Addressing Poverty through Integrated Student Supports - Aligning Networks to Enable Every Student to Thrive

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret

Brief focuses on addressing poverty’s effects on students and advancing educational equity through integrated student supports. It explains how poverty, isolation, and race widen the opportunity gap, highlights disparities in rates of poverty and graduation outcomes, and argues for systemic, student-centered change. It positions integrated supports using the Communities In Schools model, describes practical action and collaboration across networks, and concludes with references and further resources.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Poverty, isolation and race

Opportunity gap and student-centered education

Why Us and Why Now

Alignment across networks and partners

Evidence and ESSA authorization

Our Unifying Concept

Student-centered definition

Services and opportunities for families

FEATURES Introduction to Communities In Schools and Integrated Student Supports Introduction to Poverty in the U.S. Poverty’s Impact on Students The Role of Integrated Student Supports in Helping to Address Poverty Integrated Student Supports In Action: Mitigating the Impact of Poverty by Leveraging the Communities In Schools Model Conclusion Further Resources References This Brief was Prepared by: Megan Walker Grimaldi Julie Williams Addressing Poverty through Integrated Student Supports Aligning Networks to Enable Every Student to Thrive December 2016 FEATURES Introduction Our Unifying Concept Why Us and Why Now Five Principles for Alignment What Comes Next Who We Are References INTRODUCTION Poverty, isolation and race all contribute to a widening opportunity gap in our communities. When young people face multiple barriers to learning and lack opportunities to grow, they start life steps behind and often fall further behind as they grow up.i But it doesn’t have to be that way. In hundreds of communities all across the country, our three nonprofit networks-The Coalition for Community Schools, Communities In Schools and StriveTogether-have been making measurable progress toward educational equity. Now we come together to say explicitly that we can achieve our shared goals more effectively if we align our assets and expertise across networks, across school districts and across communities. The urgency of our mission is amplified by changing demographics, a widening economic gap, and a growing body of research that directly links inequity with negatives outcomes for both the individual and society.ii [In the U.S. today](In the U.S. today), about 15 million children live in poverty, or roughly 21% of our nation’s young people. Fora family of three, that means just $20,160 a year to cover housing, clothing, food, transportation, medical care and all of life’s other expenses, including educational enrichment opportunities. Analysts estimate, for instance, that low-income children miss out on 6,000 hours of expanded learning time, putting them at a severe disadvantage compared to their more affluent peers. Economic struggles often are magnified for children of color. Just over 10% of white children live in poverty, compared to 30% for Hispanic children and 38% for black children, thoughthe absolute number of poor white children is highest. Not surprisingly, high school achievement rates reflect similar variations: While 87% of white highschool students graduate on time, the figure is 76% for Hispanic students and 73% for African American students. Given these profound shifts, there has never been a more important time to invest in young people. Removing barriers and creating opportunities to enable all students to reach their potential is not the job of a single individual, organization, program, or school. Addressing inequity is in our collective moral, democratic, and economic interest. It is a shared responsibility, and we intend to lead by example. One essential strategy for ending inequity is to take a systemic approach that pushes all of our institutions to become more student-centered. Our public schools are central to this work, but they are not alone. We need a wide variety of institutions and their leaders to step up and collaborate with families and communities to address the needs of young people and create more and better enrichment opportunities for them. WHY US AND WHY NOW Over the past several decades, a widespread movement has emerged to put students at the center of the education process by aligning resources to their needs on a one-to-one basis. This movement goes by different names —community schools, integrated student supports, wraparound services —but the principle of student-centered education remains constant. In addition to matching resources to individual learners, community leaders and practitioners are working across sectors to change how organization

FAQs

What problem does the brief focus on?

The brief focuses on how poverty, isolation, and race contribute to a widening opportunity gap for students, and how integrated student supports can address those barriers.

Why is integrated, student-centered support described as urgent?

It is described as urgent because changing demographics, a widening economic gap, and research linking inequity to negative outcomes increase the need to invest in students now.

How does the brief explain the role of alignment across networks?

It argues that shared goals are achieved more effectively by aligning assets and expertise across nonprofits, school districts, and communities to strengthen existing local work.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Margaret