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Stanford researcher describes 'Backgrounds as Strengths' pilot, Twin Rivers reports 2,300 voluntary responses
Summary
A Stanford researcher briefed the board on a voluntary intervention that reframes students' backgrounds as strengths; Twin Rivers collected over 2,300 responses across four comprehensive high schools and will track belonging and GPA outcomes in 2025–26.
Avery Yu, an education researcher from Stanford, told the Twin Rivers board the district is partnering to pilot a "Backgrounds as Strengths" activity designed to help students reframe obstacles as assets and build school belonging.
Yu said the short, research-based intervention uses four student stories that prompt reflection and has previously shown positive effects on belonging and academic persistence. Twin Rivers staff coordinated survey distribution across four comprehensive high schools; Yu reported more than 2,300 voluntary student responses — a sample size she called "miles above" many prior pilots with under 100 or a few hundred respondents.
"Student participation was encouraged, but ultimately fully optional, which makes it incredibly exciting that we collected over 2,300 responses," Yu said. Based on prior research she outlined expected short-term increases in school belonging and willingness to seek help and the longer-term expectation that averaged end-of-year GPA will increase in the 2025–26 school year.
Board members thanked the Stanford team for the presentation. Staff noted they will continue to monitor heterogeneous effects to determine where the intervention is most impactful before scaling more widely.
Next steps: Stanford and district staff will analyze outcomes and return with results that could inform future scaling decisions.
