Improving student achievement in urban school systems by improving classroom instruction

Urban school students in low-income areas face daunting odds of educational success.  The achievement gap between the more and less affluent is so large that it is not until 10th grade that students' reading level  in the lowest income schools matches that of 5th grade students in the highest income schools (see PPIC Research Brief).  Urban school reform efforts often fail to address the achievement gap because they lack a primary focus on improving classroom instruction. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation supports efforts aimed at systematically improving the quality of instruction in urban school systems.  To this end, the Foundation awards grants for demonstrations in urban school systems and for evaluations, research, and dissemination of information about successful practices.  In addition, the Foundation seeks to develop the capacity of nongovernmental organizations to support urban school districts as they work on improving instruction in their schools.  

In 2007, the Foundation contracted external experts in the field to evaluate two areas of our grantmaking.  Follow these links to read the executive summaries:  Formative Assessment and District Reform. 

Please note:  we are not accepting LOIs or proposals in this category in 2008.

Grant Highlights

Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (Springboard Schools)

Helping Bay Area schools improve instruction and student learning.

San Diego Unified School District

Supporting the Blueprint for Student Success in a Standards-Based System—a comprehensive district plan to support strategies that improve instruction for all students, with a special emphasis on high poverty schools.  The Hewlett Foundation leads a consortium of foundations that have provided roughly $50 million in resources to support and manage district reform.

Center for School Improvement

Joining research and practice to support the transformation of urban schools into strong learning communities based on improving the quality of instruction.

RAND Corporation

Examining district-wide efforts to significantly improve the learning of students in core content areas.

Boston Public Schools

Using assessment data to improve student learning through the improvement of classroom instruction.

American Institutes for Research

Providing resources for a second-phase evaluation to more directly assess the depth and breadth of  reform implementation and instructional change in San Diego City cchools.

Center for Research on the Context of Teaching, Stanford University

Supporting a program of theory-oriented evaluation research for Phase Two of the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative.