OSF Network Schools Post Widespread Academic Performance Index Gains

Contact: Dan Quigley,
Executive Director, 415-420-5640

Oakland, CA – 2009-10 Academic Performance Index (API) scores rose for the public schools working closely with the Oakland Schools Foundation (OSF). OSF's member schools improved their API results by an average of 22 points, outpacing scores statewide (which increased by an average of 13 points).

Highlights include:

• Four OSF-member schools – ACORN Woodland Elementary, Greenleaf Elementary, Manzanita SEED, and Think College Now – surpassed the state's API goal of 800. All are elementary schools in low-income areas of East Oakland.

• Twenty-seven of OSF's 34 schools improved their API scores this year.

• 17 of the network's schools topped 700, compared to 12 in 2008-09 and five in 2007-08.

• In reaching 842, Manzanita SEED's API score rose 106 points – the greatest growth of any Oakland Unified elementary school.

“Our growth of 106 points on the API scale came from a joint effort by our teachers, our kids, our parents, and multiple community partners," says Manzanita SEED Principal Katherine Carter. "OSF has been an essential partner in helping us set priorities, communicate with our communities, and raise private funds to increase success for our kids."

"OSF is proud to partner with schools that are doing such crucial work in narrowing the achievement gap," says OSF Executive Director Dan Quigley. "Oakland's public schools are on the rise, and we are encouraged to see our member schools playing a key role in this growth."

The scores, released by the California Department of Education this week, echo OSF schools' improvement on the 2009-10 California Standards Test (CST), and reflect a trend of growth across the district: City-wide, Oakland Unified School District API scores rose an average of 26 points – the greatest growth of any California district with more than 25,000 students. OUSD is California's most improved large, urban school district over the last six years. To learn more about API and how it is calculated, click here.

About the Oakland Schools Foundation

Founded in 2003, OSF is dedicated to promoting excellence in Oakland's public schools so that all of our students have the opportunity to achieve. OSF is the only private organization focused on securing and managing resources and providing expert operational, communications, and fundraising services for those Oakland public schools that serve primarily low-income students, are results-oriented and data-driven, are led by innovative, entrepreneurial leaders, and emphasize personalization, collaboration, and family involvement.