Oakland nonprofit urges change by school district after finding only 3-in-10 students can read at grade level

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — The latest findings by an Oakland nonprofit is urging the school district to do more. Families in Action found students’ reading and math levels are well below state grade levels.

“It’s 40 out of 120 public schools that we really feel like they are really making great improvement or they are meeting the standard,” said Kimi Kean, Families in Action founder.

Kean said the organization’s latest report on Oakland schools shows what many feared: students are not as equipped as they should be.

“What we are seeing is that there is a little growth but there is really not enough growth,” Kean said.

According to Families in Action only 3-in-10 Oakland students can read at grade level and barely 1-in-4 are proficient in grade-level math.

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Katya Caballero was shocked to learn her teenage son was not at the same academic level as his peers.

“When my son entered high school, I thought he was better prepared, and that wasn’t the case. When we used to go to school, they used to tell me he is doing well. But when he was being compared to other students, we realized that he wasn’t doing as well as we thought,” Caballero said.

Families in Action wants the school district to be more transparent with parents — not just at the time of report cards, but throughout the year. We sat with the principal of Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy. The school being recognized by the nonprofit after its transparency led to improvements.

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“We actually do dual enrollment, which we have our seniors and juniors, they actually take college courses. So they either go off campus and go to the local colleges, like Laney or Mary College, and we also have visiting professors come to our campus to also teach courses,” said Principal Stacy Thomas.

In a statement, the Oakland Unified School District said, “The deficits are far too great, and indicative of the fact that we historically have spread our resources too thinly..” and said it has seen improvements in literacy and the district is “adopting the latest curriculum…investing heavily in literacy tutors and teachers” and “administering high school reading assessments, but the district concedes.”

Families in Action is hoping their data encourages schools to share the academic reality with parents, so they can help.

“Every family in Oakland should really understand how their child school is performing and also how their own child is performing relative to grade level,” Kena said.

Full OUSD statement:

“OUSD is focused on overcoming its longtime challenges with regard to literacy and math proficiency. Improving literacy is one of the four initiatives of our Strategic Plan, and improvements in math go hand in hand with rising literacy rates. The data we have been tracking shows us where we need to invest to drive overall improvement.

To help raise student outcomes, the District has:

• Adopted the latest curriculum so teachers have cutting edge tools to facilitate learning
• Invested heavily in literacy tutors and teachers internally, and through community partnerships with such organizations as Oakland REACH and Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation
• Begun administering high school reading i-Ready assessments

OUSD has seen improvements in literacy: 2% in K-5 and 3% in grades 6-8 over the past two years as measured by i-Ready. Yet the deficits are far too great, and indicative of the fact that we historically have spread our resources too thinly, and that we need to concentrate our efforts even more on improving literacy and math skills among our students.”