Community Investment in Student Success
Families and communities play key roles in shaping the environment for academic and social development. Students in low-performing schools often do not receive the same exposure to outside learning opportunities as their more affluent counterparts. Too often these students do not have access to community support services that can contribute to their overall health, well-being, and development.
Community supports are needed to foster each student’s ability to stay in school, excel academically, and develop into a healthy and productive individual.
Policy Recommendations
To invest communities in the success of all students, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends:
- creating and supporting multilingual parent centers to train parents and other caregivers in interpreting school and student performance data, advocating on behalf of their children, working with their children and school personnel to develop personal graduation plans, and selecting courses their children need to graduate prepared for college and overall success in life;
- providing more support for community-based organizations that run after-school and out-of-school programs, and coordinating these programs to ensure alignment with academic success;
- improving access to community-based resources that support students’ ability to learn by locating services, such as health clinics and child-care centers, within or near schools; and
- creating business and community partnerships that support student enrichment opportunities and facilitate community and college linkages.
Read other priorities:
- All Students Proficient and Prepared for College and Work
- High Schools That are Accountable for Student Success
- A Redesigned American High School
- Excellent Leaders and Teachers
- Community Investment in Student Success
- Equitable Learning Conditions
- Common Core State Standards
- Expanded Learning Opportunities
- Effective Teachers