"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.

This book feasibly translates validated research and best practices in assessment so that the reader can incorporate the best practices of assessment into practical routines in schools and the classroom. Readers of this book will strengthen their knowledge and skills in selecting, designing, and using assessments that enable all learners to actively participate and monitor their own progress towards learning objectives. This book is intended to be a hands-on guide for educators and students on the best and most effective practices for supporting students in their role as self-assessors. It develops sequentially from ensuring that students are assessment ready, to engaging students in assessment, and ultimately empowering students as assessors. Readers can also rely on the book to help them improve specific aspects of self-assessment that are most important in their setting and for their students.

This book feasibly translates validated research and best practices in assessment so that the reader can incorporate the best practices of assessment into practical routines in schools and the classroom. Readers of this book will strengthen their knowledge and skills in selecting, designing, and using assessments that enable all learners to actively participate and monitor their own progress towards learning objectives. This book is intended to be a hands-on guide for educators and students on the best and most effective practices for supporting students in their role as self-assessors. It develops sequentially from ensuring that students are assessment ready, to engaging students in assessment, and ultimately empowering students as assessors. Readers can also rely on the book to help them improve specific aspects of self-assessment that are most important in their setting and for their students.

"I have reviewed and indeed written books on grantwriting and this is by far the most comprehensive and clear guide to grantwriting ever. The clarity of direction, including sample pages and charts, makes this a winner from beginning to end."
Lee Mahon, Ed.D, Professor/Mentor Doctoral Studies
The Fielding Graduate Institute
Santa Barbara, CA

Effective strategies for writing program grants?for beginners and experienced practitioners alike!

This book addresses the six steps used by nation-wide schools and specifically by the Compton Unified School District to overcome low-performance. Countless examples on how multi-stressed, low-performing schools can overcome obstacles to respond to the unique learning needs of students and adults are provided in each of the six steps. The purpose of the key results accountability process is to establish and document successful reform practices that address the multiple challenges for low-performing schools. The reform process intends to effectively implement appropriate action plans that reach and surpasses a school's required growth results.

"Here is a book that challenges educators to put aside outmoded images of what is unlikely to push education far or fast enough to make a difference. Underlying each chapter is the belief and the 'how to' that allows for the development of a community culture that matches the changing condition of a changing society and student success."
Lee Mahon, Professor/Mentor, Doctoral Studies
The Fielding Institute, Santa Barbara, CA

Special features of this definitive book include

• Invaluable work sheets and sample plans for easy self-evaluation and implementation
• Specific "Survival Strategies" that have been successfully utilized in urban schools
• Tips for cultivating and maximizing community relationships to obtain resources
• Straightforward assessment methods to authentically measure change
• Real-life examples of principal and teacher practices that have worked

"I have reviewed and indeed written books on grantwriting and this is by far the most comprehensive and clear guide to grantwriting ever. The clarity of direction, including sample pages and charts, makes this a winner from beginning to end."
Lee Mahon, Ed.D, Professor/Mentor Doctoral Studies
The Fielding Graduate Institute
Santa Barbara, CA

Effective strategies for writing program grants?for beginners and experienced practitioners alike!

"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.