Cross-Sector School Reform: Evaluating Implementation Efforts of a Full-Service Community School and Refugee Center

• In Event: Improving for Socially Just Schools and Equitable Communities

Abstract

Refugee children who resettle in developing countries often experience marginalization across multiple contexts (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012), and is important for receiving schools and communities to be culturally and contextually responsive. Our study focuses on one community school effort doing just that. Qualitative findings highlight school and community-based organizations committed to tightly integrating concepts of refugee services with full-service community school programming, resulting in a broader educational approach driven by human needs. Quantitative findings revealed higher parent perceptions during community school implementation than before community school implementation. Additionally, middle school students attending the refugee community school during community school implementation (n=117) outperformed those who attended prior to community school implementation (n=122) on various academic readiness indicators, including GPA.

Authors

• Kathleen Provinzano, Drexel University

• Toni A. May (Sondergeld), Drexel University