Investment in Schools: The Intersection of Community School Initiatives and Integration Approaches

• In Event: School Turnaround and Reform (STaR): Community Schools

Abstract

The objective of this theoretical paper is to unpack a tension between two types of school reform, community school initiatives and integration approaches. These approaches can be seen as at odds with one another because community schools are a place-based approach and school integration requires a transcendence of place. We engage in a two-part discussion: 1) a review of both approaches, focusing on their potential to advance equity and 2) a set of critical questions that elucidate points of departure and overlap between the two approaches. We conclude that these reform approaches are strongly connected by their commitment to investing in schools and communities and argue that a framing which forces a choice between the two approaches is reductive.

Authors

• Sarah L. Klevan, Learning Policy Institute

• Janel George, Learning Policy Institute

• Anna Maier, Learning Policy Institute