Mid-Year Report
Dear Oakland Unified Community,
We are now well into the spring semester in the 2023-24 school year. I know that our students are working hard and growing every day in class, our families are gaining support where needed and building a stronger community, and our staff is becoming even more entrenched in the work to improve our schools and the outcomes we help our students achieve.
I write today during the final year of the OUSD Strategic Plan 2021-24 filled with hope and excitement for the future. I am optimistic because, despite all the challenges of the past three years, highlighted by the worldwide pandemic and all the problems it presented, we have continued to make progress in our efforts to improve student outcomes. I have seen our young people flourish - their success and graduation rates continue to improve, our staff and partners create more joyful - and safer - spaces in our schools, our graduates move onto amazing new lives after high school, and I have seen our staff grow with more remarkable and dedicated people joining us in our mission on a regular basis.
It has been my honor and privilege to lead the school district that helped make me who I am - both as a student and as an educator. Having been Superintendent since July of 2017, I have seen us collectively weather every kind of challenge, and in every case, I have seen us succeed.
Success is exactly what all of us intend to see now and well into the future because we are laser-focused on the four initiatives of the Strategic Plan: Strong Readers by the Third Grade, Creating Joyful Schools, Empowered Graduates, and Growing a Diverse and Stable Staff. Each part of the plan comes with specific strategies for continuous improvement and milestones to reach. In every case, we have learned a great deal, which has informed our approach moving forward.
With this Mid-Year Impact Report, I want to give you a snapshot of what we have done in our schools across the District - and at the Central Office, what we have learned, and all the progress we have seen among our thriving students, and our dedicated staff.
I am profoundly grateful for all the work done in our schools, by children and adults, for all the support given to our students and classes by our families, and for all the help provided to our school and district communities by our partners in local, state, and federal government, the nonprofit sector, and in the business community. As we know, it takes a village to raise a child, and we could not help raise and educate so many of Oakland’s children without our remarkable partnerships across our schools, the city, and beyond.
Thank you for investing in our collective mission of helping our students become the independent, hard-working, critical thinkers and leaders that our world needs now more than ever.
In community,
Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell
Superintendent
Strong Readers
As a district, we remain intensely focused on the four initiatives of the Strategic Plan, the first of which is Ensuring Strong Readers by the Third Grade. We’ve set the vision and strategy, applied a continuous improvement lens to our implementation, and are now thinking critically about evaluation and the impact of our model.
“Literacy is really the foundation of having a high-quality education,” said Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “And yes, we’re starting off with reading, but really we’re talking about kids leaving high school feeling strong and having those skills both in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and even digital literacy. That’s really the foundation that’s important to be able to excel in math and science, all disciplines. Particularly as our world moves forward with more technology, it is a prerequisite to have access, to be able to analyze, and be able to understand what it is that you’re reading.“
Starting with some of our youngest learners, our Kindergarteners are mastering their knowledge of the names of letters earlier than previous students in kindergarten, which means they get to transition to decoding work and SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight) instruction sooner. In the fall, we challenged every kindergartener to learn their letter names, both upper and lower case, by Halloween. Two schools had more than a 50 percentage point improvement in kindergarteners reaching this milestone; Oakland Academy of Knowledge (OAK) at 54% and Burckhalter at 52%.
Twelve schools had a 30% or more point increase since the start of the school year.
| School | Percent Point Change |
|---|---|
| Oakland Academy of Knowledge | 54% |
| Burckhalter Elementary School | 52% |
| Franklin Elementary School | 48% |
| Brookfield Elementary School | 47% |
| Manzanita SEED Elementary School | 40% |
| Horace Mann Elementary School | 39% |
| Cleveland Elementary School | 35% |
| Piedmont Avenue Elementary School | 32% |
| Think College Now | 31% |
| La Escuelita Elementary School | 31% |
| Carl B. Munck Elementary School | 30% |
Likewise, we had 13 schools that reached at least 80% of Kindergarteners knowing their letters, which is up five schools since last year.
Oakland Academy of Knowledge (OAK) saw a 54% increase in kindergarteners knowing their letters since the start of the school year (the most of any OUSD elementary School) from 30% to 84%!
