Necessity or Equity? Full-Service Community Schools and the (Mis)Education of Black Youth

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

Abstract

Objectives: In this paper, we report findings from a case study of a Northern California school district’s FSCS initiative as implemented at a predominantly Black middle school and a racially heterogeneous high school. We ask: What are the structural, pedagogical, relational, and discursive characteristics of FSCSs that seek to support Black students’ well-being and academic success? How do Black parents and students experience these FSCSs?

Perspectives: Public schools have long debated if their mandate is limited to knowledge transmission or also includes the development and well-being of the whole child. Contemporary realities of hyper-resegregation and toxic inequalities have prompted many districts to embrace this latter notion, reinventing themselves as FSCSs (Cummings, Todd, & Dyson, 2011; Dryfoos, 2005). Research on FSCSs has explored (1) broad goals and characteristics, (2) design and implementation, and (3) preparation of educators to engage in policies and practices (Biag & Castrechini, 2016; Cousins, Mickelson, Williams, & Velasco, 2008; Dryfoos, 2005; Voyles, 2012), but fewer studies have focused on how Black students and families, in particular, engage with FSCSs and related student outcomes.

Methods and Data Sources: We draw on data collected from a two-year ethnography of two FSCSs, including ethnographic observations of classrooms and semi-structured interviews with educators, students, and parents. Data analysis included an iterative process of open coding of field notes, interview transcripts, and analytic and meta-memos (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014; Saldaña, 2016; Saldaña & Omasta, 2018) to reveal two main themes: strategies to target specific student populations, and comprehensive, holistic strategies for meeting students’ diverse and overlapping needs (i.e., academic, emotional, physical, and spiritual).

Results: Findings document how educators discuss the need for FSCSs, including the role of strategies targeting specific student populations as well as comprehensive, holistic strategies to meet the complex needs of students living in poor, urban communities (e.g., Restorative Justice, Health Centers). For example, one principal remarked: “[A]t least they [Black students] can come [to school] and breathe deep and be at peace…if I can give you everything from food to clothes to health services—then, let me give it to you.…a bubble of security around the kids where they can take out some of the nonsense, some of the things that stress their life and focus more on getting better academically.” As this excerpt suggests, our paper will share analyses of the structural, pedagogical, relational, and discursive characteristics of targeted and comprehensive strategies and highlight how these strategies supported more equitable student outcomes and were humane responses to students and families’ lived experiences.

Significance: A main implication of this work calls for district officials, administrators, and teachers to articulate a clear sociopolitical stance and related goals to guide how they collectively align their work to develop and sustain the promise of FSCSs.

Authors

• Maxine McKinney de Royston, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Tia C. Madkins, The University of Texas at Austin