ABSTRACT
Inequitable learning opportunities are a leading contributor to the persistent literacy achievement gaps evident between historically marginalized students and their more affluent peers. This study investigated the impact of a community school reform effort in an urban middle school. The community school initiative focused on meeting the complex academic and nonacademic needs of newcomer (i.e., immigrant and refugee) students and families. The researchers compared the community school students to a propensity score-matched group and found that the community school students significantly outperformed the comparison group in English language arts (ELA) from Grades 6 to 8 and had significantly fewer course failures in Grade 8. Results of this study also indicate the promising contributions community school wrap-around services lend to reducing the literacy learning gap between ELL students and their non-ELL peers in the middle grades.
