Research reports, briefs, and presentations
Link to this section
See for a library of research headlines, findings, and reports on important topics of study.
Attendance
Research consistently shows that attendance is a key factor in student learning, social-emotional development, and long-term outcomes. Attendance is also a strong predictor of student success and can serve as an early warning sign of academic struggles, mental health needs, and/or family challenges. SFUSD partners with researchers to (a) identify effective strategies for promoting attendance and (b) evaluate the effectiveness of our attendance programs and practices.
Engaging Teachers: Understanding the Impact of Teachers on Student Attendance in Secondary School [Presentation Deck]
Understanding Student Attendance Patterns and Supports [Presentation Deck]
College and Career Readiness
The Office of Career and Career Readiness has partnered with researchers to improve delivery of services and to increase the likelihood of student completion. These partnerships focus on program evaluation, the study of district, state, and federal initiatives, innovating an early warning measure, and pioneering ethnic studies curricula.
2010: HS EWI [Brief]
2020: Ethnic Studies [Research Brief]
Culture and Climate/Social Emotional Learning
Research indicates that a positive school culture and climate—characterized by supportive relationships, inclusive practices, and a sense of safety and belonging—enhances student engagement, well-being, and academic achievement. Social-emotional learning (SEL) plays a critical role in fostering a positive school climate by helping students develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, and interpersonal relationships. Through our research partnerships, we explore approaches for nurturing students’ SEL skills and building learning communities that are welcoming and affirming for all students.
SF Peer Resources: Impact on Students and Schools [Research Brief]
The Student Engagement and Absenteeism YPAR Toolkit [Toolkit developed through the YPAR project with district]
Project Secure [Journal Article]
Early Education
This study evaluates the effects of READY4K!, an eight-month-long text-messaging intervention for parents of preschoolers and find it increased parental involvement at home and school by 0.15 to 0.29 standard deviations, leading to child gains in early literacy of about 0.11 standard deviations.
Equity and Inclusive Practices
Equity and inclusive practices research examines how educational systems can identify and dismantle barriers to ensure all students, regardless of background, have access to meaningful learning opportunities and resources. This research supports the district in developing policies, programs, and practices that create more just, inclusive, and supportive learning environments for all students, particularly those from historically marginalized communities. By centering the experiences of focal groups, the district can leverage research findings to make data-driven decisions that promote fairness and opportunity at every level of the education system.
606_Martinez_RCT School Prevention Prog for Newcomer Youth_Final External Research Brief_12-2023.pdf [Research Brief]
Math
Research related to math has focused on the math course offering in the district and on teachers’ professional development to deepen students’ learning.
“Ahead of the Game? Course-Taking Patterns under a Math Pathways Reform” [Research Brief]
Multilingual Learning
Multilingual Learners (MLs), also referred to as English Learners (ELs/ELLs) or Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) , are students who are developing English proficiency and require additional support to acquire academic English skills. These students often receive English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual education services to help them succeed in school. SFUSD has partnered with researchers to analyze:
- Reclassification decisions, or the process by which students exit English Learner (EL) status, across different groups of ELs.
- Best practices for supporting school success among various groups of English Learners.
Umansky, Reclassification [Research Article]
Student Assignment
Student assignment—the system assigning students to schools based on students'/families' preferences—is a highly complex and technical topic. SFUSD has partnered with researchers to analyze
- the history and the consequences of desegregation efforts
- families’ preferences about schools
- algorithms for assigning students to schools
- devising attendance areas and zones
The research continues to inform policies and strategies for altering the assignment system.
“Improving Diversity and Equity in San Francisco School Choice” [Presentation Deck]
“Choosing an Elementary School in San Francisco” [Research Brief]
Literacy/ELA
TNTP Academic Diagnostic: SFUSD K-5 ELA [Presentation Deck]
Evaluations of programs and policies
Link to this section
This section includes selected reports summarizing the results of evaluations conducted by SFUSD’s Research, Planning, and Assessment division.
Salesforce: Middle-school STEM Learning Initiative
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- Y9 (21-22):
- Y8 (20-21):
- Y7 (19-20):
- Y6 (18-19):
- Y5 (17-18):
- Y4 (16-17):
Superintendent's Equity Initiative: PITCH
“Rising to the Equity Challenge in SFUSD”, 2017 Nov 14 (see pp. 13-35, for analyses and research underpinning the initiative)
- As part of the initiative, school leaders and teams created theories of improvement aligned to the five PITCH essentials, received targeted funding to implement those theories, and engaged in monthly professional learning communities for coaching and support of their continuous improvement efforts. Communities of practice were organized around shared problems of practice, such as shifting the cognitive load from teachers to students, developing individualized learning plans, building staff professional capacity, or strengthening school connectedness and belonging. These communities of practice provided opportunities for shared discourse between central office and school leaders, building a common language and understanding around equity. They also reinforced leaders’ autonomy and agency through a regular structure in which they presented results from the implementation and impact of their improvement efforts and shared reflections and feedback through small-group consultancies.
- In Year 1 of implementation (2017-18), reading lexile growth for African-American students at PITCH schools was 16 points higher compared to African-American students at non-PITCH schools. However, these gains were not sustained in subsequent years, when lexile growth became similar between the two groups. Across five years, the equity gap has narrowed at the 10 High Equity Gap schools, with pre-pandemic RI growth (W1-W2) for African-American students exceeding growth of non-African-American students at these schools. In ’20-’21, reading lexile growth for African-American students at High Equity Gap PITCH schools was lower than non-African-American students at the same school, which may be explained by differential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related disruptions to learning. For more details on outcomes of the PITCH initiative, see summary slides.
- A qualitative analysis of schools' PITCH theories of improvement (TOIs) from 2017-2018 through 2021-2022 reveals common practices and strategies of supporting students to become independent learners, building teacher capacity, and integrating whole-school instructional strategies. Potential implications include developing greater clarity and coherence in articulating who is responsible for enacting change and whom that change serves.
Evaluations of Implementation of CCEIS Plans
In February 2020, the California Department of Education (CDE) notified San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) that it was significantly disproportionate in the number of Black/African American students (a) found eligible for special education in two disability categories, Emotional Disturbance and Other Health Impairment, and (b) in the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary actions, including suspensions. Subsequently, SFUSD developed a Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CCEIS) plan that included identifying students to receive intervening services to interrupt these disproportionalities. These reports evaluate SFUSD's implementation of its CCEIS plans starting in 2020; the focus of each report varies depending on the priorities identified in that cycle's CCEIS plan.
This page was last updated on March 10, 2025