The Big Lift Implementation Study: Final Report

The Big Lift is a preschool to third grade collective impact initiative in San Mateo County, California. The initiative is a partnership of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), the San Mateo County Office of Education, and the County of San Mateo with the support of dozens of community organizations and school districts.

The Big Lift aims to boost children’s reading proficiency in San Mateo County by third grade. The initiative employs four different types of activities, called “pillars.” These pillars include:

• High-quality preschool
• Summer learning
• School attendance
• Family engagement

Study Goals:

The goal of this study was to conduct a multiphase evaluation of the initiative, including an implementation study of the effort and descriptive analyses focused on the outcomes of children who participated in Big Lift programs.

Research Questions:

The primary research questions were:

1. To what extent are community members engaging in the collective impact collaborative?
2. How are the strategies for the four pillars being implemented?

Findings:

The study found the following:

• Members of The Big Lift share a common vision and purpose, and the environment in San Mateo County is supportive and well suited for the level of collaboration needed to successfully implement a collective impact effort.
• Community leaders and partners were proud that the initiative was launched and that pillar activities were occurring.
• Community leaders and partners mentioned issues with communication and the large workload of the increased data collection as initiative challenges.
• Financial sustainability of the initiative was the most frequently cited concern for The Big Lift community leaders and partners.

For more information, download the full report and report brief.