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Citation:

Blank, M. J., Melaville, A., & Shah, B. P. (2003). Making the difference: Research and practice in community schools. Washington, DC: Coalition for Community Schools. http://www.communityschools.org/mtdhomepage_new.html#download

Annotation:
This report highlights the advantages of community schools and the conditions for learning that these advantages create. The authors present key research findings on five essential conditions for learning found in community schools, and they review 20 evaluations of community school programs in order to examine their effectiveness. In addition, the report offers an action agenda for the multiple stakeholders who must work together to promote community schools, as well as presenting 15 school profiles that include demographic and outcome data. Collective results indicated that community schools improve learning, promote family engagement, help students function effectively, and add vitality to communities. This review provided three lessons for future community school efforts: quality counts, attendance matters, and everyone benefits. In addition, community schools were found to have advantages over other schools in that they have additional resources, they develop academic and nonacademic skills, and they provide the opportunity for students and families to build social capital. Due to these advantages, community schools were able to provide five conditions necessary for learning: student motivation, a strong core instructional program, the ability to address basic health needs of the students, an atmosphere of mutual respect between families and school staff, and a connection to a broader learning community. The report offers an in depth discussion of strategies for creating and improving community schools. Twenty community school evaluations were examined in this study; the sample schools were located across the United States. The evaluations were not identical in the outcomes that they measured, however this study suggests that community school initiatives provide learning benefits to students.