Myanmar has been transitioning to a parliamentary democracy following a long period of authoritarian military rule, with higher education positioned as a catalyst of and for change. This paper explores the policy reform texts through discourse analysis and the process of their enactment by senior university leaders. Two discourses emerge, one of…

The community engagement project described in this article took the form of the re-invention and re-interpretation of a historic symbol (Diana the elephant) on the Potchefstroom Campus of North-West University (NWU), South Africa. In 2015, the Faculty of Education Sciences invited staff and students to reinterpret the elephant (a symbol of…

The Fit Family Challenge, a web-based healthy lifestyle program, was developed to motivate families to participate in more physical activity by tracking their behaviors and by providing them with educational materials and community events to attend with their families. This article is an account of the steps taken and the efforts needed to make a…

Over the past two decades, research on urban schools has focused predominantly on achievement gaps. However, achievement gaps exist because of gaps in opportunities for urban, low-income, and racially/ethnically diverse students. Partnerships among schools, families, and communities can provide the enrichment opportunities, support, resources, and…

This study introduces a new approach to measure effectiveness of teacher preparation programs at U.S. universities (TPP) by examining to what extent TPPs produce employable teacher candidates. We use teacher application data in Wisconsin public schools from 2014-15 through 2016-17. We find that attending a specific university's TPP makes a…

This guide is intended to inform school district leaders about the federally identified risks associated with a new coronavirus that is now present in the U.S., known as "COVID-19," and to provide a checklist of issues school leaders should consider when planning for any such crisis in the community. School systems can be proactive and…

In this paper we study the impact on student absenteeism of a large school-based community crime monitoring program that employed local community members to monitor and report crime on designated city blocks during students' travel to and from school. We find that the program resulted in a 0.78 percentage point reduction in the school-level…

International students are not only important for universities, but even more so to the host communities, towns and regions where higher education institutions are located. This pilot study looked at a public university located in a small college town in Ohio. The study explored the relationship between international students and the local…

As global challenges such as armed conflicts, forced migration, climate-related crises, pandemics, and widespread socioeconomic instability increasingly affect children and adolescents, schools must evolve beyond conventional academic mandates to promote both cognitive growth and psychosocial well-being. This special topic offers a global,…

This study investigates leadership strategies that fostered family-school-community partnerships in the equity-focused school-based Model Schools for Inner Cities initiative in Toronto, Canada. Descriptive analysis of parent focus group and school administrator interview qualitative data explored leadership strategies to foster…

This article extends the argument that scholarship on marriages and families provides invaluable insights into town-gown relationships. First, a four-square matrix constructed from the twin dimensions of effort and comfort levels is used to describe a typology of campus and community associations. Next the construction of the Optimal College Town…

Social work has a rich tradition of engagement. Throughout its history, social work scholars have taken up questions that link knowledge production to its application in practice. Recently, other higher education fields have expressed interest in engagement. Yet, social work scholars have remained relatively silent about what they have to offer…

Sustainability is a central challenge facing the future viability of Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) communities in rural Australia. Faced with environmental uncertainty and its associated community impacts, sustainability has at once been positioned as the path to a prosperous future and a flash point of community conflict. Key to these tensions has…

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines how community partners can support school climate improvements. Organizations and individuals can partner with schools in many different ways--from delivering or coordinating direct services to students and families inside or…

This phenomenological narrative study examined the effects of the Eagle Ford Shale development upon public school superintendent leadership experiences during the boom phase of the energy industry expansion. The four research questions investigated the shale development's influence on experiences in the areas of instruction, finance and…