Community school

For The Community School in Sun Valley, Idaho, see Community School (Idaho).

The term "community school" refers to types of publicly funded school in England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to a school that serves as both an educational institution and a centre of community life. A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, youth development, family support, health and social services and community development,leads to improved student learning,stronger families and healthier communities.Using public schools as hubs,community schools bring together many partners to offer a range of supports and opportunities to children, youth, families and communities -before, during and after school, and on weekends.

England and Wales

Further information: Education in England and Education in Wales

A community school in England and Wales is a type of state-funded school that is run wholly by the local education authority (LEA). The LEA is responsible for the school's admissions, owns the school's estate and employs the school's staff.^[1][2][3]

In the mid-19th century, government involvement in schooling consisted of annual grants to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education and the British and Foreign School Society to support the "voluntary schools" that they ran, and monitoring inspections of these schools. The Elementary Education Act 1870 imposed stricter standards on schools, and provided for the setting up of locally elected school boards in boroughs and parishes across England and Wales, empowered to set up elementary-level board schools where voluntary provision was insufficient. A number of voluntary schools, especially those of the BFSS, chose to become board schools. Parents were still required to pay fees, though the fees of the poorest were paid by the board.^[4]

The Education Act 1902 abolished school boards, transferring their functions to counties and boroughs acting as Local Education Authorities. The board schools were thus renamed county schools. The Act also introduced county secondary schools, which were greatly expanded during the 20th century.^[4] The schools were renamed community schools in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.^[5]

Approximately 61% of the state-funded primary and secondary schools in England are community schools.^[6]

Australia & New Zealand

In Australia and New Zealand the term "Community School" may refer to the small number of independent, usually Democratic Schools that promote progressive education. In Australia, the 13 year Sherbrooke Community School in Victoria is the only state (free) school of this type, while other schools work with parent and community assistance to minimize school fees.^[7]

Ireland

Further information: Education in the Republic of Ireland

A community school in the Republic of Ireland is a type of secondary school funded individually and directly by the state. Both academic and vocational programmes are available and facilities are broader than at voluntary or vocational schools. The facilities are for use by the community and adult education in addition to normal programmes of education at this level.^[8][9]

United States

See also: Education in the United States

According to the Coalition for Community Schools, a branch of the Institute for Educational Leadership,^[10] a community school is "both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources" with an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, leadership, and community engagement.^[11] Community schools are generally public, i.e. government and tax-payer funded, though many private and charter schools have also adopted the model. One of the difficulties the movement has encountered is the sheer diversity of institutions claiming to be community schools. This, coupled with the decentralized structure of American education,^[12] has hampered efforts to quantify the number of community schools nationally extant.

The movement gained momentum in the Chicago area, where the Federation for Community Schools is working to disseminate the model throughout the public-school infrastructure. With the appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, to the post of Secretary of Education, the concept of "schools as centers of community life"^[13] has become part of the national education agenda. Currently, many local, state, and national organizations seek the establishment of community schools throughout the country. Of these the most prominent non-profits are the Coalition for Community Schools, Communities In Schools, Schools of the 21st Century (an initiative of Yale University), the National Community Education Association (NCEA), and the Children’s Aid Society. The United States government (through the 21st Century Community Learning Center) and various state governments also provide funding and policy support for community school initiatives.

Research

Several leading universities have established centers to investigate the community-school-family triad. A key focus of the Harvard Family Research Project is "linking families, schools, and communities to support success in school and in life."^[14] The Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University^[15] also studies the relationship between these three tributaries to student learning. Fordham University’s National Center for Schools and Communities^[16] has a slightly narrower focus, emphasizing quality education for minority and low-income students. At Johns Hopkins University, the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships^[17] augments academic research with guides to best practices and workshop resources for parents, educators, and activists.

Scholarship has made explicit the precise effects of such partnerships on everything from drop-out rates to standardized test results. For example, a 2003 study of 82 Maryland elementary schools found, after controlling for external variables, that "the degree to which schools were working to overcome challenges to family and community involvement predicted higher percentages of students scoring at or above satisfactory on state achievement tests."^[18] Joyce Epstein, the director of the Center on Schools, Family, and Community Partnerships is a lead researcher in the field. In a 2005 article for The Journal of Educational Research,^[19] she and colleague Steven Sheldon not only established the link, via data collection and analysis, between school-family-community partnerships and improved student attendance, they also laid out several activities to reduce chronic absenteeism. The establishment of channels of communication between schools and parents, workshops for parents, and after-school programs for students are among the best practices utilized by the community school model of education.

Policy

The Full Service Community Schools (FSCS) Grant Program, part of an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,^[20] offers grants from the Department of Education intended to fund the establishment, or expansion, of one or more community schools. Grants will be awarded annually and are estimated to range between $275,000 – 500,000 per annum. Applicants must be part of a consortium that consists of a local educational agency and one or more community-based organizations, non-profit organizations, or other public or private entities.

See also

• Foundation school
• Voluntary aided school
• Community High School (disambiguation)

References

1. ^ "Categories of Schools - Overview". Governornet. Department for Children, Schools and Families. 2003-09-05. http://www.governornet.co.uk/cropArticle.cfm?topicAreaId=1&contentId=548. 
2. ^ "The Composition of Schools in England". Department for Children, Schools and Families. June 2008. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SBU/b000796/TheCompositionOfSchoolsInEnglandFinal.pdf. 
3. ^ Types of School, Citizens Advice Bureau.
4. ^ ^{a b} Lawson, John; Silver, Harold (1973). A Social History of Education in England. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-43251-1. 
5. ^ School Standards and Framework Act 1998, Her Majesty's Stationary Office.
6. ^ "Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England: January 2008 (Provisional)". Department for Children, Schools and Families. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/. 
7. ^ http://www.aapae.edu.au/
8. ^ "Types of post-primary school". Citizens Information Board. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/education/primary-and-post-primary-education/going-to-post-primary-school/types_of_post_primary_school. Retrieved 7 September 2009. 
9. ^ "Education Provision in Ireland". UNESCO International Board of Education. 2001. http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/ICE/natrap/Ireland.pdf. Retrieved 7 September 2009. 
10. ^ Institute for Educational Leadership. http://www.iel.org/index.html
11. ^ "What Is a Community School? The Coalition for Community Schools http://www.communityschools.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=6&Itemid=27
12. ^ "Structure of US Education." http://www.america.gov/st/educ-english/2008/September/20080911223538eaifas0.320335.html
13. ^ "Arne Duncan on Charlie Rose." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLQNFnUhWhw
14. ^ Harvard Family Research Project. http://www.hfrp.org/
15. ^ Institute for Education and Social Policy. http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/iesp/
16. ^ National Center for Schools and Communities. http://www.ncscatfordham.org/pages/home.cfm
17. ^ Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships. http://www.csos.jhu.edu/P2000/center.htm
18. ^ Sheldon, S. B. (2003). Linking Schools-Family-Community Partnerships in Urban Elementary Schools to Student Achievement on State Tests. The Urban Review, 35, 149-165. Accessed 3 September 2009 through JSTOR.
19. ^ Epstein, J. L. & Sheldon, S.B. (2005). Present and Accounted for: Improving Student Attendance through Family and Community Involvement. The Journal of Educational Research, 95, 308-318. Accessed 4 September 2009 through JSTOR.
20. ^ Department of Education http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg67.html