Specific schoolsFull briefing
Community schools were the de Blasio cure-all. Did they work?
The longer form of the briefing for this story: the original thesis, the supporting findings the data team flagged, and the reporting directions a journalist could follow. For the short version and the data analysis, see the main story page.
Thesis
NYC's Community Schools model adds wraparound services (health, mental health, after-school) to selected schools. Started in 2014, expanded to ~250 schools by 2019. With 11 years of data, can we identify a Community Schools effect — beyond what comparable non-Community Schools would have produced?
Supporting findings
- ~250 NYC Community Schools — list needed from NYC DOE Community Schools Office.
- Original RAND evaluation (2018) showed modest grad-rate effects, mixed academic.
- Need: cross-reference our school metrics with Community Schools designation flag.
- Test: difference-in-differences vs proclivity-matched comparison group of non-Community Schools.
- Outcomes: chronic absenteeism, ES composite, MS composite, HS grad rate, college matriculation.
- Community Schools cost ~$100M/year. ROI?
- Has the model been protected under Adams? Community Schools roster may have shrunk.
- Compare with Cincinnati, Tulsa community-school models.
- Has the model worked better for some grade bands (HS) than others (ES)?
- Frame: 'A theory of change met reality. The result is more complicated than the press releases.'
Reporting directions
- Get current Community Schools roster from NYC DOE FOIL.
- Build matched comparison via our peer-group methodology.
- Interview Children's Aid Society + UFT (program partners).
- Compare with the 2018 RAND evaluation and re-run their analysis with current data.