Supporting Whole-Child Education Through Community School Policy

• In Event: Equitable Systems for Thriving Students: Policy Implications of the Science of Learning and Development

Abstract

Community schools work in partnership with community organizations and local stakeholders to integrate supports and opportunities for students, families, and the community in order to promote students' physical, social, emotional, and academic wellbeing (Author et al., 2017). While community schools differ in responding to the assets and needs local communities, they typically incorporate four pillars: integrated student supports, expanded and enriched learning time, active family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership practices. A common misperception about community schools is that their primary or exclusive focus is the provision of external supports (e.g., site-based healthcare) as their foundational feature. However, there is a growing understanding that high-quality community school strategies can and should integrate whole child educational practices that build on SoLD (Author et al., 2021; California Department of Education, 2022).

This paper presents findings from a case study that examined the relationship between district-level community school policy/infrastructure and whole child educational practices within a large, urban school district. The district presents an “information-rich case” (Patton, 1990) for this investigation because it is home to a long-standing community schools initiative that intentionally integrates whole-child education. The central research questions that guided this study were: 1) How does district-level community school policy and infrastructure nurture school-level whole child education practices? 2) How do community schools enact whole child education practices? The study included three school sites (an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school) which were selected for their strong instantiation of whole child educational practices (e.g., student-centered instruction, integration of social-emotional learning, etc.) as well as their record of improvement across several student outcome measures including standardized achievement scores, attendance, chronic absenteeism, and graduation rates. Data sources included a review of relevant documentation as well as interviews and observations conducted at the district and school levels to examine district level policy and infrastructure and the ways in which district supports facilitate school-level practices grounded in SoLD.

Findings suggest that community school policy and infrastructure supported schools to implement practices across the five domains of whole child school design identified by SoLD. These include integrated support systems; positive developmental relationships; environments filled with safety and belonging; and development of skills, habits, and mindsets (Learning Policy Institute & Turnaround for Children, 2021). The features of district-level policy and infrastructure that allowed these aspects of whole child education to flourish include coordination between the district and county-level agencies; management of school and community partnerships; support for professional learning focused on various aspects of whole child education; and development of school-level infrastructure and personnel that support integrated services (e.g., Coordination of Services Teams).

Policymakers, educators, and community members increasingly support community schools as a method of supporting whole child outcomes, and historic investments in community school initiatives are being made at the federal and state levels. This paper offers lessons learned with respect to systems-level support for the integration of community school and whole child education approaches. Findings are particularly relevant given the expanded implementation of community schools across the country.

Authors

• Sarah L. Klevan, Learning Policy Institute
  Non-Presenting Author

• Julia A. Daniel, University of Colorado - Boulder
  Presenting Author

• Emily Germain, Learning Policy Institute
  Presenting Author