Defining and Adapting the Community School Model
The fundamental question: “what makes a community school a community school?” continues to merit further exploration. This could including a further explication of the various discreet models of community schooling. A priority is ensuring that schools aren’t community schools in name only. This requires developing a better understanding of what quality implementation looks like. A related theme is conceptualizing the stages of community school development and specifically which aspects of implementation have the most impact. Also, how do we manage expectations at each phase? As we consider these questions, we also need to bear in mind the evolving nature of the community schools strategy, and that resources, implementation, and the approach to research/evaluation vary across contexts. Specific attention could be paid to implementation of the community schools framework in rural versus urban settings.