Blog

The Oakland Literacy Coalition’s LitMap is an innovative tool that visualizes school demographic data, showcasing where resources are needed and where progress is being made. In the most recent update, the LitMap shows the percentage of students reading on grade level, based on May 2024 iReady assessments. Among the schools that stood out is Lincoln Elementary. 

Lincoln Elementary has enjoyed notable improvements in student literacy — their iReady data shows a 7.1% growth since last year! This progress is no accident but the by-design result of a deliberate, data-driven, and student-centered approach under the leadership of Principal Mukta Sambrani.

In her sixth year at Lincoln, Principal Sambrani has introduced key strategies beyond academic success metrics to ensure every student feels seen, supported, and celebrated.

We sat down with Principal Sambrani to learn more about how Lincoln is improving reading outcomes and what can be replicated in other schools. The following transcript is edited for clarity and brevity.

Tell me a little about your educational journey and milestones that led to your current role as principal at Lincoln Elementary. 

What does the collaboration and coordination look like with all the different tiered supports, and interventionists who push in during the day or support focal students out of school time? How do you ensure there is clear communication and progress monitoring?

We do daily awards at Lincoln. We shout out students every day, and we find a way to shout out what makes each student exceptional. We are looking at our focals every single day. We are not just shouting out our super scholars, we are shouting out our students who struggle too. Every child has unique talents and gifts. They want the book, the picture, the medal, and they want the shout-out. You can go to the website and see the daily shout outs. We constantly celebrate student success. The nominations can come from parents, teachers, and all staff, including after-school programs. Anyone can nominate a student for daily recognition.

The other way we do this is by building self-esteem and a culture of inclusion. When I first came to Lincoln, the big complaint was our Black and brown students felt like they didn’t belong. So we made a point to celebrate all of the heritages every month of the year. Our culture committee created curriculum lessons, with relevant texts. And we host parent engagements monthly at evening events. We do our awards at the evening events and presentations of the home cultures. We embrace all cultures represented at Lincoln, and we do the academic interventions. It needs to be both. Family engagement, diversity and inclusion work, and academic intervention get equal emphasis and effort.

Lincoln’s iReady data showed significant growth from last year to this year, 7.1%. What are some of the key strategies, practices, or decisions you made that led to that accelerated growth?

So the thing that I introduced that was different from what was happening at Lincoln…was for every teacher to maintain a data tracker throughout the school year for their class, because elementary teachers have a rare opportunity. You have 25 students that you can grow this year and set up for success by case-managing their success.

Who structures and leads grade level PLCs?

Grade-level teacher leaders hold the PLCs, plan for them, and get reimbursed for the extra work they put in.

Looking forward to this upcoming school year, building on the momentum of your literacy growth, what are some of your school-wide goals?

At Lincoln, I want to capitalize on the strength of our TK/K team and set a goal for up to 80% early literacy proficiency by mid-year. And [to have] more than 50% of our English Learners…be reclassified by the end of the year. We exceeded this goal last year with 59% reclassification.

Another school-wide goal is to put books in hands through daily awards and celebrations, and [to have] a well-developed and utilized school library. Every student goes to the library once a week…Our library teacher does a read-aloud or read-along, then a hands-on literacy activity, then a book checkout and reading time. Students are bringing books home. And the award prizes are books.

What are some of the specific teacher support needs at Lincoln?

I would say being very intentional [that] teacher planning time is not commandeered with professional development or other demands that could be shared via email or video–this time is very precious. 

We also offer three planning periods a week, and we ensure that there is partner planning in each of these, [that] two teachers from a PLC are co-planning together. The pairing is strategic: a veteran partnered with a novice teacher. New teachers are supported by veteran teachers and the PLC team leads in addition to what the district offers. That is new this year.

Is there anything else you would like to share that you are proud of that has contributed to your student growth?

We hire from within the community. For example, Ms. Tina, our CSM, used to be our Community Relations assistant, and before that she was a parent volunteer at Lincoln. And then Ms. Sandi, our Community Relations assistant, was a receptionist in OUSD. Our STIPs become teachers. We build capacity. There is a culture of respect among the adults where we grow ourselves and grow one another. We are lifelong learners. And there is a culture of respect for parents and students. We grow our students and build our community.