Community school
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
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.
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.
The schools were renamed community schools in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998
.
Approximately 61% of the state-funded primary and secondary schools in England are community schools.
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.
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" 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.
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." 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, 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.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
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
A community school in England and WalesEngland and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
is a type of state-funded school that is run wholly by the local education authority
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
(LEA). The LEA is responsible for the school's admissions, owns the school's estate and employs the school's staff.
In the mid-19th century, government involvement in schooling consisted of annual grants to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education
National Society for Promoting Religious Education
The National Society for Promoting Religious Education, often just referred to as the National Society, is a Church of England body in England and Wales for the promotion of church schools and Christian education....
and the British and Foreign School Society
British and Foreign School Society
The British and Foreign School Society offers charitable aid to educational projects in the UK and around the world by funding schools, other charities and educational bodies...
to support the "voluntary schools" that they ran, and monitoring inspections of these schools.
The Elementary Education Act 1870
Elementary Education Act 1870
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between ages 5 and 12 in England and Wales...
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.
The Education Act 1902
Education Act 1902
The Education Act 1902 , also known as Balfour's Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting education in England and Wales. At the time of passage of the Act, the Conservative Party was in power...
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.
The schools were renamed community schools in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998
School Standards and Framework Act 1998
The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government of Tony Blair.This Act:* imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes....
.
Approximately 61% of the state-funded primary and secondary schools in England are community schools.
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.Ireland
A community school in the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
is a type of secondary
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
school funded individually and directly by the state
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. Both academic and vocational programmes are available and facilities are broader than at voluntary
Voluntary secondary school
A voluntary secondary school in Ireland is a type of secondary education school that is privately owned and managed, often by church authorities, especially in the case of the Roman Catholic religion...
or vocational
Vocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
schools. The facilities are for use by the community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
and adult education
Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
in addition to normal programmes of education at this level.
United States
According to the Coalition for Community Schools, a branch of the Institute for Educational Leadership, 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. 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, 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
Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan is an American education administrator and currently United States Secretary of Education. Duncan previously served as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.-Early years and personal:...
, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools, commonly abbreviated as CPS by local residents and politicians and officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, is a large school district that manages over 600 public elementary and high schools in Chicago, Illinois...
, to the post of Secretary of Education, the concept of "schools as centers of community life" 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
21st Century Community Learning Center
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to afterschool programs. The No Child Left Behind Act reauthorized 21st CCLC in 2002, transferring the administration of the grants from the U.S. Department of Education to the state...
) 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." The Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University also studies the relationship between these three tributaries to student learning. Fordham University’s National Center for Schools and Communities 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 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." 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, 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, 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 schoolFoundation schoolIn England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools....
- Voluntary aided schoolVoluntary aided schoolA voluntary aided school is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust owns the school buildings, contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school...
- Community High School (disambiguation)