"Our teachers at OAK are deeply committed to student progress and supporting each student by analyzing their individual strengths and needs. Teachers address those needs through whole-group and small-group language and literacy instruction. They have Professional Learning Community (PLC) spaces monthly where they analyze data for Foundational skills (letter naming or SIPPS) and student work from EL Education units and modules. We are proud of our OAK Teachers for their strong collaboration and focus on continuous improvement in service of students," said Jennifer DeMara, Early Literacy Coach at OAK.
In successive grades, there is marked improvement, too. The current percentage of 1st and 2nd graders who have passed one or more SIPPS mastery tests is higher than last year, and the percentage of students at grade level is also higher. All of this is leading to more success in creating Strong Readers by the Third Grade.
How We Are Succeeding
About 600 students at 18 schools are receiving one-to-one tutoring this spring, funded by our partner, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation. The tutors come from three providers: Ignite, Hoot, and OpenLiteracy. Likewise, more than 100 teachers took part in Curriculum Embedded Assessment Analysis and Designated ELD training in January.
Schools across the district have been holding Celebrations of Learning to honor the high-quality work of their students. La Escuelita Elementary celebrated a successful blend of curriculum and creativity with students presenting their own stories on topics like paleontology and animal defense mechanisms. Teacher Connie Lam says the literacy curriculum has already led to improvement in iReady reading scores. “We want to see more joy for learning in the classroom. There’s more to literacy and learning than just test scores, but we do hope everything we're doing shows in the data, as well.”
Long-standing partner, Oakland Literacy Coalition (OLC) worked with us to create Oakland Reads for families. OLC's Co-Executive Director Cassie Perham says Oakland Reads is a joint initiative between families, community organizations, and literacy providers, aimed at enhancing the understanding of student reading skills and offering support. Oakland Reads promotes the OUSD literacy academic milestones, making them accessible and actionable for families and other adults working with and caring for young students.
Perham shared her perspective on what the District is doing to improve student literacy. “OUSD stands out as a leader in adopting evidence-based curriculum and aligning with the science of reading. Other communities are looking to the district as a model. It’s great to see a multi-faceted approach ranging from training teachers to funding early literacy tutors to re-investing in school libraries. Solving the literacy crisis is complex, and the way that OUSD is embracing change and working in partnership with coalitions and organizations like ours shows that the district is responding to community needs with intentionality and accountability.” Perham added, “The fact that early literacy is named as a priority in the district’s strategic plan speaks volumes. We need to ensure that infrastructure is in place to support that vision over the long term. That includes funding, support for schools and teachers, and supporting teacher learning aligned to the curriculum."
The fact that early literacy is named as a priority in the district’s strategic plan speaks volumes.
- Oakland Literacy Coalition Co-Executive Director Cassie Perham
Empowered Graduates
Of course, Strong Readers lead to Empowered Graduates, something that we want all of our students to become, which is why we do all that we do across our high schools. Internships and our Linked Learning Pathways are important parts of that effort and have paid big dividends for our schools and students.
How We Are Succeeding
Our graduation rates have been steadily increasing since 2011. Cohort graduation rates have increased by 15.5 percentage points (pp) (59.3% to 74.8%), with significantly higher rate increases for sub-groups including Black students by 28.1 percentage points (53.6% to 81.7%) and Black male students by 27% (51.3% to 78.3%). And just in the past two years, graduation rates increased for Latinx and unhoused students, and dropout rates decreased. This is following a double digit graduation rate increase for African American boys last year of 10.2% and all AA students increased by 5.8%. Also, unhoused students’ graduation rates increased by 13%, and Latino students increased by 4%.
College and Career Readiness
As mentioned above, supporting our students on their way to graduation has a lot to do with their internships. Right now, 38 students from 11 high schools are participating in health internships at Highland Hospital through the Health Excellence and Academic Leadership (HEAL) Program. 56 11th grade students from Life Academy are interning this fall through a number of community partners. And 194 students from MetWest High are currently interning at 102 local organizations.
During the summer, almost 400 student interns took part in the District’s Demonstration of Mastery event in which they met with educators, business leaders, and community members to share what they learned in their internships. “The summer internship helped me understand that the construction trades might be my career pathway. It’s a little bit brighter, more clear. What I can do, what I can achieve. So, I think the construction trades might be my thing,” said Architecture Academy intern Kevin Martinez Perez, who is a senior at Fremont High. “It was a great experience for me, I learned a lot about filmmaking and all different aspects of camera work. I am walking out with new skills. I feel a lot more confident in my filmmaking skills, and my acting skills. It made me kind of want to pursue it, maybe for a career later on,” said Youth Beat intern Eva Turner, a senior in Skyline High’s Computer Academy.
