This article describes a model of civic engagement based on four key community organizing practices, created at Occidental College and implemented since 2001. The foundations of this model do not include confrontation, mass mobilization, or demonstrations--tactics commonly associated with the term community organizing. This model, instead,…

In 2002, Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) adopted a policy committing itself to develop all schools in the district as community learning centers. In Pleasant Ridge, one of Cincinnati's most racially and socio-economically diverse neighborhoods, the community set itself to the task of rebuilding what had been a failing school that reflected little…

This descriptive report outlines an innovative project in which Earth Charter International is actively involved. The project aims to develop approaches, indicators and tools for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to be able to measure values-based aspects and impacts of their work at the project level. Many CSOs have an intuitive feeling that…

This case study is designed for preservice school administrators enrolled in principalship and school law courses in educational administration. It describes an incident in which a school's crisis management and communication protocol were challenged. One day, through a series of unanticipated events, an assistant principal is engulfed in a test…

"Catalyst" is a publication of the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Campus and Community Coalitions--Getting Organized for Prevention; (2) Message From William Modzeleski, OSDFS Acting Assistant Deputy…

Catholic universities have a particular role to play in social development and cultural progress. Through their encounter with the Gospel, they have the opportunity to provide transformational experiences for students, faculty, and staff. One powerful means of such development and progress is to promote the engagement of students and staff with…

Scientists in Schools is a project funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations and managed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Education Section. This paper describes how the project is working to establish and maintain sustained and ongoing partnerships between…

This essay explores how the philosophical tradition of American pragmatism, especially Richard Rorty's work on social hope late in his career, could be relevant to community literacy. Pragmatism does not prescribe a particular approach to community literacy but, unlike many kinds of critical pedagogy, affirms a role for patriotism and liberalism…

Using data on service-learning partnerships from 255 universities receiving Learn and Serve America Grants in 2005, we ask (1) how different strategies used to institutionalize service-learning shape the perceived impact of the partnership on community groups, (2) how the level of service-learning program formality affects the perceived impact of…

Marguerite Shaffer, director of American Studies at Miami University, is one of a surprisingly large number of faculty members who are at odds with an academic culture that isn't hospitable to their efforts to combine a public life with a scholarly career. She is concerned about what is happening in her field and about the world her two children…

The Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI) presents a fruitful partnership between faculty and students at a premier research university and members of the surrounding community aimed at addressing the problem of childhood obesity. AUNI uses a problem-solving approach to learning by focusing course activities, including service-learning, on…

Three women of color--a professor and two students--describe the role that community engagement has played in helping them gain a sense of belonging in a predominately white, liberal arts college environment. They discuss how engagement with one another within these three domains assists in their adjustment and retention, as well as how their…

This study evaluates the impact of a community-based information campaign on school performance from a cluster randomized control trial in 610 villages. The campaign consisted of eight or nine public meetings in each of 340 treatment villages across three Indian states to disseminate information to the community about its state-mandated roles and…

This article builds upon more than 6 years of critical research in urban schools in northern California to offer a particular perspective on teaching for social justice. Concerned with prevailing issues in adolescent literacy, this article examines instantiations of literacy instruction in the shadow of the late activist poet June Jordan and with…

A survey of basic education in 13 Eastern African countries (Madagascar, Burundi, Comores, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, and Somalia) covers basic education programs and UNICEF's supporting role. Basic education is seen as a concept evolved in the region, involving formal school systems and…