The purpose of the primer, written by MAYA Consulting, LLC., is to support charter schools in considering community-centered and collective impact approaches for improving results. Using the community schools model as an example, the primer makes the case that community-centered and collective impact approaches are ways to address the unmet needs of many students and families, and thereby increase students’ educational outcomes.
In Section 1, the primer reviews research that supports charter schools taking an approach that considers the full context of a child’s experience – both within and outside the walls of the school building – to create conditions that enable every student to reach their potential.
Section 2 offers a framework for addressing complex systems by utilizing a community-centered and collective impact approach and describes how to engage the community in order to determine needs
Section 3 offers readers a more detailed description of community schools as an evidence-based, community-centered approach through which charter schools can apply the principles of collective impact to achieve better outcomes for historically underserved students, including the four pillars of community schools and the list of pipeline services offered by community schools in the Full-Service Community Schools model.
Section 4 includes an overview of opportunities for financial support for collective impact models available from the Department of Education via the Charter Schools Program and Full-Service Community Schools grant competitions and other federal funding streams.
Section 5 offers ways for charter schools to begin to take action toward implementing a collective impact approach, including a list of reflection questions for charter schools and communities to get started.
Section 6 offers a list of articles, toolkits, and other resources related to collective impact, community schools, and community and family engagement.