SFUSD Students in SF Ed Fund’s High-Impact Tutoring Program Grew Literacy Proficiency Nearly Twice as Fast as District Average
New data shows especially strong gains among Hispanic/Latinx students and English Language Learners, underscoring the power of targeted literacy support
San Francisco, CA — Students who participated in the San Francisco Education Fund's (SF Ed Fund) high-impact tutoring program during the 2025-26 school year improved their STAR Reading scores nearly twice as fast as the average San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) student between Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, according to new full-year data. Among kindergarten through second grade students receiving high-impact tutoring, literacy proficiency increased by 8.2 percentage points over the course of the year, compared to a 4.4 percentage point increase districtwide. These students started the year well behind their SFUSD peers (20.3% proficiency in the fall, versus 55.6% districtwide), so the growth reflects significant ground gained, not just pace kept.
"These results demonstrate what's possible when students receive consistent, evidence-based literacy support alongside high-quality classroom instruction," said Ann Levy Walden, CEO of the SF Ed Fund. "Students who began the year behind their peers are making meaningful progress, and these findings reinforce the value of investing in proven interventions that help more children become confident readers."
The strongest gains were seen among the youngest readers. Kindergarten students participating in the high-impact tutoring program increased STAR Early Literacy proficiency, a measure of early reading development and progress toward grade level expectations, by 13.7 percentage points over the full year, compared to a 7.4 percentage point increase districtwide.
Bessie Carmichael Elementary, located in the South of Market neighborhood, highlighted growth among their kindergarteners in the high-impact tutoring program as exceptional. Kindergarten teacher Carina Richardson shared, “Our tiered intervention model, Tier 1 instruction with HMH plus Tier 2 support from our own small groups and Chapter One's Ms. Betsy, has been key for our high-needs students. This past year, our kindergarteners reached SFUSD's literacy proficiency goals for our school for the first time in years.”
Growth was especially high among participating students who are Hispanic/Latinx or English Language Learners (ELLs). Hispanic/Latinx students participating in the program improved literacy outcomes roughly twice as fast as their district peers (+8.7 percentage points compared to +4.3 points districtwide). Among Hispanic/Latinx students assessed through STAR Early Literacy, benchmark attainment increased by 9.9 percentage points, compared to a 5.8 point increase districtwide. English Language Learners (ELL) also demonstrated strong growth, gaining 8.4 percentage points on STAR Reading assessments, while the district average for ELL students on that same measure slipped slightly, from 33.5% to 33.1%. The district also has reason to celebrate its own progress here: SFUSD's ELL kindergartners saw their Early Literacy proficiency rate rise from 42.9% to 52.4%, a 9.4 percentage point gain districtwide.
The SF Ed Fund works with Stanford's National Student Support Accelerator and schools to vet providers, then with schools to qualify and select student participants, and finally with schools and providers on implementation and evaluation. This model is unique to the SF Ed Fund, and is school-centered to ensure a continuous cycle of feedback and improvements. During the 2025-26 school year, the program expanded to serve more than 2,700 students across 20 SFUSD school sites.
Building on these strong results, the SF Ed Fund has expanded high-impact tutoring beyond the traditional school year. In April, the organization announced a new multi-year investment from Crankstart that brought Chapter One's evidence-based literacy tutoring model to 562 San Francisco public school students at seven camps this summer, and will continue expanding over the next two years. According to Chapter One’s progress monitoring, which considers reading development in stages, 42% of students working towards a specific milestone (e.g. sounding out words, reading full sentences smoothly) reached a new one, some in just five weeks.
The findings are based on Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 STAR Assessment data from a cohort of approximately 700 kindergarten through second-grade students receiving Chapter One tutoring across 10 SFUSD schools through funding from the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF). Growth was strong across all students and subgroups, though smaller sample sizes meant not every subgroup, including African American students, had full-year data.
