We began by supporting reform initiatives at the school level in San Francisco Unified School District. During this time, we found that reform efforts in classrooms and schools — while sometimes inspiring — cannot change whole systems. And without systemic change, world-class education cannot be delivered at scale. In 2000, we determined that our most effective contribution to education reform would be to work at the district level to promote whole systems of excellent schools. To that end, the foundation embarked on the development of a knowledge base about district reform by working directly with district leaders.

From 2001 through 2007, the foundation partnered with 17 districts nationwide in the District Alliance Program. The program focused on providing management assistance, leadership networks and grants to support these districts in raising student achievement.

Spending an average of three years in each system, we saw some of our districts make student achievement gains, with significant improvement in a subset of districts. The districts also made noteworthy advances in organizational effectiveness in such areas as human resources, accountability, finance, curriculum and instruction, and communication. In addition, the district leaders made great strides in their own development through networking, coaching and thought partnership.

The insights we gained from this experience led us to conclude that an integrated, systemwide approach focused on district leadership development is critical in order to transform districts in their entirety so that all children attain high levels of success. These lessons from our work in the District Alliance Program have had a significant influence in shaping our new strategic direction.

While our mission remains the same, our approach and methods are evolving. We are beginning to implement the first stages of our Design Collaborative as we outline the structure and sequencing of our other program streams. Read more about our current work in Strategy and Programs.