“Ask high school students in OUSD what they feel about their experience, and they will tell you that they feel seen and known by the adults around them,” said CEO and President of the Linked Learning Alliance Anne Stanton. “Placing students at the center of all they do is the cornerstone of the district’s success and a testament to its leadership and long-term vision. Oakland’s commitment to ensuring high-quality college and career preparation through Linked Learning pathways is having a huge impact on advancing equity and educational justice. The community owns the vision and works to support and sustain it. In 2022, Oakland passed Measure H (reauthorizing Measure N, a parcel tax passed in 2014), ensuring 14 years of continued public funding dedicated to sustaining it - a shining example of community in action. OUSD is a leader in the state, and we should all be watching and learning from them. When young people leave the walls of their schools, they are leaving as empowered students – connected both to purpose and to their own power.”
It was a great experience for me, I learned a lot about filmmaking and all different aspects of camera work. I am walking out with new skills.
Eva Turner, senior in Skyline High’s Computer Academy and Youth Beat intern
Middle School Support
We know the work of building empowered graduates begins before high school, and in OUSD, we couple our early literacy investments and strategy with a deep focus on math in the middle school grades. One goal we’ve had this year that we’ve already exceeded is ensuring middle school students achieve a 10% increase in proficiency for student cohorts on each interim from 2022-23 to 2023-24. During the fall 2023 assessment cycle, we saw 20+ percentage point increases in the number of students meeting or exceeding standards in math 6, 7, and 8 in just the past year. Salesforce is a critical middle school partner and their continued investments in computer science and mathematics, including funding Blueprint Math Fellows and Common Core Teacher Leaders have helped individual sites including United For Success Academy, Westlake Middle School, West Oakland Middle School and Frick United Academy of Language, and the entire District.
Salesforce contributed $5.5 million to Oakland public schools, as part of a broader $20 million national educational investment, aimed at preparing students for careers in computer science and programming. The funding has also significantly helped in retaining diverse, high-performing teachers, achieving the lowest middle school staff vacancy rate in four years.
“Salesforce has been a long-standing partner of OUSD, supporting the district's middle school reinvention efforts, providing computer science and Blueprint Math tutors to students, and helping Newcomer students navigate their new home. Since that time, we've watched countless students find their passion for coding, seen how trusted relationships with Newcomer Navigators are helping students stay in school and thrive, and watched students build both their confidence and skills in math. We have also provided school leaders added support through Principal Innovation Funds, which have been used for a variety of purposes such as academic awards, field trips, and teacher professional development. We are proud to work alongside OUSD in service of young people and their future,” said Ron Smith, Ed.D, Vice President of Education and Workforce Development Philanthropy for Salesforce.
| Change from 2021-22 to 2022-23 |
Change from 2022-23 to 2023-24 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Math 6 | -0.5% | +20.9% |
| Math 7 | -10.2% | +21.2% |
| Math 8 | +2.5% | +20.9% |
% meeting or exceeding standard
Joyful Schools
Ensuring that we continue to actively lift up and improve upon the social environments of our schools is the focus of our third initiative, Creating Joyful Schools. We are taking major steps in this endeavor to reimagine schools across the district as places of joy, inclusion, safety, and beauty. We want every student, educator, family, and partner in the District to feel pride in their school and enjoy a sense of belonging.
How We Are Succeeding
One of the first steps we’ve taken is focusing on getting our students to show up to school every day. It doesn’t matter how beautiful a campus is or how welcoming the environment is if our students are chronically absent from school.
Daily attendance is currently 1.6 percentage points better than at this time last year. This is a huge improvement, as attendance is a difficult metric to move. School attendance teams are working strategically to promote positive attendance practices. This includes providing incentives for attendance improvements, interventions, and support for students and families in need, and working together as a site to make school a place where all students want to be to learn.
To foster a safer and more supportive school environment, 90% of OUSD schools now have a Village Response Plan for coordinated safety efforts. The Safety Intake line has responded to 401 calls, with our Central Safety Team actively involved in significant cases. Our safety strategy also includes the City of Oakland's VIP Teams, which have managed nearly 1,000 student referrals in seven high schools, primarily focusing on violence prevention and support. A key example of this initiative is Fremont High School's program, developed in collaboration with CURYJ and the Family Violence Law Center.
