Lessons From Oakland: Collaborative Leadership and Strategic Coordination in Community Schools

• In Event: Lessons in Community School Implementation: Case Examples From Oakland, Chicago, and Utah

Abstract

Objectives:
This paper presents findings from a study analyzing early implementation of the full-service community school model in Oakland, California. Oakland Unified School District’s (OUSD) community schools are designed to provide a safe, healthy, supportive school, high quality and effective instruction, and opportunities for college and career readiness. The authors have partnered with OUSD in a multi-method research collaboration to improve understanding of the initiative’s design elements, and implementation, to support district scale-up efforts and inform the field more broadly.
While place-based services are a key component of the community school model, in theory, the model is set apart and strengthened by a set of structures and strategies meant to integrate these services and transform the nature of the school and its relationship to the community. This study aims to increase our understanding of whether and how these strategic components are implemented at the school-level. Specifically, we examine the implementation of programmatic elements (E.g. expanded learning, health and wellness), coordination of student services, the role of partners/partnerships and the community school manger, and shared leadership practices among partner and school staff.
Perspectives/Theoretical Framework:
This research collaboration is informed by the principles of design-based implementation research, which challenges education researchers to break down barriers between sub-disciplines of educational research. It also aims to bring both the researcher and practitioner into collaborative and iterative cycles of inquiry about policy development and implementation “in ways that make it more likely that practitioners can adapt innovations productively to meet the needs of diverse students; and that durable research–practice partnerships can adapt and sustain innovations that make a difference. ”
Methods, Techniques, Modes of Inquiry
The research questions guiding this study were developed jointly by OUSD and the study authors, through a series of meetings and ongoing consultations. Research questions explore how the community schools model is implemented across schools, with an emphasis on the structures and strategies that support teaching and learning.
Data sources:
This paper presents analysis from qualitative research in five school sites. Interview transcripts from 37 interviewees including the principal, community school manager, teachers, and partner agency staff were coded and analyzed using NVIVO software.
Findings:
Initial findings indicate both consistencies and variations in implementation of key elements across sites For example, all schools offered expanded learning opportunities; however, some were more extensively coordinated with the school-day curriculum than others.

Significance:
Relatively little prior research has examined the school-level structures underlying the community school model, beyond the delivery of school-based service components. This research aims to inform the broader field of practitioners, researchers, and policymakers by illuminating promising practices and challenges related to the implementation of the community school model.

Authors

• Kendra Fehrer, John W. Gardner Center

• Jacob Leos-Urbel, Stanford University