Early Head Start policies describe parents as partners in decision-making and require families and home visitors to co-develop child and family goals. Home visitors face a range of challenges when facilitating decisions about goals and other issues, which requires interactional skills to apply institutional resources and policies to individual…

Perceived as fostering democracy in educational institutions, approaches which encourage student voice are being promoted as supporting greater social equalities and strengthening students' commitment to their learning. Using student voice as a theme, research funded by Jisc set out to hear learner views and explore their digital preferences when…

In an international benchmark survey of high school students, the U.S. consistently scores in the middle of the pack compared to many western European and eastern Asian countries. Finland has been among the top performers dating back to 2000. The country's performance led many in the U.S. to ask, what is Finland doing that is leading to high…

This research was conducted as a qualitative comparative case study of two Northern New England school districts that were in the process of responding to declining enrollments. The purpose of the study was to explore decision-making through the lens of declining enrollments. An award winning rural school in an affluent town with high performing…

This article explores parental involvement in the educational trajectories of children in Europe. The analysis is embedded in the framework of the three dominant contemporary social processes that have been acknowledged as crucial factors for the educational and life trajectories of young people today, i.e. familialization, institutionalization,…

Purpose: This study examines policies set in the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) negotiated between teachers' unions and school boards and explores what kinds of districts have contract provisions that restrict district administrators, enhance administrative flexibility, and/or improve teachers' professional work lives and that have…

Education policymakers and leaders often say that the opinions and observations of teachers are among the most important information to help explain and understand what is happening in schools. Teachers' voices can inject a sense of classroom and school-level realism into those discussions and add clarity and credibility to issues that are often…

In 2007, the state of Mississippi conducted a web-based survey of all school-based licensed educators in which they were asked to share their perceptions of the state of teacher working conditions in Mississippi. This report of the Mississippi Teacher Working Conditions Survey, Project CLEAR Voice (Cultivate Learning Environments to Accelerate…

Describes an elementary school six years after it adopted the Comer process, an educational philosophy promoting ongoing collaboration among parents, teachers, and administrators to do what is best for student learning and development. Consensus whenever possible and open expression of feelings and issues builds professionalism and community.…

Conventional anti-poverty efforts have failed because they have not created the structures for the poor to help themselves, and they are designed and controlled by people outside of the affected communities. Introduced in 1968 by the National Association of the Southern Poor, the Assembly is a non-political structure that organizes community…

Using Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" as a basis, the author offers an alternative to deficit model programing (catch-up classes for "deficient" students) and posits an approach to problem solving that depends on dialog and interaction. (WD)

Aimed at development staff who work with the rural poor in developing nations, this book presents a coherent methodology for achieving development based on principles of conscientization, local control, cooperation, and self-reliance. Part I, Analysis (chapters 1-3), discusses theory. Chapter 1 reviews the most commonly held theories of poverty…

To bring achievement scores up to the national average, it will be necessary to restructure urban schools. Describes the School Development Model and the Accelerated Schools Model. Helping each child to succeed, forming school and family partnerships, participant training, and principals' and administrators' support are all part of successful…

Describes a case study of 12 elementary schools (emphasizing 2 schools) affected by the Chicago School Reform Act, focusing on local contexts and features of school communities that advance or impede change. Results demonstrate the importance of neighborhood contexts and school leadership and the complexities of applying technical expertise. (SLD)

This essay describes charter school development and the 3-year Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Schools Collaborative, which worked with educators and parents to transform comprehensive high schools, increase student outcomes, and establish teacher engagement and parental involvement. Charter schools (intellectual and emotional communities of adults,…