Israel's early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy for ages 0-3 has evolved significantly, with the Ministry of Education now overseeing it. However, the policy still emphasizes settings over comprehensive child development, excluding centers with fewer than seven children, and many still need to be registered. This study examines Israel's…

Since 1980, Chicago's United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) has been a major player in school reform, organising Mexican-American communities to build a neighbourhood high school, founding a local technical institute, passing radical school governance reform, and launching a major charter network. At UNO's apex in 2013, a corruption scandal…

In this paper, we draw upon data from a multi-year, ethnographic case study of a community-based organization in Detroit, Michigan to consider how the organization has used social media to influence reform discourse, educate local communities, and forward community-driven educational reform goals within an austere, neoliberal political climate.…

Utilizing critical geography, critical history, and critical educational studies as guideposts, this article examines community organizing and school district partnerships as relevant to improving urban public education reform efforts and schooling practices within the United States. Proceeding in four parts, part one discusses the kinds of…

Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork at a community-based organization (CBO) engaged in parent organizing for urban school reform, this paper examines how organizers engaged with the imperatives of neoliberal reform and the broader neoliberal policy context. It highlights organizers' agency but also shows how hegemonic discourse constrained their…

Community-based organizations have long influenced education reforms, and urban areas are especially vulnerable to community work that transcends racial and economic boundaries. The purpose of this study is to explore how The League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley, a mostly White, middle-upper-class women's organization, worked to pursue one…

Purpose: This article focuses on the role of school and district leadership in the development and implementation of reform aimed at increasing racial and religious tolerance. It chronicles the rise of intercultural and democratic citizenship curriculum in three North American sites--Springfield, Massachusetts, Kirkland Lake, Ontario, and San…

This dissertation examines the effects of participation in grassroots organizing on the capacity and commitment of public school parents and community members to engage in future activism. The study used a mixed-methods research design, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected from individuals involved in seven exemplar…

Montclair Cares About Schools (MCAS) is a citizen-activist group in Montclair, New Jersey, that used Facebook, emails, and online petitions to inform and organize citizens on local educational policy issues. Emerging in response to a new superintendent's plans to reshape Montclair schools with new teacher evaluations, administrative hires, and…

The election of Mayor Bill de Blasio in November 2013 was a historic moment for proponents of student-centered, equity-driven public education. During the campaign, de Blasio ran on an agenda of ending New York City's "Tale of Two Cities" and elevated a comprehensive vision for improving the city's more than 1,800 public schools as a…

Urban districts throughout the nation are contending with declining enrollment, aging facilities in disrepair, persistently low student achievement, increased competition with charters, and severe fiscal constraints. Philadelphia is a case in point. Over the past year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was forced to borrow $304 million…

New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, represents a dramatic shift from his predecessor Michael Bloomberg in the area of education. Bloomberg was a national trendsetter on market reforms focused on privatization, testing, and competition. De Blasio was elected on an agenda of classroom investments, student supports, parent and community…

This article analyzes the process of youth political activism and development by drawing on ethnographic research on Asian and Pacific Islander youth activists. Young people revealed that collective action begins with a critical analysis of their lived experiences with inequalities. Their actions also involved oppositional consciousness that was…

In this paper, the author provides a buffet of ideas to make a coherent case for a democracy in which citizens can be truly sovereign by becoming the agents of their own destiny. He traces the history of various trends which threaten the development of civic agency: technocracy, specialism, and a consumer-view of the citizen, among others. He also…

Listening to what students have to say is the most essential to changing the culture of schools. This article discusses the growing national movement is putting students' voices--and their work--front and center in the push to raise expectations and results in schools. This article also presents some examples of young people's active roles in…