Collective Impact and Continuous Improvement: How Nonprofit Leaders Organized to Address Chronic Absenteeism in Schools

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Partnerships, Curricular Innovations, and Professional Learning Strategies for School Improvement (Table 28)

Abstract

School-community partnerships can provide numerous resources to urban schools to help address structural inequalities and increase schools' capacity to meet students’ needs. However, various organizational conditions can hinder the effectiveness of these partnerships. In this study, we utilized continuous improvement and collective impact frameworks to examine how a coalition of non-profit leaders implemented a program to address chronic absenteeism in a large urban city and how they organized their efforts for continuous improvement. We found that although the coalition faced challenges in implementation due to school contextual conditions and unclear program goals and expectations, the strength of the coalition’s continuous communication and long-standing relationships helped them to learn, adapt, and problem-solve to adjust and plan for future implementation.

Authors

• Danica Brown, Tulane University

• Cristina Stanojevich, Michigan State University

• Bianca Burch, Wayne State University

• Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Wayne State University