Education Model

Our Approach

To turnaround under-performing schools and improve their academic performance, the Partnership implements a comprehensive education model that addresses key instructional, cultural and policy issues that have plagued LAUSD schools for years.  Our model is focused on fundamental changes- rather than incremental improvements.  We are committed to working with existing school staff and providing them with supports necessary for improve their practice.

Our model includes the following key strategies:

The Partnership’s comprehensive turnaround model addresses key instructional, cultural and policy issues, including Great School Leaders, Teacher Effectiveness, Targeted Student Interventions, and Family & Community Engagement.

• Great School Leaders: The Partnership recruits highly effective principals to lead its schools, recognizing that the most under served schools must have the best principals. Partnership principals are paid higher salaries than their LAUSD counterparts as an incentive for taking on the toughest schools. Principals receive extensive training on instructional leadership and organizational management through monthly leadership conferences and one-on-one coaching. The Partnership has a “high-touch” coaching model whereby senior directors (former principals with proven turn-around experience) spend approximately one day a week on-site with each principal during the first two years of a school transformation. 

• Teacher Effectiveness: Improving quality instruction is the most important school-based factor to advance student achievement. The Partnership recently launched its “Teacher Pioneers” program that transforms the culture of instructional training at schools where Master Teachers drive professional development with an emphasis on collaboration, self-reflection and multiple measures of effectiveness. This fundamental change replaces the traditional teacher development model by motivating teachers to seek improvement of their craft, and increasing accountability among their peers and colleagues. Along with the “Teacher Pioneers” program, the Partnership provides additional tools and time for teacher development, consistent and reliable periodic assessments, and direct services in literacy and math training. The Partnership also has rigorous processes for recruiting, hiring, placing, and managing new staff.  

• Targeted Student Intervention: For students to dramatically accelerate their achievement, it is paramount that schools provide them with targeted intervention that supports their needs. The Partnership’s two priorities in this area focus on schools’ master schedules and blended learning. The Partnership oversees its schools’ master schedules to ensure students receive their college preparatory curriculum and implements blended learning as its main intervention program. The Partnership is in the second year of its three-year Blended Learning Initiative, its key strategy to deliver technology and intervention software programs to all of its schools. A blended learning approach combines face-to-face classroom methods with computer-mediated activities to form an integrated instructional approach. The Partnership is implementing programs that support students in core subjects such as math and English, as well as preparation for the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), a state-required test for college entry after graduation, and credit recovery to ensure students are on an A-G track to graduate. With blended learning, Partnership students are able to have personalized instructional support while providing real time data for teachers to adjust accordingly. 

• Family and Community Engagement: The Partnership believes family and community engagement is essential to turning around low-performing schools to ensure sustainable student learning and achievement. In order to drive family engagement at its schools, the Partnership implements a comprehensive program that trains parents and provides school-site supports. Recognizing that parents in high poverty communities encounter unique barriers, the Partnership created the Parent College, which offers a series of monthly workshops to improve parents’ skills to be informed advocates for their children’s education. The Partnership has also developed systems to connect parents directly to school sites. All Partnership schools have renovated Parent Centers designed to provide a welcoming environment on campus for parents to hold meetings, and support the school and their student’s education. Parents are encouraged to participate in their school’s Family Action Team (comprised of administrators, teachers, parents, and community representatives) created by each Partnership school with the sole focus of increasing parent engagement. The Partnership also invests in bringing as many community resources to schools as possible. The Partnership identifies strategic community partners for its schools that can offer students a variety of enrichment opportunities (i.e. field trips, internships, corporate school adoptions) and direct services, including nutritional, dental and medical.