The document summarizes efforts by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) to improve student outcomes through the Superintendent's Zone initiative. It discusses establishing two zone offices to provide intensive support to 17 low-performing schools. Key supports include developing teacher and leader capacity, providing clear instructional guidance, strengthening family and community engagement, and utilizing data to continuously improve. State test results show gains in English and math proficiency since implementing the zone model. Upcoming work focuses on developing a coherent instructional core across SFUSD through curriculum alignment, differentiated support, and building teacher professional learning systems.

1. San Francisco Unified School
District: Superintendent’s
Zone/SIG, a “Lean Start-Up”?
SxSW
Luis Valentino, Associate Superintendent,
Curriculum and Instruction, SFUSD
Kevin Rocap, Executive Director
Supt Zone/SIG, SFUSD
2 March 2013

3. Other Keywords
• Excellence and Equity Focus
• Multilingual, Multicultural
• 21st Century Learning
• College- and Career-Readiness
• Intentionality
• Coherence
• Alignment
• Results-Oriented Continuous Improvement
…from instructional core through site to district
systems of guidance and support, and back again.

4. Approximately 56,000 Students

6. SFUSD Math State Test

7. Math Results - Subgroups
From ~30 to nearly 50 point gaps if you’re an English Learner, Latino, African
American or Pacific Islander. Nearly 20 point gap if you’re Filipino.

8. SFUSD ELA State Test

9. ELA Results - Subgroups
Gaps of nearly 50 points or more if you are African American, Latino,
Pacific Islander or an English Learner compared to Whites. 23 point
gap if you are Filipino.

10. Persistent Divides
• Racial
• Ethnic
• Linguistic
• Socio-economic
• Special Needs
• Level of family’s’ prior educational attainment
SFUSD seeking to disrupt the predictive power of
demographics.

11. SFUSD Superintendent’s Zone
• Our collective commitment to Social Justice and Equity
• Lessons learned from the successes and failures of past
efforts including STAR and Dream
• Community voice and engagement efforts including the
Bayview empowerment zone dialogues
• Research on high performing/high poverty schools
• Integration of the strategies and key requirements of SIG
• A personal commitment from the Superintendent to be
accountable for the transformation and results of the Zone
Schools
• Formed Superintendent’s Zone Spring 2010, SIG funding
commenced in Fall of 2010.

12. Lean Start-Up?
• Eliminate Uncertainty – put methodology
around the development of a “product”
• Work smarter – not just creating a “product”
but a sustainable “business” model.
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – build-
measure-learn feedback.
• Validated Learning – What’s working? What
to scale?
• Adaptive Leadership/Entrepreneurship
• Innovation Accounting –
measuring, milestones, etc.

13. Superintendent’s Zone Schools
17 Schools Across Two Neighborhoods
Bayview Mission
Asst. Supt. Dee Dee Desmond Asst. Supt. Karling Aquilera-Fort
Bret Harte Elementary Bryant Elementary
Carver Elementary Chavez Elementary
Drew Elementary Flynn Elementary
Malcolm X Elementary Muir Elementary
Revere Elementary Everett Middle School
Willie Brown (Grade 4-8)* Horace Mann Middle School
Marshall High School Mission High School
El Dorado ** O’Connell High School
Sanchez**
Red = SIG-funded;*School is closed, SIG Closure Model; **Added in 2012-13

14. Organizing Central Office to Support
Superintendent’s Zone Schools
Supt Zone
Teams
District
Strategic External
Priority Partners
Projects
Central Schools Comm
Office Schools
Depts Team
Finance Human
Capital
Team Team

15. School Transformation
“Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago”
Five Essential Supports
• Clear Instructional Guidance and Coherence
• Focus on Assessing and Building Professional
Capacity
• Student-centered learning climate
• Parent-Community Ties
• Leadership that drives change
“As school districts think about the task of strategic planning for school
improvement at scale and redesigning their central offices to support such
work, our evidence does suggest that districts are highly unlikely to succeed
absent sustained attention to all five of these subsystems.”

16. Community School
as described by Children’s Aid Society
services that remove barriers to learning
• physical health • mental health
• dental health • social services

17. SIG Investments
• External Partnerships for Organizational Reform &
Coherence
• External Partnerships for Professional Development
• Extended Learning Programs
• Coaching & Academic Interventions
• Resources for Improved Instructional Planning & Delivery
• Community-Oriented Schools
• In SFUSD 4 Turn-Around Schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle;
and 5 Transformation schools: 1 Elementary, 2 K-8, 2 High
Schools

20. Acknowledgement to Partners in School Innovation.

21. Coherent, Unified, Aligned System

22. Highlighted Supports
• Two Zone Turn-Around Offices
• Human Capital Team
• Community School Team
• Targeted Central Office Supports: Curriculum
& Instruction; Student, Family, Community
Support Department; Finance, etc.

23. Human Capital Team
• Develops and implements human capital
strategies for our Supt Zone/SIG
schools, ensuring placement of quality
teachers.
• New Supt Zone job descriptions for Teachers
and Administrators, high-expectations.
• Unique process of screening teachers at Turn-
Around schools; “voluntary transfer”.
• Teacher/Principal Evaluation pilot using
Student Performance Data.

24. Community School Team
• New Community School Coordinator
Position
• Worked with partner New Day for
Learning to develop tools, instruments
and processes for rolling out a
Community School Approach.
• District Commitment – new district-wide
Director of Community Schools.

25. External Partnerships for Reform & PD
• Partners in School Innovation, works with schools and
with the Zone Offices on a Results-Oriented Cycle of
Inquiry (effective use of data in instruction and in
systemic reform).
• SFCESS, SF-based reform organization, support for
Equity-Based Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
• Literacy Collaborative provided key PD across K-8
schools on the Balanced Literacy Framework.
• Math Solutions PD for “Balanced Math”.
• PD Partner and Curriculum Providers English
Now!, English 3D/HM and EL Achieve for implementing
evidence-based approaches to English Language
Development/Academic Language Development for
ELLs.

26. Two Zone Offices
Mission & Bayview
• Asst. Superintendent, Bayview
• Asst. Superintendent, Mission
• Executive Director, Bayview
• Executive Director, SIG, Mission & Bayview
• SIG Fiscal Analyst and Secretary, Mission & Bayview
• Supervisor of Operations, Bayview
• Supervisor of Professional Learning, Mission & C&I
• Supervisor, Mission
• Directors, Family and Community Engagement
• Content/PD Specialists in Literacy, Math and Special Ed
in both offices

27. Zone Offices
Support All Aspects of Turn-Around
• Leadership
• Instructional Guidance and Coherence
• Student-Centered Learning Environments
• Professional Capacity-Building
• Parent & Community Ties

28. Leadership
• Aligned Leadership/Vision: From Superintendent to
site.
• Reform Principals
• Leadership Expectations: new Superintendent’s Zone
Teacher and Principal Job Descriptions used to screen
and hire.
• Professional Learning Structures: aligned to promote
instructional leadership – Coaching, PLCs, Coach
Networks, Grade Level Planning.

29. Leadership
• Instructional Leadership Team Network: professional
growth for site-based ILTs with a focus on data-driven
continuous improvement (Results-Oriented Cycle of
Inquiry, ROCI)
• Instructional Rounds: Principals and Zone/SIG leaders
together.
• Non-Instructional Leadership: Community Schools
Approach; Community School Coordinator Network.

30. Instructional Guidance and Coherence
• Balanced Literacy Framework and Balanced Math:
Rolled out K-8 differing approaches Mission and
Bayview.
• Rich Literacy Resources: classroom libraries,
multilingual texts and resources, leveled readers,
selected text resources, enhanced with Smart
Boards and new media resources, etc.
• Responses-to-Instruction-and-Intervention:
Differentiated Instruction, data-driven re-teaching;
Interventions, e.g., Read 180/System 44.
• Academic Acceleration Teachers: strategic
interventions.
• Core Curriculum & CA Common Core Standards:
rolling out now; Supt Zone in the forefront.

