1. 4/8/2017
Community Schools: A Strategy for Resource Equity and School Transformation

2. 4/8/2017
What we all agree on…
Home, school, and community all matter to a child’s education and development.
We need strong teachers and principals that are supported by school systems.
Accountability matters.
Public schools are central to our democratic society.
Fiscal stringency is the order of the day.
Schools and communities must work together for the education of our children.

3. What Matters in School? Highly qualified teachers Strong leadership
Rigorous and engaging curriculum
Motivated students
Positive school climate
Safety
Effective use of technology

4. 4/8/2017
What else matters?
I presume that we can also agree that more and more students are coming to school carrying many burdens.

5. Beyond School Factors that Impact Learning
4/8/2017
Beyond School Factors that Impact Learning
Low birth-weight and non-genetic prenatal influences on children;
Inadequate medical, dental, and vision care;
Food insecurity;
Environmental pollutants;
Family relations and family stress; and
Neighborhood characteristics including a child’s family’s residential instability
Source: Berliner, David C. (2009). Poverty and Potential: Out-of-School Factors and School Success. Boulder and Tempe: Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit. Retrieved [date] from

6. So, what’s the Solution?

7. Community Schools!

8. What is a Community School?
4/8/2017
What is a Community School?
Students in Oakland, California made this short video to explain the concept:
All of us need to work together to educate our children.
As defined by the Title I Guidelines, (U.S. Department of Education, Sept. 2, 2009)
A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. It provides academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement, and brings together many partners to offer a range of support and opportunities for children, youth, families, and communities. The school is generally open for extended hours for everyone in the community. Community schools may operate in all or a subset of schools in an LEA.

9. What is a Community School?
EXPANDED LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
CORE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM
Community
Family
Child
3 min.
Community schools have been described as “a strategy for organizing the resources of the school and the community around student success.”
It’s not a program or a formula. All community schools do not look alike.
Work of community schools: Organizing and Partnership Building
Typically, community schools operate from a framework that can best be described as a "developmental triangle," a model that connects the school's core instructional program to enrichment opportunities during out-of-school time (before and after school and during the summer months) and to a set of services designed to remove barriers to students' learning, such as medical, dental, mental health, and social services.
You could have all three and not be a community school. All of these need to be aligned and organized. Vertices are important.
Key = community school director and lead partner
COMPREHENSIVE SUPPORT SERVICES

10. What is a Community School?
4/8/2017
What is a Community School?
A “Community School” is a type of school where:
The school and partners from across the community come together to educate and support kids creating collective impact
Community resources are strategically organized to support student success
There is a focus on the whole child, integrating academics, services, supports and opportunities
All of us need to work together to educate our children.
As defined by the Title I Guidelines, (U.S. Department of Education, Sept. 2, 2009)
A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. It provides academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement, and brings together many partners to offer a range of support and opportunities for children, youth, families, and communities. The school is generally open for extended hours for everyone in the community. Community schools may operate in all or a subset of schools in an LEA.

11. Many Names…. Same Concept:
Community School=
Community Learning Center=
Integrated Instructional Supports Model=
Integrated Student Supports=
Full-Service Community Schools Model

12. What is the Community Schools Strategy?
4/8/2017
What is the Community Schools Strategy?
“Community Schools” is also a strategy (or set of strategies) that continues to evolve as it is practiced around the US by:
School districts
Cincinnati, Ohio; Oakland, California
Multiple school districts in partnership with county and city governments
Portland, OR
Service providers who partner with school districts and individual schools
Communities in Schools, for example
Third party organizations who mobilize the cross-sector governance and manage collaboration between school districts, local government, service providers and more
Say Yes to Education in Syracuse and Buffalo, NY

13. Community Schools Strategies
Are…
Are not….
strategies for achieving equity of opportunity (and in Pittsburgh, the Promise, for all Pittsburgh kids)
strategies for improving community health and prosperity as well as improving educational outcomes
strategies for strengthening public school districts where many children are living in poverty that also provide reasons for middle class families to keep their children enrolled
strategies to racially re-segregate schools and neighborhoods by worsening the inequitable distribution of resources
meant to be fully-funded by the school district
the same in every community
temporary programs that lose funding after a few years

