Kalamazoo Promise

Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo provides services based on the Integrated Student Services (ISS) model, an evidence-based approach to providing community resources to students based on identified needs. National Communities In Schools has conducted a five-year evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the Integrated Student Services Model for improving school- and student-level outcomes and to identify successful strategies that can be replicated across the network. The model has been shown to increase graduation rates--graduating students on time with a regular diploma, decreasing the drop-out rates among high-implementing schools, and when implemented with high fidelity, results in a higher percentage of students reaching proficiency in fourth- and eigth-grade reading and math. For instance, in a high school approximately the size of Kalamazoo Central, implementing the ISS model would result in 58 more students staying in school and 77 more students graduating on time with a regular diploma. Based district-wide criteria, students are divided into three categories--intensive, strategic, and proficient. Each CIS Site Coordinator establishes a caseload of students whose needs are determined to be "strategic." CIS is needs-driven, providing support tailored to the needs of each student, with the goal of moving those students from strategic to proficient. This focused attention frees KPS resources to better address the needs of students with intensive needs. The ISS model works on two different levels, enabling CIS to evaluate and address both school-wide needs (Level 1) and those of individual students (Level 2).