In "The Fight for America's Schools", Barbara Ferman brings together a diverse group of contributors to investigate how parents, communities, teachers, unions, and students are mobilizing to oppose market-based reforms in education. Drawing on a series of rich case studies, the book illustrates how disparate groups can forge new…

The work of school, family and community partnerships is complex and messy and demands a thoughtful and deep investigation. Currently, parent and community involvement does not draw on school reform and educational change literature and conversely the school change literature often ignores the crucial role that communities play in educational…

Because schools are the heart and soul of a community, educational leaders have a responsibility to bring the community into the school, as well as to make the school a part of the surrounding community. This volume in the "Soul of Educational Leadership" series goes beyond administrative skills to examine educators' pivotal role of leading family…

School leaders are increasingly called upon to pursue meaningful partnerships with families and community groups, yet many leaders are unprepared to meet the challenges of partnerships, to cross cultural boundaries, or to be accountable to the community. Alliances are needed among educators, families, and community groups that value relationship…

This book contains readings supplement information provided by a group of principals, teachers, and researchers participating in the U.S. Department of Education's National Satellite Teleconference, "Students at the Center." The March 1998 broadcast shared key findings on planning, implementing, and sustaining comprehensive school…

Twenty ideas to motivate reluctant young readers in kindergarten and elementary school classrooms are presented. The ideas include reading contests, prizes, classroom decor, and community involvement. (PP)

This booklet presents excerpts from a discussion by a panel of educators and policymakers brought together by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), an organization that addresses human development needs through education, communication, and information. Participants shared their experiences in creating opportunities and procedures which…

This packet includes reprints of journal articles and other resources concerning building a sense of community among staff and learners in small, rural schools. The four sections of the packet cover involving the community in education, establishing a learning community within the school, using the community as a resource for the classroom, and…

This book examines the nature of comprehensive, large scale historical and social changes that contextualize educational reform, and it amplifies the meaning of lessons learned by those who have assisted in change efforts. It also examines how the rhetoric of educational change may fall short of the reality, as translated to processes and…

"School Reform in Chicago" shares the lessons learned from the city of Chicago's school reform efforts over the past two decades, the most ambitious in history, becoming a huge laboratory for innovations in areas such as school governance, leadership, accountability, and community involvement. In 1987, The U.S. Secretary of Education…

This document explores the application of the community education process to restructuring activities at both the state and local level. The monograph contains the following papers: "In the Forefront of Restructuring" (Larry Decker, Valerie Romney); "Building Learning Communities: Realities of Educational Restructuring" (Larry…

The five chapters of this book on teachers' need and responsibility to prepare themselves for criticisms and attacks on their teaching methods and materials deal with the scope of censorship issues, the significance of academic freedom, recent judicial rulings, school-community tensions, and case studies of censorship cases. The first chapter,…

Four papers focus on approaches to providing literacy education. "Language and Community Building: An Intergenerational Approach" (Gail Weinstein-Shr) describes a Temple University (Pennsylvania) program to involve volunteers in English-as-a-second-language instruction to refugee children and their elders. This program provides volunteer…

These five commissioned papers explore the relationship between educational reform and parent and community involvement for middle-grade education. The papers are: (1) "Comprehensive Districtwide Reforms in Parent and Community Involvement Programs" (Nancy Feyl Chavkin), on the resources and skills that school districts already have and…

This publication describes programs in education in Massachusetts that foster multiculturalism. Many of these programs are recipients of the Multicultural Recognition Award for their effectiveness in this field. The programs are described under the following 8 categories: (1) bilingual education (5 programs); (2) community participation programs…