What the Student Success Act Is Teaching Oregon About Community Engagement

With research collaboratively conducted by Iris Maria Chávez, Aimee Craig, and Megan Irwin, the project investigated how community engagement was interpreted and applied in the SIA’s implementation. The findings and recommendations, now publicly available, were first previewed to state legislators and community leaders at FBO’s 2021 Legislative Summit.

“The Student Investment Account has shown us that community engagement is not something that’s just ‘nice to do,’ nor is it a one-time or some-time activity,” said Irwin at the Summit. “It’s a core strategy for harnessing the knowledge and the power and commitment that we need to improve student outcomes.”

To receive SIA funds, school districts must engage students, families, and their communities as they design plans and budgets that address disparities experienced by historically underserved students. The focal populations named in the law include Black students, Indigenous students, students of color, students with disabilities, emerging bilingual students, and students navigating poverty, homelessness, or foster care.

What did community engagement look like during the first year of the SIA? For some, tight timelines and COVID-19 disruptions led to a rushed process, turning community engagement into a ‘check-the-box’ activity to qualify for SIA funds. Others took the opportunity to go beyond a simple survey or listening session, creating engagement opportunities that included community voices at the policymaking table in new, authentic, and meaningful ways. 

Among its findings, the research brief reinforces that authentic community engagement is based in trust and built over time. The SIA is an opportunity for school and community leaders to  grow deeper relationships, learn from each other, and make better decisions together. The analysis also found that when policies and investments are designed with—and not for—impacted communities, they are more likely to succeed.

While districts must still do more to include community as true partners in decision-making, the SIA is beginning to shift how schools connect with historically underserved communities across Oregon.

“The [SIA] process changed me as a leader,” said Kraig Sproles, an assistant superintendent for Salem-Keizer Public Schools. “It showed me how we often force people to show up in a certain way instead of giving them the space to be authentic in how they show up.”

State legislators and agency leaders can draw on FBO’s research to make the case for fully funding the SIA and further embed community engagement practices throughout Oregon’s public education system. Meanwhile, community leaders and advocates can use the findings and recommendations to press schools and the state toward a more inclusive education system. This includes calling for new investments in community-based organizations to partner with school districts on community engagement.

“Part of accountability is having community engagement be real, and not performative,” said Scott Nine, an Assistant Superintendent at the Oregon Department of Education who oversees the SSA’s implementation. Exchanging knowledge and building shared understanding is the “heartbeat” of community engagement, he explained, and Oregon must stay the course to fulfill the promises ignited by the SIA.

Looking ahead, policymakers can take steps to bolster the SIA and then align Oregon’s current and future equity investments with the SSA’s vision of systems change. A more cohesive and streamlined public education system would reduce administrative burden and ensure school districts “focus on the right work on behalf of students and communities,” said Nine.

Community leaders say the SIA is especially relevant at a time when converging crises have disproportionately impacted historically underserved children, highlighting the inequities that the SIA is designed to address. Indeed, Oregon communities have made extraordinary efforts to support children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If we want our community-based organizations and our families to be there for us in a time of crisis when we really need them as a school system,” said Irwin, one of the researchers, “we have to be there and listen to them—always.”