Four elementary schools and two local organizations in Seattle's South End collaborated to improve student performance, strengthen the community, and create a model for school reform. Programs included day care, one-on-one reading workshops, volunteer mentors, community events, adult education, and writing workshops. Presents four tips for…

The first step in the effective reform of urban education is to address the failure of the urban communities of which they are a natural and necessary outgrowth. At the heart of the problem is the inner-city community of adults that has been decimated, leaving few who are capable of responding to the need or bringing meaning and guidance to young…

Describes the School-Community Connection Conference held in Flint (Michigan) on October 11-13, 1992, and the action plans that seven participating schools devised to improve the relationship between schools and their communities. The conference paired representatives from the state departments of education with school-based action teams to…

As community assets, schools are central to community development and are best suited to provide a learning community that can build the whole community's capacity to address educational disadvantage. Community capacity building means strengthening a community's ability to become self-reliant by increasing social cohesion and social capital. In…

Presents how the state of Kentucky has approached the escalating expenditures and overcrowded programs and facilities for juvenile justice and mental health care services. Discusses four state legislative initiatives developed to care for at-risk and delinquent youth that have greatly enhanced and expanded Kentucky's system of community-based…

Challenges confronting children, youth, and families in the current socioeconomic environment are examined, and the role of the university-assisted community school in addressing them is explored. Comprehensive, collaborative change strategies that support and strengthen families and nurture children and youth in addition to providing education…

Because the District of Columbia (DC) is a federal district, its governance is peculiar. The DC public school system is plagued by poor management, internal strife, unstable leadership, low student achievement, shrinking enrollment, and declining community confidence. During the 1960s, Mayor Barry and the civil rights-home rule movement brought…

Forward in the Fifth is an organization created to improve the quality of education in Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District, which had the lowest percentage of high school graduates in America. The organization has employed innovative ways to involve the whole community, resulting in widespread cooperation, as well as increased graduation rates…

The goals of the Rochester (New York) Education Initiative are to inform the total community of the crisis of low academic achievement within the public school system, and to involve the total community in a set of strategies to correct the problem. Activities included the following: (1) meetings to solicit the support of key community leaders and…

This paper examines school reform via community organizing in New York City's lowest performing public school districts. It summarizes findings from a national study on community organizing for school reform, profiling 10 community organizing groups. In 2000, researchers conducted surveys of and interviews with all NYC groups currently engaged in…

The Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) serves the highest number of low income and special needs students in the state, struggling to create effective educational environments that respond to students' social and economic needs. While there have been many restructuring efforts through the BCPSS' history, the modern era of school reform…

This book describes the success of mentor programs and of individuals such as Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Bill Cosby, and Arnold Schwarzenegger among many others, who have worked as mentors in public schools. The first section describes the work of Eugene Lang and his "I Have a Dream" program. The second section describes the work of…

The state of Washington implemented the Readiness to Learn program as part of the state's Family Policy Initiative. The primary goal of the program is to serve as a formal link between education and human services by authorizing grants to local school-linked, community-based consortia to develop and implement strategies that ensure children arrive…

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE, 2004) administers a formula grant program to states that is intended to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science by enhancing the content knowledge and teaching skills of classroom teachers. Partnerships between high-need school districts and the science, technology,…

This handbook draws attention to the problem of dropouts in Massachusetts and offers solutions to increase the chances that all students will succeed. It suggests the need for systemic, school-based changes to foster learning environments that meet the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive needs of all students and staff. The handbook is…