14. Why do we need Community Schools Strategies?
4/8/2017
Why do we need Community Schools Strategies?
Community Schools create the conditions for learning:
Early childhood development programs nurture early learning and development
Qualified teachers, challenging curriculum, high standards, and high expectations
Students are motivated and engaged
Students have increased learning opportunities
Physical, social, and emotional needs are met for youth and families
Collaboration and respect between families and schools staff
The community is engaged in the school and promotes a school climate that is safe, supportive, and respectful and that connects students to a broader learning community.
Community schools achieve this balance approach of recognizing the importance of both academics and non-academic factors by creating these Conditions for Learning.
Creating the six conditions for learning creates positive results for students, families, and communities. When schools work together with families and the community, young people have the resources and opportunities they need to succeed academically, physically, socially and emotionally. In addition, these conditions also build safe and supportive communities. The community schools framework, in short, ensures that students and their communities succeed.
These conditions, based on research from multiple fields, describe the comprehensive and supportive environment necessary to educate all students to high standards.
The experience of the Coalition for Community Schools suggests that fulfilling these conditions will enable public schools and their communities to more readily achieve the multiple purposes of public education—to help students develop the academic and social competencies to succeed in life and to prepare them to be productive participants in our democracy. The collective presence of these conditions, and the interaction among them, increases the likelihood of success for all.

15. Community Schools Guiding Principles
Focus on Equity
Results-driven - shared accountability for results
Align school and community assets and expertise
Coordination between school, community and service providers at school and district levels
Set high expectations for all
Build on the community's strengths

16. Community Schools Produce Results
4/8/2017
Community Schools Produce Results
Student gains in academic achievement and non- academic development widely evident;
Parent/family participation seen as instrumental to children’s success;
Schools have stronger staff and parent relationships, improved school climate and greater community support;
Community is stronger – improved safety and connections among people.

17. Student Academic Outcomes
4/8/2017
Student Academic Outcomes
Cincinnati, OH - students receiving any opportunity or support service including tutoring, mentoring, college access, or after-school activities saw, on average, a 5.6 point increase in their reading scores from to the school year and a 4.6 point advance in math. This was in marked contrast to the 2.0 gain in reading and the 1.8 point gain in math among students who did not receive services. Cincinnati was also the first urban school district in Ohio to receive an effective rating and is the highest rated urban school district in the state.
Tulsa Area, OK Community Schools TACSI students significantly outperformed comparison students in math by 32 points and in reading by 19 points in schools where the community school model was implemented most successfully.
Hartford, CT - Schools showed gains in and test scores, and scores remained steady. Afterschool participants demonstrated steady or greater increase in proficiency levels from 2009 through 2011, compared to non-participants.

18. Non-Academic Outcomes
4/8/2017
Non-Academic Outcomes
An analysis of report cards in 11 K-5 City Connects (CCNX) schools in Boston MA, showed that CCNX students significantly outperformed students in comparative schools in academic work effort across grades 3-5 and had significantly better work habits by grade 5.
In a national evaluation of Communities in Schools (CIS), teachers indicated that CIS has a positive effect on their performance in the classroom by contributing to students’ classroom preparation and fostering positive attitudes toward learning.
In South King County, WA, 60% of students identified as needing help increased their class participation, attention and motivation; three quarters improved their academic performance over the course of the year. Student and teacher feedback indicated that programs help students feel safe and supported, foster a sense of belonging; and provide middle and high school students with opportunities to lead and mentor

19. Community Schools Core Elements
4/8/2017
Community Schools Core Elements
At a School
At the District Level
Curriculum that is engaging, culturally relevant and challenging
High quality teaching
Coordinated wrap-around supports
Positive discipline practices such as restorative justice
Transformational parent and community engagement
Cross-Sector Leadership that Includes:
City
County
School District
Private Philanthropy
Non-Profit Sector
Higher Education
Data-sharing capacity between the school district and other government agencies
• Curriculum that is engaging, culturally relevant and challenging. It includes a broad selection of classes and after-school programs in the arts, languages, and ethnic studies, as well as AP and honors courses, services for English Language Learners, special education, GED preparation and job training.
• High quality teaching, not high stakes testing, is emphasized. Appropriate assessments are used to help teachers meet the needs of students, and educators have a real voice in professional development.
• Wrap-around supports such as health care, eye care and social and emotional services are offered to assist learning. They are available before, during and after school and are provided year-round to the full community. Providers are accountable and culturally competent.
• Positive discipline practices such as restorative justice and social and emotional learning supports are stressed so students grow and contribute to the school community and beyond. Suspensions and harsh punishments are eliminated or greatly reduced.
• Transformational parent and community engagement is promoted so the full community actively participates in planning and decision-making. This process recognizes the link between the success of the school and the development of the community as a whole.

