Despite the increasing popularity and appeal of youth volunteer abroad (YVA) programmes, powerful critiques are emerging. While these programmes tend to promise much in the way of global ethics and global citizenship in youth participants, they often neglect to seriously interrogate the one-way movement of people from the centre to the periphery…

River Trails School District 26--a K-8 public school district in Mount Prospect, Illinois, with 1,580 students--developed, implemented, and celebrated a student-centered public relations event that focused on reading and technology. The literacy and technology fair drew hundreds of parents, students, staff, and community members to the district…

A critical dimension in the development of emerging community-engaged scholars is the advisor-advisee relationship during the student's doctoral degree program. A qualitative study of four doctoral students interested in doing community-engaged dissertation research, and their advisors, identified five characteristics of such relationships: (1)…

This study examines the relationship between school violence and involvement of community organizations in school safety planning. The study is a secondary analysis of data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety 2003-2004 (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 2006). This survey collects data on crime and safety from…

The poor quality and quantity of data collected in tribal communities today reflects a lack of true community participation and commitment. This is especially problematic for evaluation studies, in which the needs and desires of the community should be the central focus. This challenge can be met by emphasizing indigenous methods and voice. The…

With the goal of codifying student learning outcomes of community-based research (CBR), the authors created a conceptually valid and statistically reliable CBR Student Learning Outcomes Survey. The project began with individual interviews and focus groups with 70 undergraduates and faculty at six colleges and universities nationwide discussing…

This study examined whether social class moderated the relationship between empowering and disempowering processes and psychological empowerment (PE) in a sample of individuals from five community organizing initiatives (N=490). Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the relationship between community participation (CP) and alienation…

Sara McAlister, in her article "Why Community Engagement Matters in School Turnaround," in this issue (p35-42) of "Voices in Urban Education," lays out the strong research base showing that family and community participation is a crucial resource not only for individual student achievement, but also for catalyzing and…

There is strong evidence that all students can gain significant learning benefit when their courses include opportunities for engagement with real-world problems, beyond the walls of their higher education institution (HEI). Internationally, cross-disciplinary discussions are increasing around the value of student learning that involves community…

This capstone project examines how an elementary school principal and her leadership team transformed Leadership Prep Academy in Capital City into a collaborative, high performing community school. This five-year process of continuous improvement involved engaging students, staff, parents, and members of the community in developing a culture of…

Schools that are trying to improve often grapple with the question, What will it look like when we get there? The "Breaking Ranks" framework calls for schools to have personalized learning environments, but what are the observable indicators that it has happened? Educators hear continuous talk about rigorous curriculum, engaging…

It is said that "all politics are local," and the same can be said about advocacy and school boards. Advocacy is essential for retaining the progress that's been made in the past, and for building a foundation and network for the future. Advocating for preferred programs, curricula and initiatives has always been important. As a starting point,…

Background: In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program to provide temporary funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. Most of these reforms require…

Education is the cornerstone of a nation's culture and an absolute necessity for economic prosperity and development. There is hardly any household in this country that is not concerned about the state of our education system particularly the secondary system. The structure is in a deplorable condition. Teachers are demoralized and disenchanted,…

This ethnographic research was conducted over a three-year period, and documents the efforts of a committed group of parents and community members who through community-based research sought to address the disproportionate underachievement of African American students within their city's public school system. Specifically, the parents and…