In Canada, the prevalence of alcohol use among school-age students has emerged as a leading public health issue. Though governments at all levels have called for inter-organizational collaboration to address the issue, the representation of youth interests by key community groups is critical to the efficacy of those initiatives. This article…

Research suggests that institutional commitment to community engagement can be understood by examining levels of student, faculty, and community involvement in engagement; organizational structure, rewards, and campus publications supporting engagement; and compatibility of an institution's mission with this work (Holland, 1997). Underlying all of…

Since their founding, the Black churches have strived to implement and fulfill their missions. These institutions acknowledge the importance to become actively involved in the community as well as engaged in the lives of young people. Black churches are faced with unique challenges every day, however, they provide significant number of resources…

To gain a full and true understanding of the value of campus heritage requires shifting perspective. On many campuses, heritage resources are perceived to have no relevance whatsoever to the challenges of sustainability. This results largely from a profound misconception about what may constitute a sustainable future and what steps may be needed…

Although the value of school-community partnerships is unquestioned, the reasons for success and failure are not sufficiently understood. This mixed-methods case study examines 60 years of partnering at one urban high school, using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory to better understand the effect on student development as measured by…

The purpose of this study was to learn whether focusing on strengths through appreciative inquiry would be related to measurable changes in school climate and trust within a small urban school district. The district studied was a beleaguered, underperforming school district in the Midwest Rust Belt. Through an appreciative inquiry initiative, the…

School-community interactions facilitate connections between schools and their local surroundings; however, these relationships are subject not only to local political, economic, and social influences but also to broader political and institutional forces. Educational administrators' decisions about programming and partnering can be considered in…

In Northern Ireland, where the majority of children are educated at schools attended mainly by coreligionists, the debate concerning the role of schools in perpetuating intergroup hostilities has recently been reignited. Against questions regarding the efficacy of community relations policy in education, the research reported in this paper employs…

Using a theoretical lens of democratic education, this study critically analyzes pilot schools in the Boston Public School system, a school model gaining influence and imitation around the United States. Building on theories regarding the role of democracy in schools, and especially workplace democracy, this article juxtaposes these conceptions of…

Parent involvement programs can play an essential role in the academic success of Latino youth. This article reports the effectiveness and evaluation of two new Extension programs that help Latino parents become more involved in their youths' academics. The Latino Parent and Family Advocacy and Support Training (LPFAST) targets parents of K- 8th…

Taking as a starting point Eric Ashby's proposal that academic staff should swear to inculcate "the discipline of constructive dissent", this paper explores the question of whether or not contemporary society's ethical expectations of higher education should be codified. Three types of relationship between the university and its communities are…

Arts education has been a low priority in the nation's public schools for more than 30 years. In some communities, a countermovement to this dwindling presence of arts education in the schools has developed in the form of initiatives aimed at coordinating schools, cultural institutions, community-based organizations, foundations, and/or…

Over the last 15 years, the body of literature surrounding the subject of social capital has witnessed steady growth. While sociologists have extensively discussed how social capital can be created and sustained within local communities and national contexts, there is little evidence of the social capital discourse within the outdoor education…

The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the experiences of college and community choir members in a collaborative intergenerational performance project. Data included an initial focus group interview with college choir participants (n = 8), an initial focus group interview with community chorus participants (n = 8); collaborative…

Over recent years, the demands on urban school leaders have grown exponentially. Yet the consequences of taking on a more community-orientated role challenge the scope and practice of leadership. School leaders who are working to connect to communities may discover uncomfortable truths--criminal activities or extremism. This article is an…