Bringing Community Organizing into the School Reform Picture

Abstract

Community organizing is growing in importance as a means of achieving and sustaining urban school reform. The authors identify eight distinct areas in which community organizing groups are connecting community capacity to school improvement. Leadership development and the production of social capital build community power to address issues of failing schools. The broadening of public accountability for school improvement creates the political will to improve schools in low-income neighborhoods. The resulting school improvement strategies enable stronger school/community connections, improved curriculum and instruction, and a positive school climate with the ultimate goal of achieving equity between schools in low-income and higher-income neighborhoods. Using data from case studies of five community organizing groups nationwide and focusing on the story of the Oakland Community Organizations' small-schools campaign, the authors illustrate how members of low-and moderate-income communities are both demanding change and building the support and capacity for public school improvement.Despite decades of attempts at improvement, urban public schools, by almost any measure, are failing to provide an adequate education for their students. Indicators of school well-being, such as student achievement, dropout rates, and retention of highly qualified teachers, reveal a persistent disparity

Leadership in School-community Partnerships

“…Researchers see the need for both a seasoned school-based leader and a "catalytic" partnership leader who can anticipate opposition and build consensus around viable, research-based theories of change (Proscio, 2004). They discuss the importance of developing leadership within the community (Gold et al, 2004;Warren et al, 2009) and helping communities become more self-reliant through this leadership development (Oppenheim, 1999). Findings indicate that leadership is both an individual and a collective investment that "bridges the gap in culture and power between parents and educators" (Warren et al, 2009(Warren et al, , p. 2211.…”

The construction of parents and teachers as agents for the improvement of municipal schools in Chile

“…Studies on school climate have found that positive climate relates to better student achievement (Goddard, Tschannen-Moran and Hoy 2001). Research has also shown the benefits of developing trusting relational networks connecting parents, students, and community members that treat parents as assets rather than liabilities (Gold et al 2004). …”

“…In the particular case of Chile because private schools, but not municipal schools, choose the families we find that teachers working in the municipal schools that participated in this study were serving mostly families that, from a policy design, are assumed to be culturally deprived and lacking the cultural, social, and economic capital that could allow them to compete in a meritocratic system (Rojas 2005). Beyond choice and the accumulation of individual benefits, parent involvement could also be understood as beneficial for community development when their work involves advocating for equity in education or taking part in decision-making at the school and district level (Abrams and Gibbs 2002;Gold et al 2004;Gordon and Nocon 2008). What are the possibilities that parental participation in municipal schools' improvement efforts can be expanded beyond the rhetoric of choice and cultural deprivation?…”

Typologizing School–Community Partnerships

“…Authors see the need for both a seasoned school-based leader and a "catalytic" partnership leader who can anticipate opposition and build consensus around viable, research-based theories of change (Proscio, 2004). They discuss the development of leadership within local communities (Gold et al, 2004;Warren et al, 2009) with the goal of helping communities become more self-reliant through this leadership development (Oppenheim, 1999). Such leadership is seen as a collective investment that "bridges the gap in culture and power between parents and educators" (Warren et al, 2009(Warren et al, , p. 2211.…”