scholarly journals Creating Links between the School and the Community Beyond its Walls: What Teachers and Principals Do to Develop and Lead School-Community Partnerships

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Hands
Keyword(s):  
Community Involvement ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
School Community ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Magnet School ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Partnership Development ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Collaborative Activities ◽  
The Impact

This paper is based on a qualitative case study examining the impact of social context on school-community partnerships. Sixty-four students and school personnel at one K-12 magnet school in southern California participated in 21 open-ended, 45-minute interviews. Observations were conducted, and documents were collected. Structural, cultural and agentive issues impacted partnership establishment. Teachers and the principal valued a school culture was conducive to community involvement. They collectively developed the school’s mission and vision with a focus on global citizenship, and initiated partnerships consistent with the vision. The stages of the partnership development process are discussed, and it is argued that they are broadly applicable to the establishment of collaborative activities. Funding and networks contributed to the professional development, resources and technology needed to support partnering. Findings extend research by identifying the educators’ leadership roles in partnering, and the structures and cultures that facilitate it.

When Boundaries Around the “Secret” are Tested: A School Community Response to the Policing of Undocumented Immigrants

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily R. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
School Environment ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
School Community ◽  
School Policy ◽  
Community Response ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Safe Space ◽  
A Chain ◽  
The Impact

This case study focuses on a 2008 incident where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vans appeared near a K-5 elementary school. It was the first time school personnel experienced the impact of federal immigration agents policing illegality in their school community, and the event set off a chain of decision-making choices as to how personnel would respond. This article specifically explores how educators’ roles within a school shaped their access to information and subsequent sensemaking about ICE, asking two questions: (a) How does one’s position within a school shape a person’s sensemaking if a situation necessitates in-the-moment policy making? and (b) How might prior knowledge and professional position affect the information one accesses, shares, and uses in the policy-making process? Evidence comes from interviews with 14 personnel who reflected on the event, and shows that Aurora staff quickly established a policy and protocol within a few days to keep the school environment a safe space. The findings demonstrate that the school principal was a key “sensemaker” for other personnel. Ultimately, the school created its first school policy and protocol to ensure the school was a safe space for undocumented students, fusing a familiar school policy with new policy.

scholarly journals Promoting Inclusive School-Community Relationships: Administrator Strategies for Empowering and Enabling Parents in Diverse Contexts

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Educational Reform ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
School Community ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Major Development ◽  
Inclusive School ◽  
School Research

Much has been written about the challenges that accompany increasing diversity in educational institutions in many Western societies. To deal with these challenges, the idea and practice of inclusion has figured prominently in educational reform initiatives over the past few decades. One major development has been the trend towards stronger school community partnerships that are geared towards empowering and enabling all parents to participate more actively in school. Research to date suggests that principals have a very important role in nurturing these relationships. Based on the findings of a study among principals, this article explores how school leaders promote inclusive community involvement in diverse contexts.

Pandemonium

2021 ◽  
pp. 239-268
Keyword(s):  
Summer Programs ◽  
Community Based ◽  
School Activities ◽  
Hands On ◽  
School And Community ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Collaborative Activities ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how California UC Links programs adapted and transformed undergraduate and K-12 program activities in response to the deepening COVID-19 crisis. The authors review challenges faced by programs and how they leveraged and strengthened existing partnerships to engage K-12 participants. Emerging responses to the ever-changing context of the pandemic are also explored, and the authors focus on re-envisioning the UC Links undergraduate course and school- and community-based activities. Innovative activities that UC Links programs and their partners designed and piloted in the Spring and Summer quarters of 2020 are explored, including distributing resources, creating mediated hands-on activities, producing mediated virtual activities, and bridging after- and in-school activities. Learnings from virtual summer programs and Fall 2020 collaborative activities are summarized as context for both understanding and co-constructing future activities developed in response to shelter-in-place conditions.

Perceptions of Students and Educators on the Impact of No Child Left Behind: Some Will and Some Won't

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy E. Harriman
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

How do students and educators perceive the No Child Left Behind law and its impact? The author reports on structured interviews with 15 staff members K-12 and 37 middle level students in a small, northeastern coastal community. The responses of students included three themes: fairness to subgroups, student effort and self-determination, and apprehensions about changing schools. Issues identified by teachers, special educators and administrators included: desirable effects of accountability; concerns about fairness to students with disabilities and diverse learning needs; conflicts between state and federal requirements; and negative effects on teaching, learning and allocation of resources. Most respondents recommended that the law be amended to achieve the original intent. Of particular relevance to special educators in small or rural schools is the overall challenge identified by educators of finding time to balance the often apparently competing demands of existing initiatives such as individualized instruction, curriculum of place, community involvement, and development of functional skills, with the additional bureaucratic and assessment related demands required by No Child Left Behind.

