In urban areas, the communities are as diverse as the issues, and different educational and engagement strategies must be deployed to support urban Extension clientele. Urban communities must connect with and feel a sense of "belonging" with Extension--this connection can strengthen Extension's presence and value proposition to urban…

Every day in New York City, between 90,000 and 100,000 young people, almost all of them Black and Latina/o, must show up to school thirty to forty-five minutes before their first class begins because they attend schools with metal detectors and scanners. School administrators and policymakers have accepted this scenario as part of Black and…

Nearly two years ago, the Center for an Urban Future published "Branches of Opportunity," a report documenting that New York City's public libraries have become more vital than ever, and are serving more New Yorkers in more ways than ever before. This new report provides an exhaustive analysis of the libraries' capital needs and offers a…

Despite some cuts to the nation's oldest Federal College Access Programs, known as the TRIO programs (e.g., Upward Bound), new education policies have emphasized college and career readiness. In 2010, Congress approved the College Access Challenge Grant Program, which aims to increase the number of low-income students who are ready for college.…

Opponents depict outcome-based education as an unproven one-size-fits-all experiment. Uncompromising attacks, principally from conservative Christian groups and tradition-minded parents and educators, are obstructing meaningful reform and costing some superintendents their jobs. Sidebars show how certain districts responded to the backlash, decode…

Lewiston-Porter is a suburban western New York district with 2,700 students and a history of budget and bond referenda defeats. This article describes the district's development and implementation of a school-community communication system. The multiple strategies and proactive involvement efforts changed community perspective and facilitated a…

In Baltimore, Chicago, New York, Oakland, California and Philadelphia, to name a few cities where it has been active, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has emerged as a major player in K-12 in education issues. Its army of organizers has tackled everything from a lack of stop signs to such vexing issues as teacher…

According to the 1970 Census, approximately 33% of the 18,000,000 people living in New York lived in small towns, villages, and open country. Nonetheless, the State's major educational concerns have remained urban oriented. Although rural schools have some strengths (community centered, locally administered programs, desirable environment, and…

This publication reviews a statewide change effort in New York conceived of as a comprehensive, systematic process of change involving the participation of a total community in the examination and redefinition of its educational needs and goals. As a change strategy, Redesign attempts to deal with the entire system of education and is concerned…