We are committed to making our schools fun, joyful, and inclusive places to be - that goes for before school, during the school day, after school, and on weekends. New sports programs are enticing students to get involved, as are enhanced programming options and expanded learning.
The year was marked by extraordinary athletic achievements in OUSD, thanks to our gifted students and their committed coaches. At Castlemont High School, the football team took a trip to Southern California and some players experienced their first-ever flight, while the school celebrated its inaugural season of girls' flag football. Junior player Princess Newton expressed her goals for the season saying, "They were telling us this is how we can get scholarships. So that's what I'm trying to do, get that scholarship and get my name known." Coach Ed Washington highlighted the importance of community support. "These girls need support, especially with what's going on in Oakland. Let’s be part of the solution and come out and support these young people."
Adding to the school's milestones, junior Danielle Johnson became Castlemont's first female football player on the boys team, with her helmet now on display at the Rose Bowl's California High School Football Hall of Fame. Coach Washington said, "She wrote history. She wrote her own story, and that’s the beautiful thing."
The past year saw more student victories. Both the Oakland Tech Girls and the Oakland High Boys basketball teams won state championships. The East Oakland Track Gems, a nonprofit focusing on track and field training and mentorship, had an impressive debut at the Junior Olympics in Iowa with their OUSD elementary student-athletes, ages 5 to 10. These successes underscore the talent and dedication of OUSD’s young people and show how students are nurtured to excel in the classroom and in the fields of play.
The past year, the District also had successful partnerships that significantly contributed to the enrichment of our community. The 49ers Foundation selected OUSD's African American Female Excellence (AAFE) program as a legacy partner, with an annual commitment of $100,000, to empower a greater number of young women leaders in Oakland. In collaboration with Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, we revamped six schoolyards in 2023, creating fun and safe play spaces for nearly 3,000 students. Our partnership with Tesla offered students in our summer IT internship program an exclusive visit to Tesla's Fremont factory. This initiative culminated in December with 70 students from seven OUSD schools participating in a robotics scrimmage and engineering demonstration at Tesla, further enriching their learning experiences in technology and engineering.
We must also highlight longtime partner Kaiser Permanente for its continued support. In 2023, Kaiser granted $9 million over three years to the district significantly boosting health, equity, and education. This grant sustains 16 school health centers and broadens services for mental health, social-emotional learning, and wellness programs in our schools. “The Kaiser Permanente support we receive is core to everything we do that is connected to health and wellness at Oakland public schools,” said Mara Larsen-Fleming, the director of Health and Wellness for OUSD.
The funding allows for increasing access to healthcare resources and support for OUSD's commitment to comprehensive student health and education. “School-based health makes a huge difference in the health and lives of students and their families,” said Yvette Radford, Vice President of External and Community Affairs for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. “We’re proud to support Oakland schools and the rich array of programs they offer to help Oakland children to be healthy, succeed, and thrive.”
The Kaiser Permanente support we receive is core to everything we do that is connected to health and wellness at Oakland public schools.
- Mara Larsen-Fleming, OUSD Director of Health and Wellness
Diverse and Stable Staff
The final initiative focuses on how best to support the thousands of educators and staff we have across the district, ensuring that they have what they need to succeed, are properly compensated and are proud to work in OUSD. Moreover, we want to see our students’ rich and diverse backgrounds reflected in the faces and backgrounds of amazing Black, Brown, and multilingual educators. Growing a Diverse and Stable Staff means having accessible pathways into teaching and leading Oakland schools, and this is complemented by the fact that many future OUSD educators are the young people currently studying in our school communities.
How We Are Succeeding
Our dedicated educators are the backbone of OUSD's success. We're committed to enhancing their professional journey through a continuum of support, designed to foster sustainable growth and development. This initiative focuses on overcoming challenges to living and working in Oakland and intersects various stages of educator development with four key areas: collaborative partnerships, educational pathways, affinity-based support structures, and optimal conditions for educator learning and growth.
