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SFUSD presents 2017–18 accountability data; officials flag persistent achievement gaps and rising chronic absenteeism
Summary
SFUSD staff presented the district’s 2017–18 accountability metrics on Oct. 9, 2018, reporting modest district-level gains in proficiency but persistent gaps for African American students and a rise in chronic absenteeism among Black students that prompted board concern and calls for early-warning and attendance interventions.
At its Oct. 9 meeting the San Francisco Unified School District presented its annual summary of accountability metrics for the 2017–18 school year, highlighting three-year trends in SBAC English language arts and math, high-school-readiness indicators, cohort graduation rates, EL redesignation, school-culture climate and social-emotional learning results.
Ritu Khanna, chief of Research, Planning and Assessment, said the district’s aggregate SBAC proficiency rates have edged into the mid-50s for ELA over three years and held roughly 50% proficiency for math, with modest improvements at elementary levels and varied results across demographics. "Approximately all three years we have had 53,000 students enrolled in the district," Khanna said, summarizing the scope of the data review.
Presenters and board members repeatedly noted a persistent and troubling achievement gap for African American students. Bill Sanderson reported a cohort graduation rate of 84.4% for 2016–17 and said the African American graduation rate has continued upward even after statewide adjustments to calculation methodology.
Board members focused questions on chronic absenteeism after Commissioner Sanchez highlighted rising rates among African American students — citing figures that rose from about 26% two years prior to 36% in the most recent measure. District staff said chronic absenteeism is a priority and outlined existing initiatives (implicit-bias training, administrator institutes, BAT cultural-competence training, early-warning strategies and school-level interventions). Staff also said data-quality and timeliness improvements are underway to enable earlier interventions.
Board members asked for a clearer, school-level plan with targets and rapid engagement strategies. Chief of Staff and others described district efforts to identify "bright spots" — schools that have shown measurable gains — and to expand learning networks and instructional practices that can be adapted across sites. Board leadership requested follow-up materials with school-level breakdowns and an implementation plan for attendance interventions.
