Building School-Community Partnerships


Book Description

This current era of high stakes testing, accountability, and shrinking educational budgets demands that schools seek bold and innovative ways to build strong learning environments for all students. Community involvement is a powerful tool in generating resources that are essential for educational excellence. Building School-Community Partnerships: Collaboration for Student Success emphasizes the importance of community involvement for effective school functioning, student support and well-being, and community health and development. This sharp, insightful book serves as an excellent resource for educators seeking to establish school-community partnerships to achieve goals for their schools and the students, families, and communities they serve. Schools can collaborate with a wide variety of community partners to obtain the resources they need to achieve important goals for students’ learning. Some of these partners may include: - Businesses and corporations - Universities and other institutions of higher learning - National and local volunteer organizations - Social service agencies and health partners - Faith-based organizations and institutions Work successfully with community partners to improve school programs and curricula, strengthen families, and expand your students’ learning experiences!




School, Family, and Community Partnerships


Book Description

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.




School, Family, and Community Partnerships


Book Description

School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Preparing Educators and Improving Schools addresses a fundamental question in education today: How will colleges and universities prepare future teachers, administrators, counselors, and other education professionals to conduct effective programs of family and community involvement that contribute to students' success in school? The work of Joyce L. Epstein has advanced theories, research, policies, and practices of family and community involvement in elementary, middle, and high schools, districts, and states nationwide. In this second edition, she shows that there are new and better ways to organize programs of family and community involvement as essential components of district leadership and school improvement. THE SECOND EDITION OFFERS EDUCATORS AND RESEARCHERS: A framework for helping rising educators to develop comprehensive, goal-linked programs of school, family, andcommunity partnerships. A clear discussion of the theory of overlapping spheres of influence, which asserts that schools, families, and communitiesshare responsibility for student success in school. A historic overview and exploration of research on the nature and effects of parent involvement. Methods for applying the theory, framework, and research on partnerships in college course assignments, classdiscussions, projects and activities, and fi eld experiences. Examples that show how research-based approaches improve policies on partnerships, district leadership, andschool programs of family and community involvement. Definitive and engaging, School, Family, and Community Partnerships can be used as a main or supplementary text in courses on foundations of education methods of teaching, educational administration, family and community relations, contemporary issues in education, sociology of education, sociology of the family, school psychology, social work, education policy, and other courses that prepare professionals to work in schools and with families and students.




Creating Effective Community Partnerships for School Improvement


Book Description

Creating Effective Partnerships for School Improvement places the school within the community which is composed of a number of key players, including school leaders, classroom teachers, private foundations, higher education institutions, business and community based organizations, and government agencies. This book encourages leaders to embrace this broader community of stakeholders and to focus on the often overlooked and underutilized college and university partnerships. Grounded in case study analysis of innovative programs and practices, this book explores research-based strategies for educational leaders to implement in order to develop and sustain effective partnerships. Creating Effective Partnerships for School Improvement is an important text for aspiring and practicing administrators interested in creating effective partnerships for school improvement. Special Features: Reflective exercises and portfolio building activities help aspiring and practicing leaders make on-the-ground connections. Learning objectives, key terms, and additional resources further engage readers with the chapter content. Extensive appendices with sample activities, evaluation plans, meeting agendas, promotional materials, and budgets provide additional support to leaders. Alignment to the Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) Standards.




Principals Matter


Book Description

Research has shown that strong principal leadership is critical to developing effective school partnerships that include diverse school, family and community members. This book provides administrators with a clear road map for initiating partnership programs that are goal-focused, equitable, and sustainable. In this research-based resource, the authors highlight the work of principals who have cultivated successful partnerships across many settings to show other school leaders how they can develop the necessary supportive school cultures. Examining the administrator's role in the success and quality of home-school partnerships and student outcomes, this guidebook: • Synthesizes research on principal leadership, school and community partnerships, and urban education reform • Discusses the role of fathers in children’s learning and working with families that live in poverty, are linguistically diverse, or have children with disabilities • Offers practical recommendations for evaluating and refining partnership programs to ensure they are linked with student achievement goals




Diverse Partnerships for Student Success


Book Description

Diverse Partnerships for Student Success is based on the deep conviction that schools function best in collaboration with the larger community. It offers strategies and tolls to help educational leaders create successful partnerships in a socioeconomically and culturally diverse society and presents information on how to identify relevant demographic trends to address the educational, cultural, vocational, and recreational needs of students and citizens. Grounded in ISLLC and NCATE standards, the book offers comprehensive, research-based information; concrete program ideas; and numerous Internet sites for additional help in creating and sustaining family and community engagement. It presents strategies for involving people--individually and collectively--in agencies, businesses, and organizations to mobilize the resources of the entire community. Diverse Partnerships for Student Success will assist educational and community leaders in developing, implementing, and sustaining a comprehensive partnership system that helps all children succeed academically.