20. Community Schools Implementation: Coordination is Key
At a School
At the District Level
A Site Coordinator works closely with the principal to ensure that in-school academic programs are coordinated with expanded learning opportunities and wrap-around support services
The Site Coordinator makes sure that teachers and service providers are working together to meet every child’s needs
Parents, students and the community are included in planning and decision-making
Commitment of School District, City and County Leadership to work together
City-wide, cross-sector governance model
Develops city-wide strategy– engages partners
Develops and resources student information management system
Mobilizes Resources

21. How do we scale-up?

22. Scaling Up…. A System of community schools is…
4/8/2017
Scaling Up….
a place and a set of partnerships connecting school, family and community
A Community School
a vertical network of schools from pre-k through grade 12 in a single attendance area, linked across one or more districts
A System of community schools is…
A community-wide infrastructure able to support the social, emotional and physical needs of every child and family and increase opportunities for future success
A Community where learning happens

23. Pittsburgh has some Community Schools strategies already in play:
A commitment to ending racial disparities in student achievement
A partnership with Communities in Schools at Arsenal K-5
Homewood Children’s Village partnership at Pittsburgh Lincoln and Faison
Parent Engagement Specialists and the FACE Coordinator position
Partnerships with mental and behavioral health providers
And more…

24. We are at a great place to begin “scaling up”

25. Scaling Up - Six Stages Decide to Scale up
4/8/2017
Scaling Up - Six Stages
Decide to Scale up
Develop and operating framework- Assemble Cross-Sector Leadership Table
Plan for Scale up
Plan for Sustainability
Implement systematically
Continue Improvement and Expansion

26. 4/8/2017
This is the collaborative system that needs to be in place for a successful scale up.
Note the Key Functions of this Collaborative Framework:
Results-Based Vision
A results-based vision fuels the initiative, providing the big-picture motivation for scale-up efforts. For community schools, the long-range vision calls for building out the conditions for learning into a “community where learning happens.” In an effective scale-up initiative, the system operating culture—assumptions, expectations, beliefs, and stakeholder values—are consistent with the driving vision.
A results-based framework, including indicators, is used to measure student, school, and community progress in key areas of learning and development. It is also used to track operational progress in creating a shift in ownership, depth, spread, and sustainability.
Data and Evaluation
This function focuses on the collection and analysis of information. It illuminates implementation by tracking the initiative’s indicators (e.g., attendance, partnership effectiveness, and achievement) and collects data on community assets and social and political context in order to identify areas of need, opportunity, and success. It also integrates different databases for improved decision making while ensuring the requisite confidentiality.
Finance and Resource Development
This function ensures that existing school and community resources are identified, coordinated, and used to leverage new dollars to achieve results, fund continuous improvements, and sustain expansion. For leverage to occur, leaders must be connected to a broad range of potential resources and agree on assumptions and expectations about collaborative responsibilities and outcomes.
Resource development also entails mobilizing a community’s human and social capital so that children and youth benefit from connections to caring adults and neighborhood, civic, and business groups and develop a clear sense of their importance in and responsibility to their community.
Alignment and Integration
This function spreads and deepens the commitment to community schools norms in the policies and practices of systems across the community as well as in individual school sites.
Alignment activities ensure that the initiative’s results-based framework, school district strategic planning, curriculum and instruction, and partners’ system rules and resources are in accord with and supported by the initiative’s overall vision and system norms. It involves
Integration requires school-site leaders to design explicit practice and policy connections among
working with other related initiatives to support shared goals and facilitate overall progress.
programs and activities that result in progress toward site-level results. It involves integration of
the efforts of all practitioners working with students regardless of organizational affiliation.
Supportive Policy and Practice
operational, and strategic policies support community schools and that schools and partners
This function ensures that school districts’ and partner agencies’ financial, administrative,
advocate for and enact policy changes in response to site-level needs. It also requires local
leaders to communicate regularly with state and federal leaders to advocate for policies that
promote community schools.
communication between community and site leaders. Community leaders must align partner
Governance structures must support—and the system’s operating culture must expect—regular
rules and resources insofar as possible to meet site needs, and site leaders must communicate
policy and practice needs based on data and evaluation. Data and evaluation techniques that
gather practice knowledge or information on gaps between policies and practice must be
implementation of policies and practices.
sensitive to how system norms—attitudes, values, assumptions, and expectations—affect the
Professional Development and Technical Assistance (TA)
This function plays an essential role in embedding a community school’s culture within the
larger community by transmitting values and attitudes, assumptions, and expectations
that foster the conditions for learning and the principles of community schools. In addition,
consistent with a community schools vision. It promotes the creation of policies and practices
professional development and TA help schools and community partners build effective
relationships.
Broad Community Engagement
broad-based commitment to “communities where learning happens” as well as the social
This function focuses on building the political will to fund and sustain scale-up by developing a
connections, both formal and informal, that translate into political and financial support.
Community engagement activities ensure that the voices of youth, families, and residents are
fully heard, that system practices and policies reflect community needs and preferences, and
that the community increasingly adopts and spreads the initiative’s norms.

