• Guides and Frameworks

    Chart showing the benefits of community school

    Community Schools Forward 

    "Community Schools are places where educators, local community members, families, and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. This framework for Community Schools includes the key practices, supportive infrastructure, enabling conditions, essential players, and guiding vision for all students to thrive. Developed by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, the Children’s Aid National Center for Community Schools, the Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for Educational Leadership, and the Learning Policy Institute as part of the #CSForward project."

    -Community Schools Forward

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    Articles and Research

    attendance playbook cover empty desks
    Smart Strategies for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic
    published May 2023    		 These Factors Are Linked to High Student Attendance. Does Your School Have Them?
    published August 2022
    The disruptions of the pandemic underscored the importance of engaging with families to ensure that students are attending school regularly and succeeding academically. A survey in Kansas asked parents to assess five aspects of family engagement: a welcoming environment, support for student learning, effective communications, sharing power, and community involvement. Overall, the districts with the strongest scores for family engagement had lower chronic absenteeism rates. This was particularly true in places recognized for a welcoming environment and for sharing power with families through their input and advocacy. Chronic absenteeism can serve as a barometer of a healthy school environment because everyone from classroom teachers to custodians plays a role in helping students build strong attendance habits.

     

    people arrange in the shape of a stopwatch kids eating food
    Value of Volunteer Time
    published April 2022    		 Increased government funding recognizes the need for strong community school technical assistance
    published August 2022
    In its newest Value of Volunteer Time report, Independent Sector, with the Do Good Institute, announced on April 18, 2022 that the latest value of a volunteer hour is estimated to be $29.95, which is a 4.9% increase from 2020 to 2021. Read the full report for national and state-by-state data on volunteer hours. The U.S. Department of Education recently announced a notice inviting applications for the Full-Service Community Schools Program to provide high-quality academic, integrated health and social service, and engagement support for all students. The exponential growth in investments signals a consistent interest and confidence in community school strategies as a powerful approach to whole-child educational transformation of schools and communities. Similarly, dedicated state funding opportunities in Maryland, New York, and California reflect a growing body of evidence from decades of implementation expertise about how community school strategies—when supported and sustained—can leverage the assets and voices of the full community to support student success.