Hong Kong's ageing population is growing at an unprecedented rate. Over the past two decades, the government has implemented policies and innovative engagement activities for elders in areas including lifelong learning and community participation. This paper aims to discuss conceptual, policy and practical issues relevant to the participation of…

Schools alone cannot reverse the high rates of school failure in the poorest communities in Europe; they need the contributions of the entire community. Coordination between families, the larger community, and the school has proven crucial to enhance student learning and achievement, especially for minority and disadvantaged families. However,…

When the five-member Board of the Alameda Unified School District selected Kirsten Vital as the new superintendent in 2009, they chose someone from outside their tight-knit community. Board Trustee Margie Sherratt thought Vital was chosen to "get us moving," to be a change agent on closing the achievement gap. Vital, in her initial…

This study examines how communities participate in schools across diverse contexts in developing countries and the results attributed to community participation. It reviews evaluations of participatory approaches to education in developing countries to answer two basic questions: 1) How do communities participate in school in developing countries?…

The principles and practice of community development offer a means of bridging the gap between agencies, planners, researchers, and communities. Community development involves an educational strategy of raising the levels of local awareness and increases the confidence and ability of community groups to identify and solve their own problems.…

Recent expansion of media coverage of early childhood issues and increased funding for early childhood programs are due in part to deliberate efforts to increase public engagement in efforts to improve the lives of young children and their families. This brief describes recent early childhood public engagement efforts and outlines lessons for…

In Japan, there has been an increased concern about family and community participation in the child's education. Traditionally, the role of parents and community in Japan has been one of support and less one of active involvement in school learning. Since the government commenced education reforms in the last quarter of the 20th century, a more…

The authors describe (1) methods for evaluation of a strategy for community involvement in educational problem-solving being developed by a regional laboratory, and (2) initial results obtained in several schools and communities in western states. Critical elements of the strategy include outside change agents and representative school-community…

This book is dedicated to helping readers modify environments--classrooms, schools, communities--in ways that move away from resiliency depletion and toward resiliency building. The book is organized with emphasis on the concept of community. Part one, which includes the first two chapters, explores the meaning of resiliency and why it is so…

A university-wide coalition at Michigan State University called Families and Communities Together (FACT) offers a model for university-community engagement that is responsive to increasing public demand for relevance in higher education through a novel institutional arrangement that drives scholarship, catalyzes multidisciplinary collaboration,…

This document outlines the Strategic Planning Initiative (SPI) for New Jersey's Salem Community College. This is the first plan the college has authored in seven years. The report provides a theoretical framework for heterarchical planning, which allows for complexity and interrelations of structural analysis, and lateral decision making. The…

"America Goes Back to School" is a nationwide initiative to encourage and support family and community involvement in improving children's learning. The program's 1998 theme highlights year-round partnerships started or celebrated during the back-to-school months of August through October. This kit provides tools to help families and…

"America Goes Back to School" is a nationwide initiative to encourage and support family and community involvement in improving children's learning. This activity kit provides tools to help families and community members develop and become involved in partnerships to improve students' academic success. The kit's "organizer's…

The Innovations Program, established by the Australian Schools Commission in 1974, was a small national program aimed at fostering local actions for change in Australian primary and secondary education. In this report, the author begins by examining different approaches to educational innovation and reviewing the literature on innovation. Part 2…