27. How do you finance this strategy?

28. Financing Community Schools
4/8/2017
Financing Community Schools
Resources (financial & human capital) support & strengthen learning
District dollars can be leveraged 3:1
Collaborative leadership at site and system levels support finances
Public and private partners expand capacity
Coordination leverages capacity at minimal cost
Human capital – families!

29. Key Finding 1: Most money supports learning
4/8/2017
Key Finding 1: Most money supports learning
Community schools use the bulk of their resources to directly assist schools in meeting their core instructional mission, while also strengthening the health and well- being of students, families and neighborhoods.
CS use money for lots of different things, however…
Majority (57%) goes to support the general school mission
Only 12% goes to staffing the sites, and only 7% for coordination
Therefore, money is used strategically to support the conditions for learning

30. Key Finding 2: District dollars leveraged 3:1
4/8/2017
Key Finding 2: District dollars leveraged 3:1
CS draw money from a variety of sources – breaking down the silos
On average, the distirct’s investment is leveraged 3:1…a great investment.
When we looked only at the 9 schools, the ratio was 4:1.
Everyone leverages everyone. We chose District, but could consider another investor
Lots of variation by school and district:
Total amount spent:
Hoover ES in Redwood City $557,000
Little Village Lawndale HS (Chicago) $1,780,000
District investment:
Portland’s Lane MS 53%
Hoover Elementary, Redwood City 4%

31. 4/8/2017
Educational Funding Streams that have been used for Community Schools Strategies
Title I
SIG – Title I School Improvement Dollars
1003 G – School Improvement Dollars
Special Education
Title II – Professional Development
Title III – English as a Second Language
Title IV – Safe and Drug Free Schools
21st Century Community Learning Centers
Full Service Community Schools Grant
Carol M. White Physical Education Grant
Safe Schools / Healthy Students
McKinney Vento Homeless Grant
Even Start
This comes from a national document– we need to develop the list of potential sources for Pittsburgh

32. 4/8/2017
Non-Educational Public Funding Streams that can be used for Community Schools
Local and State Sources
City General Fund
County Human Services and General Fund
Special Levies (Children’s Levies, etc.)
Housing & Community Services (emergency housing programs, etc.)
Energy Assistance Programs
Federal Sources
USDA CACFP (afterschool & suppers) & Summer lunch
Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Community Services Block Grant
Head Start
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) $
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care Block Grant $

33. Private Funding Streams that can be tapped for Community Schools
4/8/2017
Private Funding Streams that can be tapped for Community Schools
United Way
Businesses/Corporations (including Hospitals)
Foundations
Universities
Fees

34. 4/8/2017
Additional Resources
Cincinnati model video, 10:40 minutes jAZidqZbNR94vj6uok1KgxwxBk4&bctid=
What are teachers saying about Community Schools?
Video highlighting 3 teachers experiencing Community Schools in San Francisco, CA, St. Paul, MN and Cincinnati, OH, 7:22 minutes
Visit AFT’s Community School page:
Visit the Coalition for Community Schools: