Including Families and Communities in Urban Education

Edited by:
Catherine Hands, University of San Diego
Lea Hubbard, University of San Diego

A volume in the series: Issues in the Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice of Urban Education. Editor(s): Denise E. Armstrong, Brock University. William S. Ankomah, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada.

Published 2011

The work of school, family and community partnerships is complex and messy and demands a thoughtful and deep investigation. Currently, parent and community involvement does not draw on school reform and educational change literature and conversely the school change literature often ignores the crucial role that communities play in educational reform. This edited volume focuses on structural considerations regarding education and the school communities, school-level and family culture, and the interrelationships between the agency and actions of school personnel, family members, community citizens and students. This book extends the dialogue on school reform by looking at parent and community engagement initiatives as part of the school reform literature. The contributors illustrate the negative impact on students and their education when assumptions made by school personnel regarding the organization of education, the nature of families, and the contributions they should make to their children’s education are not challenged.

CONTENTS
Series Editors’ Preface, Denise Armstrong and Brenda McMahon. Acknowledgements. Understanding Family and Community Inclusion and Engagement, Catherine M. Hands and Lea Hubbard. Part I: Structure. Metaphor as Insight into Parents’ Conceptualizations of their Role in School Improvement, Bonnie L. Stelmach. The Role of Leadership in Forging Family–School–Community Relationships, Lea Hubbard and Catherine M. Hands. Parent Empowerment through Organizing for Collective Action, Lauri Johnson, Julie Carter, and Mary Finn. Part I I: Culture. Listening to Parent Voices: Home–School Collaboration, for Diverse Communities, Magaly Lavadenz and Elvira G. Armas. Fostering Inclusive Educational Environments for American Indian Parents and Families in Urban Schools and Communities, Susan C. Faircloth. Learning to Organize for Educational Change: One CBO’s Efforts to Influence Educational Policy, Michael P. Evans. Pioneer Parents and Creating Pathways for Involvement: A Historical Case Study of School Change and Collective Parental Involvement, Erin McNamara Horvat. Part I I I: Agency. The Math/Science Equity Project: Working With Educators to Increase African American Parental Involvement in Secondary Math and Science Course Placements, Roslyn A. Mickelson and Linwood H. Cousins. Shaping Youth’s Identity through Student-Driven Research, Susan Yonezawa and Makeba Jones. Part IV: Strategies for Inclusion and Program Assessment. From Mistrust to Collaboration: Using Transformational Social Therapy to Support Participation in School–Community Educational Reform in a French Banlieue, Novella Keith. Mapping Family–School Partnership Programs Through Theories of Action and Logic Models, Janet Chrispeels and Margarita González. Part V: Conclusion: Themes from Initiatives Including Families and Community Members in Education. Culminating Remarks on Family and Community Inclusion in Urban Education, Catherine M. Hands and Lea Hubbard. About the Contributors.