Chapter 3
Learning from Past Movements to Find Answers

“A community school is a place and a set of partnerships between the school and the community resources. The community school strategy integrates academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and civic engagement to improve student learning and to develop stronger families and healthier communities” – (CommunitySchool.org)

The concept of community school has proliferated to a higher magnitude. The many faces of this concept, which encompasses a number of support service facilities, has continuously been evolving and challenges to their development are also found to be in abundance. The idea of community school has its roots in the early progressive thinking of John Dewey and Jane Addams about reforms in social institutions. The concept of ‘community school’ from the day it started is alive and the schools are growing in number every day, serving millions of needy communities across the United States. In the present day context there are a number of models based on national and regional perspectives, and this creates different types of community schools.

Community schools serve to connect schools and communities to achieve the objectives of making children and youth engaged in academic experience and to provide them with enriched opportunities, so that they can look into positive futures based on their educational capabilities. The other objective of community schools is to prepare the youth for adult roles in the workplace as good parents and better citizens. Community schools are developed to ensure the families and neighborhoods are safe, supportive and integrated into the social life. Through community schools, the students are being trained to engage themselves in real-world problem solving as a part of their curriculum and contribute to the development of the communities.

However these objectives can be achieved only when community schools are governed in an efficient manner, with the best practices and effective utilization of the available resources. For achieving this, the school boards and local governments have to learn from the experiences of the past movements in the realm of community schools. The mistakes from the past experiences need to be fixed and learned from by taking appropriate corrective measures where required and following the positive aspects as introduced in the past running of the education system in the community schools in their existence in the earlier period. In this context this chapter presents an overview of the history of the movement of community school system in the United States and the learning from the past as answers to the present day governance of community schools.

The concept of community schools is nothing new in the American history. During 1800s settlement houses were created, which provided opportunities to the neighborhood residents for developing their knowledge and skills. There was a shift in the focus during early 1900s when educators and others began exploring the possibilities of making public schools the institutions that could provide these opportunities. They also attempted to make schools as social centers for communities. Based on the initiatives of Charles Steward Mott Foundation, in promoting the community school, the movement gained momentum during 1930s. The goal of the Mott Foundation was to make schools the ‘social, educational and recreational’ center of communities. Involving young people and adults in life-long education was one of the other objectives of the Foundation. During the past decades, there were several initiatives undertaken towards the development of community school movement.

Even though the community schools present today differ in their design and approach, they are based on a common platform and they also share common principles and objectives. The community schools endure strong associations, share accountability for efficiency in performance, establish higher goals for achievement, grow on the strength of the communities and hold diversity close. Each of these core principles is considered equally important for the success of the community schools. Partners in community schools belong to different walks of life and possess varied experience and viewpoints. Against the backdrop of diversity which is one of the key elements in community school concept, the talent, energy and commitment of the partners revolve around the shared mission of improving the lives of youth and children belonging to the respective communities (Community Schools).

3.1 Early History of Public Education in the United States

Public education in the United States differs from public education systems operating in many other countries in which public education is the primary responsibility of the state and individual school districts. The development of formal education in the United States took place in late 19th and early 20th century. The creation of the public school system was first suggested by the great American leader Thomas Jefferson. The ideas of Jefferson were the fundamental elements of the education system that developed in the 19th century. The public education in the preliminary form was in existence during the 1600s in the New England colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Since the Puritans and the Congregationalists were the only groups in existence, religious belief was considered as the main reason for educating the children. This concept of model school got weakened with the influx of immigrants from many countries and belonging to different faiths and beliefs. There was resistance from the people to learn only in English and they also protested against the clergies imposing strict religious views using the medium of public education.

Private schooling has begun the norm during the mid of eighteenth century. By the year 1791, fourteen states formed their own constitution after the country gained independence. Out of these fourteen states, seven made specific provisions for education. Jefferson was of the view that education should be the domain of the government and should not be crowded by religious biases. In addition, education should be made available to all the people irrespective of their status in the society. There were other leaders like Benjamin Rush, Noah Webster, Robert Coram and George Washington who also supported public education. However, political upheavals, large immigrant population and economic transformations made it difficult to transform the concept of public education in to practice. Thus, many private schools and charitable and religious institutions continued to dominate the education scene for many more decades.

The concept of community schools can be traced back to the early reform era which took place in the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States. Leaders like John Dewey, Jane Addams, and Clearance Parry, the urban planner, were some of the people instrumental in sketching the outlines of the model schools which were the center of neighborhood social life. The model schools were the agents of neighborhood-based social services and at the same time they were also educating children. Community-based education and development was considered by the social reformers as the way to improve the lives and social standing of the immigrants and urban residents who have newly arrived into the country. Such efforts were taken to face the daunting social disruption in American cities of the Industrial Age.

