Bay Area New Leaders work relentlessly to get dramatic gains in their schools. They have consistently delivered results for low-income students and students of color, increasing test scores and boosting achievement. More than 80% of the students in Bay Area New Leader schools are students of color, 70% are eligible for free or reduced lunch and 40% are English language learners.

School Results

Nearly 60 New Leaders serve in districts across the Bay Area, including in San Francisco, San Jose, Hayward and Richmond. The largest concentration of New Leaders is in Oakland public schools, where the need for effective school leadership is acute. In 2010-2011, the principal turnover rate in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) was more than 20 percent. Today, New Leaders serve as principals in approximately 25 percent of OUSD’s traditional schools.

OUSD is the most improved urban school district in California over the last seven years. New Leaders have played a role in that improvement: for the fifth consecutive year, New Leader schools out-paced the gains made by other schools in OUSD. Over just the last two years, New Leader schools in Oakland averaged a 19 point gain in math and reading proficiency, versus 9 points in other district schools.

Here are a few examples of New Leaders getting dramatic gains

• Kimi Kean led ACORN Woodland Elementary School for five years, overseeing a 146 point gain in API (Academic Performance Index). Now, New Leader Leroy Gaines has increased the API score by 36 points in his first year as ACORN’s principal. ACORN was the highest gaining school Oakland in reading in 2011.
• Kareem Weaver, in his first year as principal of Lazear Elementary, led the school to double digit proficiency gains in math, nearly seven times the district average. Read more about Kareem>>

New Leaders tend to demonstrate better results the longer they are in the principalship

• In five years, New Leader Principal Katherine Carter has increased math proficiency by 31.1 percentage points to 76.1% of students from 45% five years ago at Manzanita SEED Academy. The percentage of students proficient in language arts is 65%, up from 20% in 2006. Read more about Katherine >>
• Since New Leader Monica Thomas took over leadership of Oakland’s then-struggling Greenleaf Academy in 2006, the percentage of students proficient in math has risen to 76%, from 26%. In English, proficiency at Greenleaf rose to 52% from 15%.

• Adam Taylor, New Leader Principal at Brookfield Elementary School, and Connie Tillman, New Leader Principal at RISE Community School, moved their schools out of “program improvement” (PI) status this year—just two of four schools in Oakland to accomplish this in 2011. Exiting PI requires an extremely low-performing school to demonstrate adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years. Since 2009, Connie’s school has gained 100 points on the API, going from 646 in 2009 to 746 in 2011. Adam’s school has moved from 707 to 760, gaining 53 points in two years.

Bay Area New Leaders are part of a dynamic community of educators who are dedicated to transforming local public schools. Their commitment gets results.

We encourage and welcome your involvement in New Leaders! To learn more about becoming a Bay Area New Leader, please visit our Bay Area Program Page. To support our work and be a part of transforming Bay Area schools, please make a gift today.