Oakland Unified School District Community Schools: Understanding Implementation Efforts to Support Students, Teachers, and Families
Author: Fehrer, Kendra
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Community Schools,School Districts,Educational Change,Educational Policy,Semi Structured Interviews,Partnerships in Education,Models,Program Implementation,Outcomes of Education,Program Effectiveness,Educational Practices,Student Personnel Services,Alignment (Education),Educational Objectives,Educational Cooperation,Cooperative Planning,Barriers,Educational Improvement,Coordination,Integrated Services,Health,Wellness,Student Needs,Parent Participation,School Schedules,After School Programs,Educational Opportunities,Academic Support Services,Time Factors (Learning),Educational Environment,Educational Trends

In 2010, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) launched an initiative to transform all district schools into full service community schools. The community school design provides integrated supports to students and fosters a school climate conducive to academic, social, and emotional learning. Interventions span in-school and out-of-school time, and include students' families, to ensure that all students have the supports needed to be ready to learn and to develop the skills, habits, and mindsets that provide a foundation for academic and social success. These supports are delivered in strategic partnerships with community-based organizations, and coordinated through various structures including a Community School Manager at each school. As OUSD continues to scale community school implementation, leaders want to document and assess their current efforts with an eye to improving policies and practices that will help all schools reach the initiative's goals. This report and four related briefs present findings from the first year of a planned three-year collaboration between OUSD and the Gardner Center to study the district's community schools, drawing on qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in five community schools as well as analysis of district administrative data. The following tables are appended: (1) OUSD Study Schools: School Profile, 2013-14; and (2) School Health Center and Expanded Learning Participation Rates. [The authors would like to acknowledge the Oakland Unified School District and the Kaiser Foundation Hospital Fund for Community Benefit Programs at East Bay Community Foundation in supporting this work. They also acknowledge the contribution of Gardner Center colleagues Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Jamila Henderson, Nikki Riley, Maureen Carew, Efrain Brito, Nancy Mancini, Leslie Patron, and Amy Gerstein in the writing and conducting of this study. For the accompanying Knowledge Briefs, &quot;Oakland Unified School District Community Schools: Supporting Students, Teachers, and Families. Knowledge Brief,&quot; see ED573276; &quot;Teaching and Learning in Oakland Community Schools. Knowledge Brief,&quot; see ED573277; &quot;Organizational Structures to Support Oakland Community Schools. Knowledge Brief,&quot; see ED573281; and &quot;Integrated Services and Supports in Oakland Community Schools. Knowledge Brief,&quot; ED573283.]