31. Instructional Guidance and Coherence
• High School Foci: Project-Based Learning; Expository writing
across the curriculum; Small Learning Communities; A-G
Requirements; “Green” learning projects; career
pathways, e.g, Culinary Arts.
• New evidence-based ELD practices and curricular resources:
Integrated into SFUSD’s Multilingual pathways.
• Grade Level Teams and Common Planning Time: fostering
coherence, use of data and changes in practice.
• Academic and Enrichment Extended Learning: increased
instructional minutes; after-school CBO programs (Beacon, etc.);
academic summer school offerings; credit recovery (high school).
• Interim and Multiple Formative Assessments: District-Wide
state test-aligned Benchmarks and on-going formative
assessments.

32. Student-Centered Learning Environments
• Whole Child/Youth Development: strategic partnerships
focused on social-emotional-cultural-behavioral supports
for children, youth and families.
• Strategic City and County Partnerships: notably the
Department of Children, Youth and Famlies (DCYF) funds
after-school CBO partnerships.
• CBO Partners: provide a range of services, including after-
school programs; culturally-responsive mental health
services; case management, etc. Strengthening academic
alignments between school day, after-school and Early
Education (PreK-12 district).

33. Student-Centered Learning Environments
• Wellness Centers: centrally-allocated resources
such as counselors, nurses, social workers
augmented with SIG funds.
• Teaching AND Learning: Instructional Rounds
focus on student experience.
• Data-Driven, Information Sharing: finding
appropriate ways to share information based
on data with strategic partners to align services
and supports.

34. Family & Community Ties
• District-Aligned Support: e.g., leveraging district
and SIG funds for a 1.0 Family Liaison.
• Directors, Family and Community Engagement:
both SIG- and district-funded to provide targeted
focus on Supt Zone schools.
• Strategic Partners: in parent education and
leadership development around advocacy, school
governance, and opportunities to learn at home.

35. Professional Capacity-Building
• Professional Learning Systems, Structures, Communities: Zone-
wide Common Planning Time; site-based coaches supported as
a networked cadre. Instructional Rounds. Community School
Coordinators professional network.
• Continuous Improvement/ROCI: routine and effective use of
grade level collaboration time for student data/work
review, lesson modification for re-teaching, tracking of focal
students, focus on accelerating learning, etc.
• Coaching Aligned with Core Reforms: new core curricular
resources, supported by PD and aligned coaching and common
planning.
• Common PD across K-8: Balanced Literacy, Balanced
Math, Services for English Learners.

38. Results!
CST English Language Arts
Trend for Proficient and Above
(Grade 2 to 11)
Implementation of Implementation of SIG
+10
Sup Zone in 2010 Schools in 2011
70
61
60 54 56 57
51 +16.1 +18.4
% At or Above Proficient
50
40 36 37
30 28 29 28 29
23 22
19 18
20
10
0
District Sup Zone SIG Schools
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

39. Results!
CST Mathematics
Trend for Proficient and Above
(Grade 2 to 7)
Implementation of Implementation of SIG
Sup Zone in 2010 Schools in 2011
90 +8.2
80 +26.9
68
62 65 66
+23.7
70
% At or Above Proficient
59
60 50
49
50
38
40 33 37 32
30 25 27 24 26
20
10
0
District Sup Zone SIG Schools
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

40. Learning & KM Technologies
• Laptops for Educators – for instruction also for effective
use of data for continuous improvement.
• Varieties of digital technologies – laptops, wireless
access, Interactive Whiteboards, iPads, Elmos, Student
Response systems, discipline-specific technologies.
• Emerging tablet and BYOD approaches.
• New Student Information Services enterprise software
- Synergy
• Data Director
• Etc.
…working to strengthen vetting of learning technologies
investments and create social networks of support for
meaningful integration…

41. Vision for SFUSD
• SFUSD will be hub of innovation and 21st century
learning for all students
• We will have powerful and value-added partnerships
• Community support for our public schools will be
strong
• We will find the resources to support our work

42. Our Focus

43. Superintendent’s Evaluation/
Building Culture of Accountability
• Establish and meet
Results quantitative performance
targets focused on our Social
70% Justice Vision and Goals
• Effectively lead and manage
Leadership the organization and
authentically engage all key
30% stakeholders

