Kids not able to step into their classrooms are stepping in to assist scientists at an archeological dig in Tanzania. Such surreal scenarios have become a new reality as students barred from school due to the COVID-19 virus embark on virtual learning through the Digital One Room Schoolhouse (DORS) platform.  

Ready or not, the “significant disruption” federal health officials urged schools to prepare for in late February is now upon us. Yet even before the first schools closed, Coronavirus had already disrupted crucial enrichment activities as schools abruptly canceled field trips and educational travel plans. Now wide-spread school closures have relegated students to their homes and solitary lessons have replaced face-to-face learning.

While some districts have high-quality remote study options in place, others have left teachers and even parents scrambling to lessen the blow closures are having on learning. Unfortunately, much of what they’re encountering online lacks real educational value.

On the flipside, parents and educators employing the Calculus Roundtable DORS program, an online science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational platform, have students engaged in active and highly-stimulating learning. It features over 800 student-tested and culturally-inclusive STEM activities aligned to common core and NGSS standards with real educators behind the scenes assigning and grading student work.

Bridging the Gap, Whether School Doors are Open or Closed

Sacramento mom, Amy Green recently began supplementing the school curriculum of her two boys with DORS after her 11-year-old son, Jack, who usually enjoys academic learning, started getting into trouble at school. The pace felt slow for him and he wasn’t engaging, especially in math.

Now Green reports that Jack is working at a level that’s stimulating and participating in real-world projects that fill his deeper need to contribute and make a difference. His younger brother Ryder was eager to explore the platform and is exploring projects at his own level.

“Both kids are really enjoying the playfulness and the charge put forth by the online assignments,” shares Green. “In a situation where we have the doors to schools closed for an extended period of time, I think Calculus Roundtable can certainly step in and bridge the gap.”

Unlike teacher strike closures where libraries and park districts often serve as alternative venues of learning and socializing, infectious disease epidemics confine kids to their homes making isolation a real and troubling issue. The unknown nature of the COVID-19 virus in particular spells quarantine of indefinite duration. Reports from countries such as Japan and Italy where schools and most other establishments have been closed for many weeks show lack of social interaction weighing heavily on children and families.

With both sons actively engaged in learning online and Jack connecting virtually with other children who’re contributing to an actual archeological dig in Tanzania, Green is guardedly optimistic about the shutdowns here.

“Something like the DORS platform allows kids access to each other when they can't be together in person.”

Easy-to-use modules enthrall kids wherever they’re learning

Not only are parents like Green benefiting from high-level STEM enrichment for their children, whole districts in California have implemented the innovative online learning platform offered by Calculus Roundtable. While some schools are using DORS in after-school or summer programs, others have incorporated it into their regular curriculum.
Many of the modules have an interactive game-like quality that has proven effective in raising the bar with students who have traditionally struggled with STEM subjects like math and science. While distractions encountered at home differ from those students face in a school setting, in both scenarios children crave compelling material that grabs their attention especially those with short attention spans.

“Students need to hit the ground running with their online learning experience—so lessons need to engage students right away,” explains Jim Hollis, Calculus Roundtable founder and director. “Like the games they love so much, as soon as kids get their hands on them they’re able to learn with very little instruction and motivated to accomplish tasks so they can move to the next level.”
“I was shocked at how easy it was,” notes Green who’d stepped away to cook and returned to find her boys, educated in a system that doesn’t emphasize technology, had figured it out and were already up and running.

Technology that brings hope to under-served communities. Yet relying exclusively on technology to provide education during a crisis raises equity concerns with good reason. Lack of access to quality academic and enrichment programs whether live or virtual has further deepened the divide along racial and economic lines.

Hollis has literally dedicated the past 17 years to confronting the issue of educational equity in under-served communities where it deeply affects children of color. He founded Calculus Roundtable to fill this critical need for enriching STEM education in these communities. Accessibility and culturally-relevant content are among the powerful advantages of DORS. With a proven track record in high-poverty schools and with children of color, the platform has also been time tested in juvenile detention centers with incarcerated youth.  

“[CR] has created a model that really has served a community of kids of color with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests,” says Todd Groves, former West Contra Costa Unified School District School Board President who brought the Calculus Roundtable programs to the district in 2015.

“The beauty of the lessons is that they’re satisfying to complete, have a wide aperture and engage students where they’re at. That really helps remove the stigma for kids who’re behind grade level, which can be hard for a kid.”

He’s personally witnessed students engrossed in what they’re learning and motivated instead of being worried about measuring up to standards.

