Community Schools

Community Schools

Community schools are an evidence-based school transformation strategy that unites the efforts of students, families, educators, and community partners to improve student learning and well-being. Through trusting relationships and well-coordinated supports, community schools ensure that students receive the health, social service, and learning opportunities they need to be successful. The Learning Policy Institute conducts and translates critical research on community schools to support policymakers and practitioners who are implementing this strategy.

Research on community schools and the science of learning and development identifies key characteristics of high-quality community schools: (1) integrated systems of support, (2) powerful student and family engagement, (3) collaborative leadership with shared power and voice, (4) expanded and enriched learning opportunities, (5) rigorous, community-connected classroom instruction, and (6) a culture of belonging, safety, and care. Evidence shows that when community schools are implemented well, they can lead to improvements in student outcomes, including attendance, academic achievement, high school graduation rates, and reduced racial and economic achievement gaps.

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Three students working collaboratively on a school project.

Community Schools Impact on Student Outcomes: Evidence From California

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How Community Schools Improve Outcomes

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Infographic

Key Practices for Community Schools Transformation

In consultation with over 700 practitioners, nonprofit leaders, teachers, coordinators, researchers, and policymakers, among others, a national collaboration known as Community Schools Forward developed a framework with six key integrated practices for high-quality community school implementation.

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Further Reading

Community Schools Research
- Community Schools Impact on Student Outcomes: Evidence From California (
  report and related resources
  )
- Developing a Healthy School Climate in Community Schools (
  report
  )
- How Community Schools Improve Outcomes (
  fact sheet
  )
- Community Schools as an Effective School Improvement Strategy: A Review of the Evidence (
  report and related resources
  )
- Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: Lessons from Community Schools (
  report and fact sheet
  )
- Illustrating the Promise of Community Schools: An Assessment of the Impact of the New York City Community Schools Initiative (
  report, RAND Corporation
  )
- Leading Indicators of Long-Term Success in Community Schools: Evidence from New York City (
  article, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness
  )
Resources for Community School Implementation
- Community Schools Certification: An Approach for Implementation (
  report
  )
- Federal Funding Sources for Community Schools (
  report
  )
- State Strategies for Investing in Community Schools (
  report
  )
- Technical Assistance for Community Schools: Enabling Strong Implementation (
  brief
  )
- Community Schools Playbook (
  policy playbook, Partnership for the Future of Learning
  )
- Financing Community Schools (
  guide, Partnership for the Future of Learning
  )
- Community Schools Forward: Technical Assistance Needs Assessment (
  report
  )
- Professional Learning Series on Community Schools (
  webinar series
  )
- Framework: Essentials for Community School Transformation
- Theory of Action for Community School Transformation
Teaching and Learning in Community Schools
- Classroom Teachers in the Community Schools Movement: A Social Justice Perspective (
  article, American Educator
  )
- Community-Based Learning in the Time of COVID-19 (
  blog
  )
Community Schools in California
- Community Schools in Los Angeles Unified: Transforming Teaching and Learning (
  report and brief
  )
- Community Schools in Lynwood Unified: Building Capacity for Districtwide Implementation (
  report
  )
- Community Schools in Rural California: Leveraging Shared Resources in West Kern County (
  report
  )
- District Supports for Community Schools: How Systems Can Enable High-Quality Implementation (
  brief
  )
- Expanded Learning in Action: What Students Have to Say (
  blog
  )
- Community-Connected Redesign at Fremont High School (
  brief
  )
- Community Schools Impact on Student Outcomes: Evidence From California (
  report and related resources
  )
- UCLA Community School: Celebrating Language, Culture, and Community (
  report
  )
- Oakland International High School: A Thriving Community School for Oakland’s Newcomer Students (
  report
  )
- Funding Community Schools in California (
  brief
  )
- Creating Conditions for Kids to Learn: Oakland’s Districtwide Community Schools Initiative (
  report and related resources
  )
- Felicitas & Gonzalo Mendez High School: A Community School That Honors Its Neighborhood’s Legacy of Educational Justice (
  brief
  )
- Social Justice Humanitas: A Community School Approach to Whole Child Education (
  report and brief
  )
- Supporting Rural Education Gains Through Community Schools (
  blog
  )
- Stemming Chronic Absenteeism the Community Schools Way (
  article, AASA, The School Superintendents Association
  )
Community Schools in New Mexico
Community Schools as a Pandemic Recovery Strategy
- Eliminating Chronic Absence (
  webinar
  )
- Investing in Community Schools: How States and Districts Can Use Federal Recovery Funds Strategically (
  fact sheet
  )
- Frequently Asked Questions: Using American Rescue Plan Funding to Support Full-Service Community Schools & Related Strategies (
  report, U.S. Department of Education
  )
- In the Fallout of the Pandemic, Community Schools Show a Way Forward for Education (
  blog
  )
- Restarting and Reinventing School Priority 8: Establish Community Schools and Wraparound Supports (
  interactive report
  )

Related Projects

Three students collaborating in school library

Center for School and System Redesign

Two young children reading a book together

Community Schools Forward

A group of diverse adults talk while sitting in a circle of chairs

Shared Learning Initiative

View a complete list of LPI's publications, blogs, and events on the topic of community schools. View all