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Essay: Shaping schools to serve disadvantaged communities as hubs for academic/social services

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  • Subject area(s): Education essays
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  • Published: 15 September 2019*
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  • Words: 3,017 (approx)
  • Number of pages: 13 (approx)

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Executive Summary
For decades, there have been successful models of community schools in cities across America that have been empowering communities through access to healthcare, culturally relevant education, and parenting services.   By creating partnerships and addressing the out-of-school, systemic factors that prohibit student learning, community schools have proven to be an economically sound and culturally responsive resolution to decreasing the opportunity gap.   Developed in the 1990s, community schools have operated as a hub for  integrating social and physical development with instruction.  These spaces essentially serve as community hubs through which various stakeholders invest in building community and school partnerships as a resource to improve society.  This memo will share challenges experienced by children from marginalized communities and provide a case for why the integration of social services into community schools is effective.  The support for community schools will be elaborated through the recommendation of transforming community schools from hubs where community services are provided, to educational cooperatives where generations within a community are able to find access to educational and social services.
Statement of Problem
Marginalization is the product of operating within interconnected institutions that unfairly disadvantage groups of people based on cultural or social characteristics.  When institutions are connected, their impact can be felt throughout families and across multiple generations.  To dismantle the barriers that result from these interconnected factors, it is imperative that safe spaces are connected that allow communities to engage with academic, social, health, environmental, and political supports.  In the presence of these supports, communities will cultivate the skills to sustain themselves and effectively challenge governments in the face of biased policies.
Schools are foundational institutions that are respected throughout most communities.  As such, schools can play a key role in inspiring community engagement and serving as a trusted source for needed interventions.  In speaking to this psycho-social needs of a community, familiarity in the form of providing services through a school can increase the rates at which services are consumed.  According to research, it is suggested that effective adult education programs are those that have links to an adults daily life (Lynch, 2009).  Not only will increased adults services improve the experiences of the adult learner, they have also been shown to have positive impacts on the learning of children.  Data from a 2004 study reflected that the children of high-school dropouts typically had the lowest reading scores (Lynch, 2009).  If families who struggle with literacy were provided a means through which to improve their literacy while also being able to engage their child, more gains in the space of positive family relationships could be accomplished.
A resilient community is one in which lessons are learned and adjustments are made to behaviors and the function of relationships so as to ensure sustainability.  In the case of improving educational models so as to improve responses to community changes, it is acknowledged that adult responses are shaped by the social and cultural context of the community.  In order for adults to be able to better respond to changes, the mindset of their communities should be transformed to one that is supportive of advancing individual autonomy while also strengthening community investment in the individual.  Changing the narrative of communities from one of disadvantage, to a community that is uplifted by the availability of enriching experiences can work to increase adult productivity that will ultimately yield academic and social success for children.
Literature  Review
According to a 2016 report on the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act, the student achievement gap has, “increased by roughly 20 to 40 percent among children born in 2001” (Mathis, 2016, p.8).  Upon its inception in 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act was intended to produce improved academic results by increasing resources and provisions for academic instruction.  However, this policy raised demands on the collection and sharing of data, which restricted the capacity of instructors to provide culturally responsive instruction (Manueli).
Data from 2008 reflected that students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, entered high school 3.3 grade levels behind (Palardy, 2008). This data demonstrated that academic achievement of students from marginalized communities is severely impacted by inequalities in income and community resources.  As such, the use of national reform similar to No Child Left Behind that uses homogenous criteria for determining what resources will be supplied to schools nationwide is a detriment to educating all children.  Policies that simply use data and not behavioral analyses perpetuates the challenges that the most deserving students face, rather than alleviating them.
Apart from having adequate school materials and qualified teaching staff, out of school factors also directly impact a student’s academic performance.  These out of school factors are significantly influenced by income and the racial gap.  Based on data gathered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, “there is a more than 20-point gap between white and brown children on national reading and math scores” (Beatty, 2013, p. 69).  Essentially, inequalities that stem from the treatment of different racial groups has influenced this achievement gap in national testing.  Despite the implementation of various policies, this gap has not seen any significant change in nearly 25 years (Beatty, 2013).   Further, of 35,427,009 children under the age of 9 living in the United States, 47% live in low income households (2010-2014 American Community Survey, 2014). Some of the external factors that have linked poverty to being detrimental to the development of young children are insecure housing, food scarcity, un-stable parenting and inadequate medical care (Beatty, 2013).  These factors can carry with young children into adulthood in the form of depression and other high-risk behaviors (Beatty, 2013).
