California Collaborative on District Reform. (2018). Sanger Unified School District (USD) student enrollment & performance. [Collection of student demographic and performance data for June 18-19, 2018, meeting of the Califfornia Collaborative on District Reform]. Available at https://cacollaborative.org/file/sanger-usd-student-enrollment-and-performance-data
This collection of graphics and tables provides key background information about Sanger Unified School District (SUSD). The pie chart and table show SUSD student enrollment by ethnicity/race for the 2017-18 school year. The table also provides SUSD and California student enrollment across other demographic categories, including English learners, students with disabilities, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, foster youth, homeless students, and the unduplicated student count for the 2017-18 school year. The graphs that follow provide SUSD’s English-language arts and mathematics proficiency rates on the California Standards Test from 2004-2013 (as compared to the state) and meeting standards rates on the California Assessment for Student Performance and Progress from 2015-17 (as compared to the state and other districts SUSD identified based on similarities in student demographics).
**Talbert, J. E., & David, J. L. (2018). District positive outliers: The Sanger USD case. Unpublished draft. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. Available at https://cacollaborative.org/file/talbert-sanger-usd-case-study
This case study documents the roll-out of SUSD’s effective instruction and multi-tiered systems of support initiatives as components of its move to Common Core State Standards. Drawing on site visits to schools and district offices, a review of district documents, and past interviews with district administrators, the researchers found several key existing factors that contributed to SUSD’s success in implementing these new programs. Among these are support for professional learning communities at all levels of the system, a focus on relationship building both within the district and with the community, a culture of making decisions based on evidence, and a robust pipeline for leadership development. Other factors discussed were fostering a collaborative environment and running pilot programs rather than rolling out changes on a larger scale. The paper concludes with potential lessons learned for other school districts as well as the state of California in terms of creating an environment for the successful implementation of mandated changes.