Featuring California Partnership for the Future of Learning, Impact of Community Schools for California Students, and Piloting a Model to Strengthen Family Engagement in Community Schools | | | | The California Partnership for the Future of Learning (CA Partnership) is a statewide alliance of community organizing and advocacy groups advancing a shared vision of a transformational, racially just education system built for us all. Our growing network includes over thirty grassroots organizations and networks, advocacy groups, and research and philanthropic partners. | | As a network, we are thrilled to support the aligned and essential work of the CA Family Engagement Network! | | |
We seek to build on the important work of a broad cross-section of organizations and coalitions by advancing the following priorities:
•Equitable & Full Funding
•Schools of Belonging and Inclusion
•Student & Family Power
•Culturally Rooted, Student-Centered Deeper Learning
•Diverse, Prepared, Supported Educators
We build the capacity of students, families, community organizations, educators and school and systems leaders from the classroom to the Capitol to partner to advance school and system transformation as part of a statewide system of support.
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Our Story
All students deserve access to safe, welcoming and transformative schools where they can feel belonging, curiosity and the opportunity to acquire tools to thrive—regardless of race, class, or zip code. CA Partnership unites education and racial justice grassroots, advocacy and research organizations across 14 counties to make this vision a reality, centering the voices of students, families, educators, and communities of color.
Prior to 2020, CA Partnership members had been organizing to address persistent inequities in our state’s public education system, advocating for increased resources, culturally responsive practices, and policies centered on the needs of low-income students and families of color who have been historically marginalized and underserved.
From Crisis to Opportunity
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began, a crisis emerged that deepened existing inequalities. Schools across California closed down in response to COVID-19 and students and families lost access to schools as critical hubs of connection, community resources, and learning. This loss was experienced most acutely by low-income students and families of color.
CA Partnership members responded by conducting a listening campaign with allies from across the state. This listening campaign included more than 20 grassroots education and racial-justice organizations who heard from over 600 students and families from low-income communities of color in more than 20 school districts.
The need for mental health support, accompanied by a sense of belonging and strong relationships, for access to equitable learning opportunities, and for engaging students and families as equal partners in decision-making emerged as key issues.
As a result of this listening campaign, the CA Partnership responded by prioritizing increased funding for transformative, racially just and relationship-centered community schools. (Source: https://toolkit.futureoflearningca.org/responding-to-crisis-with-hope/)
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Currently, over 2,500 of the state’s highest needs schools are being transformed through the community schools approach.
In addition to the $4.1 billion of funding for the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP), members of the CA Partnership advocated for a statewide system of support, comprised of a State Transformational Assistance Center (S-TAC) and eight Regional Technical Assistance Centers (RTACs), to coach and build the capacity of school districts and schools to implement a groundbreaking community schools approach.
Over the past three years, CA Partnership students, parents, and community organizers from across the state have been partnering with S-TAC and RTAC leaders to support strong implementation of the Community Schools Framework through co-designing and facilitating capacity building to improve student experiences and academic outcomes.
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Report Release
Community Schools’ Impact on Student Outcomes: Evidence From California
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This month the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) released a report where they studied CCSPP grants using the latest 2023–24 data. They examined changes in student outcomes for new and expanding community schools funded by CCSPP in 2022 compared to similar matched comparison schools. Even during their first full year of implementation, results show consistently positive effects on student outcomes across multiple areas.
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Improved Test Scores. Schools newly implementing and expanding community school approaches showed notable learning gains—equal to about 43 extra days of learning in math and 36 in English language arts (ELA).
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Reduced Chronic Absence. On average, CCSPP schools reduced chronic absence rates by about 30% more than similar schools. Attendance improvements were most noticeable in elementary schools and in small schools, suggesting that these schools are successfully implementing attendance-focused strategies.
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Reduced Suspension Rates. On average, CCSPP schools reduced suspensions by 15%, with the largest decreases for Black students and in secondary schools—the students and schools where suspension rates were previously highest. The suspension rates of English learners and students from low-income backgrounds were also significantly reduced in CCSPP schools.
The largest gains were among historically underserved students and the greatest test score gains for CCSPP schools with biggest chronic absence drops.
Source: LPI September Newsletter. To access the brief, please click here.
| | Evolution of the Community Schools Framework: From Four to Six Pillars | | |
Learning Policy Institute’s Key Practices of Community Schools was released in November 2024.