44. District Performance Indicators
Indicator Baseline Target Target Target
2012 2013 2014 2015
Reduce Special Education
Disproportionate referral for
7.8 7 5.5 3.9
African American Students (risk
ratio)
Increase number of schools
meeting overall API goals and
subgroup goals for African 54% 64% 74% 84%
American, Latino and EL students

45. The Work
• Moving from a confederation of individual schools to a
unified school district
• The elasticity of the status quo

46. The development of a coherent
system of instruction and support to
achieve the vision

47. The Heart of a Strong Instructional Core
Students’
engagement
Teachers’ Academically
knowledge and challenging
skills content

48. Four Steps to Coherent Support of
Instructional Core
1. Transition to the Common Core State Standards in ELA and
Mathematics by 2014-15, ensuring the relationship
between curriculum, effective instruction and assessment
2. Analyze the performance and needs of school sites and
organize them into cohorts for equitable support
3. Realign human and financial resources to provide that
support
4. Build Professional learning systems to expand the capacity
of all staff to increase student achievement - including
differentiating instruction for students with
disabilities, English Learners, African Americans, Latinos
and Samoans.

49. In-depth Analysis of Schools
Data
Analysis
Multi-
tiered
levels of
support
Qualitative
Analysis

50. SFUSD Performance Tiers
Superintendent’s Zone
Intensive Support
Strategic Support
Challenge Schools

51. Response to Intervention at the District Level
Superintendent’s Zone:
++++ Support, few schools receive
Intensive Support: +++ Support
Superintendent’s Zone
Intensive Support Strategic Support: ++ Support
Strategic Support
Benchmark and Challenge Support:
+ Support – All schools receive
Challenge Schools

52. After analysis: Alignment of Human & Financial Resources
WSF

53. The work ahead for to provide
equitable support
• Coherent, high leverage strategies
• Added capacity in strategic areas:
– Instructional coaches
– Centralized professional learning
– Community schools approach
– School improvement support
– Guidance from school support teams

54. Key Next Steps
• Instructional Coaches, Specifically Literacy Coaches for
School Year 2013-14
• Planning grant for Professional Learning/ Talent
Development System & Institute
• Professional development resources for 2013-2014
(Summer and School Year)

55. Our Focus

56. Creating Conditions for Schools with a
Coherent Instructional Core
• Develop and communicate a core curriculum
• Align professional development and planning based on
District priorities
• Differentiate support to English Learners, African
American, Latino, Samoan students, and students with
disabilities
• Design a district-wide STEM initiative that focuses on
Pre-K12 College and Career skills and pathways

57. Core Curriculum
• 3-year implementation of English Language Arts (ELA)
and Math Core Curriculum
– Informed by common core standards
– Philosophically and pedagogically aligned to District priorities
– Disseminated via multiple channels, including the use of
multiple technological platforms
– Partnered work
• Five-year integration of across disciplines
– Next Generation Science
– STEM
– English Language Development and Language pathways

58. STEM
STEM is designed to revolutionize the teaching of subject areas
such as mathematics and science by incorporating technology
and engineering into regular curriculum by creating a “meta-
discipline.”
STEM Education attempts to transform the typical teacher-
centered classroom by encouraging a curriculum that is driven by
problem-solving, discovery, exploratory learning, and require
students to actively engage a situation in order to find its solution
- Judith A. Ramaley

59. STEM
• Timeline
– Completion of STEM Initiative
– Leverage existing STEM projects
– Reengaging with partners
– Early focus on environmental science
– Launch STEM summer camps in Superintendent’s
Zone, anchored in the new Willie Brown Middle
School

60. Educational Technology
• Knowledge management system
• Integrated learning platforms

61. Creating an Integrated System
Sharepoint
Cornerstone On-
Demand
Integrated
Consulting
Weekly Administrative Learning
Resources
Directive System
WebEx Video
Conferencing

62. C & I Transformation
• Reimagining our work
– Scholarship
– Leadership
– Advocacy
• Establish a theory of action that helps secure quality professional
learning opportunities for teachers, administrators, and other staff
• Redefine our partnerships to better align with our District priorities
– Is their work integrated with district priorities?
– What is their evidence of student/staff impact?
– Are they building district capacity?
– What is their exit plan?

63. Participatory STEM Design at
SxSW