Contract Open

Evaluation of Full-Service Community Schools

NCEE

Program: Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Award amount: $4,794,831

Awardee:

Mathematica, Equity and Results, Social Policy Research Associates, Urban Institute

Year: 2019

Duration: 7 years 7 months (11/01/2019 - 06/01/2027)

Project type:

Impact

Contract number: 91990020C0001

Background

Children living in distressed communities face significant academic, social, and health challenges, many of which were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. The Full-Service Community Schools program is authorized by Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and aims to address these challenges by funding coordination and expansion of a comprehensive set of educational and developmental services for students, their families, and the broader community. Grants typically go to school districts and community-based organizations. Since 2010, Congress has invested $365 million in the program, which has supported over 100 grantees and over 1,700 schools. Congress also mandated an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program, which this initial study will inform.

Project Activities

Research question

To what extent do the Full-Service Community Schools grants extend the reach of the program model?
How do grantees and grantee schools make progress towards implementing the Full-Service Community Schools model? What are grantees' common challenges, and how do they address them?

Structured Abstract

Design

This study will assess the ways in which implementation of the Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program is being carried out, which will lay the groundwork for studying the effectiveness of the grants in the near future. Information on implementation will be collected from 2023 FSCS grantees and include surveys of grantee organizations, grantee schools, and potentially teachers in grantee schools in 2024 and 2026 and annual performance reports to describe program implementation.