U.S. education leaders have spent decades highlighting and attempting to close achievement gaps among demographic groups. The gaps between African-American and Latino students compared to their white and Asian peers, as well as the gaps between low-income students and others, are among the most pernicious. In 2017, Oak Foundation commissioned…

The Mississippi Board of Education adopted the School/Community Involvement initiative in 2003 as a part of the Mississippi School Level Accountability Model Evaluation Instruments. This guide provides the components of those standards along with ideas and suggestions to assist parents, community members and school staff with the development or…

Today's schools are entering a second wave of reform in response to changing demographics, public demand for accountability, and societal changes expanding the traditional time frame for learning. To meet these challenges, schools need help through home and community involvement. This book offers seven strategies illustrated by success stories…

This booklet examines the need for school evaluation in the Catholic elementary school, the basic steps in the evaluation procedure, relevant evaluation criteria, and various evaluation instruments. The document suggests that regular school evaluation is needed to facilitate improvement, to provide a means of accountability, to foster community…

Evaluations of rural and small schools done by stakeholders provide a broader base of involvement than those done internally by persons with a vested interest or potential conflict of interest. Presents tasks for initiating a stakeholders' evaluation, groups considered to be stakeholders, evaluation standards, and elements to include in a school…

The dangerous communication gap between the university and the public is described. Barriers to effective communication are identified and suggestions are provided for eliminating them. Barriers include failure to perform up to expectations, lack of candor, lack of systematic plan for communication, and persuasion rather than information. (MLW)

With the emphasis changing from paternalism by the federal government to self determination, it is time to set aside tribal politics and work toward developing, strengthening and improving Pueblo governments and leaders. By incorporating basic management techniques into the operation of tribal governments while taking into account laws of the…

According to pioneers in the effective-schools movement, every school can improve educational quality for all its students, including poor and minority children, by incorporating a set of essential, research-identified characteristics present in successful schools. This publication discusses basic elements of the ongoing effective-schools movement…

Advice and tested methods for management of meetings from superintendents and board members are combined in this reference book on conducting effective school board meetings. Intended for a wide readership, it contains three chapters and an exhibit section comprising over one-third of the document. Following a brief introduction, chapter 1,…

The schools that Head Start participants enter may have very different methods and attitudes than were present in Head Start, and a different approach to working with children and families. While Head Start programs are seldom in a position to bring about changes in the public schools, Head Start parents can be a powerful force for school change.…

More than 50 years ago, in Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that sending children to separate schools solely on the basis of race was unconstitutional. Seven years prior, the Supreme Court ruled in Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Education that Mexican American children could not be denied access…

Policy recommendations to create school and community partnerships were formulated by educators participating in the School-Community Connection project of the Institute for Responsive Education. Recommendations center on collaboration, partnership and leadership development, standard setting, assessment and accountability, and school-work…

This report chronicles the work and recommendations of a coalition of educational, public, and private organizations known as the Grand Rapids Education Reform Initiative. Based on research showing that education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was in a state of crisis, the initiative set out to improve education throughout the…

This guide to school management is based on a systems approach in which well defined procedures and processes provide the basis for improvement and renewal of existing educational programs. The process begins with needs assessment. School climate, students' social behavior, discipline, and academic achievement are assessed, along with the level of…

This booklet explains how local communities can organize and structure their one-stop centers so that business is viewed as a customer of the system. The introduction provides an overview of the booklet's development and purpose. The following key attributes underpinning a workforce investment system that views business as its customer are…