3.2 Development of Community Schools.

The idea of community schools is one of the oldest American concepts that developed over a longer period of time and has a noteworthy history. Community schools are based on two fundamental premises: (i) that the purpose of schooling is to provide valuable education to youth and to provide democratic citizenship through such education, and (ii) that the schools and communities are intertwined inextricably and are interdependent with each other. An early form of the community school idea was prevalent in the settlements of colonial America and they looked different from what they look today. The concept of community schools continued to thrive in the farming communities and towns after the American Revolution.

Education, to a great extent, has been informal in the United States during the eighteenth century, with a relatively marginal proportion of formal education. A web of family, church and neighborhood relationships were the sources of forming disciplines in work and the conduct of life in general. After rapid industrialization in the nineteenth century, responsibility for education and socialization has been shifted to the public school system. The increased extent of urbanization, industrialization and the large number of immigrants further affirmed the responsibility for education with the public schools during the late nineteenth century.

With the enlargement in the school districts as larger bureaucratic organizations, which have become more centralized under the control of stronger superintendents, the concerned citizens of these communities became the community stakeholders and started pressing the schools to follow the agendas dictated by them. ‘Women’s organizations, parents’ associations, labor unions, Social Gospelers and Populist and Socialist parties’ are some of these organizations which found the need for external support from the community to the schools and school students for countering the harmful effects of negative social conditions on the attitudes and behaviors of the children and youth in the communities.

Civic and political groups in the guise of municipal reformers often attempted to introduce experimental schooling innovations. These experiments included: using schools for social works, using school playgrounds, making health inspection of students with visits of nurses thus making wider use of schools social centers.

“Embodying tensions between democracy and efficiency, participation and expertise, and localism and centralism, these reforms, especially schools and social centers contributed to the rise by World War II, of what we would recognize today as community schools” (Benson, Harkavy and Johanek).

The current models of community schools have largely drawn upon these historical roots, which were the catalysts for the development of the community school movement in the United States. With the growth of each generation of the communities, social problems also proliferated to affect the children and youth. With the newer social problems, educators have struggled in identifying the suitable mix of models for the schools and the education systems. However the educators have found a solution in the development of community schools to thwart the mounting social problems as they recognized that the academic success of students depended not only on factors and circumstances prevailing within the school but also on external factors, which have a bearing on the shaping the attitude and behavior of children and youth.

This recognition made them evolve a range of pragmatic solutions in identifying the model and design of appropriate relationship between the school and the community. This identification echoed the patterns and tensions that were evident across history. The partnerships that developed between governments and communities helped sustaining the community schools and are found to have a common purpose: “…providing and integrating the necessary additional supports and services that will enable all children to reach their highest potential” (Benson, Harkavy and Johanek).

3.3 Development of Community Schools in Post World War II Era.

Post World War II era witnessed the blending of a much wider community education efforts into the community schooling movement. These initiatives included community-based educational programs which operated outside the boundaries of the community schools. According to Stewart Mott, the schools should serve community purposes when not being used for the school purposes. Following this principle, school district educator Frank Manley funded Flint, Michigan city schools to be used as community centers for youth recreation. The schools also were used for the purposes of school-linked health and social services.

Community school construction programs based on the model developed by Moot dominated for the period from 1951 to 1960, when the new elementary schools were built with special facilities that could accommodate community programs. There were instances of older buildings being renovated with the addition of ‘community wings’. The ideas of Moot were recognized to the extent of the board of education appointing physical education teachers to plan and direct the new ‘wider-use’ programs. A report prepared in the year 1961 by Manley and his associates on the Flint schools have revealed the greater inclusion of the varied wider-use programs such as ‘recreation, drama, music, arts and crafts, social clubs and adult education (basic and vocational)’.

In response to the increased demand for community education-trained administrators, Mott created training facilities. The training program introduced by Mott provided year-long graduate fellowships with master, specialist and doctoral qualifications. The Mott Inter-University Clinical Preparation Program with faculty from seven Michigan colleges and universities functioned for almost ten years from 1964. The training program offered by the institution prepared about 700 educators. These educators were well trained to fill up the positions of superintendents, public policy consultants, community school directors, and community organization directors. In the year 1974, Mott Foundation closed its operations after helping to establish regional training centers in colleges and universities across the country.

During the 1960s, the purpose and utility of community schools were intertwined with the broader community education movement. The community education movement which focused on the community education and adult education were funded by state-run programs in Florida, Maryland, Michigan and Utah. These programs were also having federal support through the Community Schools Act, 1974.

