Communities In Schools


The Communities In Schools is a national organization working within public and charter schools in 25 states as well as with the District of Columbia. It aims to build relationships that empower at-risk students to stay in school, perform well at school, and become high achievers academically and in life.

History

In February 2020, Communities In Schools announced that VIA Metropolitan Transit Board of Trustees chairman and former San Antonio City Councilman Rey Saldaña would become its new president and CEO.

The model

CIS seeks to understand and address the underlying reasons why young students drop out of school. Whether students need eyeglasses, tutoring, nutritious food, or just a safe place to be, CIS works to find the resources and deliver them to young people inside schools where kids spend their days. CIS meets both simple needs such as getting kids vaccinated to meet school attendance requirements as well as more complex needs like helping young people find alternatives to joining gangs.
CIS implements a community-based integrated student services strategy, leveraging community resources where they are most needed in schools. Community-based integrated student services are interventions that improve student achievement by connecting community resources with both the academic and social-service needs of students. Such interventions focus on programmatic energy, resources, and time on both school and student goals. By the efforts of a single point of contact, individual student needs are assessed and research-based connections are made between students and targeted community resources. Asset building resources such as health screenings, food and clothing, and assemblies on various topics, are made available to all students. Targeted and sustained intervention services are provided to the subset of students most in need, forming the basis of outcome-driven individual student plans. These students are assisted by tutors, mentors, after-school programs, academic support, and other evidence-based interventions designed to achieve specific outcomes.
CIS becomes involved at the invitation of the school or school district. The CIS model is adaptable to all communities— whether urban, rural, or suburban— and is tailored to meet the needs of the individual school and its students. The National Evaluation of Communities In Schools is being conducted to measure the impact and effectiveness of the Communities In Schools model. The core elements of the CIS model identified within the study and being measured are the following:

Overview

In 2005, Communities In Schools was awarded a multiyear fourteen million dollar contract to evaluate its national network and programming. ICF International, a global consulting and research firm, was contracted to conduct the five-year longitudinal study titled the National Evaluation of Communities In Schools. The study was designed to determine the effectiveness of the Communities In Schools model. It is based on an in-depth analysis of 1,776 schools served by CIS, a comparative analysis of outcomes from more than 1,200 CIS served and non-CIS served comparison schools, and comparative analysis of CIS served students and non-CIS served students alongside in-depth case studies of students. The study is being conducted in three phases:

Phase One: Implementation Study

The first year of the National Evaluation focused on collecting detailed information on the work of Communities In Schools in schools, providing a comprehensive picture of how the CIS model is implemented in thousands of schools across the country.

Phase Two: School-Level Results Studies

The second and third years of the National Evaluation have focused on determining the difference Communities In Schools makes at the school-level allowing for conclusions to be formed for the correlation between effective implementation of the CIS model and school-level results.

Phase Three: Student-Level Results Studies

The fourth and fifth years of the National Evaluation consist of randomized control trials, comparing CIS served students and non-CIS served students in the same schools. ICF will conduct experimental studies involving the random assignment of students to a treatment group or a control group. Through random assignment, researches can make the two groups as similar in composition as possible. By minimizing differences between the two groups, any difference in outcomes can be attributed to participation in the CIS program.

Results

Phase One: Implementation Results

The first phase involved a survey of more than 1,500 schools served by Communities In Schools to determine the level of CIS implementation taking place at each school. Based on the survey results, the schools were given a score from 1-100, based on their degree of fidelity to core components of the CIS model. When scores were correlated with school-level outcomes, the cohort of sites scoring 70 or higher showed the most positive outcomes. This established the relationship between outcomes and the level of implementation of the CIS model. The group, referred to as "high implementing schools," represents 47 percent of total sample sites. The remaining 808 sites, referred to as "partial implementing schools," implemented the CIS model to a lesser degree.

Phase Two: School-Level Studies Results

In the second phase, ICF sought to determine the extent to which positive student outcomes could be attributed to the implementation of the Communities In Schools model. ICF conducted a quasi-experimental evaluation, matching 602 schools served by CIS against 602 comparison schools. Each school served by CIS was matched with a school not served by CIS based on eight characteristics of the schools: student attendance rates; percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch; percent of students with special needs; school size; the percentage of students designated as proficient in math; the percentage of students designated as proficient in English/language arts; the racial and ethnic composition of the schools; and the "promoting power" of the schools. In 2008, ICF along with Communities In Schools released the initial results from Phase Two. The three key findings were:
  1. Among dropout prevention programs using scientifically based evidence, the CIS model is one of a very few in the United States proven to keep students in school and is the only dropout prevention program in the nation with scientifically based evidence to prove that it increases graduation rates.
  2. When implemented with high fidelity, the CIS model results in a higher percentage of students reaching proficiency in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math.
  3. Effective implementation of the CIS model correlates more strongly with positive school-level outcomes than does the uncoordinated provision of service alone, resulting in notable improvements of school-level outcomes in the context of the CIS model.

    Phase Three: Student-Level Studies Results

As of 2007, randomized controlled trials are being conducted CIS of Central Texas in Austin, Texas and in CIS of Jacksonville, Florida. Initial results from these studies are expected in 2009, with final results expected after the three-year-period in 2010.