Our work is designed to strengthen the systems surrounding students and contribute to measurable improvements in achievement, access, opportunity, and readiness.
Our work is designed to create measurable improvements in grade-level mastery of curriculum, graduation rates, and A–G completion rates, making access, opportunity, and achievement within reach.
2 millionof California's 6 million students are not qualified for college upon graduating high school, every year.
Each block is one million students.
For decades, the gap between white students and our most vulnerable student populations has persisted. As a result of the pandemic the gap has increased.
The root cause of the achievement gap, the disparity in academic performance between different student populations. It is not simply that the same groups of students happen to perform better or worse every year. When we peel back the layers of the systems and practices of districts and schools, we see that some student populations are better set up to succeed while failure is normalized for other student populations, which points to an equity gap.
Student outcomes in Orenda partner districts and schools.
All high schools · College readiness outcomes
+27ptsGraduation rate, 2011–2017
All high schools · Students above proficiency
+42ptsMath, 2011–2017
All elementary and middle schools · Students above proficiency
+16ptsEnglish, 2008–2011
Los Angeles Unified School District · Students above proficiency, compared with LAUSD and California
+24ptsMath, 2015–2018 · vs. LAUSD +7, California +6
| District or school | Measure | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynwood Unified School DistrictAll high schools | Graduation rate | 58% (2011) | 85% (2017) | +27 pts |
| Lynwood Unified School DistrictAll high schools | Dropout rate (lower is better) | 32% (2011) | 9% (2017) | −23 pts |
| Whittier Union High School DistrictAll high schools | English | 24% (2011) | 63% (2017) | +39 pts |
| Whittier Union High School DistrictAll high schools | Math | 20% (2011) | 62% (2017) | +42 pts |
| East Whittier City School DistrictAll elementary and middle schools | English | 47% (2008) | 63% (2011) | +16 pts |
| East Whittier City School DistrictAll elementary and middle schools | Math | 52% (2008) | 63% (2011) | +11 pts |
| Hoover Street Elementary: EnglishCompared with LAUSD and California | Hoover Street Elementary | 42% (2015) | 57% (2018) | +15 pts |
| Hoover Street Elementary: EnglishCompared with LAUSD and California | LAUSD | 33% (2015) | 42% (2018) | +9 pts |
| Hoover Street Elementary: EnglishCompared with LAUSD and California | California | 44% (2015) | 50% (2018) | +6 pts |
| Hoover Street Elementary: MathCompared with LAUSD and California | Hoover Street Elementary | 32% (2015) | 56% (2018) | +24 pts |
| Hoover Street Elementary: MathCompared with LAUSD and California | LAUSD | 25% (2015) | 32% (2018) | +7 pts |
| Hoover Street Elementary: MathCompared with LAUSD and California | California | 33% (2015) | 39% (2018) | +6 pts |
Reach matters. So do results.
We look at impact across multiple dimensions—from student achievement and access to leadership capacity, instructional coherence, and the strength of the systems partners build over time.
You don't need to know exactly which Orenda service you need. Tell us what you're seeing in your schools, where you're trying to go, and what's getting in the way. We'll start there.
