CCS RPN Research Agenda - Further Research and Study of Community Schools Theme 6: Measuring Success, Continuous Improvement, and Return on Investment

The following is a major theme of the Community Schools Research Agenda. Click here to return to the CCS RPN homepage.

Measuring Success, Continuous Improvement, and Return on Investment

Measuring outcomes remains a critical research focus for understanding Community Schools. There is a growing need to measure the success of Community Schools in ways that capture both outcomes and the conditions that produce them. Measurement should go beyond student academic performance to include implementation quality and formative indicators like the strength of collaborative leadership, how often and well partners coordinate, patterns of family and student engagement, and shifts in school climate. Various research methods are crucial for combining quantitative measures such as attendance, chronic absenteeism, discipline, course completion, and graduation with qualitative evidence, including student and family experiences of trust and belonging, as well as educator perceptions of collaboration. A common set of measures for leadership, collaboration, partnerships, and school climate could guide data collection and understanding. ROI and cost-benefit analyses should be created with practical tools that allow stakeholders to show value in different ways, such as demonstrating avoided costs related to chronic absenteeism or improved graduation rates, along with wider community benefits. Measurement should also consider place-based, community-level, long-term effects, including whether Community Schools support workforce development, economic mobility, civic participation, and neighborhood wellbeing, and whether these impacts differ depending on the stage of implementation and local context.

Suggested research questions:

1. What shared set of indicators can the field use to measure Community School success, including implementation quality, student outcomes, school climate, collaboration, and community impacts?
2. Which implementation or formative measures are most essential to include alongside outcomes to assess effectiveness beyond just results, and how do these measures align with the key practices of the Essentials Framework?
3. How to best capture the impacts of Community Schools via various research methods that matter to stakeholders, including qualitative evidence of trust, voice, and community wellbeing alongside quantitative outcomes?
4. What ROI framework and costing approach can be applied consistently across different contexts, and how can it help diverse stakeholders communicate the value of Community Schools without oversimplifying the impacts?
5. How can studies track longitudinal impacts on students and communities, including postsecondary outcomes, workforce pathways, and benefits to neighborhoods?
6. How can Community Schools define, measure, and document meaningful outcomes across stages of implementation, supported by appropriate data tools and infrastructure, to demonstrate early progress and sustain impact over time?