Melissa Perkins has noticed a tremendous increase in her 6th grade son Messiah’s self-esteem and interest in learning since he started the DORS program during science class at his school in Oakland and other extra-curricular Calculus Roundtable activities. Prior to his involvement, he showed absolutely no interest in science and like many boys his age played a lot of video games. Now he’s creating animation with game coding and about to build his own PC computer unit.
Perkins is confident that Messiah’s new hunger to learn to deepen his technical skills will pull him through despite school being closed. A year ago he’d easily have been like so many kids she knows “happy to miss school and stay up all night playing games on their phones.”

She’s incredibly grateful to the Calculus Roundtable program for, as she puts it, “saving my baby” by giving him direction and awakening his natural leadership abilities at a critical age.
“It’s not just giving our youth hope, it’s actually giving them something concrete they can do with their lives and succeed,” says Perkins.

When considering Edtech options as part of a contingency plan or to augment curriculum, school administrators should bear this in mind--A platform that transports kids to ruins in Tanzania is thrilling while one with the substance to launch their students into a fulfilling future—that’s a very wise investment.

The Bay Area is a vast, 7000 square mile region that spans nine counties. The region includes neighborhoods with the largest per capita income in the state, as well as neighborhoods with some of the highest crime and poverty statistics in the nation.
 
In the nine counties that make up the region (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma Counties) the 101 municipalities are, home to 7.4 million inhabitants, served by 177 public school districts educating 947,433 students, of which 139,000 students are African American.
 
We examined the results from all 177 Bay Area public school districts and reviewed their performance serving African American students and their families.
 
We ranked these Bay Area districts, not by the number of African-American Students enrolled or by the highest percentage of African-American students. We ranked districts by their ability to produce and prepare the highest number of African-American students for college. The college readiness of students was our highest criteria. We focused heavily on math proficiency and students readiness and perceived readiness in math and science with an interest in STEM related fields.
 
Here are the top 20 Bay Area school districts for African American Students.

1. Gilroy Unified (Santa Clara)
2. Orchard Elementary (Santa Clara)
3. Redwood City Elementary (San Mateo)
4. Newark Unified (Alameda)
5. San Rafael City Elementary (Marin)
6. Wright Elementary (Sonoma)
7. Bellevue Union (Sonoma)
8. Napa Valley Unified (Napa)
9. Hayward Unified (Alameda)
10. Mount Pleasant Elementary (Santa Clara)
11. Fairfield-Suisun Unified (Solano)
12. Alum Rock Union Elementary (Santa Clara)
13. Franklin-McKinley Elementary (Santa Clara)
14. East Side Union High (Santa Clara)
15. Dixon Unified (Solano)
16. Emery Unified (Alameda)
17. San Francisco Unified (San Francisco)
18. Jefferson Elementary (San Mateo)
19. Oakland Unified (Alameda)
20. West Contra Costa Unified (Contra Costa)

 
We looked at whether each school’s relative performance in its state reading and mathematics assessments overall. We look at overall ethnic diversity, factoring in the proportion of its student body that is economically disadvantaged.
 
OTHER CRITERIA
We looked at a district’s ability to accelerate growth with traditionally under-served students as they relate to the state average. We also looked at the percentage of African-American Students in the district who met or exceeded expectations in mathematics.
 
Next, we compared each school's reading and mathematics assessment scores among only their historically under-served students - African American, Hispanic and low-income - with the average statewide results for these subgroups. We selected schools that outperformed their state averages.
 
We considered whether African American student graduation rates met their threshold and excluded schools from consideration where their graduation rates were lower than 70 percent.
 
Lastly, we examined a school district’s overall ranking as a US News and world reports list of California schools as the Tiebreaker.
 
INSIDE GILROY’S SUCCESS
With 55.2% of its African-American Students scoring at, or above proficiency in Math, we ranked Gilroy Unified is ranked #1 district for African American Students in the Bay Area. With its 11,834 students of African-American ethnicity, Gilroy Unified, ranks at the top of this list. Among its top schools  the top 100 school districts in the state, Dr. T.J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy (GECA) is ranked 23rd in California by US News and World Reports High School ranking.
 
Students attending GECA have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement coursework and exams. The Advanced Placement participation rate at Owens Early College Academy is 100 percent. The student body makeup is 51 percent male and 49 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 73 percent.
 
REGION WIDE PERSPECTIVE
Region wide, in only 7 out of the 177 districts did African American students score at or above proficient in Math.
 
While the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) test scores revealed notable progress in reducing achievement gaps between students from low-income families and their better off peers, a troubling gap remains.
 
