2011 Annual Report

It was a year of great success and growth for Breakthrough’s many programs and initiatives. Our 2011 Annual Report highlights just some of the outstanding work that’s happening to support our students and teachers. The report also recognizes the individuals and organizations who made breakthroughs possible in the past year.

Click here to download the print version of Breakthrough Collaborative's 2011 Annual Report.

Breakthrough had a broad reach and national impact in 2011 through its affiliates at 33 sites. Many of these sites receive generous support from host schools. Below are our program locations, along with the host schools where applicable.

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While the print version contains brief highlights of the major activities and initiatives where we focused in 2011, you can read more details about a few of these programs below.

Intern Teacher Training Initiative

Breakthrough Collaborative is committed to providing teacher interns with effective, research-based training and coaching in classroom management, lesson development and instructional strategies to ensure that each intern is systematically developing:

1. The skills necessary to measurably increase student achievement in his/her summer classroom
2. The habits that lead to success in any classroom in any setting
3. The mindsets correlated with highly effective teaching

With Breakthrough’s Intern Teacher Training Initiative (ITTI), our interns are better equipped to return to their own academic pursuits with a stronger understanding of teaching and learning, to pursue their interests in teaching in public, charter, private or non-traditional classrooms and to work effectively for educational equity and social justice.

We spend eight days in pre-summer training, in which interns receive systematic, explicit instruction in our instructional model and the research behind it. Every training session we provide is delivered in the same model we expect our interns to use in the classroom, so they are able to experience the power and effectiveness of carefully crafted and well-executed lessons. Our lesson model is based on three research-based principles:

1. The daily use of a clearly articulated, standards-based, rigorous objective with measurable proving behavior or evidence that must be provided individually by every student by the end of the lesson
2. The consistent engagement of 100 percent of students every three minutes or less with the objective with prompts which reinforce key content, require students to process the new learning by comparing or contrasting it to past learning or engage students in practicing the new learning one step at a time
3. The gradual release of responsibility during practice through the implementation and systematic removal of strategic scaffolding that makes learning accessible to all students

The consistent application of these principles results in daily lessons which allow our students not only to stop but also to reverse summer slide, as they systematically develop and strengthen the academic skills they need to not only enter but also to thrive in academically rigorous, college-preparatory high schools. Throughout the six-week summer session, our interns are observed at least twice weekly to receive individual coaching on their progress in instruction. Daily faculty meetings, weekly professional development sessions, and twice-week department meetings provide additional support in their development as young educators.

Curriculum Pilot Project and the MDTP

After 30 years of providing intern teachers with varying levels of curricular support for their first, second, or third summers of teaching, Breakthrough Collaborative is developing and implementing a three-year sequence of professionally created curricular materials to ensure the measurable success of every Breakthrough student and the purposeful development of every teacher intern as a potential teacher. We believe that providing curricula will give interns a better understanding of curriculum development, adaptation and implementation, while allowing them to deepen their understanding of the instructional techniques we're teaching without the burden of developing entire units. Aligned with the new Common Core, the Breakthrough curriculum is rigorous with a strong emphasis on the college-preparatory reading, writing and speaking skills expected in all college-preparatory high schools.

Breakthrough worked with experienced educators, who are proficient in curriculum development, their content areas, assessment, Breakthrough and ITTI, to develop curricula for literature, writing, math and science courses. This effort was different than previous curriculum-support efforts we have led, as we did not providing off-the-shelf curricula; instead, we developed curricula that is aligned with the skills our students need to succeed in Tier-I high schools using the strategies and format we are teaching our interns through our ITTI training modules.

Materials Included for all Subjects

• Pre- and post-assessments
• Interim assessments
• 25 daily lesson plans in the ITTI lesson plan template
• Relevant Visual Instructional Plans (VIPs)
• Daily homework assignments

One of the ways we are assessing the ongoing development of the project is through the Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP), which evaluates student readiness for advanced math coursework and helps identify students' strengths and weaknesses. Nineteen affiliates implemented the MDTP assessments this past summer, seven more than in the summer of 2010.

