By Eddie Koen, IEL President
After each transfer of power in our country, it’s easy to focus on the political divides that dominate headlines – especially today. But beyond the partisan battles lies a quieter, more profound truth: the future of our communities isn’t shaped in Washington or state capitals—it’s shaped in our neighborhoods, schools, and homes. This is where the Community School strategy and robust Family and Community Engagement practices take root, transcending divides and delivering tangible, measurable outcomes.
These approaches are not just strategies; they are solutions. We must lean into what works.
A Framework for Success
Community Schools and Family and Community Engagement practices are inherently transpartisan. In fact, since 2018, $514,521,308 in federal dollars have been allocated to supporting Full-Service Community Schools in traditionally “red” states, while $314,696,119 has been given to “blue” states. Community Schools enjoy support from states like Kentucky, Alabama, New York, and California. No matter where we live, the needs of families and children are universal. Community Schools prioritize local decision-making, ensuring that young people, schools, families, and communities can come together to focus on the issues that matter most in their contexts. These frameworks are not about imposing solutions from the top down—they are about empowering communities from the ground up.
Whether primary concerns are academic success, economic growth, workforce readiness, or public health, these strategies deliver results. Community Schools maximize the use of existing resources, weaving together education, health, and social services into a coherent system. Family and Community Engagement brings everyone to the table—parents, educators, local leaders—to work collaboratively toward shared goals.
The beauty of these approaches is their flexibility. They adapt to the needs of rural, urban, and suburban communities alike. They address pressing challenges, from improving literacy rates to tackling food insecurity, without being tethered to any political ideology. In an era where divisiveness often takes center stage, these solutions remind us that we have more in common than we think.
Community-Based Strategy and Fiscal Responsibility in Action
Community Schools prioritize local control of schools with family engagement, collaborative leadership, and fiscal responsibility. By aligning community resources and breaking down silos, Community Schools avoid duplication of effort and maximize the impact of every dollar spent. Instead of piecemeal programs that work in isolation, these schools integrate services, creating a multiplier effect that benefits all stakeholders.
The North Dakota Full-Service Community Schools Consortium, for instance, does this by working across a network of schools to mobilize local leaders and coordinate partners around a set of comprehensive supports for students and families. And they see the outcomes: improved attendance and academic performance, healthier students, stronger family-school partnerships, and a better-prepared future workforce. These are not abstract goals; they are real results that uplift communities while reducing long-term costs for social services, healthcare, and the criminal justice system. “We see families more engaged and feeling more welcome in schools that are really embracing this…approach to education,” says Anne Williamson, the Integrated Student Support Services Chief of Staff at the Consortium in North Dakota.
The Kentucky Community Schools Initiative, led by the Prichard Committee, is collaborating with communities across the state to create a groundswell of support to improve student outcomes. This collaborative effort has resulted in improved academic and non-academic student indicators in 20 school districts throughout the state of Kentucky.
Elsewhere in the state, in the heart of rural Appalachia, Partners for Rural Impact has brought in funds for Community Schools by bringing “together partners and districts to apply for funding—as well as combining programs that improve academic outcomes and build on the strengths of local communities for long-term results.” They reported that high school graduation rates increased in schools with their programming, growing from 74% in 2012 to 94% in 2017. Their graduation rates also stayed above 90% through 2021 despite the impacts of the pandemic.
Additionally, 2020 examination of two case studies from nearby Tennessee- one of a charter school model within the state-run Achievement School District in Memphis, and the other a Community School model in Knoxville, ultimately found that in Tennessee the Community School model has been more effective than the charter and traditional models in improving student academic achievement in large part because of its emphasis on meaningful engagement with parents and community members.
And, an example in Florida points to how the implementation of Community Schools helped improve a school’s test scores, helping them raise their grade of “D” to “C” on Florida’s school performance report card. Their Community Schools approach supported the school’s “dramatic increases in students who achieved learning gains shown in assessment test scores from one year to the next.”
Sustainability and Resilience
Critically, Community Schools and Family Engagement are not fleeting initiatives—they are sustainable practices standing the test of time. They build resilience in communities by fostering relationships and trust. When challenges arise—be it a global pandemic, economic downturn, or natural disaster—these networks are already in place, ready to respond and adapt.
At their core, these strategies are about creating connections. They connect schools to families, families to resources, and communities to opportunities. In doing so, they lay the foundation for a stronger society.
Moving Forward Together
As I think about the year ahead, I am also marking three years in my role as President at the Institute for Educational Leadership, and celebrating all we have accomplished as a team. As we take on a new set of challenges and outlooks, there are few topics as transpartisan as children’s well-being. We need to continue supporting a shared commitment to giving every child the opportunity to succeed, every family the support they need to thrive, and every community the tools to prosper. Community Schools and Family and Community Engagement are effective, efficient, and vital to the future we all want to build.
Let’s invest in what works.