In recent decades, changes to the education policy landscape have made local public engagement more difficult. Among these changes are increased centralization of policy making, the rise of school choice, and mayoral and state takeovers of urban school districts. Philadelphia is at the vanguard of these changes. We discuss how community-based…

Background/Context: Market models of school reform are having a major impact on school districts across the country. While scholars have examined many aspects of this process, we know far less about the general effects of marketization on public participation in education and local education politics. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of…

Since the state takeover, the Philadelphia school district has created a new governance model, in which for-profits, non-profits, and universities receive contracts to manage schools. Further, these and other organizations also receive contracts to provide a range of additional services. The shift to a public/private institutional structure,…

The focus of this report is the way standards are influencing instruction in Philadelphia classrooms and how the various parts of the system are working together to support standards-driven instruction at the classroom level. The 1996-97 school year was still an early one in the implementation of standards-based instruction in Philadelphia. The…

This report was undertaken to assess the state of civic capacity for education reform in Philadelphia. It challenges community and civic sectors of the city to put aside individual interests and work together to mobilize resources to pursue the collective good of public school improvement. The report demonstrates that many of the elements…

Describes a longitudinal observation of Chicago school reform by a research team, and chronicles a method for tracking the implications of school reform over time. The study concludes that Chicago school reform gained strength because it originated as a broad-based social movement that spread ownership among many groups and defined reform as an…

The Indicators Project on Education Organizing was designed to examine the role of community organizing in school reform. For over 2 years, researchers documented the education organizing of five urban groups. This report presents an education organizing indicators framework that highlights strategies and accomplishments of education organizing.…

This report describes Austin, Texas' Austin Interfaith, which connects community institutions that can support families (e.g., schools, congregations, and civic organization) and builds the capacity of family members to participate fully in the economic system. Viewing schools as key neighborhood institutions, Austin Interfaith works directly with…

This report describes New York City's ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which has a 20-year history of organizing in the City and emphasizes public education issues. ACORN works at both the neighborhood and policy level. It is one of five case studies in the Indicators Project on Education Organizing, which identified…

This report presents summaries of five case studies from the Indicators Project on Education Organizing, which was designed to examine the role of community organizing in school reform. For over 2 years, this action research project documented the education organizing of five urban groups. The research developed an Education Organizing Indicators…

This publication is intended to help foundation program officers, educators, and organizers use the Education Organizing Indicators Framework to understand the contribution that community organizing makes to school reform. The Framework is the product of a study that examined five community groups to document how organized groups of parents and…

This report describes Oakland, California's Oakland Community Organizations (OCO), which is committed to the improvement of long-term prospects for families and youth living in the Oakland flatlands neighborhoods. These are low- to moderate-income, traditionally African American communities where numerous immigrant groups have settled in recent…