Community Schools:
A Strategy, Not a Program
Jane Quinn & Janice Chu-Zhu
National Center for Community Schools
The Children’s Aid Society
“Could someone help me with these?
I’m late for math class.”
Scott Spencer
Definitions
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A Strategy for What?
“A strategy for organizing
the resources of the school
and community around
student success…”
Patricia Harvey, Former Superintendent
St. Paul Public Schools
What is a Community School?
A community school is both a place and a
set of partnerships between the school
and other community resources. Its
integrated focus on academics, services,
supports and opportunities leads to
improved student learning, stronger
families and healthier communities.
Coalition for Community Schools
CAS Developmental Triangle
Community
Family
Child
COMPREHENSIVE SUPPORT SERVICES
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A Closer Look
Key Characteristics
 Education First
 Lead Agency as Partner, Not Tenant
 Full-Time Presence of Lead Agency
 Joint Planning (Particularly between Principal
and Coordinator)
 Integration of Partners into Governance and
Decision-Making Bodies (e.g., School
Leadership Team, Child-Study Team)
Key Programmatic Components
 Expanded Learning Opportunities
 Parent Engagement & Involvement
 Adult Education
 Medical, Dental, Mental Health and Social
Services
 Early Childhood
 Community and Economic Development
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Results of
CAS Community Schools
 Improved academic performance
 Higher attendance rates
 Positive school climate
 Improved school safety
 Greater parent involvement
 Improved student-teacher relationships
 Teachers able to focus on education
A National Movement
National Movement
 National Coalition for Community Schools
founded in 1998
 Cities and districts begin “going to scale”
 Community school approach embedded in
Promise Neighborhoods, Collective Impact
initiatives
 Community school language emerging in
federal policy (Title I, Turnaround)
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Several well-known models:
 Beacons
 Bridges to Success
 Children’s Aid Society
 Communities in Schools
 Healthy Start
 Polk Brothers Full-Service Schools
 Schools of the 21st Century (Yale University)
 WEPIC (University of Pennsylvania)
Underlying Research Base
 Making the Most of
Non-School Time
• Reginald Clark
• Milbrey McLaughlin
• Deborah Vandell
 Whole Child Approach/
Application of
Developmental
Knowledge
• Jacquelynne Eccles
• James Comer
 Parents’ Active Role
• Joyce Epstein
• A. Henderson & K. Mapp
 Coordinated Services
• Joy Dryfoos
 Health-Learning Links
• Charles Basch
 Consistent Adult
Guidance & Support
• Werner/Benard
• Fritz Ianni
Newer Research
New research from Chicago (Bryk et al.) found
five essential ingredients:
 Principal: driver of change; inclusive
leadership approach
 Real family and community engagement
 Ability to build professional capacity
 Student-centered school climate
 Coherent curriculum
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New Research on Links between
Health and Educational Achievement
Charles Basch identified causal links between 7
health issues and educational achievement:
1. Poor vision
2. Asthma
3. Teen Pregnancy
4. Aggression and Violence
5. Physical Inactivity
6. ADHD
7. Hunger (especially insufficient breakfast)
Basch observes:
While it is not new that these health problems
disproportionately affect urban minority youth,
what Basch documented is that these disparities
“have direct causal links to motivation and
ability to learn through affecting children’s
sensory perceptions, cognition, connectedness
and engagement in school.”
Simply put, healthy students are better learners.
In addition…
Basch further observes that efforts to close the
achievement gap have focused on curricular
reforms, teacher and leadership development,
and strengthened accountability measures.
While there has been much rhetoric around
incorporating health programs into schools,
these programs have not—for the most part—
been done in strategic, high quality or
coordinated way.