During 1970s there was renewed enthusiasm among the community school advocates with the establishment of the National Association for Community Education (NACE) and the National Center for Community Education (NCCE). With the political support the community school advocates were successful in getting the federal community school legislation in the year 1974. Under this legislation, a fund was established for the creation of infrastructure of community schools across the nation. This legislation also enabled the states to pass similar legislations to promote the expansion of the community school movement. Much of this enthusiasm was lost when the federal government discontinued the funding program in 1981. Despite these government supports, the community education initiatives did not last long and subsequently the funding priorities also got shifted from the community education to specialized health and social services for school children (Benson, Harkavy and Johanek).

3.4 Community Schools in the Present Day Context

More expansive and sustainable version of the community schools have been the order of the day during the last two decades. The community school movement has gained a new momentum during this period, with new and integrative approaches for an extended use of school buildings. The development of extended-day programs was also attempted. These initiatives led to the creation of broad range of programming and services to meet the needs of the young people, families and broader community. These programs often took the form of collaborative models with the school acting as the locus and the outside partners helping to deliver the services and run programs.

These models are described as ‘full-service schools’ and ‘safe-passage schools’. They are found to be the responses to the newer social problems emanating from ‘substance abuse, unprotected sex, stress, school failure and increasing level of violence’. As of mid 1990s there were about 500 school-based health and social services; programs were running to meet the needs of the communities. These programs are funded by a combination of state and federal packages created for this purpose. School-based dental clinics, health centers, mental health centers, family resource centers, and after school centers, are some of the healthcare initiatives undertaken through these programs. The provision of these services use the school premise, but staff of local health and social service agencies attends to the service needs.

The last two decades also witnessed the emergence of a wide literature and multitude of activities affecting educational influences beyond the boundaries of the schools. These activities relate to a number of concepts including “educational ecology, parent empowerment, civic capacity, social capital, collective efficacy, school-linked services, and systematic reform and community schools” (Benson, Harkavy and Johanek).

Throughout the 1990s the thrust of school-community partnerships were focusing on the objectives of (i) achieving improved educational quality and academic outcomes among children and the youth, (ii) meeting the demand for more efficient and effective health and social services delivery, formed with a view to meet the comprehensive needs of children and families, (iii) attaining increased recognition of the developmental needs of young people and the importance of building on their assets and (iv) integrating the expanded efforts to strengthen the human, social and economic underpinnings of neighborhoods and communities.

Community schools providing health, family support and youth development services were sponsored by cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis, and Tulsa, during the mid 2000s. All these initiatives were run with a non-profit motive, removing the burden of the schools from identifying partners and sources of funds and coordinating with them. In the city of Chicago alone there were about 110 schools working along with 45 agencies during the year 2006. These programs aimed at expanding the use of school facilities and providing enhanced health and social services to the community members.

3.5 Coalition for Community Schools.

Coalition for Community Schools was the movement formed in the year 1997, with the intention of marking, catalyzing and promoting the resurgence of the community schools. The coalition was formed with around 160 family-support and youth and community development organizations which are education related. The coalition has the objective of propagating a “broad vision of a well-developed community school”. The coalition comprising of a number of organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, strongly supports a community school as the vehicle for strengthening schools, families and communities.

Community social service volunteers, businessmen, professionals like doctors and nurses, college students and faculty are some of the individuals who provide strong support for curricular and co-curricular programs, which strengthen the academic learning and service activities of students. In addition, a coordinator is assigned to each community school to ensure that all the students receive health, dental and mental health services. Coalition for Community Schools states that over the next few years of time community schools should work towards integrating “quality education, positive youth development, family support, and family and community engagement in decision-making and community development”. (Family Strengthening Policy Center)

3.6 Full-Service Community Schools Program.

Full-service community school programs are carried out under the Fund for the Improvement of Education (FIE). The full-service community school program is aimed at improving the quality of elementary and secondary education both on the state and on the local levels. The program also aims to help all children meet the challenging academic content and achievement standards. This program encourages the coordination of education, developmental, family, health and other services. This coordination is achieved through forming partnerships between:

(i) Public elementary and secondary schools and

(ii) CBOs and public and private ventures.

Work Cited

Benson, Lee, et al. The Enduring Apeal of Community Schools. 2008. 17 September 2009
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/summer2009/enduringappeal.pdf.

Communityschool.org. What is a Community School? 2008. 17 September 2009
http://www.communityschools.org/;.

CommunitySchools. Partnerships for Excellence. 17 September 2009
http://www.communityschools.org/.

Dryfoos, Joy. “The Rise of the Full-Service Community Schools.” High School Magazine 6.2 (1998): 38-42.
Family Strengthening Policy Center. Connecting Families, Schools, and Community Resources. October 2004. 17 September 2009

University of Tennessee Knoxville. 100 Years of Community School History. 2006. 17 September 2009
http://web.utk.edu/~fss/minutes/history.doc;.

USDepartmentofEducation. Full Service Community Schools Program. 09 August 2008. 17 September 2009
http://www.ed.gov/programs/communityschools/index.html.