A Question of Necessity or of Equity? Full-Service Community Schools and the (mis)Education of Black Youth

Abstract

Public schools in the United States have struggled to determine whether their mandate is simply knowledge transmission or includes the development and well-being of the whole child. Contemporary realities of resegregation and inequality have prompted many districts to embrace this latter notion and consider the Full Service Community Schools (FSCSs) model. In this paper, we examine a school district’s FSCS initiative as implemented at a predominately Black middle school and a racially heterogeneous high school. We ask, what are the characteristics—e.g. structural, pedagogical, relational, discursive—of FSCSs that seek to support Black students’ well-being and academic success? How do Black parents and students experience these FSCSs? Findings illustrate the racialized nuance of FSCS reforms, including the critical role of culturally relevant strategies and the need for an aligned sociopolitical clarity and related set of goals across educational stakeholders in order to create and sustain the success of FSCSs.

Notes

1 A sampling method where the researcher obtains names of potential participants through direct contact with community members, such as organizations, individuals, churches, or periodicals. This method was coined by Foster (1991) and has been taken up in educational research, most notably by Ladson-Billings (1995).