CCE believes there is a strong correlation between poverty conditions and low-performing schools; conversely, CCE is committed to exploring and enriching the relationship between strong supportive communities and high-performing schools.

CCE’s Theory of Change¹

If we (a) build a community-wide scaffold of support for students and families focused on educational achievement, (b) build strong partnerships of mutual expectation with educational providers (public, charter and private schools), (c) drive change with parent advocacy at the district level, and (d) assist our partners to continually measure and revise the programs they are implementing, then within 5-7 years every student will have access to a high-performing school.

Current Programs

CCE is the backbone organization for The School Zone in West Dallas, where it supports collaboration between 10 public schools and 20 nonprofit agencies. With CCE at the helm, The School Zone is driving collective impact with (a) a common agenda for education reform, (b) a plan that ensures collaboration/mutual support and effectively deployed resources, and (c) continuous communication among senior staff.

The School Zone is engaged in:

• Providing a comprehensive, collaborative continuum of care that aligns with and enhances DISD school turnaround strategies;

• Building powerful parent and community advocacy;

• Leveraging neighborhood assets; and

• Assuring program and project impact, and sustainability.

CCE works in partnership with the Institute for Urban Policy Research (IUPR) at the University of Texas at Dallas. IUPR has developed and supports an electronic dashboard – The West Dallas Report Card - for regular tracking and reporting of outcomes for The School Zone.

In addition to managing The School Zone, CCE also operates two of its programs, building a critical mass of informed and empowered adults who are engaged in educational success by way of two advocacy programs – Parent Action Groups for Education (PAGE) and Faith and Community for Education Transformation (FACET).
CCE also enables the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development to enhance its existing investigations, including research conducted by the Center for Child and Community Development, evaluations conducted by professors and graduate students, and oversight of service/educational projects conducted by community based agencies. By operating the CCE, Simmons is able to establish new directions in education research and offer field work for faculty and students. Faculty work has access to community engagement expertise and CCE has access to Simmons’ faculty and students for program design and evaluation. Interdisciplinary work is also underway with other schools at SMU, and CCE can support these projects with skills and resources.

Measuring It All

All 20 community organizations are participating in a robust outcomes measurement project known as The Metrics Project. This project assists participants to set individual metrics and outcomes measures, and to develop and implement additional shared metrics and outcomes measures focused on education transformation in all sectors. Participants’ outcomes are documented at www.westdallasreportcard.com.

Leadership, Community Input and Accountability

As part of Simmons, CCE is ultimately responsible to the Dean of the Simmons School and through him to the Provost of the University. CCE is led by an Advisory Council made up of business leaders, clergy, professors and philanthropists. The Advisory Council works in partnership with a Leadership Team made up of senior staff of The School Zone organizations paired with an equal number of West Dallas residents.

Associate Dean and Professor Dr. Reid Lyon is the Faculty Director. He supervises research and faculty engagements. Regina Nippert is the Executive Director. She supervises operations and programs, including all non-faculty staff.

History

The originator of CCE’s work in West Dallas is the Dallas Faith Communities Coalition (DFCC). DFCC’s mission is to work with whole communities to develop collaborative solutions to systemic causes of poverty. In 2008 DFCC launched The West Dallas Community Collaborative for Schools, Jobs and Housing (the Collaborative). In early 2009, SMU made a university-wide commitment to working in West Dallas and in October of 2011 DFCC and Simmons jointly created the Center on Community and Education to assume leadership of the education components of the Collaborative. DFCC has a strong track record of successful collaboration in West Dallas and deep roots in the West Dallas community. Simmons has received national attention for innovation in teaching and school leadership. The partnership brings documentation, research and evaluation capabilities to an already successful collaborative community redevelopment strategy that is focused on school transformation as its core activity.