Spreading School-Community Partnerships: Lessons from ExpandED Schools. ExpandED Schools National Demonstration: Year 5 Draft Report

The ExpandED Schools national demonstration was implemented in 12 schools from Baltimore, New Orleans, and New York City between the 2011-12 through 2015-16 school years. ExpandED Schools offer students more time for a balanced, well-rounded curriculum that supports individualized learning through school-community partnerships. In the ExpandED Schools approach, schools partner with community-based organizations to design a tailored plan for implementing high-quality, academic and enrichment learning opportunities guided by the core elements of the ExpandED Schools approach. In addition, a local intermediary organization provides support and technical assistance to the school and to community partners. This report highlights the practical lessons emerging from the evaluation of ExpandED Schools about what it takes to spread a school-community partnership initiative. The primary goal of the ExpandED Schools national demonstration was to test implementation of the approach and to learn about conditions that facilitated implementation of strategic school-community partnerships to expand the school day. This report is organized around three action steps through which the groundwork for diffusion is laid at each level of the school-community partner system. The findings reflect both the retrospective reflections of interviewed stakeholders on the operation of the national demonstration and prospective ideas on what would be required for spread to occur. [This report was prepared for ExpandED Schools.]