The Development of Community Schools in Romania: Putting Policy Into Practice

Abstract

ABSTRACTIf judged against prevailing understandings of community schools (CSs) in the scholarly literature, all Romanian schools should qualify as CSs in light of the regulatory framework. However, few Romanian schools are genuinely CSs. This article describes a recent NGO-led initiative to assist Romanian schools in becoming CSs and explores the nature of this transformation and its outcomes through a case study using a range of primary data, including the school’s project reports about activities undertaken, direct observation, and in-depth interview material with relevant stakeholders at the end of the project. After describing the sequence of interventions undertaken as part of the NGO-led project, the article moves on to explore the ways in which school leadership, involved parents, and other local actors reflected on the nature and implications of the school’s transformation into a CS in light of the defining characteristics of a CS, beyond superficial compliance with national legal requirements. The article suggests that, in addition to the collaborative process of continuous improvement based on systematic self-assessment using collectively negotiated standards, continued community-wide involvement, and the use of the school as a community resource and venue, one of the politically most relevant aspects of the analyzed school’s transformation has been the school’s willingness to showcase its approach to policy makers. This is particularly important and welcome in a context in which policy making has been known to be centralized; ad hoc; and, often, detached from schools’ resources, needs, and capacities.