Community Schools Strategy Delivers Comprehensive Support for Educational Equity

Education policymakers working to address the impacts of growing economic and racial inequality on students often look to community schools as an effective approach for supporting students and their families in communities facing concentrated poverty. Research synthesizing findings from 143 rigorous studies finds that community schools can improve outcomes for all students, especially those facing lack of access to high-quality schools and out-of-school barriers to learning.

Community schools feature integrated student supports, expanded learning time, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership, representing a successful strategy for improving schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Well-implemented community schools can serve as a successful strategy for whole-school transformation, providing students and families with much-needed services and supports that address barriers to academic achievement. This comprehensive approach recognizes that educational equity cannot be achieved through academic interventions alone, but requires addressing the social, economic, and health factors that influence student learning. The community schools model establishes wraparound supports to coordinate services for supporting children and families, creating an integrated system that addresses students' holistic needs both during and outside of school hours.

Recent research using quasi-experimental methods with propensity score matching demonstrates that community schools' integrated student support services (academic, socioemotional, health, and family support) contribute to improving whole-child development and reducing systemic inequalities in students' learning and wellness outcomes. This evidence-based validation of the community schools approach provides compelling support for scaling this model as a cornerstone strategy for educational equity. The success of community schools illustrates how addressing educational inequity requires a systems-thinking approach that extends beyond traditional classroom boundaries to encompass the full range of factors that influence student success.