This article presents an experiential model for community-engaged research that understands communities as living meshworks of embodied human beings, material circumstances, and affective environments. We first trace how community organizations and academics must increasingly respond to a push for hard data. Using an analysis of a national…

On November 13, the Colorado Children's Campaign and the Colorado Education Initiative cohosted a three-hour virtual event, convening almost 200 educators, district administrators, education advocates and policymakers to discuss the state of reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across two virtual panels featuring system leaders from…

Which programmatic principles of community engagement have a higher potential to irritate the beliefs that college students hold regarding their own power, privilege, understanding of social justice? This study takes a qualitative approach to the exploration of three groups of students representing curricular community engagement, co-curricular…

This study of a multi-district superintendency in rural Minnesota reveals how schools act as spaces where community boundaries expand as a result of partnership and collaboration. The project, informed by grounded theory, seeks to fill a key gap in understanding the experiences of school staff and community members in multi-district resource…

The history of the American educational system is rife with examples of racism and denial of equal access and opportunity to students of color. Despite efforts to close the opportunity gap, inequity remains. In this action research study, I explored my own leadership, utilizing surveys of stakeholders and focus group conversations to gain…

Although alternative education models are often advocated as new means to support higher academic achievement, folk arts pedagogy has used and/or modified these models for years. Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS), in the Chinatown neighborhood of Philadelphia, is a prime example of an institution that values alternative learning…

This chapter provides a theoretical orientation and practical advice about community partnerships by linking the literature of community engagement with that of leadership. The author introduces the POWERful model for community engagement.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the multiple political histories that have coalesced to produce support for or resistance to the Oakland Unified School District's full-service community schools policy. It analyzes oral history interview data from eight stakeholders who represent the district's major constituencies to explore the…

The impacts of poverty in this country cast a long shadow over the issues of education, social mobility, and global competitiveness. Although national conversations regarding income inequality have increased, the topic of poverty in America has not had as much attention. We seem to be at a loss about specific solutions that could address this…

This brief is part of a series that shares findings from a research collaboration between the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) focused on understanding implementation of the community school model in the district. This brief highlights findings related to…

Engaged scholarship (ES) entails a symbiotic relationship between the community and the university. This article reports results from an evaluation of an ES symposium Eastern Carolina University held to increase awareness of ES as a means for integrating research, teaching, and service and to potentially change unfavorable perceptions about ES…

In 2009, the Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for Educational Leadership (CCS-IEL) embarked on an ambitious action research and development project, leveraging the community school system infrastructure present in three geographic regions (Tulsa, Oklahoma; Multnomah County, Oregon; Albuquerque, New Mexico) to advance research and…

Grow Your Own (GYO) is a teacher recruitment and preparation strategy focused on developing and retaining teachers from the local community. GYO is often used to address teacher shortages and strengthen the teacher workforce; it relies on local community pathways and reciprocal relationships between institutions of higher education, community…

"Educational Leadership Program Coordinators: Partnership Creators Through Social Connectedness" is an edited volume of chapters which focus on the social bonds and connections formed as program coordinators develop partnerships with K-12 school districts, other higher education institutions, and agencies which support learning in…

The study explores the challenges English teachers in Oklahoma's secondary schools face when including diverse perspectives in their classroom literature selections. There is a disconnect between state standards that encourage inclusivity and the pressures from the local community, including conservative opposition to DEI initiatives, increasing…