New Designs for School

NGLC in Oakland

About the Rogers Family Foundation

The Rogers Family Foundation (RFF) seeks to catalyze organizations and systems to achieve and excel at the highest level in positively transforming the educational experience and opportunities for Oakland’s most disadvantaged students.

Investing both staffing and funding resources, the Foundation envisions a future in which all Oakland students will graduate college-, career-, and community-ready. RFF is committed to ensuring that all students in Oakland have the opportunity to attend a high-quality school. Given the crucial importance of early school readiness, RFF has also set the goal that, by 2020, 85% of students will read at grade level by the end of third grade. In addition, RFF believes that achievement gaps by socioeconomic status must be eliminated for the city’s educational system to truly achieve transformative change.

Oakland’s Next Generation Breakthrough Schools Strategy and Plans

In partnership with local charter operators, the Oakland Unified School District, and Oakland Public Education Fund, RFF launched a multistep process in July 2014 to guide the design, development, and delivery of three to four out-of-this-world, breakthrough schools for Oakland kids and families.

Podcast: Listen to Stacy Wang and Greg Klein discuss personalized learning at the Rodgers Family Foundation. Produced by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

NGLC in Oakland starts with a deep discovery phase, during which school leaders and other stakeholders are participating in learning events and professional development sessions. RFF is hosting visits to schools strong in different aspects of personalization so that participants can learn from the city’s and region’s most innovative teachers and principals. Following this learning phase, 26 Oakland schools applied for planning grants in January 2015. RFF awarded $720,000 in planning grants to ten school sites, ranging anywhere in between $20,000 to $100,000 based on the strength and comprehensiveness of their application.

Launch Grants: Any qualified public school in Oakland committed to creating and launching a breakthrough model of schooling, including but not limited to planning grant recipients, was eligible to apply for a Launch Grant. RFF awarded grants to seven schools to implement their plans beginning in Fall 2016.

Throughout this process, RFF will continue to hone its expertise in the design and implementation of personalized learning. With successful proof points in place, RFF, OUSD, and public charter partners will be able to identify the most effective strategies and continue scaling up their efforts to provide innovative, impactful learning experiences for all students in Oakland.

Expected Outcomes and Impact

RFF, along with its charter partners and OUSD, will use a range of metrics to evaluate the success of personalized learning within school, including but not limited to:

• Learning growth, as measured by standardized test scores, with at least 1.5 years of growth in Math and English Language Arts.
• College readiness, as measured by students’ performance on the California’s Early Assessment Program, completion of the “A-G” course sequence, and PSAT and SAT scores.
• Student agency and learning experience (e.g., the percentage of students who agree with the statement “In each academic subject, I know the standards and areas where I am proficient and not yet proficient”).

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Media Release, March 2016: $2.1 Million Awarded to 6 Oakland Public Schools for Innovation

Media Release, March 2015: Ten Oakland Schools Win Planning Grants to Lead Personalized Learning

Education Next article on Oakland Blended Learning project

NGLC in Oakland website

Contact: Greg Klein, Senior Director for Innovation and Learning, at gklein@rogersfoundation.org.

For more information on the Rogers Family Foundation, please contact Rhonnel Sotelo, Executive Director, at 510.899.7905, or rsotelo@rogersfoundation.org.