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Building Smart Education Systems

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Communities building smart education systems



Chicago Community Schools, IL
A citywide initiative seeks to transform public schools into hubs of learning, services, and enrichment for students, parents, and entire communities.

The Entry Point to a Smart Education System

A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health, and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities. Schools become centers of the community and are open to everyone — all day, every day, evenings, and weekends. Community-based organizations or public institutions often work as lead agencies in community schools, helping to mobilize community assets and support student success.
—from the Coalition for Community Schools Web site

  View video [1 minute, 30 seconds]

Their Story

The Chicago Schools Initiative (CSI) began in 2001, when a group of business and philanthropic leaders approached the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) with a proposal to seed new “community school” partnerships through a public/private venture. Recognizing that schools alone couldn't meet the many health, developmental, and enrichment needs of students, these leaders proposed raising private money, with matching funds from the district, to expand a pilot program that paired schools with community organizations to become “full-service” schools.

In 2002, Arne Duncan, the chief executive officer of CPS, agreed to add 100 new community schools over five years. That goal has been met and surpassed. By the end of the current school year, Chicago will be home to 150 community schools working with well over 400 organizations. The goal is for every one of Chicago’s 655 schools to become a community school by 2012.

The Chicago Community School Model

Under the model, a school partners with a lead partner agency (LPA) with at least three years of experience in adult and youth programming. With guidance from the school’s advisory committee, the school and the LPA develop a range of voluntary after-school and weekend programming for students. Current offerings include a mix of sports and recreation, arts and cultural activities, tutoring, and academic enrichment.

Programming for adults can include classes in English as a second language, career education, nutrition, and parenting. Community schools also have leveraged funds for additional services, including on-site medical and dental care.

CPS provides support for community schools through the Office of Extended Learning Opportunities. The OELO solicits and approves applications for new community schools, contracts with external consultants to help schools improve programs, hosts professional development, and raises and coordinates funding. Other institutions, including the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago, also provide support to the community schools.

Shifting School Culture

At their best, community schools represent a shift in the culture and fabric of schools--a reimagining of schools as community hubs that recognize the importance of authentic engagement of whole families. One example of a school that has succeeded in making this transition is the John C. Burroughs School, a 550-pupil K-8 school in the predominantly Latino southwest Chicago neighborhood of Brighton Park.

The school stays open most nights until 8:00 p.m. Students participate in a wide range of after-school programming led by school staff, parents, community members, and professional artists. Graduates return to mentor eighth graders. Saturday and summer offerings provide literacy and arts enrichment.

Parents take ESL, GED, and computer classes, and the school connects families with courses provided by BPNC in home ownership, immigration and citizenship, and financial literacy. The school and BPNC are working to open an on-site mental health and family support center.

Work with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Leaders from CPS, the principal of Burroughs School, and a University of Illinois at Chicago researcher who evaluated the program participated in the 2008 Emerging Knowledge Forum. The panel led a discussion of CSI and their implications for building smart education systems in other communities, and panel members participated in discussions of measuring a broad set of outcomes and the challenges of scaling up.

For More Information
Contact Person
Sara McAlister
Research Associate, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Sara_McAlister@brown.edu





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