Students across the Collaborative were given MDTP pre-tests in the areas of Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II and Math Analysis. The data was used to group students for summer math classes and adjust instruction to meet students' needs. Students were then given a post-test in the same subject area at the end of the summer to gauge academic growth. Overall, students made gains in all subject areas and the percentage of students who met the proficiency level in all sub-topic areas doubled on the Algebra readiness assessment and increased by 47 percent on the Pre-Algebra readiness assessment. The results from the MDTP assessments enable us to see where we, as a Collaborative, and individual affiliates, have made gains in student learning and, just as importantly, where we need to be focusing our efforts to address gaps in students' skills and knowledge. At the affiliate level, the MDTP results will inform site staff about where their students need extra support in order to be successful in a college-prep math curriculum and at the national level, the MDTP results will inform the ongoing development of the math curricula being piloted as part of the Curriculum Pilot Project.

Breaking Bread for Breakthrough

Nearly $2,500,000 has been raised to support student and teacher programs through our signature event, Breaking Bread for Breakthrough, since its inception eight years ago.

In 2003, a visionary group of Breakthrough trustees imagined that Breakthrough Collaborative could launch a fundraising event to generate broad community support for our academic enrichment programs. They sought to raise core operating funds for Breakthrough initiatives; provide an opportunity for Breakthrough supporters to interact directly with students and teachers; and present a platform for educational leaders to share knowledge and stories of inspirational change with community leaders in San Francisco. This vision has been realized in the consistent success of Breaking Bread for Breakthrough over the past eight years. Over that time, 1,610 attendees, 16 dedicated honorary chairs and eight keynote speakers have been part of this astounding and memorable annual event.

2011 Breaking Bread for Breakthrough Recap

As we announce that the 2011 event has again reached its revenue goal, we salute all of the donors and attendees who have participated. We offer our deepest gratitude to the honorary chairs that have served as ambassadors for Breakthrough in the San Francisco philanthropic community and recruited a noteworthy group of keynote speakers.

• Donor Spotlight: Sheila Larsen has earned distinction as one of the national organization's most dedicated behind the scenes volunteers by ensuring that Breaking Bread for Breakthrough meets its objectives year after year. With her guidance the events strike a balance between creating a tradition and community for local supporters and still leaving guests each year feeling informed and refreshed on key topics in education, innovation and equity.
   
• A highlight of the 2011 fundraising luncheon was teacher speaker, Max Savage. As an 11-year-old who had just completed his first summer as a seventh grade student in 2003, Max attended the very first Breaking Bread event, standing alongside emcee Kate Kelly to lead an audience cheering that "Breakthrough is Dynamite." The two presenters were reunited on stage this year. Max is now a sophomore at Stanford University who has dedicated three summers to teaching in the San Francisco Breakthrough program, which he describes as "the most fun, rewarding, intellectually vitalizing and inspiring" summers of his life. Max closed a moving tribute to the young students who inspire him by thanking all who support Breakthrough, citing the exponential growth made possible in his life through his involvement with Breakthrough, prompting a standing ovation with his heartfelt declaration: "I would not be there person I am today without having attended a Breakthrough program." Breakthrough leaders nationwide applaud Max and all the thousands like him who excelling in selective colleges and devoting summers to coming back to give back to a next generation of students.

Breaking Bread for Breakthrough – Eight Years in Review

• $2,477,046 raised to support student and teacher programs
• 1,610 attendees
• 16 dedicated honorary chairs including Laura and John Fisher, Kaatri and Douglas Grigg, Leslie and George Hume, Leigh and Bill Matthes, Gretchen and Marshall Milligan, Susan and Bill Oberndorf, Scott Pearson and Diana Farrell and Nadine and Alex Terman
• 8 keynote speakers including, Cory Booker, John Merrow, Gerhard Casper, Erin Gruwell, Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Dr. Caroline Hoxby and Michael Horn and Marian Wright Edelman