Created in 1994 through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) by the Improving America's Schools Act and expanded through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program was reauthorized in 2015 in Title IV, Part B of the ESEA by…

The importance of teacher collaboration and professional growth are highlighted by their inclusion in the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In ESSA, it is recommended that teachers are provided with opportunities to collaborate and participate in learning communities. The purpose of this action research study was to address the problem of…

Elementary music teachers are required to attend long-term, campus-wide professional development outside their content area. The purpose of this interpretive qualitative study was to better understand how elementary music teachers in a North Texas and a South-Central Colorado school district who have had five or more years of teaching experience…

The Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program was reauthorized in 2015 in Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 21st CCLC programs provide academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services to help students meet challenging…

Purpose: The primary purpose of this policy analysis is to examine how states changed their principal performance evaluation systems since the passage of Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. In particular, we focus on whether states have capitalized on the flexible policy landscape to make space for meaningful family and community engagement (FCE)…

There were two purposes for this transformative mixed method study with an advocacy lens: to examine (1) the implementation of community school programming in a racially and ethnically diverse, high-poverty urban school and (2) the impact of implementation on student achievement. In-depth interviews, along with achievement data from two cohorts of…

This paper summarizes research on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Leadership Learning Community (ELLC) and the University Principal Preparation Program (UPPI). The Wallace Foundation created these efforts and supported them financially to test ideas for improving the work of principals and enhancing the supports they receive on the job.…

The Community School Standards are designed to engage and support the community schools movement as a standards-driven, evidence-based strategy to promote equity and educational excellence for each and every child, and an approach that strengthens families and community. The standards have three objectives: (1) to help new community schools more…

In the ESSA Leadership Learning Community (ELLC), education agency leaders, community organization leaders, and others have together taken on challenges facing schools and school leaders in their states. They have produced advice to state agencies on policy design and rollout, for example on official definitions of equity, on requirements for…

This comparative case study investigated how two Title I elementary schools within the same school district implement, promote, and maintain familial/community engagement programs. The district adopted and implemented a family engagement model based on Dr. Karen Mapp's Academic Parent-Teacher Team approach within the Dual Capacity-Building…

Communities in Schools is one of the nation's oldest and largest providers of integrated student supports, also known as "wraparound services." Started in New York City in the 1970s, the agency now works with more than 2,300 schools in 25 states and the District of Columbia. The model is straightforward: Communities in Schools recruits,…

Schools have long wrestled with how best to deal with student and schooling problems. The COVID-19 pandemic and other recent events have increased the number of such problems. This pressing reality along with growing concerns about social injustice and increasing criticism of public education have heightened calls for changes in how schools play a…

This year's report examines the critical role community plays in education. Integrating learning that takes place inside and outside of school has always been a powerful strategy to support student success, but it gained special relevance this year, as school closures made family and community members integral parts of students' daily learning.…

As U.S. school leaders anticipate the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and contemplate possible budget shortfalls, they will have to make hard choices about how best to leverage limited resources to improve student outcomes. With the stakes high, lawmakers and experts urge school system leaders to rely on research and…

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. Through partnering with community agencies and offering important resources, community schools…