The Institute of Education Sciences has released Initial Challenges Implementing the Full-Service Community Schools Approach and How FY 2023 Grantees Addressed Them (NCEE 2026–004). The Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program awards five-year grants to states, districts, or other organizations to help partner schools implement community schools. Community schools are intended to serve as hubs that coordinate and integrate a wide range of services and supports that meet the unique needs of students and communities. This snapshot examines the challenges grantees and their partner schools reported facing in the first year of implementing their grants. Data for this study snapshot comes from the Common Core of Data and surveys of fiscal year 2023 FSCS grantees and their partner schools. Grant awards were made in November 2023, and surveys were administered from May through October 2024.
Findings include:
- During the first year of the grant, some FY 2023 FSCS grantees and their partner schools reported that it was very challenging to engage families in decision-making activities and to combine funding streams for the program.
- Few grantees and partner schools found it challenging to onboard community school coordinators or build relationships with partners.
- Most partner schools sought support in implementing the community school approach; fewer schools reported receiving technical assistance from grantees, though that assistance addressed a range of topics.
To access the study snapshot, please visit: https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/snapshot/initial-challenges-implementing-full-service-community-schools-approach-and-how-fy-2023-grantees.