Disadvantages that perpetuate the opportunity gap can be identified under two larger themes, health and development or families and the environment (Beatty, 2013).  Lack of access to adequate health care is particularly impactful for younger students.  Research on early childhood care expresses that adequate nutrition and healthcare ensure that children will be ready for kindergarten, and more capable of developing the foundational literacy and math skills needed for their academic career (Beatty, 2013).  Interruptions that typically limit a young child’s preparedness are lack of adequate nutrition, and unstable medical care (Beatty, 2013).  Experiencing these interruptions early on have also been shown to shape how the brain develops in the context of negative experiences (Beatty, 2013).  As young children progress to adolescents, they may learn to respond to these challenges by developing characteristics of emotional disturbance, depression, and substance abuse (Beatty, 2013).
Relationship building is a tool that is absent in various past educational policies. Taking care of the child’s most fundamental needs such as nutrition and medical care may ensure that challenges such as truancy, and student engagement are improved.  As such, districts should invest in integrating practices of local health centers into their school policies or parental handbook.  Health disparities that exist among lower income students impact their success of graduating from high school and further making healthy choices as an adult.  According to a report from the Coalition for Community Schools, high rates of chronic absence and suspensions from school, and low levels of third-grade reading scores, are often rooted in health issues (Blank, 2015).
Data gathered from national surveys has confirmed that health challenges experienced by marginalized children frequently come in the form of asthma, vision and hyperactivity (Blank, 2015).  A 2006 national survey proved that of 9.9 million youth under the age 18, 14% have asthma (Basch, 2010).  Visual impairments are estimated to affect 20% of youth (Basch, 2010).  If students were given necessary and frequent medical care, some of these lasting impairments could have been addressed before they became a significant challenge.
Also, the mental impact that stressors from socioeconomic factors have on children is evidenced in data gathered on inattention and hyperactivity.  Approximately 4.6 million children, which is 8.4% of adolescent American youth have received a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (Basch, 2010).  Of this percentage, only two-thirds of these youth are receiving prescription medications (Basch, 2010).  Unfortunately, minority youth typically do not receive medical treatment for this issue.
In some cases, health challenges are compounded with other social challenges such as homelessness, immigration status and sexual identity.  Within this conglomeration of disadvantage, adolescents become susceptible to delayed progress.  This delay in academic and social progress stems from a lack of availability to intervention services or community education on how to handle extenuating circumstances (Haig, 2014).  Proper parenting and the involvement of caregivers in monitoring student progress is an instrumental piece to ensuring academic success for students.  Low income children account for more than the one in seven children across all socioeconomic brackets that face maltreatment (Beatty, 2013).  Research has shown that when students experience behaviors present in disadvantaged communities such as abusive or neglectful parenting, a disorganized family and unsafe community environments, they are more likely to engage in criminal behavior (Beatty, 2013).
In his piece on community and school partnerships, Munoz identified the achievement gap as being an “artifact of struggling families” (Dodd, 2011, p.12).  In familial structures where the parents access to resources are limited, the student’s attachment to school is strained.  In a study by DeYoung, the involvement of young people in negative behaviors was linked to their lack of any connection to a responsible adult (DeYoung, 1991).  This lack of connection can be attributed to various reasons such as parents having to work multiple jobs or other psychosocial factors that incapacitate the parent’s decision making ability.   In the U.S. more than 5 million children spend afterschool hours unsupervised (Dodd, 2011).  During these hours, students are likely to get involved in risky behaviors.  However, for some parents who would like to be active stakeholders in their child’s educational activity, other factors limit this ability.  For instance, parents may find it challenging to develop relationships with their child’s teacher due to language or cultural barriers.  So often, the parent’s voice is limited in the conversation on improving educational outcomes.
The rates of involvement of community stakeholders is another factor that contributes to student and parental readiness for the K-12 educational experience.  According to research on the theory of “community aware education policy”, teacher engagement directly correlates to the academic success of students (Casto,2016).  Similarly, the engagement of community organizations that deliver services that provide support for the whole child have also been cited as a benefit to maintaining improved academic progress or social development.  One of the conditions that researchers point to for exacerbating limited teacher engagement is the No Child Left Behind act of 2001 and its emphasis on data utilization.  This mandate developed a nationwide goal for schools to meet annual benchmarks in the areas of English/ Language Arts and Mathematics for students in the grades of 3-8 (Casto, 2016).  As a result, teachers have a limited capacity to provide culturally competent instruction, and are upheld to strictly providing instruction that will enable the students to meet a specific proficiency level for nationwide learning standards.
To change the narrative of the federal government’s prioritization of K-12 education, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  This policy served as a tool to shape stronger educational reform to benefit students from low income communities that were not improved as a result of No Child Left Behind (Mathis, 2016).  Under this reform states are given more supervisory power in crafting interventions that are specific to their state’s educational needs.  Also, school performance will be measured using one non-academic indicator that is chosen by the state (Mathis, 2016).  This reform is opening the door for larger conversations to be had around the factors that influence the whole child in an academic setting.  As such, stakeholders that have traditionally been absent from improving schools are finding more space for engagement.  Education researchers are being sought after in increasing numbers to work with districts and schools to conduct research that will address localized concerns.
