Communities in Schools - The Model

The Model

Communities In Schools seeks to understand and address the underlying reasons why young people drop out. Whether kids need eyeglasses, tutoring, nutritious food or just a safe place to be, CIS works to find the resources and deliver them to young people right inside schools where kids spend their days. The need could be something as simple as getting kids vaccinated to meet school attendance requirements. Or the need could be something more complex. Like helping young people find positive alternatives to joining gangs.

CIS implements a community-based integrated student services strategy, leveraging community resources where they are most needed—in schools. Community-based integrated student services are interventions that improve student achievement by connecting community resources with both the academic and social-service needs of students. Such interventions focus programmatic energy, resources and time on shared school and student goals. Through the efforts of a single point of contact, individual student needs are assessed and research-based connections made between students and targeted community resources. Asset building resources such as health screenings, food and clothing, and assemblies on various topics are made available to all students. Targeted and sustained intervention services are provided to the subset of students most in need, forming the basis of outcome-driven individual student plans. These students benefit from tutors, mentors, after-school programs, academic support and other evidence-based interventions designed to achieve specific outcomes.

Communities In Schools becomes involved at the invitation of the school or school district. The CIS model is adaptable to all communities— whether urban, rural or suburban— and is tailored to meet the needs of the individual school and its students. The National Evaluation of Communities In Schools is being conducted to measure the impact and the effectiveness of the Communities In Schools model. The core elements of the CIS model identified within the study and being measured are the following:

• The presence of a CIS school-based, on-site coordinator;
• A comprehensive school- and student-level needs assessment;
• A community asset assessment and identification of potential partners;
• Annual plans for school-level prevention and individual intervention strategies;
• The delivery of appropriate combinations of widely accessible prevention services and resources for the entire school population, coupled with coordinated, targeted and sustained intervention services and resources for individual students with significant risk factors; and
• Data collection and evaluation over time, with monitoring and modifications of services offered to individual students and/or the entire school population, as appropriate.