SFUSD reports modest gains in early literacy and middle-school math; staff plan tighter coaching and PD

SFUSD staff presented fall interim STAR assessment results showing positive year-over-year changes in several interim goals for literacy (including gains for third-grade cohorts and early-literacy initiatives targeting African American and Pacific Islander kindergarteners) and middle-school math gains particularly in grade 7. Research, Planning and Assessment staff and Curriculum & Instruction (CNI) leaders tied those results to investments in instructional coaching and new curricula, and identified changes to improve analysis and implementation.

Key proposed changes included revising coaching logs to allow clearer alignment between individual coach cycles and classroom-level outcomes, strengthening teacher collaboration time (grade-level collaboration) and instituting a tiered coaching model so coaches can allocate higher-frequency cycles to teachers most in need. In middle school math, staff emphasized robust PD attendance and follow-up for teachers implementing the new Amplify/Desmos materials; because many middle schools lack embedded instructional coaches, staff said principals and department leads must be supported to translate centralized PD into classroom practice.

Commissioners requested stronger connections between initiatives and resource allocation (cost-per-pupil and budget mapping), more disaggregated, downloadable data and clearer timelines for monitoring impact on focal groups. Staff said more granular data are available in the linked report and committed to calendar dates for monitoring (noting next progress monitoring items scheduled for March).