Family and community engagement are proven strategies for strengthening schools. Across the United States, parents and community members have pressed school boards and district leadership for more transparency and broader participation in decisions about school turnaround. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the…

After receiving a multiyear federal grant, an urban school district and community agency that focused on family literacy implemented a comprehensive school reform initiative called Providence Full Service Community Schools (PFSCS). A host of community partners collaborated to develop the PFSCS model with the broad goal of strategically connecting…

How engaged families are in their children's lives, whether at home or in school, predicts their success in school and in life. The purpose of this study was to explore parent, educator, and community member perspectives of family engagement, preschool through grade 12, to inform state-level policy from an ecological framework. Ten semi-structured…

Using critical race discourse analysis, this study examines descriptions of a heated controversy over the proposed closure of the only primarily black high school in a large urban city. Participants included community members and the district and school leaders who were key in the controversy. Based on Foucault's analysis of power we looked for…

One of the goals of Montessorians is to spread Montessori education and make quality Montessori education available for children. However, one of the obstacles is the lack of information in the world (and an abundance of misinformation) about the Montessori philosophy. In 2009, these two issues came to a head in what evolved into a battle of…

The Native American Community Academy (NACA) is demonstrating an example of Indigenous philosophies and practices in education through its holistic, student-centered approach to education. NACA was one school in a large statewide study on Indian education in New Mexico. Focus groups with students, teachers, and community members illustrate the…

THE SCHOOL SHOULD ASSUME GREATER RESPONSIBILITY AS AN AGENCY OF SOCIETY FOR CHILD WELFARE. WHEN THE CHILD'S WELFARE IS THREATENED BY NEIGHBORHOOD CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SCHOOL SHOULD INTERVENE. THE COMMUNITY SHOULD INVEST MORE MONEY IN EXISTING SCHOOL FACILITIES TO TRANSFORM THE SCHOOLS INTO YEAR-ROUND COMMUNITY CENTERS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING A POSITIVE…

Reports the results of a survey of a random sample of 250 Missouri high school American History teachers, 88 percent of whom responded to a questionnaire mailed to them. (JM)

At a time when the structure and functioning of several American institutions have come under attack, some significant questions need to be investigated. In particular, there is the need to understand how institutions and their clients relate to one another; how different patterns of formal and informal interaction affect the legitimacy accorded…

This agenda for educational improvement in Oakland (California) outlines community expectations of the school system and gives specific examples of what those expectations mean in practice. More than 800 individuals from neighborhood groups, churches, parent organizations, school district staff, and business and professional associations testified…

Review of school-community relationsuip studies in Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., shows that these successful undertakings were guided by several objectives. Most important among these were (1) to develop information about means of local school-community interaction and communication and their effectiveness, (2) to become…

This handbook is organized by action areas that a school principal needs to consider in creating, maintaining, and utilizing successful involvement with the neighboring communities. Each area discusses the range of options available to the principal. Building principals are thus able to select features to fit their particular communities. The…

Evidence from 10 cities indicates that large city school systems' difficulty in closing schools stems from administrators' value conflicts between responsiveness to the community and efficiency, and from competing role interests between board members and administrators. (MJL)

The Creative Learning Center, funded under the Emergency School Assistance Program, addressed three problems related to the Dallas school district's 1971-72 desegregation plan: (1) lack of opportunity for racial mixing; (2) racial stereotyping; (3) preconceived ideas causing suspicion and hostility when races do mix. The Center was a model of how…

School community relations in big cities are marked by apathy and distrust and, often, by hostility. Yet, many Federal programs and many pressing urban problems require that administrators and communities work together more closely than ever before. This project analyzes evidence from recent empirical research and from field evaluations to…