Advances in Family-School-Community Partnering


Book Description

Family-School-Community Partnering (FSCP) is a multidimensional process in which schools, families, and communities work together to ensure the academic, social, and emotional success of students. In this new edition, the authors evaluate advances to a multitiered model of FSCP that further incorporates community alliances. Section I covers legislative, empirical, and theoretical underpinnings and updates. Practical strategies are discussed to develop, deliver, and evaluate a cohesive system of support to improve student outcomes. Chapter addendums detail the specific approaches and associated resources to advance FSCP from infancy through adulthood. In Section II, current researchers and practitioners consider how to enhance collaborative partnerships with military, migrant/refugee, and rural communities and support gender identity and varied developmental abilities. Four culminating case stories are designed to facilitate ideas for intentional integration of FSCP domains into readers’ ongoing practices. School psychologists, counselors, educators, administrators, and social workers will learn how to strategically implement this partnering in all levels of schooling.




Collaborative Leadership


Book Description

"Hank Rubin has fashioned a new and needed vision for collaborative leadership that can work anywhere—especially in schools. Rubin properly argues that public school success is not a top-down enterprise; it is a collaborative one. He reminds us that well-managed relationships and intentional collaboration are essential skills for all school leaders, from those teaching in classrooms to those running state agencies. This is a must-read for teachers and other champions of school policies and practices that support the success of every student." —John Wilson, Executive Director National Education Association "Hank Rubin translates complex, contextually driven processes into digestible bites. The text is compelling, refreshing, and a joy to read." —Chris Ferguson, Program Associate Southwest Educational Development Laboratory "Rubin′s book provides an eloquent and practical articulation of collaborative leadership and its potential to improve the partnership of communities and public schools." —Wendy Caszatt-Allen, Teacher and Author Mid-Prairie Middle School, Kalona, IA Build successful collaborative relationships in your school—and watch resources for student achievement soar! Written to inspire and support educators in becoming transformative, collaborative leaders, this updated edition of a best-selling resource demonstrates how educators can use collaboration skills to help shape school culture and build and maintain strong schoolwide relationships that contribute meaningfully to students′ learning. Visionary Hank Rubin provides a broad overview of collaboration in education and lays the foundation for working with colleagues, establishing strong partnerships, and cooperating with students to achieve goals. Updated with the latest research and filled with practical examples, this resource examines 14 phases of collaboration and helps educators: Understand the knowledge, skills, and personal characteristics necessary to foster successful collaboration Nurture relationships between students and the institutions and individuals associated with learning Build collaborative community relationships that support an instructional agenda Incorporate the study of collaboration and related reflective activities into leadership practice By applying these vital principles of collaboration to their work, educators will discover what a school of collaborative excellence is capable of achieving!




Co-Teaching That Works


Book Description

Guaranteed Success for the Co-teaching Classroom Following the success of the first edition, Co-Teaching That Works: Structures and Strategies for Maximizing Student Learning, Second Edition is here to provide actionable advice to co-teachers seeking to utilize one another's strengths. Unlike other co-teaching books, this manual is written for every possible educator combination—not simply general educators. You'll find sections on everything from co-teaching in literacy and speech-language therapy to special education and technology so that, no matter what subject matter or expertise, you'll be prepared to co-teach. This book is written to provide concrete, actionable advice, including: Co-Teaching Roll Out Plans Leadership Guidelines Relationship Development Best Co-Teaching Models Specially Designed Instruction And more Educators will have the opportunity to learn from other experienced co-teachers who share their personal stories, tips, and tried-and-true co-teaching techniques that lead to student success. Their creative, time-efficient approaches will revolutionize the way you view your classroom teaching strategies and enhance your ability to collaborate with other educators. Whether you are planning to build your co-teaching strategy from scratch or just looking to refine your current approach, Co-Teaching That Works will undoubtedly be a priceless resource to have in your professional toolbox.




Beyond the Classroom


Book Description

Beyond the Classroom calls for new models of schooling that recognize that the future of young people is the responsibility of the whole community. These models should form the basis of a new social alliance across school systems enabling all young people to take an active - if not leading - role beyond the school gates and into the community. The book is based on the findings of a research project carried out by Education Foundation Australia. The message that emerges from the research is that tinkering around the edges of schooling will not provide solutions to the widening gaps in education that limit opportunities for many youth.