Four people who were extremely active in shaping the schools of the sixties and who remain active today offer their opinions on what should be applied to the new schools of the next decade. (Author/MLF)

Only 10% of schools have achieved genuine partnerships with their families and communities. This article summarizes decades of research demonstrating the importance of risk-taking principals, teacher engagement, diverse involvement opportunities, outside facilitators, family-welcoming strategies, learning at home, effective school-home…

Smart growth schools are small in size, encourage broad community involvement, and make good use of existing resources. Promoting small, community-based schools requires innovation, new partnerships, and a commitment to working to overcome the barriers presented by traditional rules and regulations. (Author/MLF)

By successfully creating links with the larger community, one San Diego high school principal discovered the keys to building a true learning community. Community building requires a shared, research-based vision; specific educational goals; a meaningfully aligned curriculum; constituent involvement; careful monitoring; ongoing professional…

In an interview with "Principal," U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley and NAESP Executive Director Vincent Ferrandino agreed that schools should become community centers. Principals' major challenges include welcoming and involving the community, envisioning improvements, building consensus, valuing teamwork, and pursuing…

The value of teacher education is being questioned at the same time as schools are facing the challenges of budget shortfalls and unfunded mandates. Efforts to professionalize teaching are being undermined by overly authoritarian control of the curriculum and test-driven reforms. But schools of education do know how to stay the course. This…

The New Community Schools initiative was introduced in Scotland in 1998 with the aims of improving participation, raising achievement, improving health and transforming communities. The success of the initiative was evaluated in terms of the stated aims. In relation to improving participation and raising achievement, this was straightforward:…

The income tax-filing process creates teachable moments for learning about taxes and other financial matters. Educators and volunteers from Penn State Cooperative Extension helped taxpayers file 2008 returns under Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). Nearly 600 filers (588) completed and simultaneously received educational information…

By the early years of this new century it was evident that increasing numbers of colleges and universities had undertaken numerous innovative efforts to reinvigorate and prioritize students' civic and community engagement in their surrounding communities. However, a number of individuals involved with these movements had noticed that much of the…

This qualitative, single-case study explored the closing of a small, rural, historic, mill-town school in the southeastern United States and why people were upset with the closing of the school. Through the responses of 12 purposefully selected participants, the study focused on attitudes, perceptions, and values of students and parents, school…

Higher Education and Civic Engagement provides an original and challenging contribution to contemporary debates on the civic purpose of higher education. It explores teaching and learning, research, and service in a range of international contexts. This book is essential reading for higher education leaders, faculty, administrators, and members of…

The School of Planning Policy and Development at the University of Southern California brought together representatives of neighborhood councils and city agencies of the city of Los Angeles together in an action research program. This action research program called the Collaborative Learning Project developed a collaboration process called the…

Several models have been proposed in the literature to understand e-learning acceptance in which social environmental factors are not primarily addressed. This paper aims to improve understanding of what social forces influence employee's attitude and intention of e-learning adoption within an organizational context. Drawing upon the institutional…

Parental participation and cooperation in children's educational experiences is positively related to important student outcomes. It is becoming increasingly evident that context is a significant factor in understanding academic achievement, and the setting in which a child, family, and school is situated is among the salient contexts influencing…

This article describes a pilot project of the Morgridge Center for Public Service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a new structure for community-based learning and research. It is based on the European-derived science shop model for democratizing campus-community partnerships using shared values of mutual respect and validation of…