Schools & communities

Schools & communities Alan Dyson Centre for Equity in Education University of Manchester d.a.dyson@manchester.ac.uk

Reconnecting with an old tradition Henry Morris, Cambridgeshire, 1925

A modern version http://www.hcz.org/home One of our core beliefs is that in poor communities where, literally, all of the institutions are failing children, you can’t do one thing and expect you’ll solve the issue of scale. I mean, you can save some children with an early intervention programme, and you can save some children if you work with addicted mothers, and you can save some children if you have after-school programs. But if you start talking about how you’re going to save most of the children, you have to do all those things, and do them over the long term, and you have to make sure you count how many children actually received those services.

The HCZ pipeline

Saskatchewan SchoolPlus

The English version?

Some reasonable expectations • Student learning: Community school students show significant and widely evident gains in academic achievement and in essential areas of nonacademic development. • Family engagement: Families of community school students show increased stability, communication with teachers and school involvement. Parents demonstrate a greater sense of responsibility for their children’s learning success. • School effectiveness: Community schools enjoy stronger parent-teacher relationships, increased teacher satisfaction, a more positive school environment and greater community support. • Community vitality: Community schools promote better use of school buildings, and their neighborhoods enjoy increased security, heightened community pride, and better rapport among students and residents. • BUT – no quick fix for raised attainments! • (Blank et al., 2003)

Some key questions • Is our initiative strategic or opportunistic? • Is its focus on: • Children? • Children and families? • Children, families and community? • Is it focused on: • Needs? • Capacities • Wishes? • Opportunities?

Building a theory of change Current situation Long term outcomes Actions Steps of change

Analysing the current situation Current situation What are the issues in the current situation? What are the connections between them? What are the strengths in the current situation? Who says – and how do we know?

Specifying outcomes How could things be different in 5-10 years? Who would benefit – and who says? Long term outcomes

Formulating action What actions will produce the outcomes we want in the current situation? How do we know? How will they be sustained? Who else needs to be involved? Actions

Building a theory of change For each thing we do, how will things change at first next next…. How will we know these changes are happening? Steps of change

Useful information http://www.wkkf.org/knowledge-center/resources/2010/ Logic-Model-Development-Guide.aspx

Cummings, C., Dyson, A., & Todd, L. (2011) Beyond the School Gates: Can full service and extended schools overcome disadvantage? (London, Routledge) Centre for Equity in Education: http://www.education.manchester.ac.uk/research/centres/cee/

Schools & communities