Springboard Schools Receives State Farm Grant to
Develop Academic Leaders

Core News Facts

• $50,000 grant given by State Farm Insurance to assist in development of academic leadership
• Grant to be used for professional development programs aimed at increasing knowledge and skills of teachers and
  administrators in grades K-12
• Grant will be directed to programs in five specific areas of California
  
  

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Full Story

BAKERSFIELD, CA, MAY 29, 2007– Springboard Schools, a statewide organization based in San Francisco and dedicated to improving teaching and learning throughout California to close the achievement gap, is receiving a $50,000 grant from State Farm Insurance.

A presentation of the check to Springboard will take place on the evening of May 30, 2007 at Springboard Schools’ Annual Gala in San Francisco.

The donation will be implemented within Springboard’s professional development programs aimed at increasing the knowledge and skills of teachers and administrators in grades K-12. Springboard’s programs have been widely successful with traditionally low-achieving schools throughout the state. They help school and district leaders define student achievement data to make strategic decisions regarding improvement. In addition, they form learning communities where they can work collaboratively to generate new solutions to common problems. They attempt to develop reform strategies based on the “best practices” identified by research studies.

State Farm’s grant will be directed to programs in five specific areas of California. They include the Sonoma County Leadership Network, the Central Valley High School English Language Learner Network, the LA County High School Best Practices Network, the Bay Area High School Best Practices Network and in the Bakersfield area, the Principal Leadership Program. Springboard Schools and State Farm anticipate these programs, taken together, will benefit numerous educators in approximately 100 California schools.

Springboard Schools was founded in 1995 as the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC). In its first five years of existence, a study completed by an independent team at Stanford University documented that test scores in schools using the approach implemented by BASRC rose faster than those in comparable schools in California.

State Farm has a long tradition of supporting academic achievement throughout California and the United States. The grant is part of the Good Neighbor Citizenship program that focuses on education, safety and community development. For more information on the GNC program go to www.statefarm.com or contact your State Farm
Public Affairs Specialist.