Banding Together: Building Cross-District and Cross-County Partnerships to Leverage Resources in Rural California

• In Event: Expanding Our Understanding: Research on Rural Community School Implementation

Abstract

Objective: Increasing public and policy attention is being paid to the state of rural schools and the distinct obstacles leaders face in spurring school improvement. Though rural schools are not homogenous, studies indicate that they face many common challenges, including lower student achievement in comparison to their nonrural counterparts (Drescher, et al., 2022) and the presence of achievement and opportunity gaps as students progress into secondary settings (Johnson, et al., 2021). Additional research demonstrates how structural factors, including teacher retention (Ingersoll & Tran, 2023), limited administrative capacity (Biddle, 2022), and inconsistent access to supplemental supports (Showalter, et al, 2023), can hinder operations in rural schools and impact student progress.
Given these challenges, along with economic and population declines in many rural areas, community school have become a strategy to combat educational inequities and improve school and community well-being. This case study examines how a cross-district collaborative leveraged shared resources to effectively implement the community school strategy in its rural context. Specifically, this qualitative case study examined the efforts of the West Kern Consortium for Full-Service Community Schools (West Kern)—a consortium of six rural districts that who shared commitment to the betterment of the larger geographic area and leverage federal, state, and county resources to engage in community school transformation in CA’s Central Valley.

Methods and Data. This case study employed a multi-method approach to data collection. This included interview with district level administrators, principals, community school coordinators, social workers, partners, teachers, and parents. The team observed, PLCs, Children’s Cabinet meetings, and conducted two 2-day site visits, during which we shadowed the coordinator and took field notes of daily activities, classroom work, and overall climate. Lastly, we analyze documents and administrative data to better understand the context of the initiative and the impact of the work.

Findings. We found that the consortium used shared resources in distinct ways. First and foremost, West Kern leaders centered instructional improvement in their initiative and allocated resources that provided educators with job-embedded capacity building, including access to instructional coaches. West Kern leaders also invested in community school coordinators and social workers—full-time personnel placed at each school who lent dedicated capacity to advancing initiative priorities around family engagement and increased service provision. Leaders also used resources to institute ongoing professional development for these staff members (e.g., site visits, communities of practice), which enabled them to monitor and improve their practice with the support of their counterparts and initiative leaders. Finally, West Kern leaders allocated resources to establish shared governance structures that enabled efficient management, collaboration, and engagement with county officials and nonprofit partners to support community school implementation, collective problem-solving and continuous improvement.

Significance. Findings from this case study surface important guidance for systems leaders as they seek to use funds to support the development and implementation of community schools. Moreover, its focus on change efforts—particularly in a rural context—makes contributions to the growing research on community schools and their instantiation and development in distinct geographic settings.

Authors

• Emily Germain, Learning Policy Institute

• Laura E. Hernandez, Learning Policy Institute