CASE STUDIES

San Francisco Unified School District Returns to Reading Growth

How Springboard's Summer Literacy program helped SFUSD students rebuild reading skills after a year of virtual learning.

District Profile

Location

San Francisco, CA

District Enrollment:

49,000 students

Springboard Program Enrollment

60 K-3 students served

District Demographics:

32% to 37% Hispanic
30% to 35% Asian

13% to 14% White

6% to 8% African American

8% multiracial

55.6% low income

26% multilingual learners

13% students with disabilities

Overview

After a year of virtual learning during COVID-19, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) wanted to welcome K-3 students and families back to in-person instruction. As a longtime Springboard partner, SFUSD continued working with Springboard on its 5-week Summer Literacy offering, built around the Family-Educator Learning Accelerator (FELA) methodology, which pairs daily literacy instruction for students with weekly workshops that train parents to teach reading at home, along with a coaching cycle for teachers and an incentive structure tied to student reading gains.

Springboard managed most of the planning and implementation, including translating program materials into Spanish and Chinese for SFUSD’s multilingual families. Students received instruction from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., five days a week, with family workshops held virtually on Tuesdays and make-up sessions on Wednesdays or Thursdays.

Download Case Study

Challenge

Returning to In-Person Learning After COVID-19

After a year of uncertainty in the classroom due to COVID-19 virtual learning constraints, SFUSD wanted to welcome back families and students in K-3 classes to in-person instruction.

Solutions

A Continued FELA-Based Partnership

As a longtime Springboard partner, SFUSD selected the 5-week Summer Literacy offering, which includes daily literacy instruction, weekly workshops that train parents to teach reading at home, a coaching cycle for teachers, and an incentive structure that awards learning tools to families based on student reading gains.

Team-Building Huddles and Family Workshops

The program opened with a team-building huddle between each teacher and family, followed by weekly family workshops where students and families practiced reading strategies together.

Inclusive, Multilingual Planning

Springboard managed most of the planning and implementation, including student enrollment campaigns, and translated program materials into Spanish and Chinese to reach SFUSD's multilingual families.

Structured Implementation

Teachers took part in professional development on family engagement and assessment. Students received instruction from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., five days a week, with a curriculum centered on Reading Readiness and phonics, writing, small-group instruction, read-alouds, and shared reading, while family workshops ran virtually on Tuesdays, with make-up sessions on Wednesdays or Thursdays.

Growth at San Francisco Unified School District

90%

Family Workshop attendance

3.3

Months reading growth achieved in 5 weeks

80%

Average in-person attendance

“The one-on-one support with scholars, collaboration with families, and amazing teamwork with Springboard Collaborative has been an enriching experience, and I am proud to be a part of these scholars’ reading journey”

Mia A.
Teacher | San Francisco Unified School District

Download The Full Case Study

Get the full report on how SFUSD rebuilt reading growth after virtual learning.

Download Now