Examining the Impact of a Full-Service Community School on Student Academic Outcomes

• In Event: Meeting Educational Responsibility Through Research on Full-Service Community Schools

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines the impact of FSCSs on students’ academic outcomes. As achievement gaps persist, educators, politicians, parents and community members search for means to reduce disparities between advantaged groups of students and disadvantaged groups, particularly those in culturally and linguistically diverse student populations (Ferguson, Phillips, Rowley, & Friedlander, 2015; Reardon, 2011). The NEA (2002-2015) recommends giving diverse students access to quality education, giving professional development and materials to educators, and requiring professional accountability to counteract continuing achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students. These recommendations align with the goals of FSCSs.

Perspectives: A pathway to act upon the NEA recommendations includes embracing the theoretical underpinnings of the whole child philosophy and Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory. Both purport that student achievement is not solely the result of genetics or classroom instruction, but rather is influenced by an interplay of school factors and environmental influences outside of the school in students’ families and communities (Santiago, Ferrara, & Quinn, 2012). Thus, in order to increase student achievement, all factors and ecologies that affect the student should be considered. This comprehensive approach is fundamental to the concept and goals of FSCSs.

Data Sources and Methods: The study compares the academic performance of a sample of 128 students who attended a FSCS, with a sample of 187 students who attended a demographically comparable school in the same NYC suburban district. The sample of students graduated from the school district between 2011 and 2014. The two groups of students were tracked through high school to graduation, and compared in terms of the following outcomes: SAT I scores, scores on New York State (NYS) High School Regents Examinations, graduation with a NYS Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation, cumulative grade point average (GPA), number of Advanced Placement (AP) examinations taken, and intention to enroll in a four-year college. Analysis of covariance was used to compare means and percentages, and adjusted mean scores for these outcomes.

Results: Students in the FSCS sample scored significantly higher than their counterparts in the traditional school on intention to attend a four-year college and the SAT I Reading test. Though not significantly different, the students who attended the FSCS scored higher on NYS Regents Examinations, were awarded more NYS Regents Diplomas with Advanced Designation, took more AP examinations, and had higher cumulative GPAs.

Significance: This study compared the actual outcomes on objective measures of academic achievement and aspirations of a sample of students who had attended a K-5 FSCS with a comparison sample of students from the same district who attended a traditional K-5 elementary school. The students from the FSCS out performed their counterparts on several measures. Such systematic differences in the performance between the two schools so closely matched on student background characteristics are unlikely to be chance findings, thus indicating the potential impact of FSCSs on student academic achievement.

Authors

• Diane W. Gomez, Manhattanville College

• JoAnne Ferrara, Manhattanville College

• Stephen J. Caldas, Manhattanville College