What Do We Know about Full-Service Community Schools? Integrative Research Review with NVivo

Abstract

The full-service community school (FSCS) model is one of the most popular and growing types of community school models, which is widely implemented in underresourced urban schools. FSCSs offer an alternative to traditional public schools in the U.S. and are designed to coordinate community assets within a school. Given increased attention to this approach by both practitioners and policymakers for supporting schools in disadvantaged communities, the purpose of this study was to examine how scholars are describing FSCSs in the literature and offer suggestions for future research. In addition, this study provides a detailed overview of how to use NVivo to conduct qualitative empirical research reviews across disciplines. Findings indicated that scholarly dialogues about FSCSs converge toward (a) the nature of FSCSs; (b) academic performance in these models; and (c) partnerships among schools, communities, and parents. Specific recommendations for future research that will be useful in advancing work on the FSCSs model are included.