In this research, situated in a small urban district with a state-imposed school board, we analyze participation of community members during a three-year effort to improve schools. Through a qualitative analysis of forms of community engagement, this article offers a framework for understanding participation. We present two overlapping continua of…

The increasing complexity of urban regions and the lack of green areas in the neighborhoods have turned the cities less and less child-friendly. In order to locally face these situations, the project "Small steps of Agenda 21," which promoted a participatory planning experience for children focused on the green area of their school, was…

It is clear that families and communities play key roles in student achievement and school improvement efforts. Across the nation, states are leading initiatives to improve communication and engagement with these stakeholders through effective data sharing. Key points highlighted in this brief include: (1) Maintaining close ties with family and…

The article draws on qualitative educational research across a diversity of low-income countries to examine the gendered inequalities in education as complex, multi-faceted and situated rather than a series of barriers to be overcome through linear input-output processes focused on isolated dimensions of quality. It argues that frameworks for…

In creating Project Re-ED, Nicholas Hobbs (1913-1983) embarked on a bold new approach to emotionally troubled children and youth. Re-ED, an acronym for the Re-education of Emotionally Disturbed Children, builds on positive concepts of normalcy and health rather than deviance and illness. Hobbs had been impressed by the "educateur" of Europe and…

The emergence of the standards-based reform movement has raised a number of issues related to the design of educational programs for students with severe disabilities, and a debate has arisen that presents an "either/or" choice between the general education curriculum and an ecological curricular framework that has traditionally guided…

As the first state to offer universal preschool to three-year-olds, Illinois' experience with early childhood education (ECE) policy reform efforts offers lessons about how such change takes shape. This report details Illinois' ECE activities from 1992 to the present, with a particular focus on the business role in ECE policy. Lessons learned…

The fiscal problems of today's school districts are a reflection of the national economy. Taxpayers are struggling to make mortgage payments and are reluctant--or unwilling--to pass bonds and levies that will raise property taxes. Local, state, and federal grants have dwindled, and the effect of the education stimulus dollars is uncertain. The…

"Driving leadership style" enhances local participation and involvement in school in reducing a gap between the school and the local community. As gap filler, leadership role was therefore instigated to drive the local community to participate and involve in the School. The purpose of this exploration was to analyze the driving…

With the highest incarceration rate in the world, the United States has set an inauspicious precedent. More than 1.7 million American children--one in every 43--have a parent in jail or prison. The generational effects of incarceration are deep and lasting and include vastly increased risks of criminal justice involvement among the children of…

The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore the role a School Community Council (SCC) played in encouraging community involvement in a kindergarten to grade 12 school. Via 35 interviews, thematic data reflected that the SCC's influence was limited. As analyzed through social capital theory, SCC members shared thin levels of trust,…

Persistent perceptions of deficit and conflict have characterised and constrained the history of relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians since contact. The success of their saturation is apparent in a continuing approach that presents the response to Aboriginal needs in terms of health and education "gaps"; "the…

Sociopolitical control (SPC) is generally considered to be a vital element of the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment, despite contradictory findings concerning the dimensionality of the construct when applied to a youth population. This study tested the Sociopolitical Control Scale for Youth (SPCS-Y), which was designed to…

To ascertain best practices for schools implementing or sustaining instructional school gardens by interviewing key members in 10 schools with exemplary instructional school gardens programs in California. Practices of schools with exemplary instructional school gardens programs were analyzed by constant comparative analysis using qualitative data…

The article analyses an innovative scheme for the re-organization of school governance that sought to enhance the voice of community members and contribute towards the improvement of educational achievement. The scheme was located in the north of England, a region characterized by high levels of social disadvantage and low participation rates in…