In a 2017 research review, Learning Policy Institute identified four pillars as the most prevalent practices in effective community schools: integrated student supports, expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities, active family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership and practices…As more research has emerged, the four pillars have been expanded to include two more features that have proved central to effective community schools: a culture of belonging, safety, and care; and rigorous, community-connected instruction.
Notice how families are explicitly mentioned in three of the six pillars:
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collaborative leadership, shared power and voice;
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powerful student and family engagement; and
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culture of belonging, safety, and care.
However, family engagement is implied in expanded and enriched learning opportunities as coordination with families is usually key for transportation to and from activities. Similarly, collaboration between school staff, community partners, and families is critical to fully maximize the benefits of additional services provided to students through integrated systems of supports and to modify the curriculum to achieve a rigorous, community-connected classroom instruction.
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Strengthening Family Engagement
in Community Schools
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Although the community schools movement has made progress in strengthening capacity for educators and families to share decision-making to improve student wellbeing and academic outcomes, and referring families to resources and services in the community, the work to continue to deepen and expand authentic family engagement in every school and district in our state is more critical than ever.
On September 24, we hosted a “Family Engagement Learning Institute,” a one-day training to bridge the gap between home and school. This training was a collaboration between the CA Family Engagement Network, CA Partnership for the Future of Learning, High Expectations Consulting, and Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO). We launched our inaugural training for five school teams from the Anaheim Elementary School District (AESD). The California Endowment Foundation provided financial support to make this training possible.
The Learning Institute was designed to build the capacity of community school teams to plan family engagement strategies that lead to stronger family-school relationships and academic partnerships. Schools learned to strengthen engagement practices that support student and school improvement, which aligns with community school practices and the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships, developed by Dr. Karen Mapp, Dr. E. Bergman, and the U.S. Department of Education.
AESD community schools, including Edison Elementary, Franklin Elementary, Guinn Elementary, Orange Grove Elementary, Ponderosa Middle, and Westmont Elementary, along with school district leadership and family engagement community partners and practitioners, focused on:
- Centering family voice
- Identifying the strengths of families
- Planning family engagement activities that are linked to student learning goals and achievement data
- Identifying ways to deepen trusting relationships with families
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Learning how to engage ALL families in ways that are linked to increased academic and improved social-emotional wellbeing outcomes.
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Outcomes
The school teams repurposed an existing family engagement event to create high impact activities that strengthened trusting relationships with families, are linked to student learning and asset-based, culturally responsive, respectful, collaborative, and interactive.
As a result of participating in the Learning Institute:
- 92% feel confident in their ability to design family engagement activities that are linked to student learning goals.
- 95% feel confident in their ability to build trusting relationships with families.
- 97% feel confident in their ability to engage families in ways that will lead to improved student achievement.
Next Steps
AESD school teams pledged to tweak their upcoming events to make them more relational and strengthen their alignment with classroom learning. Given AESD’s long history and commitment to family and community engagement, we look forward to learning more about how they modified their events and the impact this has on student learning and wellbeing.
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Participants had this to say about what they liked BEST about the Learning Institute…
“The interactive components and the opportunity to collaborate with diverse perspectives from families, teachers, admin, staff and community members to create opportunities to actively engage and empower our families in school goals”
“The institute gave me the tools I need to help plan for family engagement events.”
“The facilitators and providing tools to put into practice with guidance. As someone who has ADHD I did not lose interest and I was very focused throughout the day. Thank you for having the material in Spanish.”
| | Special Thanks to OCCCO for Leveraging their Partnerships with Parents & AESD | | |
For nearly five decades, Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO) has organized to build a community that respects the dignity and wisdom of every person in Orange County. They develop transformational leaders across diverse, multicultural, interfaith communities who wield collective power to shape equitable public policy.
Maritza Bermudez, parent leader and community organizer at OCCCO has built something rare: a community of unconditional belonging where parents, students, faith leaders and educators in Anaheim’s elementary and high school districts are accepted, valued, and connected for exactly who they are.
The foundation? Trust! OCCCO doesn't just talk about parent-educator relationships, they build them intentionally by supporting both parents and staff to work together on real projects, and share genuine power in schools. California Partnership has been a critical ally in this community schools work.
OCCCO’s advantage runs deeper still: their community leaders and current school and city leaders have deep roots and relationships in Anaheim. Many of them have known each other since high school! These decades-long relationships create a web of trust that accelerates collaboration and drives real wins on education, immigration, and housing issues that matter most to students and families.
Thank you, OCCCO & CA Partnership for your partnership!
| | Upcoming Meetings & Events | | |
There are many opportunities for parents to become part of the family engagement.
October
November
December and Beyond
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