SFUSD details DreamBox rollout, curriculum pilots and a 205‑minute math baseline as trustees press for equity and timelines

District staff told the Board that DreamBox, a supplemental adaptive math tool, produced higher scale‑score growth among users in the district’s monitoring data and that the district intends to expand access and make its classroom use an expectation rather than an optional resource.

Curriculum staff described a standards‑aligned review in which three elementary and three middle programs were advanced for site‑based review by 93 SFUSD educators and 27 community members; the district expects to select two elementary and two middle programs to pilot and to begin professional learning for pilot teachers in summer 2024. Staff emphasized that contractual and state requirements shape piloting: for some adoptions the district cannot require pilot participation but can incentivize and compensate participating teachers.

On instructional time, the Board heard that middle‑school bell schedules vary widely. Staff said LEAD (the instructional office) reviews schools’ submitted annual minutes and that, under superintendent direction, LEAD and curriculum services are now collaborating more closely. Staff stated the district will set a 205‑minute math baseline for next year and review whether additional adjustments to reach a higher target are needed.

Trustees repeatedly asked for more disaggregated school‑level data, explicit numeric expectations tied to each strategy and clarity on staffing and budget allocations; associate superintendent Dr. Aguilera Fortes committed to provide a scope and sequence for professional learning, a staffing plan and a rollout timeline by May. Trustees also raised equity concerns: staff said they would assign students to additional algebra supports unless a student/guardian opted out and would expand readiness programming to broaden access for historically under‑represented groups.

The presentation also noted the use of lesson study at scale — two schools will conduct full lesson‑study research while other schools will receive coaching informed by lesson‑study practices — and named Willie Brown as a bright spot using an innovation grant to support math work. Staff acknowledged that supplements alone were insufficient and described the combination of curriculum adoption, intentional professional learning and supplemental supports as the path to significant change.

Staff and trustees requested that missing or corrupted items on BoardDocs be corrected so the public can access the full monitoring attachments and Q&A documents referenced during the meeting.