Recommendations
One current strategy to encouraging academic success for distressed community is to provide services that will influence the upward trajectory of the whole child.  In providing services that meet the needs of children, outside of their academic performance, resources can be applied to systemic challenges that have plagued generations of communities.  Institutions that have been cited for providing academic support as well as behavioral and health interventions are community schools.  These schools are designed to partner with community organizations to implement engaging curriculum, health and social support and extracurricular learning opportunities to students and their families.  Today there are nearly 5,000 community schools serving low-income communities in some capacity (Green, 2014).
This educational model is not a new concept, in that variations of this practice were implemented in the early 1990’s as full-service schools.  These programs identified gaps in the public services for disadvantaged communities and leveraged community resources to create an incubator for community development within the school space.  An early and successful example of this practice was the Harlem Children’s Zone which is an expansive educational intervention that provided full-services to families within a 97 block radius.  Given the enormity of this project, it has been difficult to replicate, due to funding and monitoring efforts.
Using community schools as a strategy to decrease the opportunity gap could yield significant positive results due to its emphasis on holistic services for the students, their families and their community.  This success has been evidenced in various rural and urban schools.  Schools in Arkansas, Kentucky, Colarado, and Denver noticed improved nutrition environments, reduced access to less healthy foods and more physical activity after implementing policies that integrate some of the core components of the community school model (Chang, 2015).
It is recommended that distressed communities, specifically those in rural areas, take the community school model and transform it into a cooperative that performs as an incubator that offers a full-range of social services for adolescents and adults.  This integrative form of a community school and social services center will continue on the goal of the early full-service schools by offering services to community members at all stages throughout their lifetime.  By modeling a school in the cradle to career framework, supports can be leveraged to ensure that members of a community are given the training and care needed to continue influencing positive social changes within their locale.
The first step toward implementing this type of community based reform, is to begin with conducing culturally anchored research.  Through this form of research, the analyst will examine the challenges of this community through an empathetic lense, so as to uncover variables that that are unique to this population.  Once these variables are uncovered, the analyst can take the first step towards proposing solutions that are respectful of the social, emotional, environmental, and developmental needs of the community.  Similar to the work completed in Jackson, Mississippi, through the Cooperation Jackson initiative, it is recommended that analysts engage a representative sample of the community in the decision-making process through education on democratic participation.  Ideally, this educational model will take place at the school itself, through the implementation of town hall meetings, issue workshops, and continuous gathering of committees that have committed to a particular issue.
Following this education on democratic practices, empowered community members can utilize the skill-set they have acquired to seek out community based organizations that can provide services in their areas of issue identified as priorities.  Under the guidance of a representative elected board that includes members from the community, elected officials, and community organization leaders, it is expected that a set of terms can be created that align everyone’s role with the goal of educating and empowering current and future generations of community members.
Since it is ideal that the educational cooperative is unique to the community it is serving, this model can take many forms.  The model can range from extended school days during which children are encouraged to supplement their academic instruction with other social and behavioral lessons under the leadership of community organizations that have expertise in the area.  Or, this cooperative could look like health care being provided by health professionals who set up office hours on a fixed schedule to resolve the concerns of community members.  An essential characteristic of whatever model that is implemented, will be for the board to establish a monitoring system by which the quality of services are analyzed to maintain that they are purposeful and meeting the needs of members.  By having a monitoring system in place, the sustainability of this initiative can be ensured, as there will be consistent observations made so as to determine whether strategies should be pivoted to meet the transforming needs of a changing community.
Conclusion
By investing in shaping schools to serve disadvantaged communities as hubs for academic and social services, society will benefit.  Rewards can be gathered from investing in the potential of  children and seeing their acquisition of a quality education as a positive externality on society’s functioning.  In a study on the benefit of education programs that provide support for families, it was estimated that “every dollar invested in high-quality early care and education yields $13.00 in savings to taxpayers” (Beatty, 2013, 74).  Over time, these savings have attributed to a reduction in the need for social services, and costs associated with the justice system and health care.  Ultimately, these programs may lead to a decrease in 30% to 70% of the achievement gap (Beatty, 2013).
As a result of implementing this educational cooperative, it is expected that generations of community members will receive the health care, education, and job training they need to contribute to the continuous development of their community.  As a by-product, it is also anticipated that future generations of political activists will be inspired by their increased democratic participation.  By providing services that intentionally speak to the unique needs of a community, it is also expected that members will be given the resources needed to remain competitive in the changing world.  Specifically, their could be a surge in economic activity if higher numbers of adults are found to benefit from the adult training, and improved child care that could free up some of their time to enable them to partake in more economic endeavors.  To best circumvent unnecessary strain that is caused by operating in silos, this educational cooperative will serve as a collective effort by which schools and service providers are meeting in a safe space to provide holistic care that will serve citizens from adolescence, to adult, and beyond.

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