Navigating the Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 in Community Schools

The COVID-19 pandemic created major disruptions in schooling and education. This exploratory study examines state-standardized test scores in traditional and community schools between 2019 and 2023, and qualitative data from a large urban school district located on the East Coast of the United States. The findings indicate declines in test scores for all students in both English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. The 11 schools implementing a community school strategy reported slightly smaller declines than traditional schools in both ELA and math. Qualitative analysis reveals that community schools were able to pivot quickly to support student and family needs during the pandemic, which may have helped mitigate some of the negative impact of the COVID-19 learning disruptions. This exploratory study points to the potential of the community school strategy in providing holistic supports to alleviate some of the challenges associated with historically underinvested communities, and their responsiveness in times of crisis.