Introduction
Featured Research
Link to this section
See below for a library of curated research headlines, findings, and reports on important topics of study.
College and Career Readiness
The Office of Career and Career Readiness partners with researchers to improve service delivery and increase the likelihood of graduation. These partnerships focus on program evaluation; the study of district, state, and federal initiatives; development of an early-warning measure; and ethnic studies curricula.
"Developing Early Warning Indicators for the San Francisco Unified School District" [Research Brief]
"Engagement and Attainment: The Longer-Term Causal Effects of Ethnic Studies" [Research Brief]
Literacy/English Language Arts
SFUSD is focused on continuously improving teaching and learning in language arts and literacy, especially in younger grades including pre-kindergarten. Research projects have examined the overall effectiveness of curriculum and instruction and instructional alignment across grade levels.
"TNTP Academic Diagnostic: SFUSD K-5 ELA" [Presentation Deck]
“Final Summary: PreK-2 Literacy Coherence Research Study in Cohort 3 of SFUSD” [Research Brief]
Math
Mathematics research projects have supported the district’s understanding of materials and methods for teaching math. In particular, studies of curricula and the effect of course offerings in the district have been impactful. Ongoing research is focused on teacher professional development that deepens students’ mathematics learning.
“Ahead of the Game? Course-Taking Patterns under a Math Pathways Reform” [Research Brief]
“Final Report: Elementary Mathematics Research Study” [Research Report]
Student Assignment
Student assignment—the system assigning students to schools accounting for 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’ school preferences
- algorithms for assigning students to schools
- attendance areas and zones
This research informs policies and strategies for improving the student-assignment system.
“Improving Diversity and Equity in San Francisco School Choice” [Presentation Deck]
“Choosing an Elementary School in San Francisco” [Research Brief]
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 identify effective strategies for promoting attendance and 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]
Social-Emotional Learning / School Culture-Climate
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.
"SF Peer Resources: Impact on Students and Schools" [Research Brief]
The Student Engagement and Absenteeism YPAR Toolkit [Website]
"Project SECURE: Keeping Kids Safe in San Francisco Unified School District" [Journal Article]
Equity and Inclusive Practices
Equity and inclusive practices research projects have examined 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 build just, inclusive, and supportive learning environments for all students. By centering the experiences of historically marginalized communities, the district leverages research findings to make decisions that promote fairness and opportunity across our educational system.
"School-Based Prevention Program for Newcomer Immigrant Youth" [Research Brief]
"SFUSD Shoestrings Program" [Research Report]
“Insights Into White Supremacy Culture From Interviews with African American Leaders About Their Careers” [Research Paper]
Multilingual Learning
Multilingual Learners (MLs)—also referred to as English Learners and Emergent Bilinguals—are developing proficiency in English, including academic language skills. These students often receive English as a Second Language and/or bilingual educational services to support their progress in school. SFUSD has partnered with researchers to understand:
- Reclassification decisions, or the process by which students exit English Learner status, across different groups of students.
- Best practices for supporting school success among various groups of MLs.
"Making the Invisible Visible: Identifying and Interrogating Ethnic Differences in English Learner Reclassification" [Journal Article]
Early Education
Research Practice Partnership with Stanford University
San Francisco Unified School District has partnered with Stanford University for over a decade, and multiple studies have been completed to improve and inform planning and programming of Early Education services in SFUSD. Below you will find a link to a summary of key findings from the multiple Stanford research projects completed in SFUSD focused on a variety of areas - instruction, retention, equity, and advancing social-emotional learning: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1COzleyjRUCe-j9-UGVKrCHhedtv4sL3WyzP4ZbLSd68/edit?usp=sharing
City-wide Research Partnership with the Department of Early Childhood
In short, this study finds that school readiness matters. Not only are children better prepared for school when they have developed the foundational skills that will support their kindergarten success, but school readiness accrues benefits through to high school graduation in a variety of ways.
The more ready a child was in kindergarten, the higher their performance on standardized English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics tests in third grade and through later years.
Significant effects of school readiness in kindergarten were found on middle school grade point average, even after controlling for many sociodemographic and school factors.
Moreover, students who were fully ready to start school in kindergarten were more likely to graduate high school on time.
For more details about this longitudinal study of K-Readiness go to: https://sfdec.org/first-of-its-kind-longitudinal-study-reaffirms-decs-investments-to-support-kindergarten-readiness/
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 April 10, 2025