Coalition for Community Schools

Strengthening Schools, Families and Communities

The Coalition for Community Schools is an alliance of national, state and local organizations in education K-16, youth development, community planning and development, family support, health and human services, government and philanthropy as well as national, state and local community school networks. The Coalition advocates for community schools as the vehicle for strengthening schools, families and communities so that together they can improve student learning.

Mission And Goals

The Coalition's mission is to mobilize the resources and capacity of multiple sectors and institutions to create a united movement for community schools. The Coalition's goals are to:
Share information about successful community school policies, programs and practices;
Build broader public understanding and support for community schools;
Inform public and private-sector policies in order to strengthen community schools; and
Develop sustainable sources of funding for community schools.
The Coalition works to achieve these goals through several types of activities:
Conducting research about community schools that demonstrates their effectiveness and explores the tough challenges involved in creating and sustaining community schools.
Convening national, regional and local community schools forums as well as Coalition partners meetings that help key stakeholders and their organizations move toward common ground;
Maintaining a web site and regular email newsletter that provides learning opportunities about community schools and access the resources of our many partners;
Promoting a policy framework at the federal, state and local levels that support community schools;
Nurturing community school networks at the local and state levels, including an Urban Community Schools Network; and
Carrying out public education efforts to help our citizens understand the importance of community schools

About IEL

Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) staffs the Coalition for Community Schools. The Coalition has its own Steering Committee who decides on the Coalition's policy and strategies and also provides oversight of its activities.

For more than thirty-five years, the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL)-a non-profit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, DC-has worked to achieve better results for children and youth. At the heart of IEL’s effectiveness is a unique ability to bring people together to identify and resolve issues across policy, program, and sector boundaries. As a natural outgrowth of IEL’s work, diverse networks have been created and nurtured.

Today, IEL is working to help individuals and institutions increase their capacity to work together. We are building and supporting a cadre of diverse leaders, strengthening the capacity of education and related systems, and informing the development and implementation of policies. Our efforts are focused through four programs of work: Developing Leaders; Strengthening School-Family-Community Connections; Connecting and Improving Systems that Serve Children and Youth; and Improving Preparation for Work.

Please visit our Web site at http://www.iel.org to learn more about IEL.