SF Ed Fund, SFUSD, and DCYF Announce Major Expansion of High-Impact Tutoring to Serve More Than 2,700 San Francisco Students
This expansion represents the next phase of a coordinated City-district-nonprofit effort to improve literacy outcomes and advance educational equity across San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 20, 2026 — The San Francisco Education Fund (SF Ed Fund), San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), and the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) today announced a significant expansion of high-impact tutoring, a research-backed intervention program shown to dramatically improve literacy outcomes for participating students.
The expansion will allow the program to serve an additional 1,443 students through tutoring provider Chapter One, bringing the total number of students receiving high-impact tutoring to more than 2,700 across 20 SFUSD schools in the 2025-26 school year. With this expansion, partners will clear existing waitlists and concentrate resources in many of SFUSD’s highest-needs schools, with a particular focus on 2nd-4th grade students, a critical window for literacy development. This expansion is made possible through Student Success Fund dollars approved by the City and County of San Francisco and administered by DCYF.
Nearly half of SFUSD students are not yet reading at grade level, and disparities are most pronounced in the early grades, underscoring the urgency of targeted intervention. Among third graders, the numbers are especially alarming – only 7% of English Language Learners, 26% of Latinx students, and 19% of Black students met literacy standards in the latest state assessment.
SFUSD has a goal to increase third-grade literacy proficiency to 70% by 2027, up from roughly 50% today. To achieve this, this district has invested in a strong foundation of high-quality curriculum and instructional excellence, including a new science-of-reading-backed curriculum, launched in the 2024-25 school year. Building on these efforts, the SF Ed Fund’s high-impact literacy tutoring program provides an intervention to students who need the most support, helping them accelerate learning and reach grade-level proficiency. The program works in close partnership with educators, literacy coaches, and school leaders to identify students based on STAR assessments, California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) data, and classroom insights.
As the primary implementation partner for the program, SF Ed Fund works closely with SFUSD, school leaders, and educators to identify students based on assessment data and classroom insights. Since launching its high-impact tutoring program five years ago, SF Ed Fund has supported over 7,000 K-5 students across the district.
In schools supported by SF Ed Fund’s high-impact tutoring program during the 2024-25 school year, results were significant. In just five months, participating students meeting grade-level reading standards more than doubled, from 24% to 54%. At one school, the share of participating first graders reading at or above grade level nearly quadrupled, from 15% to 59%.
“This is the single most effective literacy intervention we have, and this expansion allows us to do what we know works,” said Ann Levy Walden, CEO of the San Francisco Education Fund. “With strong public partnership and clear goals, and in collaboration with the work of the district and its teaching staff, we’re able to deliver real, measurable gains for students who benefit most from support.”
The model is defined by consistent, in-person tutoring at least three times per week, delivered by trained tutors using high-quality, science-of-reading-backed materials that reinforce classroom instruction. When implemented appropriately, high-impact tutoring repeatedly has proven to be the most effective school-based strategy for accelerating learning. The results are compelling: Studies show that tutoring can increase student achievement by the equivalent of three to 15 months of learning.
“Third-grade literacy is a pivotal milestone, and ensuring students are proficient readers by the end of third grade is one of our most important student outcome goals,” said Dr. Maria Su, Superintendent of SFUSD. “We know that many students still need additional, targeted support to reach this benchmark. This expansion enables us to focus resources on the grade levels and school communities where high-impact tutoring can most effectively accelerate literacy development—helping students catch up, stay on track, and build a strong foundation for future learning.”
"Literacy is about much more than learning to read. High-impact literacy tutoring helps students build confidence, strengthen critical thinking, and develop the skills they need to thrive in school and beyond,” said Sherrice Dorsey-Smith, Executive Director of DCYF. “By investing Student Success Fund dollars and working in close partnership with our SFUSD and SF Ed Fund partners, we are expanding access to these services, bringing students off waitlists, and delivering more robust, coordinated supports for students and families across San Francisco."
Learn more about the SF Ed Fund’s high-impact tutoring program at sfedfund.org/tutoring.
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About SF Ed Fund
The San Francisco Education Fund (SF Ed Fund) advances equitable education by providing quality learning programs, community support, and financial resources to students, educators and schools. The SF Ed Fund’s primary focus is supporting the district’s highest-benefit schools – referred to as Priority Schools – defined as having 50%+ low-income students and 50%+ students not yet meeting literacy standards.
The SF Ed Fund was founded in 1979 as a response to Proposition 13 decimating funding for public education in California, and since then we have consistently mobilized the San Francisco community to champion equitable access to quality education for all public school students. As the first third-party intermediary in the nation focused solely on uplifting local public school teachers, students, and their schools, the SF Ed Fund has spent 45 years building a powerful legacy of community engagement and quality learning.
About SFUSD
SFUSD is the seventh largest school district in California, educating 50,000 PreK-12 students every year. San Francisco is both a city and a county; therefore, SFUSD administers both the school district and the San Francisco County Office of Education (COE). This makes SFUSD a “single district county.”
About DCYF
The San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) has administered the City’s investments in children, youth, transitional age youth, and their families through the Children & Youth Fund since 1991. DCYF works in partnership with community-based organizations, City agencies, and schools to fund high-quality, culturally responsive services that advance equity, support healing, and help young people succeed in school and in life.
DCYF envisions a strong San Francisco where all young people are supported by nurturing families and communities, are physically and emotionally healthy, are ready to learn and succeed in school, and are ready for college, work, and productive adulthood.
