This study relied upon the lived experiences of deaf communities to develop community-driven solutions for eliminating employment and educational attainment gaps within deaf communities. "Community conversations," a community-based participatory research model, was used to engage a broad cross-section of deaf community members and…

Since July of 2017, approximately 72 Kansas school districts and approximately 183 schools have volunteered to redesign their schools around four redesign principles as part of the Kansans Can School Redesign Project. The earliest cohort of volunteer schools were led by the two redesign specialists through a planning process that included engaging…

As scholars working both individually and collectively, we are interested in exploring what may be achieved through taking up the complex notion of culture in sustainability education research. In this article, we present a bricolage of research, drawing on empirical and theoretical sources that collectively establish the kind of capacity we see…

The role of community in child and adolescent development is emerging as a significant area of theoretical inquiry, research, and application. This article describes the development and utilization of a comprehensive community change effort designed to increase the attention of all community members toward strengthening core developmental…

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…

This paper describes an urban teacher residency program, the Newark Montclair Urban Teacher Residency, a collaborative endeavor between the Newark, New Jersey Public Schools and Montclair State University, built on a decades-long partnership. The authors see the conceptual work of developing this program as creating a "third space" in…

What happens when local school leaders sit down to talk with teachers, parents, and other members of the community about the ends and means of local education? Can people bringing different perspectives and experiences to the issue agree on top goals for their communities? Can they settle on needed changes and decide what signifies genuine…

This study draws from 4 years of qualitative case study data to describe how programmatic and district factors interacted to affect reform sustainability in two school districts--one urban and the other suburban. These districts have been implementing a reform developed by the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) for over a decade. NNPS…

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,…

What differentiates the professional development school (PDS) from other schools are the people and the roles they have created to enact the functions or goals unique to the PDS model: preparation of teacher candidates; enhanced professional learning for educators; improved student achievement through the simultaneous renewal of university and…

This "Blueprint" describes the actions everyone needs to take if they are to nourish Indiana's young adolescents so that they will be able to develop their reading skills to their full potential. This document spells out the ways that everyone can make books available, provide middle grades students with the time for reading, provide…

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…

Today's society is global, multicultural, multilingual, and digitally connected. Learning no longer occurs just in the classroom, delivered by teachers. At the same time, research has repeatedly shown that no single strategy or approach will turn around low-performing schools and reengage students. As a result, districts and schools are reaching…

In May 2007, leaders from national organizations and local communities gathered to renew their commitment to deepen their organizations' dedication to community schools. They developed a strategic plan, described herein, that will achieve the goals of sustaining and strengthening existing school initiatives; grow new community schools initiatives;…

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?…