Narrowing the Achievement Gap Through Integrated Student Support: Evidence From City Connects in the Heartland

• In Event: From the Coast to the Heartland: Scaling Integrated Student Support Systems in the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluates whether the City Connects integrated student support (ISS) intervention is effective in narrowing achievement gaps between historically underserved students and their peers during the first two years of implementation in a Midwestern state following the COVID-19 pandemic. This study responds to growing national interest in how education systems can address entrenched inequities through evidence-based ISS approaches by providing empirical evidence in the context of the Midwest.

Theoretical framework: City Connects is grounded in developmental science and is designed to address out-of-school factors—such as food insecurity, housing instability, and mental health challenges—that influence student learning (Duncan and Murnane, 2011). The intervention embeds a full-time coordinator in each school to assess every student’s strengths and needs and connect students with tailored supports. By addressing non-academic barriers, City Connects enhances students’ capacity to engage in learning. This approach aligns with the national movement toward whole-child education as reflected in community schools and the leverage of community resources to mitigate the impact of out-of-school factors on student academic achievement (Moore and Emig, 2014; Moore et al., 2017; Garcia and Weiss, 2017; US Department of Education, 2021).

Methods: Exploiting the gradual rollout of City Connects in this Midwestern state since 2021, we employ a student-level difference-in-differences research design to estimate the impact of City Connects on standardized exams in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). Our model compares changes in outcomes before and after the implementation among students in City Connects schools to changes among students in non-participating schools. We include year, school, and student fixed effects to control for factors universal to specific years, schools, or students. The models also account for key time-variant covariates, including free/reduced-price lunch eligibility (FRL), English learner status, special education designation, and school size. This design isolates within-student changes over time while addressing confounding factors.

Data source: We use student-level longitudinal administrative data acquired from the Department of Education of this state. The data span four academic years since 2018–19, excluding 2019–20 when assessments were not administered, and include all students in Grades 3-8. The data contain demographic characteristics, program participation, and standardized exam results in math and ELA.

Results: Our results indicate that students who participated in City Connects for at least one year demonstrated sizable improvements of 0.050 and 0.053 standard deviations (SE) in math and ELA, both statistically significant. The gains were larger among Black students (0.058 and 0.068 SE in math and ELA) and among students eligible for FRL (0.059 and 0.050 SE in math and ELA). There is also suggestive evidence that students who received the intervention for two consecutive years showed greater improvements, highlighting the importance of sustained support.

Significance: This study offers evidence that ISS, when implemented at scale, can improve achievement and close opportunity gaps between historically underserved students and their peers. As policymakers and educators seek durable, systemic solutions for persistent achievement gaps, this research provides rigorous support for scaling whole-child/wraparound interventions to address historical and structural inequality.

Authors

• Haibin Jiang, Boston College

• Illia Polovnikov, Boston College

• Eric Dearing, Boston College

• Mary Elizabeth Walsh, Boston College