Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

Almost immediately after he was named Commissioner of Education in March 2011, Stephen Bowen traveled to school districts across Maine and spoke to students, teachers, school administrators and community members about what they saw as the challenges confronting Maine's schools and what role they saw for the Maine Department of Education in…

Background: In England over the last two decades, there has been a growing interest in the role of English schools in developing, facilitating and supporting young people's community participation. A number of policy initiatives have sought to build the capacity and opportunities for youth participation. Research suggests, however, that pupils and…

The educational performance of Aboriginal Australians lags behind non-Indigenous Australians with the gap increasing the longer students remain at school. The Australian government has released its Closing the Gap policy with the specific intent to redress gaps in health, education and housing, as these are seen as key indicators to life success.…

This article uses story as a process to highlight the work in a South Texas community that focuses on the education of youth and the development of community. The work is guided by a new consciousness of place, community engagement, and identity formation. The work is local, but breaking the isolation of youth, families, and ideas has been part of…

In the wake of the videotaped beating death of a Chicago high school student, law-enforcement officials and educators called this week for renewed efforts to stem youth violence. But they also acknowledged that money and programs alone will not solve the problem. Cabinet members traveled to Chicago to offer money and to call for adults to play a…

This paper presents a phenomenological case study on ecological artist Lynne Hull by investigating the connections between ecological art, nature, and education. The research examines Hull's "positive gesture towards the Earth" as conceptualized in her work of creating habitats for wildlife (Hull, 2004, para 1). It illustrates how she seeks to…

Americans are struggling through the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. In recent years, a significant body of research and analysis has documented the breakdown of the middle class and the impact of the current financial crisis on family income, housing, and jobs. But few reports have examined these impacts through the lens of…

This volume will be a valuable resource to instructors who teach in the fields of teacher education, social studies, educational leadership, social work, social, cultural and philosophical foundations of education, sociology, political science, and global studies as well as their students. Due to the volume's international focus, the authors also…

In September 2009 the Council for Children's Rights unveiled the Larry King Center for Building Children's Futures (LKC). The LKC serves as a resource to the community "maximizing the effectiveness and impact of work being done for children by providers, agencies and funders." The LKC has chosen three initial priorities to address in…

Chilean educator and poet Gabriela Mistral warned that children's needs are immediate and comprise more than just academic concerns. Implementing comprehensive community schools is an increasingly successful approach to taking her warning to heart, particularly in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. The reason is simple: education does…

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,…

Providing services for children with disabilities has been a part of the culture of India for generations. However service provision has been within the context of family and community rather than in the public sector and thus has been inclusive by its very nature. This article describes current educational provisions and practices in India for…

Blending activity theory and community-based research educational applications describes the praxis achieved through the initial design, development, implementation, and assessment of one research methods course as a pedagogy to enhance and improve the outcomes of civic and community engagement for the university, its students, and the community.…

In this article, the authors share a project developed and implemented in an eighth-grade science classroom in which students apply what they have learned about biomes to create sustainable cities. This project promotes environmental literacy through helping students understand the interrelated elements of sustainable environmental systems and how…