The groundwork for community schools began at the turn of the 20th century, modelled after settlement houses in London and major cities within the United States, and John Dewey’s argument for ‘the school as social centre’. Community schools provide an integrated focus on child, family, and community whereby what occurs outside the classroom is understood to be as important as what occurs inside. To address this, community schools mobilise out-of-classroom support systems so that all youth can succeed, whatever their family’s assets and/or challenges. Examples of these supports include before, after, and summer school programming; physical and mental health services; family engagement; mentoring and more. The first step is a needs assessment so that supports are individually tailored to the unique needs of each school community. University-assisted community schools (UACS), a concept developed at the University of Pennsylvania, United States, utilise institutions of higher education as lead partners in community schools, mobilising the resources of area colleges and universities to support and lead local community schools. This presentation will highlight how UACS can be a strategy for any institution of higher education to transform education in their local neighbourhoods. Specific examples of roles of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and administrators in supporting UACS will be given, and short and long-term outcomes of UACS will be shared. The development, implementation, and evaluation of this effort at Binghamton University Community Schools will be delineated as a case example in upstate New York, including how this work has been implemented at the Malawi Children’s Mission in rural Africa.

Biography

Laura Bronstein

Laura Bronstein, ACSW, LCSWR, PhD is Dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs, Professor of Social Work, Director of the Institute for Justice & Well-Being, and Founding Director of Binghamton University Community Schools, State University of New York (SUNY), United States. Prior to entering academia, Professor Bronstein worked as a practising social worker in a range of settings. Since entering academia, she has published over 70 peer-reviewed research articles and chapters and two books, and her leadership has been instrumental in various teams being awarded over 20 million dollars in federal, state, and foundation grants. She has an international reputation for her research on collaboration, including having created the widely used Index for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. In 2010, her article on which the Index was based, A Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration, was the eighth most highly cited publication in the social work literature. Professor Bronstein received the John A. Hartford Foundation Outstanding Dean for Aging Education award in 2011 and was Binghamton University’s inaugural recipient of the Lois B. DeFleur Faculty Prize for Academic Excellence ‘for scholarship that spans boundaries’ the following year. She was awarded the Esther W. Couper Memorial Award for ‘outstanding service and dedication to the children and families of our community’ in 2017. Most recently, Professor Bronstein has built Binghamton University Community Schools into a nationally and internationally renowned entity and is currently leading its adaptation across SUNY’s 64 campuses. In 2023, she was cited among the top 2% of scholars in her field in the Stanford World Scientist and University Rankings.

About the Presenter(s)
Laura Bronstein, ACSW, LCSWR, PhD is Dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs, Professor of Social Work, Director of the Institute for Justice & Well-Being, and Founding Director of Binghamton University Community Schools, State University of New York (SUNY), United States.

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