Tom Loew says that East Dallas Community Schools have been creating beautiful and functional environments for decades, but developing Bachman Lake Community School was more than creating a school. They also had to establish a community center, scale up staff quickly, service a wide number of families, leverage Montessori training and related…

This article reimagines the social justice educational leadership field, highlighting the leadership of youth, parents, and community. We examine widely cited social justice educational leadership publications, in addition to critical research on youth voice, parent engagement, and community organizing. Our analysis reveals that the field often…

The paper begins with a challenge, namely: How do we work with families and communities to co-create the next generation of family and community engagement, providing equitable learning pathways--both in and out of school and from birth to young adulthood--that will enable all children to be successful in the 21st century? Exploring what it takes…

The need to work in partnership with communities in a meaningful and impactful way has become a core part of university planning in many countries around the world. In the Global South, the potential for the Eurocentric knowledges and power structures to dominate such partnerships is pervasive. This article reports on findings of a participatory…

This article describes a unique program co-sponsored by a local public library, a university teacher preparation program, and a school district, created to support Latina/o parents as they produced authentic and culturally relevant literature representing multiple ethnic groups living in the Southwestern United States. A program like the one…

In general, youth whose parents are involved in their schooling experience better academic outcomes. Yet some parents, especially those with few resources in low-income urban communities, face barriers to becoming engaged in school and community. This report from the field describes the "Neighboring Project Parent Empowerment and Volunteer…

This manual and accompanying implementation handbook provide a framework for Saskatchewan community schools seeking to create the comprehensive, preventive, and empowering learning programs needed by Indian, Metis, and at-risk children. The introduction defines community schools and summarizes elements of the community schools best practices…

Describes Public School 146, a public elementary school in New York City where the principal has created a school community that builds on the strengths of the parents and makes the school an extended family for each child. Describes special services, a student leadership program, and student achievement gains. (JB)

Relying on the conviction that, in the unrepresented and improverished section of our cities, involvement of parents in the education of their children is an essential step on the way to a better life in a fairer and more equal society, this study describes the achievements and limitations of this principle in action as discovered by an individual…

This book describes in detail the rationale and assumptions, the methods and procedures, and the goals and strategies that go into the establishment of a Tutorial Community School (TCS). The goal is to help other schools adopt these concepts, totally or partially. A sequential approach is offered for implementing each of the major Tutorial…

The resource book by the British Columbia Ministry of Education explains methods that may help in teaching language arts to native Indian students in grades K-7. The book, an attempt to enhance the development of native students' language skills within the regular classroom, indicates how to incorporate into the regular curriculum materials by and…

Describes projects that have been developed in schools in Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin under the auspices of the Institute for Responsive Education's League of Schools Reaching Out. These schools participated in the School-Community Connection project. Project results and conclusions about effective development are…

This report presents findings from Phase 1 of an evaluation of the New York City Beacons initiative, a model of school-community-family partnerships initiated in 1991. Beacons are community centers located in public schools, offering a range of activities and services to participants of all ages, before and after school, in the evenings, and on…

A roundtable discussion by 13 educators from 6 school districts participating in the School-Community Connection initiative of the Institute for Responsive Education highlights the problems and successes of implementing programs aimed at community and parent involvement in the schools. Participants clearly advocated bringing community members into…

Profiles individual projects in six school districts across the country participating in the School-Community Connection initiative funded by the Institute for Responsive Education. These projects focus on school improvement through partnerships among schools, parents, and the community. Rural and urban elementary and secondary schools are…