Stuart Foundation Pledges $5.2 Million for California District-Based Education Reform
Stuart Foundation Pledges $5.2 Million for California District-Based Education Reform
The San Francisco-based Stuart Foundation has announced a two-year, $5.2 million pledge to improve student achievement in California public school districts through a district-to-district collaboration and a study that will pinpoint successes in individual districts and systems.
As part of the effort, the foundation awarded a two-year, $1.55 million grant to the California Office to Reform Education, a seven-district collaborative that shares resources and learning to improve opportunities for students district-wide. The funding will be used to enhance and expand innovative efforts already under way in the district and accelerate them through collaboration.
In addition, the foundation awarded $3.7 million to the Effective Education Systems Initiative, which aims to uncover the characteristics shared by eleven districts that have shown system-wide student success. To that end, the two-year study will survey tens of thousands of students, interview school and district leaders, and conduct site assessments.
"We know there are great teachers and great schools," said Stuart Foundation president Christy Pichel. "However, we need to move beyond the 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."
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