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New Leaders for New Schools
Bay Area, California
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Program Details
Daniel McLaughlin, Executive Director
Key Contact: Erik Drobey
Email: edrobey@nlns.org
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Contact Information
New Leaders for New Schools Bay Area
225 Bush Street, Suite 1850
San Francisco, CA 94104
tel 415-296-6426 | fax 415-296-6419
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Our Schools
New Leaders for New Schools promotes high academic achievement for every student in the Bay Area's public district and charter schools by training aspiring school leaders to work in the region’s most under-resourced schools. All of our work is done in low-income, urban communities where the schools have been consistently underperforming and students typically have been underserved. Oakland Unified School District, our main district partner, is comprised of 89 percent students of color, including almost 30 percent English language learners. The 2006 California Standards Test Scores reveal that only:
*26 percent of the district’s students performed at the level of "proficient" in English
*37 percent of the district’s students performed at the level of "proficient" in Math
Our most under-resourced schools need outstanding school leaders who are able to
organize all the adults in the building to improve student achievement
dramatically. Evidence suggests that successful reform efforts rest on
the effectiveness and quality of the team that the principal builds.
The principal has the responsibility and power to determine what goes
on in a school, which is inextricably linked to long-term student
achievement. Based on data we have collected, an above-average
principal can raise student achievement by as much as 20 percentage
points more than an average principal; an exceptional leader can drive
even greater gains.
New Leaders for New Schools first came to the Bay Area as a partner
with Aspire Public Schools. In 2003, New Leaders partnered with Oakland
Unified School District (OUSD) and played an important role in OUSD’s
small school initiative. In the near-term New Leaders is committed to
creating strong partnerships in San Francisco and Silicon Valley as
well and to engaging the California Department of Education’s ten Bay
Area “troubled school districts.”
The Bay Area team trains 12-15 residents each year. Our school performance support team provides intensive leadership coaching to 1st and 2nd year principals to ensure their smooth entry into turn-around schools. With each New Leader, the team implements a data-driven instructional culture and creates a culture of success for students and staff. Because closing the achievement gap is difficult work, we work with principals to build the capacity of their school leadership teams and to create a community of practice among the New Leaders.
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Impact & Results
Bay Area Program Satisfaction Data
- Among Bay Area New Leaders principals, 100% report that the New Leaders program has been high quality, and they all feel that New Leaders prepared them to lead an urban K-12 public school effectively.
- Among Bay Area New Leaders Residents, 100% feel prepared to lead an urban K-12 public school.
- 100% of Bay Area New Leaders Residents feel they are part of a national movement to transform urban education by demonstrating that all students can achieve at high levels.
Preliminary Bay Area Achievement Results1
One indicator of New Leaders' effectiveness is comparing our schools' results to other schools in their systems. Progress of Bay Area New Leaders is tracked using the state Academic Performance Index (API) and No Child Left Behind proficiency indicators. On all fronts, Bay Area New Leaders have shown great promise in improving student outcomes.
- More than twice as many New Leader-led K-8 schools compared to district schools had 20+ percentage point gains in the proportion students reaching standards.
- K-8 schools led by New Leaders principals with 2+ years of experience increased scores in math by 8.0 percentage points and in English Language Arts (ELA) by 5.4 percentage points over the course of the 2007-2008 school year. These gains outpaced the district's in both subjects.
- In 2007-2008, New Leader-led schools increased their Academic Performance Index (API) scores by 39 points, compared to OUSD's increase of 16 points and the state's increase of 14 points.
Highlights from Bay Area New Leaders-led Dramatically Gaining Schools
Many New Leaders-led schools are demonstrating how to create the most dramatic gains to prepare all students for graduation and college, achieving yearly growth of 20+ combined points in the percent of students reaching standards in Math and ELA. Here are a few examples:
- Sankofa Academy, led by a 3rd year New Leader, had gains of nearly 45 percentage points across ELA and math this year. The school increased the proportion of students scoring proficient or advanced by 29.6 points in math and 14.6 in ELA.
- Acorn Woodland Elementary, led by a 3rd year New Leader, had gains of more than 40 percentage points across ELA and math this year. The school increased the proportion of students scoring proficient or advanced by 18.8 points in math and 23.4 points in ELA.
- The most improved schools in the city of Sacramento and the state of California have been led by New Leaders Principals, and two New Leaders-led schools have received U.S. Department of Education Title 1 Academic Achievement Awards for sustaining high learning gains in high poverty schools. One was a recipient in both 2007 and 2008.
1 Note that occasionally districts make slight adjustments to data to reflect improved precision and accuracy.
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Recruitment & Admissions
Requirements:
- A minimum of three years of full-time experience teaching in a K-12 classroom
- A bachelor's degree
- A California Teaching Credential or an out of state teaching
credential.
NOTE: Out-of-state credentials must be transferred to California before being placed as a Resident. Consult the CTC for more information by clicking here.
We encourage you to sign up for an information session to learn more about our program. CLICK HERE to view a schedule of sessions in the Bay Area. For more information or questions please contact Scott Gaiber at 415-296-6423 or sgaiber@nlns.org.
City Life
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is an ethnically diverse region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo Bays in Northern California. San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose are the three major cities encompassing the Bay. The Bay Area is home to over 7 million people, with a variety of ethnicities and cultures. The ideal climate provided by the warmth of the sun, the cooling effects of the ocean, the beauty of rolling hills, the expansive bay, and coastal forests are just a few of the reasons so many people flock to the Bay.
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Supporters
When the Bay Area New Leaders program began in 2000, it was financially
reliant on the New Leaders central office. We have received several
large grants, including support from the Federal School Leadership
Grant Program, the Dell Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, that will sustain us for several years to come. However, we
are becoming less reliant on the national office each year and are
working hard to build a more diversified local base of support from Bay
Area foundations, corporations and individuals. Our supporters as of August 1, 2008:
The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation
The Walton Foundation
The Koret Foundation
The U.S. Department of Education
The Cisco Foundation
The Fitzpatrick Foundation
The East Bay Community Foundation
The San Francisco Foundation
Reach-a-Star Charitable Fund
SanDisk
Washington Mutual
The Wachovia Foundation
The Dreyer’s Foundation
The Flora Family Foundation
Y&H Soda Foundation
Anonymous
If you are interested in supporting Bay Area New Leaders for New
Schools, please contact Jeff Leininger, Director of Development and
External Relations, at 917-406-9145 or jleininger@nlns.org.
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Regional Information
Meet a New Leader
New Leader Profiles (pdf)
A snapshot of local New Leaders with summary bios and "in their own words" program impressions.
Newsletters & Notices
Bay Area Newsletter
If interested in receiving a copy please email Erik Drobey, edrobey@nlns.org
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