Expanding Learning Opportunities for Youth and Their Families in the Mission Promise Neighborhood: An Interim Assessment
San Francisco's Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) is a federally-funded Promise Neighborhood initiative that supports community-based organizations, schools, and other public agencies to work in defined neighborhoods and build integrated supports for children and youth from cradle to college and career. Since 2013, the Gardner Center has partnered with MPN to support implementation and ongoing assessment of the initiative. This report draws on perspectives from school principals, family engagement staff, teachers, and community partners regarding the ways in which implementation of MPN supports has advanced the initiative's goals. Specifically considered are the following key programmatic and operational components of the MPN model:1) the efforts to support strategic coordination of school-level supports and school-community partnerships by promoting collaborative leadership; 2) the resources of a Community School Coordinator and a Family Success Coach (FSC), and 3) the integrated academic, social, emotional, and health supports at each focus school. Interviews probed for contextual factors that mediate achievement of goals as well as other ongoing challenges and areas for improvement. Student achievement and behavioral data drawn from the administrative records of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) as well as MPN survey data were incorporated in the assessment. The object of this research is to draw lessons to support continuous improvement and scale-up efforts, and to inform policymakers and other researchers interested in Promise Neighborhood strategies across the country.
Suggested Citation:
Sipes, L., and Ruiz de Velasco, J. (2017). Expanding Learning Opportunities for Youth and their Families in the Mission Promise Neighborhood: An Interim Assessment. Stanford, CA.: John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities.