Two social studies methods instructors created an assignment that places teacher candidates in leadership roles in partnerships with community organizations to plan and implement projects to increase student learning. This article outlines the project requirements, past project results, and student reflections on the collaborative effort. It…

Educational achievement in rural America is one of the country's great overlooked challenges. Rural students achieve below the U.S. average on national tests, and high school dropout rates are higher and college attendance lower than they are in cities and suburbs. When the U.S. Department of Education asks low-achieving schools to be turned…

"Higher Education Exchange" publishes case studies, analyses, news, and ideas about efforts within higher education to develop more democratic societies. Contributors to this issue of the "Higher Education Exchange" examine whether institutions of higher learning are doing anything to increase the capacity of citizens to shape…

The State University System of Florida has developed three tools that aid in guiding the System's future: (1) The Board of Governors' new "Strategic Plan 2012-2025" is driven by goals and associated metrics that stake out where the System is headed; (2) The Board's "Annual Accountability Report" provides yearly tracking for how…

The State University System of Florida has developed three tools that aid in guiding the System's future: (1) The Board of Governors' new "Strategic Plan 2012-2025" is driven by goals and associated metrics that stake out where the System is headed; (2) The Board's "Annual Accountability Report" provides yearly tracking for how…

Community-academic partnership research is a fairly new genre of community-based participatory research. It has arisen in part, from recognition of the potential role of alliances in the development and translation of applied knowledge and the elimination of health disparities. This paper reports on the learning process of academic and community…

This study attempted to observe if there was a statistical significant relationship between perceptions of educational change and student achievement. The independent variables that represented perceptions of educational change included: community pressure for change, faculty anxiety to change, faculty openness to change, principal anxiety to…

This system aims to improve the communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity in schools that serve students with disabilities, especially those in urban and/or high-poverty settings. The STAR system outlines five practices that build a more adaptive and inclusive education environment while utilizing modes of communication and…

As school districts face declining enrollment and stable or reduced funding they look for ways to contain costs and continue to provide a quality educational experience. In many states "a new wave of consolidation...may be at hand" (Kysilko, 2003). The research cites advantage for both consolidation and for maintaining small schools. The…

Emerging literature on school-family-community partnerships suggests positive educational and social outcomes for students (Koonce & Harper, 2005; Mitchell & Bryan, 2007). This article discusses the historical and contemporary factors and barriers that affect African American students and their families as they partner with schools and…

Background/Context: A group of educators have demonstrated success not only with White middle-class and affluent students but also with students from varied racial, socioeconomic, linguistic, ability, and cultural backgrounds. A reoccurring theme from these schools and from the literature on school change is that exemplary leadership helps create…

A study identified the current structure and status of school-community partnership programs and their relationship to partnership program success. Data were drawn from a survey of all partnership directors who coordinate partnerships between multiple schools and multiple businesses (1,875) in K-12 public schools in the United States. Highlights…

This brochure, one in a series of four, is designed to assist people working in schools and in the community as they work together to encourage girls in mathematics, science, and engineering. Six sections discuss the reasons for and ways to work together to make changes. The first section describes what special programs can offer schools, and…

This project was developed and implemented to improve an open library program by increasing parent involvement. Through initial surveys, questionnaires, and the author's personal experience, it was determined that the problems experienced by parents, teachers, administrators, and students in the open library program were due to the ineffectiveness…

Materials for planning, organizing, and scheduling community activities for National Women's History Week (NWHW) are provided. The purpose of the week was to help male and female students become aware of the wealth of women's history that has been left out of the standard U.S. history texts used in most schools. Section 1 summarizes a sample of…