Frequently Asked Questions
1) What is Pivot Learning Partners?
2) How does Pivot Learning Partners help schools improve?
3) Who are Pivot Learning Partners' clients?
4) What's unique about Pivot Learning Partners?
5) What is Pivot Learning Partners' Cycle of Inquiry?
6) What results can you point to?
7) How is the work of Pivot Learning Partners funded?
What is Pivot Learning Partners?
Pivot Learning Partners is a network of education professionals including teachers, administrators, researchers and others who are dedicated to helping California’s schools and districts improve student performance and narrow the achievement gap. It was founded in 1995 as the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) and operated as Springboard Schools from 2005 until July 2009 when it became Pivot Learning Partners.
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How does Pivot Learning Partners help schools improve?
Pivot Learning Partners’ “research to action” approach to improving schools consists of three parts: 1) we study high-performing, low-resource schools to understand what they’re doing right; 2) we provide professional development to educators and administrators; and 3) we partner with school districts to provide intensive, on-site coaching so new ideas are transformed into practical strategies for change.
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Who are Pivot Learning Partners' clients?
Pivot Learning Partners works with education leaders at all levels of the system, from teachers to district administrators. Our clients are school districts across California. They range from large (Fresno Unified, with more than 80,000 students) to small (Exeter, with 2,000 students) and include urban, suburban and rural districts. Pivot Learning Partners is one of very few organizations in the state that offers a model for change at the district level as well as the school level – a model that is already showing results. Over the years, we have worked with more than 70 districts and more than 300 schools.
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What's unique about Pivot Learning Partners?
Pivot Learning Partners’ approach is unique in three ways: 1) we begin with research about best practices in high performing, high poverty schools and school districts – and then work with our clients to customize our services to meet their needs; 2) we work alongside school and district leaders to build their capacity to improve and sustain the results they get; and 3) every step of our program is informed by our own continuous improvement process – what we call the “Cycle of Inquiry.”
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What is Pivot Learning Partners' Cycle of Inquiry?
We created this unique data-driven decision-making process for improving schools because we believe the best results start with asking the right questions. We also believe that examining student achievement data alone is not enough; we must also closely examine how teachers teach and how schools and districts are organized. All of this has a huge influence on student learning. The Cycle of Inquiry process can be used at multiple levels of a school system, from the classroom to the boardroom.
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What results can you point to?
Pivot Learning Partners’ program for improving schools was rigorously evaluated over a five-year period by an independent research team at Stanford University’s Center for Research on the Context of Teaching (CRC). CRC’s intensive study documented that test scores in Pivot Learning Partners schools rose more rapidly than those in a carefully matched group of schools that did not take part in our program. Those schools that implemented the Pivot Learning Partners model most faithfully made the biggest gains. [Bay Area School Reform Collaborative: Phase One (1996-2001) Evaluation; Center for Research on the Context of Teaching, Stanford University]
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How is the work of Pivot Learning Partners funded?
Pivot Learning Partners was founded in 1995 with a $50 million grant from the Annenberg and the William and Flora Hewlett foundations. Today, Pivot Learning Partners is supported in part from fees charged to districts for our services and in part by a diverse coalition of foundations, corporations and individuals committed to investing in the improvement of public education.
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