Skip to content

CASE STUDIES / OAKLAND UNIFIED CASE STUDY

A Decade of
Partnership:
Oakland Unified School
District and Springboard
Collaborative

How family engagement, instructional alignment, and continuous improvement helped build a high-quality summer learning model

A Decade of Partnership: Oakland Unified School District and Springboard Collaborative

District Overview

Location

Oakland, CA

District Enrollment:

33,995 TK–12 students

Springboard Program Enrollment

11,876 students served since 2015 across more than 50 schools in the district

District Demographics:

47.7% Latino 

19.4% African American

12% White 

9.4% Asian

81.3% Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch 

30.3% English language learners 

18% students with disabilities

Program Snapshot:

  • Partnership Start Date: 2015; launched with one school serving 125 students
  • Program Model: Summer and after-school literacy programs featuring small-group instruction and high-impact tutoring
  • Sessions Delivered: 65 summer and after-school sessions, each providing five to 12 weeks of literacy instruction since 2015

Overview

Since 2015, Oakland Unified School District has partnered with Springboard Collaborative to address an opportunity gap and accelerate literacy. What began as a single-school summer program serving 125 students has grown into a partnership across more than 50 schools, combining instruction, family engagement, educator support, and implementation aligned to district priorities.

The model rests on five principles: family engagement, small-group instruction, sufficient instructional time, alignment across providers, and data-driven decision making.

Challenges

Persistent Literacy Gaps

Literacy gaps remained among historically underserved student groups, including multilingual learners, pointing to the need for stronger foundational reading instruction. Earlier summer models focused mainly on students, with limited integration of families into the learning process.

Operational Complexity Across Sites

The district needed a partner that could integrate into summer programs, and later after-school programming, while managing logistics across multiple sites and hub schools.

Family Support for Multilingual Learners

The district aimed to strengthen the connection between home and school, particularly for multilingual families, so that parents and caregivers could confidently support learning at home.

Teacher Support and Coaching

Educators needed professional learning and coaching aligned with the science of reading, along with strategies they could apply right away.

Solution

Flexible, Decade-Long Partnership

Over the past decade, OUSD and Springboard have refined the district's summer learning model in response to student needs, research, and shifting district priorities, from program design and staffing to curriculum alignment and funding. Core elements have stayed constant throughout: family engagement, small-group instruction, assessment-driven goal setting, and coaching.

Full-Service Program Management

Springboard manages every stage of implementation, from logistics and staff recruitment to enrollment, Family Workshops, teacher training, assessments, and instruction. Embedding within OUSD's existing summer and after-school structures reduces the operational burden on school and district staff.

Structured Family Engagement

SSpringboard trains families to become at-home literacy coaches through Family Workshops, multilingual resources, and incentives tied to reading growth. Team-Building Huddles and Family Workshops are offered in multiple languages to build family-teacher partnerships.

Instructional Alignment

As a curriculum-universal partner, Springboard adapts to district priorities and instructional materials while maintaining fidelity to its family engagement and implementation model.

Results

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, Springboard schools in City Schools are progressing in ELA proficiency on MCAP state assessments faster than the overall district.

96%

Student increased their reading proficiency

3.9

Months reading growth in 5 week summer program

94%

Family Workshop attendance

“ Springboard Collaborative’s model has now become the standard by which I judge other summer programs. There are certain pillars of summer design that Springboard does that we evaluate all programs against: pre- and post-assessments, learning goals, family involvement, and small-group instruction. Basically, that’s what you have to do if you want to move the needle.”

Julie McCalmont
Coordinator of Summer Learning Programs | OUSD

Download The Full Case Study

Read the complete Oakland Unified case study for the full results and methodology.

Download Now

Find us in your state

Springboard can help you launch the right program for your school or district. Select your state to get started and see how we align with your state’s requirements.

Find your state