School Community Needs Assessment

Abstract
A 2017 school progress report indicates that the Langford Community Academy has below average student attainment, and has not yet achieved the Chicago Public Schools “Healthy CPS” status. Reading growth is also below the national average, although the school is above average in mathematics growth. The Langford Community Academy also has a Level 2 rating by Chicago Public Schools, indicating the need for support at the academic, social, and financial levels. Collaboration with parent-teacher organizations, school administration, community leaders, and student government will all help facilitate needs-based change.
Collaboration
“When teachers engage in high quality collaboration that they perceive as extensive and helpful, there is both an individual and collective benefit,” (Ronfeldt, Farmer, McQueen, et al, 2015, p. 475). Collaboration is the cornerstone of success. Ronfeldt, Farmer, McQueen, et al (2015) identify multiple types of collaboration in education including collaboration among teachers with regards to classroom management, instructional strategies, curriculum, and assessments. At Langford, teachers report being moderately involved with their colleagues, well on their way towards meeting performance benchmarks that would indicate being on track for academic success. However, collaboration must also take place between teachers and administrators, between all educators and members of the community, and between teachers and parents. Building strategic alliances with community organizations can help the Langford Community Academy resolve unmet needs and fulfill goals.
The needs assessment reveals that Langford Community Academy is moderately organized, meaning that the school’s organizational culture and climate is poised for success but can make a few improvements. The school is excelling in the arts, which can be leveraged as a core strength when collaborating with community organizations. A real need for change has been identified at the third and seventh grade reading levels. When forming partnerships with community leaders, school administrators should consider these needs and build bridges that will promote student reading and literacy.
A real strength of the Langford school is with parent-school relationships. Parents report feeling welcome, and perceive their relationships with the teachers and the school administration as a partnership. Also encouraging is the fact that parents perceive the school facilities positively, suggesting that funds need to focus more on community-school partnership building than on parent-school collaboration. Attendance rates at Langford Community Academy are also high, signalling strong student-school partnerships. Collaboration with parents and also with students will help Langford meet its performance objectives.
One of the most important results of the needs assessment is the weak perception of safety in and around the school building. Therefore, it is suggested that the school focus its improvements on building relationships with the local law enforcement community. The collaboration is social in nature, and should the community policing model adopted by law enforcement rather than the assignment of police officers to schools without the type of “proper training” that prevents children from thriving (Mbekeani-Wiley, 2017, p. 4). Currently, police officers offer not even the semblance of safety, which is why perceptions of safety by parents and students are alarmingly low. In fact, “the student population in CPS overwhelmingly consists of a demographic that has been historically marginalized and disproportionately incarcerated,” which is precisely why police presence alone is not going to help Langford Community Academy or law enforcement to achieve mutual goals (Mbekeani-Wiley, 2017, p. 4).
Besides collaborating with law enforcement leaders, the school administration should also aim to create the “culture of calm” that Steinberg, Allensworth & Johnson (2011) recommend (p. 1). A culture of calm is something that can be achieved via collaborative efforts between administrators and law enforcement, as well as between administrators and teachers, and between teachers and parents. Assigning officers to Chicago Public Schools may not be evidence-based practice, whereas implementing alternative partnerships between the school and law enforcement may yield more fruitful results, leading to improvements in academic and also social and even financial outcomes.
Interview
Background
To initiate dialogue between school administrators and law enforcement, the interview is conducted with a deputy chief at the Chicago Police Department. The interview was conducted over a 90-minute period in a neutral area. Questions focused on perceptions of community needs, perceptions of school needs, and perceptions of safety. The interview also stressed the ultimate goal of collaboration between law enforcement and public schools, as well as evidence-based practice solutions. The themes that emerged from the interview included rebuilding bridges between law enforcement and community members, keeping children safe without intimidating them, and establishing the type of organizational cultures in both law enforcement and schools that would help enable the achievement of mutual goals.
Building Bridges
The deputy chief recognized that safety in public schools is systemic, and not something that can be considered in isolation of other variables. This response corroborated what Steinberg, Allensworth & Johnson (2011) point out about how “neighborhood poverty, crime, and social resources are related to school safety,” (p. 2). These are all big picture issues that cannot be solved overnight, but with collaboration between not just police and schools but also between police and public administrators, developers, and the private sector, it may be possible to crate long-term solutions that address the root causes of problems like violence and pervasive property crimes.
Research shows that students in the CPS system do not feel safe from their own peers (Steinberg, Allensworth & Johnson, 2011, p. 2). The deputy chief states that working with parents presents a tremendous challenge for law enforcement as it does for teachers, but that a collaborative approach might help to build the bridges necessary to reduce crime and promote safety on and around school grounds. Offering opportunities and options that are alternatives to incarceration or to processing through the juvenile justice system are essential because it is important to give kids the help they need.
Collaboration with Students
Sometimes law enforcement underestimates the power of working directly with students in creating the solutions they need for feeling and actually being safe on campus. If law enforcement could work more with school administrators, they might be able to come up with solutions about where officers are needed and where they are not. The deputy chief’s response reflects the results of the University of Chicago research report: “school leaders should be aware of the places in the school building that students feel least safe—for example, the areas just outside and around the school—and increase the adult presence in response to students’ concerns,” (Steinberg, Allensworth & Johnson, 2011, p. 3). It is not just a matter of law enforcement deciding where they deem the best places, because those places are not based on student perceptions at all. Officers need to listen to students, take what they are saying seriously, and also heed their suggestions for improvements. Showing respect for the students will tremendously improve student perceptions of law enforcement, which will increase the effectiveness of law enforcement and their ability to do their job.
Organizational Culture
Finally, the interview covered the need to improve organizational culture in both the educational and the law enforcement setting. Law enforcement has a lot of trouble trying to change its organizational climate, probably more than education, the chief deputy admits with a sense of humor. However, schools also have work to do in creating the ideal organizational culture and climate conducive for both safety and educational achievement—which go hand in hand.



References
Mbekeani-Wiley, M. (2017). Handcuffs in hallways. Sargent Shriver National Center on poverty Law. http://povertylaw.org/files/docs/handcuffs-in-hallways-final.pdf
Ronfeldt, M., Farmer, S., McQueen, K., & Grissom, J. (2015). Teacher collaboration in instructional teams and student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 52(3), 475-514.
Steinberg, M.P., Allensworth, E. & Johnson, D.W. (2011). Student and teacher safety in Chicago Public Schools. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/downloads/8499safety_in_cps.pdf
“Strategies for Effective Collaboration with Parents, Schools and Community Members,” (2009). Rutgers. http://sdfsc.rutgers.edu/file/Workshop%20Handouts/CH%20Effective%20Collaboration%2009.pdf