. CORE districts identify shared goals for systemic reform and jointly develop and implement strategies to achieve those goals. The districts strive to improve student achievement so that all students are prepared for college and career.

• Effectively implementing and assessing Common Core standards in English Language Arts and math;
• Improving recruitment, preparation, and professional support systems including effective teacher and principal evaluation systems;
• Sharing and using data to improve instruction and foster continuous improvement.

The Effective Education Systems Initiative – “Bigger than the Sum of Its Parts”