Developing Community-Empowered Schools

"Very thoughtful and practical, providing well-grounded strategies for effective implementation of community participation."
Gini Doolittle, Assistant Professor
Department of Educational Leadership, Rowan University, New Jersey

Burke and Picus make a case for improved learning through school-community partnerships. Drawing from their twenty years of experience working with parents, community volunteers, teachers, and school site administrators, the authors present a concise, easy-to-understand approach to building and working with these powerful alliances.

Developing Community-Empowered Schools is structured to give the reader a clear overview of the necessary components and strategies to understand and develop these critical partnerships. Highlights include:

• Defining community-empowered schools
• Assessing your school's strengths and weaknesses
• Identifying stakeholders and their roles
• Establishing policies and procedures that support school and community partnerships
• Empowering and training staff for effective school and community partnerships
• Recruiting and training volunteers
• Creating a family literacy program
• Building community collaborations for added resources
• Viewing schools as economic solutions to communities
• Examining the future of community-empowered schools

Handy overheads, training worksheets, sample memos from teachers to students' families, and enough material for a one-day teacher-training workshop make this a practical, accessible, and valuable resource. In addition, in-depth information is provided on how to seek funding to sustain a school-based community program. Developing Community-Empowered Schools is an all-in-one guide and an essential desk-top reference for bringing all stakeholders together to create optimal learning environments.