Grow Your Own Teachers Initiative
Vision, Principles and Best
Practices
Research
Community
Organizing: Central to School Improvement
All of the
principles have as their basis a strong belief that communities and
community organizing are central to school improvement, especially
in low-income communities. Research that supports that viewpoint
follows.
There has been
growing recognition in the last decade that community organizing on
education is a vital strategy for improvement in low- and
moderate-income communities. Because community organizing groups are
made up of members directly affected by the issues they work on,
their educational change campaigns are relevant and accountable to
the families and students affected by problems in education. Community groups have ties to families that schools usually do not
have and can help them advocate for school improvements, making
schools more accountable to parents. Unlike schools and districts
that continue to use ineffective methods to engage parents in their
children’s education, (e.g. sending home flyers that end up on the
sidewalk, making announcements of meetings through the media in
languages many parents don’t understand), community organizations
reach out to families by finding out what is important to them,
listening to them, and bringing them together with others who share
the same issues.
Recent interest in the field of education organizing has resulted in
several important studies. Two research studies are highlighted
below:
Strong Neighborhood, Strong
Schools
Cross City Campaign for Urban
School Reform
Rather than looking inside the school
or school district to examine school reform, Cross City Campaign’s
study, Strong Neighborhood, Strong Schools, looked at the
dynamics between schools and communities. The charge of this study
was to identify indicators of the impact of community organizing on
school improvement. The researchers examined five community based
groups in-depth and documented their organizing strategies and the
improvements in education that resulted. Based on an analysis of
the five case study sites, they developed a theory of change that
explained how accomplishments in eight indicator areas—broad
categories that describe the work of education organizing leading to
improved schools and stronger student achievement. The eight
indicator areas in which accomplishments could be identified are:
Ø Leadership development
Ø Community power
Ø Social capital
Ø Public accountability
Ø Equity
Ø School/community
connection
Ø Positive school climate
Ø High quality curriculum
and instruction.
Community organizing groups develop
parent and community leadership and build community power. These
achievements produce social capital, relationships and trust among
individuals and organization.
The dynamic of leadership, power and
social capital results in broadened accountability for children’s
school success. When educators, parents, community members, and
politicians feel mutually accountable, finding solutions to the
problems of urban schools becomes a collective responsibility,
lessening the tendency of parents and educators to blame each other
for school failure and those within school and political
bureaucracies to dodge their responsibilities.
This process creates the political
will that enables community organizing groups to advance issues of
equity and school/community connection and bring new influences to
bear on school climate and curriculum and instruction. When there is
broad public acknowledgement that equity and school/community
connection are important goals, community groups advocate for more
resources for schools in low-income areas and schools often turn
into centers of the community. Respectful relationships among
parents and teachers and students can develop, expanding ownership
for the educational experience of children. Expectations for
children are raised as teachers see how much parents care about
their children’s education. The potential also increases that
curriculum and instruction will be both rigorous and culturally
responsive.
Cross City Campaign found that
community organizing groups added value to school reform efforts by:
Ø Sustaining the vision
and momentum for change over time
Ø Persisting despite
obstacles and setbacks
Ø Building political
capital and creating the political will that motivates officials to
take action
Ø Producing authentic
change in policies and programs that reflects the concerns of
parents and community
The study showed, “that when school
reform goes hand-in-hand with building strong communities, schooling
itself changes fundamentally, increasing the chances that reform
will be carried out and sustained.”
Organizing for School Reform: How Communities are Finding their
Voice and Reclaiming their Public Schools
Institute for Education and Social Policy
Another
important report on the influence of community organizing on school
improvement, Organizing for School Reform, summarized a
longer document that examined the work of 66 community groups
that were organizing to improve public education in low-performing
schools and districts. These groups focused on engaging public
school parents, low-income families, and students in efforts to
improve their schools. The report describes the diversity of
approaches groups used and reports on the groups’ organizing
achievements and challenges. They found that school reform
organizing plays a significant role in creating the political
context in which change can happen. Organizing groups focus schools
on critical issues, identify and build support for key
interventions, and establish a stronger sense of accountability
between schools and communities. They are increasing the ability of
young people, parents, and community residents to participate in
local reform efforts, and they are helping members to raise
essential school performance questions forcefully and persistently.
Mediratta, K., Fruchter, N., and Lewis, A. (2002) Organizing
for School Reform. How Communities are Finding their Voice
and Reclaiming their Public Schools. Institute for Education
and Social Policy. New York, NY.