Results from the Fall 2018 assessments reveal a large gap in math performance region wide between White and African-American students (28 percentage points), as well as between White and Hispanic students (26 percentage points).
 
 CONCLUSION
Gaps based on income level are even more troubling. Just 18 percent of fourth grade students eligible for free meals through the government’s National School Lunch Program (NSLP) were deemed proficient in math, while 51 percent of students not eligible scored proficient.
 
These findings should serve as a reminder that we need to refocus our efforts to ensure that neither ZIP code, tax bracket, nor skin color prevents students from receiving an excellent education.

School board governance is an important issue in the advancement of 21st century learning. As the evidence mounts on the critical role that boards play in impacting student achievement, School boards must see their knowledge and beliefs transformed to empower families to own their student’s educational journey. This notion carries through among administrators and teachers and the districts. According to results of a research study released by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB), school boards in districts with high student achievement:

  • Consistently expressed the belief that all students can learn and that the school could teach all students.
This "no excuses" belief system resulted in high standards for students and an on‐going dedication to improvement. In low‐achieving districts, board members had limited expectations and often focused on factors that they believed kept students from learning, such as poverty, lack of parental support or societal factors. The oncoming conversion to common core will inevitably bring the stress of change to your schools and district. Its more important than ever that standards and expectations remain high. Incredible work follows incredible expectations.

   • Were far more knowledgeable about teaching and learning issues, including school improvement goals, curriculum, instruction, assessment and staff development.
They were able to clearly describe the purposes and processes of school improvement efforts and identify the board's role in supporting those efforts. They could give specific examples of how district goals were being carried out by administrators and teachers.

   • Used data and other information on student needs and results to make decisions.
The high achieving boards regularly monitored progress on improvement efforts and modified direction as a result.

   • Created a supportive workplace for staff.
Boards in high‐achieving districts supported regular staff development to help teachers be more effective, supported shared leadership and decision making among staff, and  regularly expressed appreciation for staff members. It must be understood that 21st century learning can happen anywhere; and teachers must understand both the mechanics as well as the context of digital learning to be effective. Boards must be creative in helping staff ‘learn while teaching’.

   • Involved their communities.
Board members identified how they connect with and listen to their communities and focused on involving parents in education. Effective school board governance of the 21st century is a fluid process whereby boards make the important educational decisions for their local community; continually determine and seek out those local, state and national stakeholders critical to ensuring successful outcomes for students; and operate with transparency as they hold themselves accountable to their communities. Twenty‐first century governance must see the community as a resource, this include parents, business and community groups all at the table with a role in addressing educational and societal needs of students.

Strong, collaborative leadership by the governance team is a key cornerstone of the foundation for high student achievement. That leadership is essential to forming a community vision for children, crafting long range goals and plans for raising the achievement of every child, improving the professional development and status of teachers and other staff, and ensuring that the guidance, support, and resources needed for success are available. The governance team of the 21st century must work cooperatively and collaboratively to mobilize their communities to aid in directing the educational services of today’s students with future ready skills for optimal success and productivity to face the challenges of tomorrow.

The Common Core offers schools and districts the opportunity to collaborate together on solutions that benefit the greater good of all districts. Districts soon will be asked to support programs, unheard of only a few years ago. At the same time, they must show the impact of these efforts to improve education.

In our conversations with districts, this realization is just becoming clear. We believe, in the near future, this dichotomy will force districts to work across boundaries to serve constituencies of similar needs, be they access to technology or academics support.

Looking at what makes local education donors successful in other parts of the country offers clues to folks here in the Bay Area seeking to increase the impact of their giving, in areas they care about most. Among the important lessons: Donors need to hold themselves accountable for not only success but for monitoring and measuring impact of growth and be willing to make tough choices.

Consider what is happening in Charlotte, N.C., the nation's 18th-largest school system. Collaboration among donors illustrates the key elements of what it takes for donors to increase student achievement:

Working hand in hand with the school district on strategies to ensure that every student graduates ready for college and career. Donors need to ensure that they are working with a strong capable district leadership team and that the district has a credible, long-term strategy focused on effective teaching in every classroom and the right support for every student.

While the ultimate goal of Project L.I.F.T. is to boost student achievement in the entire district, it has focused its five-year $55-million philanthropic investment on nine historically low-performing schools in West Charlotte—a high school and the eight elementary and middle schools that feed into it. LIFT is pursuing change in four key areas we ourselves recommend: teacher and principal quality; extending student learning time in school, after school, and during the summer; technology; and community engagement.

