Springboard Collaborative

Combating summer learning loss by empowering parents, coaching teachers and incentivizing learning.

Springboard Collaborative (Springboard) aims to close the literacy gap for young students from low-income backgrounds in the Bay Area by bridging the divide between home and school. Springboard combines home visits, family training and workshops, teacher coaching and learning bonuses so scholars have the requisite skills to access life opportunities. 

GreenLight selected Springboard in 2015 to address growing summer learning loss for elementary school students locally. The evidence-based program’s hands-on approach involves parents in literacy learning and works closely with teachers and schools to ensure their program is integrated into the classroom and complements existing literacy initiatives.

For every hour a Springboard teacher leads a family workshop, parents deliver 25 hours of home-based instructional time, with attendance at virtual workshops averaging over 90%. After participating in their signature five-week intensive summer program, students gain 2.4 months of decoding nonsense words, 2.6 months of accuracy and fluency with connected text and 3.2 months of accuracy and fluency reading sight words. 

Springboard programs work well for all students, but they are especially effective as achievement gap solutions, with external evaluations showing the greatest reading gains among students behind grade level. By fostering collaboration between parents, teachers, and students, Springboard is building strong foundations for lifelong learning.