This paper outlines a novel model of community-engaged learning: "Building Bridges, Not Walls: The Democracy and Diversity Project." Inspired by the pedagogical horizontality of Paulo Freire and the applied disciplinary approach of "service sociology," Building Bridges pursues sustainable university-community partnerships with…

Schools have long partnered with local organizations to support access to essential services like food, housing, or mental and physical health. Schools can build on wrap-around school models by helping students and families intentionally cultivate community relationships, skills, and knowledge, thus putting students on a path toward long-term…

The article presents the replicable model of Curriculum and Community Based Academic Learning with Research, Action and Service (CCBALwRAS) through a framework of '2 Cs', the 'curriculum' and the 'community'. It puts forth a support strategy for participatory community-based interventions by formally inducting higher education institutions (HEIs)…

Education studies have repeatedly emphasized the crucial contribution of family-school-community partnership to children's academic and educational success, as well as to improving organizations and systems. Such partnership becomes even more complex when the child presents needs in several areas of development. In this context, it is essential…

A university in the California Central Valley and three rural district partners designed and implemented a rural teacher residency (RTR) to address the urgent need to prepare and increase retention of qualified educators serving students in rural communities. The RTR program prioritized building partnerships through data use and continuous…

Children develop within a context, and the nature or dynamics of a child's context can change the trajectory of their development. According to Bronfenbrenner (1979), children are affected and are impacted by individuals within various systems or environments. One of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems is the microsystem, in which children…

With the increasing prominence of the children and adolescent mental health crisis after the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have been tasked with connecting students with supports to reduce non-academic barriers to learning. Student Assistance Programs (SAPs) can assist with this by connecting students and their families with school-based and…

Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) plays an important role in the social and economic life of the local, state and national economy. This study presents estimates of the economic impacts of the University's contributions, both short-term and long-term, on the local (Waller County), regional (Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan…

This study provides an overview of the literature of Florida's only Community Partnership Schools™ model, as a strategy to enhance family and community engagement in low performing high poverty elementary schools. More specifically, the focus of this study was to determine to what degree parents perceived the effectiveness of family and community…

The California Department of Education's Project Cal-Well aims to promote awareness of student mental health and improve access to mental health services for youth, families, and school communities. This brief introduces a series of Project Cal-Well Legacy Briefs that highlight successes achieved by Project Cal-Well partners. WestEd developed the…

Collective impact is a model for achieving tangible change and improvement in communities through a series of well-defined parameters of collaboration. This article provides a 10-year reflection on the University of Georgia Archway Partnership, a university-community collaboration, in the context of the parameters of collective impact. Emphasis is…

Grounded in the universal right to education, this article considers the collective findings of a selection of projects, conducted primarily by researchers from the SIRIUS Policy Network on Migrant Education arguing for a holistic approach to the educational inclusion of Newly Arrived Migrant and Refugee Students (NAMRS). The right to education…

Conceptualizing mentoring beyond a traditional one-to-one mentor-mentee model, we utilized a constellation framework with collaborative co-mentoring among faculty, staff, near-peers, and community partners. We conducted a multi-method study to examine faculty, staff, and students' perceptions of mentoring relationships, and we focus in this…

Adult students comprise a significant percentage of community college enrollments. However, these students have consistently completed college programs at lower rates than traditional-aged students. Community college structures, including student advisement, often align primarily with the needs of traditional-aged students. This has resulted in a…

This article explores the planning and implementation process for a community partnership school for a historically low-performing elementary school using an asset-based community development approach. We offer insights into the community needs assessment process that enabled four key community partners to identify needs and projects for the…