Addressing the Opioid Epidemic with a K-12 Drug Prevention Curriculum, Website and Toolkit

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Whitney ◽  
Kristen Welker ◽  
Patrick C. Herbert ◽  
Joe Visker ◽  
Carol Cox
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
Drug Prevention ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Prevention Curriculum ◽  
Using Data ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

Opioid overdose has become a large public health crisis with devastating consequences, particularly for young people. Programs have started to address the impact of prevention and education in approaching the issue, but many lack focus on helping students prevent drug misuse by practicing the skills students need to avoid or reduce risky health behaviors. The purpose of this manuscript is to introduce readers to the process of developing skills-based K - 12 Opioid/Rx Use educational lessons. Procedures: The educational lessons were developed using data-driven practice for the following age level clusters; K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. All lessons contain active learning strategies and include a resource bank such that any teacher, administrator, or school personnel can select and deliver a lesson using the online interface.

scholarly journals When do elementary students need masks in school? Model-estimated risk of in-school SARS-CoV-2 transmission and related infections among household members before and after student vaccination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Giardina ◽  
Alyssa Bilinski ◽  
Meagan C. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Emily A. Kendall ◽  
Benjamin P. Linas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Elementary Students ◽  
Attack Rate ◽  
School Community ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Wild Type Virus ◽  
Household Members ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

Background While CDC guidance for K-12 schools recommends indoor masking regardless of vaccination status, final decisions about masking in schools will be made at the local and state level. The impact of the removal of mask restrictions, however, on COVID-19 outcomes for elementary students, educators/staff, and their households is not well known. Methods We used a previously published agent-based dynamic transmission model of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 schools to simulate an elementary school with 638 students across 6 scenarios: combinations of three viral infectiousness levels (reflecting wild-type virus, alpha variant, and delta variant) and two student vaccination levels (0% and 50% coverage to reflect potential authorization in this age group). For each scenario, we varied observed community COVID-19 incidence (0 to 50 cases/100,000 people/day) and mitigation effectiveness (0-100% reduction to in-school secondary attack rate), and evaluated two outcomes over a 30 day period: (1) the probability of at least one in-school transmission, and (2) the increase in total cases among students, educators/staff, and their household members between in-person and remote instruction. Results Over 30 days in the simulated elementary school, the probability of at least one in-school SARS-CoV-2 transmission and the number of projected infections in the immediate school community varied widely. In one scenario with the delta variant and no student vaccination, assuming that baseline mitigation measures of simple ventilation and handwashing reduce the secondary attack rate by 40%, if decision-makers seek to keep the monthly probability of an in-school transmission below 50%, additional mitigation (e.g., masking) would need to be added at a community incidence of approximately 4/100,000/day. Once students are vaccinated, thresholds shift substantially higher. Limitations The interpretation of model results should be limited by the uncertainty in many of the parameters, including the effectiveness of individual mitigation interventions and vaccine efficacy against the delta variant, and the limited scope of the model beyond the school community. Additionally, the assumed case detection rate (33% of cases detected) may be too high in areas with decreased testing capacity. Conclusion Despite the assumption of high adult vaccination, the risks of both in-school SARS-CoV-2 transmission and resulting infections among students, educators/staff, and their household members remain high when the delta variant predominates and students are unvaccinated. Mitigation measures or vaccinations for students when available can substantially reduce these risks. These findings underscore the potential role for responsive plans, where mitigation is deployed based on local COVID-19 incidence and vaccine uptake.

scholarly journals Multiple Points of Contact: Promoting Rural Postsecondary Preparation through School-Community Partnerships

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan F. Alleman ◽  
Neal L. Holly
Keyword(s):  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
School Community ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Rural School Districts ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Multiple Points ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Low Income Families

Formal and informal partnerships between rural schools and their communities can provide a wide range of supports for all students, but particularly those from low-income families. In this analysis of six small rural school districts in Virginia we show how the broad participation of community groups and individuals supports academic achievement as well as preparation and aspirations for postsecondary education. Results demonstrate that school-community partnerships provide multiple points of contact for students that buttress the efforts of school personnel by extended educational opportunities outside the classroom and by meeting the needs of low-income students when parents and teachers are unable to do so.  

scholarly journals Promising Practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-41
Author(s):  
Jennifer Edic Bryant ◽  
Karen Escalante ◽  
Ashley Selva
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Student Development ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
Leadership Capacity ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Principal Succession ◽  
School Sites ◽  
Building Leadership Capacity ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

This study applies transformational leadership theory practices to examine the purposeful ways in which principals work to build the next gen- eration of teacher leaders in response to the shortage of K-12 principals. Given the impact, principals have on student development and the shortage of those applying for the principalship, the purpose of this cross-case analysis was to discover how principals build leadership capacity at their respective school sites and groom individuals for leadership roles. Further, this study explored teacher perceptions of the practices in addition to factors that facilitated or inhibited the implementation of the principals’ practices. Three school principals served as the primary participants for this research, and data were gleaned from interviews, observations, and artifacts. Findings indicated that the principals fostered leadership capacity by providing authentic administrative opportunities for teachers pursuing the administration credential. Additionally, the principals’ methods for building leadership capacity were positively perceived by the identified teacher leaders. Factors that facilitated leadership capacity development include school and district systems and structures, while factors that inhibited teachers’ development include psychological concerns. This study illuminates the need for principals to build leadership capacity at their school sites in order to purposefully prepare teacher leaders for principal succession.

scholarly journals Linking K-12 STEM Pedagogy to Local Contexts: A Scoping Review of Benefits and Limitations

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Holmes ◽  
Erin Mackenzie ◽  
Nathan Berger ◽  
Michelle Walker
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Stem Learning ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Time Restrictions ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Localized Learning ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

Student engagement and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in primary and secondary schools is increasingly being emphasized as the importance of STEM skills for future careers is realized. Localized learning has been identified as a group of pedagogical approaches that may enhance learning in STEM by making the relevance of STEM clear to students and providing stronger connections to students’ lives and contexts. This paper reports on a scoping review that was conducted to identify the benefits and limitations of localized learning in primary and secondary school STEM disciplines. A secondary aim of the review was to identify strategies that increase the effectiveness of localized learning these disciplines. Following literature searches of four databases, 1923 articles were identified. Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Potential benefits of localized learning included increases in enjoyment of STEM, improvements in learning, more positive STEM career aspirations, and development of transferable skills. The main challenges of these pedagogical approaches were time restrictions and lack of community involvement. Strategies for enhancing the impact of localized pedagogy included professional development for teachers (in STEM content knowledge, integration of localized pedagogy, and capacity to address socio-scientific issues), integration of technology, whole-school implementation of the pedagogical approach, and integration of the wider community into STEM education. These findings provide support for localized learning as an effective pedagogical approach to enhance STEM learning in schools, while emphasizing the critical roles of teachers and communities in supporting students to realize the relevance of STEM in their lives.

scholarly journals School-community partnerships in community children's choir organizations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elizabeth Hogan McFarland
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
School Community ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Children's Choir ◽  
Education Support ◽  
K 12

This descriptive study examined community children's choirs' participation in K-12 school-community partnerships to describe characteristics of these organizations and their partnerships, and to examine what the directors believed to be the benefits and challenges of such partnerships. Directors of community-based children's choirs in the United States (N = 89) completed a survey that included questions about their organization's participation in various forms of school-community partnerships. Thirtythree percent of respondent's organizations participated in at least one partnership. Most of those were long-term, simple-transaction partnerships with K-12 public schools, initiated by the children's choir organizations. Goals of partnerships included choral music education, support for schools/community, talent identification, outreach/engagement, and lifelong skill development. These goals were achieved through activities such as performances, educational activities, rehearsals, and recruitment. Some factors more strongly affected the decision to develop a partnership than others, including needs of the school, potential for recruitment, and location. Benefits of partnerships for singers included exposure to enhanced musical experiences, and connecting with other singers. Partnerships also provided benefits to children's choir organizations such as increased effectiveness of the organization's choral program, recruitment, exposure to diverse populations and public relations benefits. Directors perceived the challenges of school-community partnership participation to be communication, lack of money, and finding time to plan/implement programs. Educators and community music directors need more information about partnerships to be able to contribute to building shared experiences. Conversation and education is needed to facilitate cooperation between organizations to find common ground for the good of music education in our communities.

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