In "Natural Allies," Soo Hong offers a paradigm shift in how we think about family engagement with schools. Hong challenges the conventional depiction of parents and teachers as "natural enemies," and shows how, through teachers' initiative and commitment, they can become natural allies instead. Based on a three-year…

In "Navigating the Principalship," James P. Spillane and Rebecca Lowenhaupt look at the major challenges of the principal position, examining how new principals adapt to the role, set an instructional agenda, and build cooperation and collaboration. They focus in particular on the dilemmas that mark the principalship--the inevitable,…

In "Striving in Common," Jennifer Jellison Holme and Kara S. Finnigan seek to build a bridge between two largely disparate, yet interconnected, conversations--those among education reformers on the one hand, and urban reformers on the other. In this carefully considered volume, the authors show how the challenges faced by urban schools…

Teachers need to read books by other teachers, yet there are few available on the important subject of parent-teacher relationships. Lynne Yermanock Strieb fills the gap with this engaging account of her 30-year career teaching children in urban classrooms. Drawing on an extensive archive of documents she kept as a first- and second-grade …

This compelling collection of inspiring case studies from community arts projects in five countries will inform and inspire students, artists, and activists. "VIVA!" is the product of a five-year transnational research project that integrates place, politics, passion, and praxis. Framed by postcolonial theories of decolonization, the…

The work of school, family and community partnerships is complex and messy and demands a thoughtful and deep investigation. Currently, parent and community involvement does not draw on school reform and educational change literature and conversely the school change literature often ignores the crucial role that communities play in educational…

School-university partnerships have the potential to greatly benefit teaching and learning in PK-12 environments, as well as educator preparation programs. This collaboration is advantageous to teachers, counselors, and administrators. "Professional Development Schools and Transformative Partnerships" provides a comprehensive look at the…

Clinical Teacher Education focuses on how to build a school-university partnership network for clinical teacher education in urban school systems serving culturally and linguistically diverse populations. The labor intensive nature of professional development school work has resulted in research institutions being slow to fully adopt a clinical…

A much-needed counterpoint to the sweeping rhetoric of reform, this important book offers a nuanced depiction of the challenges and possibilities at the school and classroom level. Through the experiences of urban high school teachers who partner with their local university, Del Prete provides unique insight into teaching and learning in the midst…

That there is a divide between research and practice is a common lament across policy-oriented disciplines, and education is no exception. Rhetoric abounds about the role research plays (or does not play) in the improvement of schools and classrooms, and policy makers push solutions that are rooted in assumptions about the way that research…

"Art and Social Justice Education" offers inspiration and tools for educators to craft critical, meaningful, and transformative arts education curriculum and arts integration projects. The images, descriptive texts, essays, and resources are grounded within a clear social justice framework and linked to ideas about culture as commons. Essays and a…

This book describes a professional development model for new and experienced principals -- a collaborative leadership inquiry seminar. The authors combine existing models of structured professional conversations about education into an on-going leadership development experience that will work in large, urban school districts. They examine how to…

This handbook identifies the essential steps and pitfalls to successful partnerships between schools and their broader communities, and describes approximately 500 examples of ongoing collaborative efforts throughout the country, but primarily in New Jersey. The greatest impediments to forming partnerships appear to be the negative attitudes of…

School reform leaders in Chicago (Illinois), Denver (Colorado), New York (New York), Seattle (Washington), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and Los Angeles (California) created the Cross City Campaign to work for the improvement of urban education so that all students are prepared for postsecondary education, work, and citizenship. This paper, from…

Drawing on research evidence, this book addresses the question of how primary and secondary urban schools can be improved in a more inclusive way. The authors argue that urban schools and their communities have within them expertise that tends to be overlooked, and latent creativity that should be mobilised to move thinking and progress forward.…