We are committed to the strategy of retention through fair compensation, and this past year, we took critical steps forward when the Board of Education approved a historic raise for our teachers. The starting salary for a TK-12 Teacher saw a substantial increase from $52,905 in the 2022-23 academic year to $62,696 in 2023-24, marking an impressive increase of nearly $10,000. Along with that, OUSD gave all employees, both certificated and classified, a one-time off-schedule payment of $10,000 which honors and compensates for the hard work of our entire educational community.
We proudly support numerous teacher pathway programs focused on nurturing local talent and creating diverse educational opportunities. Recognizing the valuable experience of our staff and community, especially those in afterschool and classified roles, we provide comprehensive support including tuition assistance, teacher test aid, and a community of practice for our aspiring teachers.
To address the shortage of early childhood educators, OUSD introduced the Early Childhood Educator Pre-Apprenticeship Program for 11th and 12th graders. This innovative effort combines classroom work and a summer internship, providing students the chance to earn early childhood credits and a child development permit.
In addition to our pre-apprenticeship program, OUSD offers a variety of educator development pathways. This includes the Oakland Teacher Residency, a one-year paid mentorship program for gaining specialized teaching credentials that gives aspiring teachers critical help with affordable housing.
Where Oakland stands out is with its approach to growing a staff that is stable and reflects the diversity of the student body. It has been inspiring to see the way the District’s Talent team has developed pathways and pipelines for folks to join and grow in the OUSD family.
- Kyra Mungia, Co-Founder and CEO of TRiO Plus and former OUSD Board of Education Director
Facing a nationwide educator shortage, Oakland stands in a unique position, according to Kyra Mungia, Co-Founder and CEO of TRiO Plus and former OUSD Board of Education Director. “Nationally, we have a shortage of educators, and Oakland is no exception. Where Oakland stands out is with its approach to growing a staff that is stable and reflects the diversity of our student body. It has been inspiring to see the way the District’s Talent team has developed pathways and pipelines for folks to join and grow in the OUSD family.”
OUSD places a strong emphasis on supporting our educators' career growth, providing opportunities for professional development and career advancement. Our Classified to Teacher Program helps OUSD staff in classified positions attain teaching credentials or degrees. Furthermore, the Maestr@s Program is dedicated to supporting Latino/a educators with scholarships, credentialing fees, and professional development opportunities. “OUSD Talent has been intentional in building out pathways to grow our own teachers and staff by hearing the needs of the community and pairing that information with research and best practices. For instance, in just 5 years of partnership with TRiO Plus, the number of teacher residents has tripled and the number of teacher residents of color has more than tripled, thus ensuring we have more well-prepared teachers who look like our students and share their life experiences,” Mungia added.
OUSD increased its efforts to support, develop, and retain new teachers, who make up about a third of the district's staff. Our recruitment initiatives have led to increased diversity, with 60% of early career teachers in their first five years, identifying as BIPOC. OUSD's support system is built on four pillars: weekly coaching, professional learning, credentialing support, and wellness and community building. The 2022-23 New Teacher Survey showed encouraging results:
- 80% of early career teachers are satisfied with their OUSD experience.
- 86% appreciate the support from the New Teacher Support & Development team.
- 89% intend to continue teaching in OUSD this school year.
The district has refined its coaching program to better support as many as 600 teachers annually and has enhanced the training for its approximately 250 coaches. Professional learning initiatives focus on classroom culture, attracting wide participation from new teachers. Credentialing support includes a comprehensive toolkit for teachers on emergency permits and strategic partnerships with credential programs. Teachers also receive assistance with the Golden State to Teacher Grant and free test preparation.
Teachers inspire students, and they inspire their fellow teachers. We are thrilled about our partnership with The Teaching Channel to showcase exemplary teaching practices and support peer learning. Monica Del Rio, a preschool teacher at Burbank Child Development Center, highlights the importance of peer learning and mentorship, saying, “I benefited so much from classroom observations... my colleagues are the most valuable teaching resource.”
Our Strategic Plan guides us as we overcome the biggest challenges that face OUSD. We can see everywhere we look that these efforts are leading to important progress for our students. There is, as always, much work still to be done, but we can celebrate for a moment that what we have been doing is paying off, making the District work even better for students, staff, and families.
Together, we are making a meaningful difference in the lives of Oakland’s young people and shaping a brighter future for generations to come.
My colleagues are the most valuable teaching resource.
- Monica Del Rio, Burbank Child Development Center Teacher