In the late-2000s, Washington, DC achieved national notoriety for its embrace of market accountability in public schools and support for a steadily expanding charter sector. At the same time, the DC government pursued a concerted effort to attract new residents and investment to the city, a project that bore fruit in the form of some of the…

Why are many urban universities' relationships with their surrounding communities fraught despite university efforts at community engagement? Relationships between the factors underlying university-driven neighborhood change remain largely unexplored. In this article, I take the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) as a case study and examine the…

During the 1990s, the UK Learning City Network was a large and influential movement with government support, the most significant national body of its kind anywhere. Yet, less than a decade later, it was in decline and now no longer exists. But while few UK towns or cities any longer use the term "learning city", the notion lives on as…

As more colleges and universities commit to a public mission, it is critical that our work as anchor institutions have a sustainable and positive impact, and that we collaborate fully with the diverse voices and expertise beyond our campuses--the most valuable assets of our multicultural cities. Taking Syracuse, New York, as a microcosm, the…

This paper recounts the author's story as she returned to Haiti in February to join a building project near Port-Au-Prince and to document efforts by U.S. higher education institutions to help the country rebound from the devastating 2010 earthquake. The author describes how consortiums have been formed in order to support the development of the…

This article examines the theory and evidence behind the increased policy and scholarly interest in the role that schools might play in promoting neighborhood revitalization, focuses on the extent to which schools might be a key component in the growing efforts across the country to address urban poverty by creating and sustaining mixed-income…

In 1992, Congress enacted the HOPE VI program to overhaul the nation's public housing policy. The reform legislation was prompted by a report commissioned by Congress that deemed two-thirds of all public housing "severely distressed." Since the landmark public housing policy was enacted in 1992, the Department of Housing and Urban Development…

The powerful, reciprocal connection between school and housing segregation has long been recognized. The housing-school link was a key element in both the 1968 Kerner Commission Report and in the legislative history of the Fair Housing Act. The relation of school and housing segregation was also explored in a series of school desegregation cases…

Describes how, partnering with Fannie Mae, three institutions--Howard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Jackson State University--have transformed their deteriorating neighborhoods into thriving communities. (EV)

An experiment in the renovation of inner-city buildings opens union jobs for Negroes in the construction trades. (MU)

Describes the challenges faced by researchers in evaluating a neighborhood revitalization project. Places the challenges in the context of three of the Program Evaluation Standards of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation: Values Identification, Fiscal Responsibility, and Analysis of Quantitative Information. (SLD)

These panel papers address various ways to meet the needs of changing communities in achieving the goal of reducing crime and revitalizing communities. Weeding out crime and seeding target areas with social services and economic revitalization calls for a range of strategies, as identified by the panelists. The following papers are included: (1)…

Develops a comprehensive approach to meeting the needs of urban, low-income, multicultural communities. Outlines a neighborhood network that focuses on the developmental needs of youth, engages residents, and promotes interdisciplinary services. Examines one school of social work's efforts to help a neighborhood develop such a network. (RJM)

This article traces the history and development of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. This foundation has been notably successful in preserving neighborhoods for their original inhabitants and now has the first urban renewal program to be based on historic preservation for poor people. (BT)

This article examines an effort to use urban schools to promote the revitalization of a large northeastern city in the United States. In order to attract and retain professional families to a regenerated central city, downtown schools are re-branded and promoted to such families as suitable for their children. The article draws on interviews and…