Public Service Clinics Topics


Community Schools Collaboration (CSC) #1

Agency/Program Overview

Community Schools Collaboration (CSC) is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop full service community schools that are centers of thriving communities that provide essential services, resources, and opportunities. Through both direct and leveraged services, CSC currently provides educational, health, and enrichment experiences to students and families in three diverse, high poverty service areas: Tukwila, White Center, and SeaTac. CSC is engaged in a three-year comprehensive evaluation to strengthen the organization’s infrastructure and assess the impact of the services they provide toward the goal of helping all students graduate from high school ready for higher education and/or the workforce.
 

Specific Research Question

CSC is seeking answers to the following questions:

  • What gaps in the organization’s infrastructure limit its ability to develop robust community schools?
  • What are the infrastructure investments that are most essential to maximize the organization’s capacity to continually improve the quality of its programs and services?
     

Additional Project Background

As CSC expanded from 5 to 15 community school sites in 2009, gaps in the organization’s infrastructure became evident. Some of these gaps were addressed as they became obvious, but a thorough analysis of CSC’s evolving infrastructure is needed to help the organization carry out its mission and achieve sustainability.

Key Steps

The student will work closely with Dr. Judy Swanson, the project evaluator, to define a manageable scope for the student’s project that meets both the students’ and the organizations’ needs. She will also provide access to documents and existing data. The research project will yield a report documenting the strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s structure and answers to our two research questions.

Additional Research Resources

If you have questions about this topic or would like more information, please contact Deborah Salas, Executive Director.