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Results of Mature
Community School Initiatives





Improved academic performance – reading and math
Improved student and teacher attendance
Reduced dropout rates and higher graduation rates
Improved behavior
Gains in indicators of positive youth development, such
as leadership and conflict resolution skills
 Greater parent involvement
 Community benefits, such as better use of public
buildings and safer neighborhoods
Coalition for Community Schools
Key Lessons from Mature Community
School Initiatives
Successful systems pay attention to:
 Shared vision and results
 Supportive policy and innovative financing
 Effective leadership
 Broad community support
 Stable and flexible systems
Lessons about Leverage
 Non-education dollars from multiple sources
can be leveraged to add value to the work of
schools, in schools
 The CS strategy can add both human and
financial resources to schools
 U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls
CS “the most highly leveraged dollars I spent
in Chicago”
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Changes in CS Practice over 20 Years
Where we were then:
 Co-Location
 CBOs as vendors
 Wrap-around (services,
often around fixing kids)
 Program centered
 Time-limited project
 Innovators developing
one or a few schools
Where we are now:
 Integration
 CBOs as partners
 SOS: Supports, services,
opportunities
 Child centered
 Long-term strategy
 Developing systems of
community schools
From Pilot to Policy
Examples of Policy Change
 Hartford, CT: Board of Education passed a
policy that emphasized a welcoming attitude
combined with requirements about alignment
 Multnomah County, OR: An explicit policy
framework drove subsequent funding
decisions (toward schools as service hubs)
 Kent County, MI: Redeployed County DFS
workers from central office into school sites
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More Examples of Policy Change
 Bernalillo County, NM: Developed a joint powers
agreement among the city, school district and
county government; leaders meet monthly to
align policies and funding
 Cincinnati, OH: All major players agreed to share
data; all major funders agreed to support
Community Learning Centers
 New York State: Education Reform Commission
recommendations led to development of
community schools funding
Capacities & Stages
Critical Capacities
Effective community schools continually
develop a set of four key capacities:
1. Comprehensiveness
2. Collaboration
3. Coherence
4. Commitment
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1. Comprehensiveness
Programs, services and opportunities respond
to a wide spectrum of identified needs by
marshalling a full complement of partnership
resources
 Whole Child Developmental Approach
 Needs Assessment & Resource Allocation
 Asset-based, High-quality Program
Development
Test Score Achievement Gap:
Beginning School Study
Verbal CAT by Season & SES (Johns Hopkins)
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
Fall 1
Spring 5
Low SES
High SES
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Test Score Achievement Gap:
Beginning School Study
Verbal CAT by Season & SES (Johns Hopkins)
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
Low SES
High SES
2. Collaboration
All stakeholders are involved in meaningful,
permanent roles – including educators, parents,
students, funders, community members,
elected officials, providers, policymakers, etc.
 Engagement
 Partnership Development
 Shared Leadership
“Collaboration has been defined as an
unnatural act between non-consenting
adults. We all say we want to collaborate,
but what we really mean is that we want
to continue doing things as we have
always done them, while others change to
fit what we are doing.”
Jocelyn Elders
Former US Surgeon General
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Collaboration - What is it?
 Collaboration is the highest form of
partnership
 It entails multiple partners who care about
a community or an issue
 Partners come together and examine their
own systems and interrelationships while
learning from each other’s views
Systemic Community Schools Initiative Structure
Leadership Team
• Shared Vision
• Policy Alignment
• Resource Development
Mayor/County Executive, District
Superintendent, City/County
Agency Directors, Major Donors,
Lead Agency Executives, Electeds
Business Partners
Intermediary /
Management Team
• Partner Coordination
• Protocol Development
• Data Sharing & Analysis
Site-Based Team
Evaluation
• Needs Assessment
• Implementation
• Outcomes
Capacity
Building
City/County Agency Managers,
District Ass’t Superintendents,
Site Supervisors, Program &
Service Provider Managers
Principal, Assistant Principal,
Community School Coordinator,
Teachers, Providers, Parents,
Community Members
3. Coherence
Programs, services and opportunities are
integrated and aligned to achieve outcomes
beyond the reach of any one entity
 Program Integration and Oversight
 School/Partner Relationships
 Coordination
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Chronic Absence
 Chronic absence occurs when students miss
10% or more days (about a month) in a school
year including excused and unexcused
absences.
 National research found that this level of
school absence was associated with lower
academic performance, truancy, dropping out,
delinquency and substance abuse.
Hedy Chang
ELA
Students Chronically Absent in K & 1st Grade Much
Less Likely to Read Proficiently in 3rd Grade
% Proficient or Advanced on 3rd Grade
100%
80%
64%
60%
43%
41%
40%
17%
20%
0%
No attendance
risks
Small attendance
Moderate
High attendance
risks
attendance risks
risks
Risk level, according to K & 1st Grade absences
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Source: Applied Survey Research & Attendance Works (April 2011)
ADA & Chronic Absence in one NYC
Network’s middle schools
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
ADA
6
7
8
9
CA
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4. Commitment
All partners view the CS as a long-term strategy,
not a program, and sustainability planning
activities are employed from the start
 Shared Vision and Results Framework
 Building Public Will and Participation
 Strategic Financing
 Evaluation and Capacity-Building
Stages of Development in a
Community School
Exploring
Emerging
Maturing
Excelling
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Our Three Mantras
 It’s all about relationships
 Everything has to be negotiated—all
the time
 For community schools to work, the
partners have to have the word
“yes” written in their hearts
nationalcenterforcommunityschools.org
[email protected]
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