Denise Watts, the Project L.I.F.T. superintendent in charge of the nine West Charlotte schools, serves as a bridge between the schools and the donors by reporting directly to both, thus ensuring a strong link between what is happening in the Project L.I.F.T. schools and what is happening in the whole district.

Investing together over multiple years to advance shared strategies. The Charlotte donors are not simply trying to raise the largest possible pool of money but rather to direct the largest possible pool toward a credible long-term strategy for transformation of all districts. Each donor has committed donations for at least four years. The donors describe a need to continuously adapt and evolve their approach, and to respond to the challenges and setbacks that inevitably arise.

The governing board meets monthly with the Superintendent, Heath Morrison, Deputy Superintendent Clark, and Project L.I.F.T. staff members. The board monitors progress and tackles implementation. For example, it handled the politically difficult choice of which group of Charlotte schools would get the initial investment, and it decided to end support for one of two summer-program providers when students in the program failed to show the same gains as those served by the other provider.

Long-term strategies also highlight the need for donors to measure their progress and impact. Says Brian Collier of the Foundation for the Carolinas: "We'd had opportunities to work together through much smaller pooled funds and were starting to understand that we always hold nonprofits accountable. But until now, we have rarely had the conversation about holding ourselves accountable."

Engaging the community is key to shaping and sustaining the work. All too often, school-improvement efforts trigger years of tension—political, economic, and racial. Effective donors get everybody in a community involved, and that is where local donors may have a real edge over national ones. This means pursuing a dialogue among the district, philanthropists, government agencies, neighborhood associations, parents, and students to create a shared understanding of what it takes to achieve real results

Calculus Roundtable has established a structured process for gathering voices from the key stakeholders and funding community around areas of digital learning, using technology leverage remote learning and motivating math and science rigor. We've designed a team charter for meeting with hundreds of parents, teachers and other residents through focus groups and town halls in churches, schools, and other community gathering places.

The voices of local residents can help shape a regional approach to change. We must see the community as a resource. However, this can only be done with a greater understanding of families needs. In our internal survey of parents from our first 2 cohorts, we found that "Parents still have concerns about the digital divide, access to technology and 'online curriculum support'."

One to one interviews with parents and key stakeholders during our DORS online extended learning pilot program prompts us to recommend a stronger approach to defining extended learning time, which was at first perceived by some parents as nothing more than a longer school day. Relabeling extended learning as an investment in "continuous learning" and apart of the school's learning objective emphasizes the combined contribution of in-school and out-of-school learning.

                      "Schools must look beyond the scarcity of resources and
                              toward the abundance of an entire community."

As we review Charlotte's progress to date the results are encouraging. In four of its nine West Charlotte schools, Project L.I.F.T. has been able to increase the hours students spend in school and in summer learning programs. Some of it's more controversial efforts sought to improve performance by repositioning a large number of teachers and principals.

One school in particular, West Charlotte High School has achieved a 15-point increase in the graduation rate, compared with a system-wide 5 percent increase.

There have been real challenges in Charlotte as well, including staff turnover and difficulties in securing the number of high-quality out-of-school-time slots needed to implement the continuous-learning calendar.

Charlotte has a ways to go to reach its ultimate goal. But in the face of one of America's most daunting challenges—making sure all public-school students are ready for college and career—we believe that the structure, scale, and energy of donor partnerships like Charlotte's demonstrate what it takes to transform student outcomes.

A year ago we had an idea. We set out to change the odds for all our kids. Today, Calculus Roundtable is helping schools raise expectations and performance. We work with teachers and district leaders in schools from California to Alabama. The Calculus Roundtable is making great strides in preparing students of color with the skills needed in the new economy like problem solving, critical thinking, science, technology, engineering and math.

Last month, from the White House East Room, President Obama announced the launch of My Brother’s Keeper, “a new initiative with leading foundations and businesses taking a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to building ladders of opportunity that will unlock the full potential of boys and young men of color in America.” With this announcement, the President is making a significant statement and giving us validation on our collective work to improve the life outcomes of black men and boys.

I and Calculus Roundtable are honored to be a part of the President's initiative through work with our flagship program, The Digital One Room Schoolhouse (DORS).

DORS will help retrofit America's most challenging schools with from more challenging curriculums, better progress reporting for parents, added content support for teachers and new ways to measure how well our kids think, not how well they can fill in a bubble on a test.

Thank you to all our supporters and partners for your tireless advocacy, teaching, research, and leadership has made it possible for us to make lives better for children and their families. Your support and interest has contributed to us being able to play a small part in the future of public education.

Thanks again for your support!