On Thursday, April 2, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform & Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) released a new report entitled “Building a Districtwide Small Schools Movement” documenting how OCO's grassroots community organizing has been crucial to sustaining and growing Oakland's successful school reform effort over the last 10 years.

Listen to KQED'S Interview about OCO's Small Schools Movement >>
April 1, 2009

Learn more

Read "Oakland Unified School District New Small Schools Initiative Evaluation"
Ash Vasudeva, Linda Darling-Hammond, Stephen Newton & Kenneth Montgomery
The School Redesign Network at Stanford University, June 2009
Full Report >>
Executive Summary >>

Read "Building a Districtwide Small Schools Movement: Oakland Community Organizations"
Annenberg Institute for School Reform, April 2, 2009

Review the Annenberg Institute's Power Point Presentation from the Release Event
Annenberg Institute for School Reform, April 2, 2009

Read "Faith-based organizing for youth: One organization’s district campaign for small schools policy"
Ron Snyder, Executive Director, OCO, April 2008

Read "An Evaluation of the Oakland New Small School Initiative"
Strategic Measurement and Evaluation, Inc., September 2007

Watch the Release Event >>

More information

Oakland can be a tough place for kids to thrive.  Too many neighborhoods are gripped by violence and too many students leave school without ever having earned their high school diploma.

But a decade-old, community-led school reform effort is changing the lives of Oakland youth by bringing high-quality, small schools to Oakland's most trouble neighborhoods, serving as an example of the innovation that President Obama and Secretary of Education Duncan say are necessary for reforming our public school system. 

In 1998, parents, teachers and concerned community members from Oakland Community Organizations launched a campaign to improve the overcrowded, unsafe, and underperforming schools in the city's flatlands.  More than 10 years later, their efforts have resulted in the creation of 48 small schools, serving primarily low-income students of color.

A report released this week by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform - that follows Oakland's reform movement over the past six years - shows clearly how small schools are outperforming neighboring larger schools in the district and transforming students' lives, including:

19-year-old Rigoberto Mendoza, who graduated from Life Academy, Oakland's first small high school, in June 2008, following in the footsteps of a cousin and older sister. He's now a Gates Millennium Scholar finishing up his first year of pre-med studies at UCLA and he credits Life Academy with providing him with the opportunities and support he needed to excel in school and be one of the first in his family to go to college. He plans on returning to Oakland to practice medicine so he can give back to the community that gave him so much.

Deanita Lewis' daughter Reyshawn, is following in her cousin Lina's footsteps. Lina graduated with honors from Leadership Preparatory High School on MacArthur Blvd in East Oakland, and is a freshman at UC Davis.  Deanita appreciates the personal attention her daughter receives in a small school like Leadership Prep. Strong relationships with caring adults will help Reyshawn to achieve her college dream.

These are just two of the lives that have been transformed by Oakland's small schools. The Annenberg report shows that Oakland's small schools boast higher graduation rates, stronger parent-teacher relationships, and provide students with a safe and supportive learning environment.  And unlike many school reform efforts, that get derailed with a change in leadership, the report documents how parents, teachers and community members have organized to not only sustain, but grow the movement through five changes in district leadership.

For more information, contact Roberta Furger at 510-703-6357 or roberta@picocalifornia.org