Boston Public Schools

In the spring of 2005, SERP launched its first field site in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools. The problem identified by the school district as most urgent was the inability of students to comprehend their subject-area textbooks when they reached high school, leading the team to focus on middle school literacy.

SERP's focus in Boston has been:
  • Classroom discussion and debate, as it relates to reading comprehension
  • Comprehensive support for struggling adolescent readers
  • Better understanding the needs of non-proficient readers through assessment
  • Mastery of the academic language associated with textbooks
  • The organizational capacity of schools to sustain reform
Products of the partnership include Word Generation, the Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI), the Internal Coherence Assessment and Protocol (ICAP), and assessments such as the Reading Inventory and Scholastic Evaluation (RISE), the Core Academic Language Skills Instrument (CALS-I), the Social Perspective Taking Acts Measure (SPTAM), the Reflective Judgement Test (RFJ), and the Low-Inference Discussion Observation Tool (LIDO).

San Francisco Unified School District

SERP began working in SFUSD in 2006. District leaders targeted middle school math and science achievement as areas for focus.

SERP's focus in San Francisco has been:
  • Sense-making and student talk in mathematics classrooms
  • Supporting the teaching of critical concepts in 6th and 7th grade mathematics
  • Supporting principals and other administrators who are observing mathematics classrooms
  • Literacy demands associated with science instruction
  • Learning progressions in middle grades physical science
  • Pathways of English language learners
  • Supporting the development and public negotiation of course pathways that align with the CCSS-M and that provide the opportunity for success in mathematics for a wide range of students
  • Supporting efforts to build coherence within the math department and across departments, focused on the features of high quality learning environments
Products of the partnership include Sense-making Tools, Poster Problems, 5x8 Card, and Reading to Learn in Science.

Minority Student Achievement Network

In 2006, SERP launched its first multi-district field site in collaboration with the Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN) and its member districts. MSAN districts are smaller urban or inner-ring suburban school districts that share a deep commitment to closing the achievement gaps among students from different races and ethnicities while ensuring all students achieve to high levels.

SERP's focus with MSAN has been:
  • Algebra 1 achievement gap
  • Academic engagement
  • Student misconceptions in mathematics
Products of the partnership include AlgebraByExample and MathByExample.

Partner districts: Ann Arbor Public Schools (MI), Arlington Public Schools (VA), Baltimore City Schools (MD), Public Schools of Beloit (WI), Public Schools of Brookline (MA), Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Public Schools (NC), Evanston Township High School (IL), Evanston/Skokie School District 65 (IL), Fort Madison Independent School District (IA), Green Bay Public Schools (WI), Oak Park Elementary District 97 (IL), Penns Valley Area School District (PA), Madison Metropolitan School District (WI), and Shaker Heights School District (OH)

Oakland Unified School District

In 2010, SERP began a partnership with Oakland Unified School District to establish a strategic approach to improving middle school mathematics and elementary science.

SERP's focus in Oakland has been:
  • Advancing academic discussion in the classroom
  • Supporting math performance tasks as diagnostic assessments
  • Supporting inquiry as an approach to improvement at the classroom and school level
  • Supporting the development and public negotiation of course pathways that are aligned with the CCSS-M, and that provide the opportunity for success in mathematics for a wide range of students.
  • Working with high school mathematics departments to create productive learning cultures using the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) Framework and Lesson Study (LS).
Products of the partnership include the 5x8 Card and the Deck Behind the Card (beta), with additional TRU-LS products under development.

Baltimore City Public Schools

In 2014, SERP established a field site partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools to focus on academic perseverance and other non-cognitive factors that contribute to academic success.

SERP’s focus in Baltimore City has been:
  • Collecting evidence regarding contributors to perseverance from the perspective of both teachers and students
  • Designing for the needs of teachers and students in high stress environments
A product of the partnership is Focus 5.

Baltimore is currently engaged in the MathByExample project, and in a project to scale implementation of the STARI program.

Previously, Baltimore has participated in three SERP randomized controlled trials, and Baltimore City Schools’ widespread use of the RISE assessment in middle grades provided valuable data for establishing validity and reliability properties.
Share by: