ISSUE:
School leaders must create successful home-school partnerships and mobilize
parents, community members, and social service agencies to engage in true
collaboration on behalf of children and their families (Jehl & Kirst,
1992). This view of school leadership sees the school in the much broader
context of the community and asserts that children's life chances are not
likely to get better without collective action in many arenas - the schoolhouse,
the local health clinic, the neighborhood, the block, the home, and so
on (Comer, 1988; Ascher, 1990).
A principal who functions within this broader context possesses the mobilization and advocacy skills of a community organizer, advocating for the school as a provider of child- and family- centered educational and social services (Comer, 1988; Ascher, 1990). The principal provides leadership in forging partnerships with churches, health and human service agencies, and other youth agencies (Nettles, 1991) and sees the school and its principal as leaders in community revitalization.
OVERVIEW:
Students who are at risk often receive services and help from a variety
of agencies. Frequently, these agencies provide fragmented services with
little coordination or communication between them, even though such contact
could help improve services for the student. Agencies often do not know
what other service providers are doing, what services are already being
provided, or what information is already available to help understand a
student's needs.
In many schools across the country, leaders are helping develop collaboration between schools and other agencies and partnerships between schools and businesses. Schools are serving as core organizations, collaborating with agencies in the community and providing a central location where multiple agencies can come to meet students' needs.
Several states, counties, and cities are implementing programs in which agencies collaborate in a variety of ways and coordinate their services for at-risk youth. Such collaboration:
GOALS:
Collaboratives and partnerships should build upon all of the community's
resources in addressing the needs of students and families. They should
include parents, health and social service agencies, community organizations,
businesses, universities, educational institutions, and so forth. Indeed,
involving parents as leaders in the school - as tutors, program coordinators,
volunteers, and community liasions - is essential to building a climate
of nurturing and engaged learning in the school.
Henry
Gradillas, principal of Garfield High School in Los Angeles, California, discusses
the role of parents in creating support systems necessary for young people to
achieve. Excerpted from a principals' panel presentation at NCREL's Academy
for Urban School Leaders in July 1992. (Audio comment, 165k) A text
transcript is available.
Partnerships and collaboratives involving parents, businesses, and community agencies can:
To meet the goals of collaboration, social service providers need to be sensitive and responsive to the linguistic and cultural diversity of the clients they serve (Chang, 1993). Historical power relations, along with differing cultural beliefs and practices, can lead to mistrust and misunderstanding between families and social service providers. Organizations must give community members greater input and control, hire staff members at all levels who reflect the diversity of the community, train staff to work with people from diverse backgrounds, and modify ineffective or harmful policies and practices.
ACTION
OPTIONS:
Jeanne
Jehl, administrator on special assignment, San Diego Public Schools, discusses
the principal's role in advocating for school-linked, integrated services
and increased partnerships with parents. Excerpted from the NCREL monograph
"Getting Ready to Provide School-Linked Services: What Schools Must Do"
and reprinted with permission from The Future of Children (Vol. 2,
No. 1, Spring 1992), a publication of the Center for the Future of Children,
the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Audio comment, 204k). A text
transcript is available.
Otis
Johnson, executive director of the Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority
in Savannah, Georgia, emphasizes the importance of building a collective vision
among participating agencies. Excerpted from NCREL's videoseries, Schools
That Work: The Research Advantage, videoconference 8, Integrating
Community Services (NCREL, 1992). (Audio comment, 83k) A text
transcript is available.
IMPLEMENTATION
PITFALLS:
Milbrey
McLaughlin, professor of education at Stanford University, emphasizes the
need to nurture collaborative partnerships. Excerpted from NCREL's videoseries,
Schools That Work: The Research Advantage, videoconference 8, Integrating
Community Services (NCREL, 1992). (Audio comment, 64k) A text
transcript is available.
DIFFERENT
POINTS OF VIEW: Some educators are concerned that the fundamental purpose
of schools - student learning - will be lost if schools take on too many
functions. Underlying this concern is the belief that it is not the school's
responsibility to address students' nonacademic needs. Others are concerned
that educators will be expected to take on even more obligations to serve
multiple needs of children without added resources or personnel. They believe
that these obligations will further strain their capacity to achieve their
first obligation - student learning. Still other opponents of integrated
services available in the schools do not want medical clinics in schools,
fearing that such services will deal with controversial issues such as
birth control.
ILLUSTRATIVE
CASES:
New Beginnings, San Diego, California
Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Centers School-based Clinics, Jackson, Mississippi
School-Based Youth Services Program, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Intermediate School 218, New York, New York
West Philadelphia Schools and the University of Pennsylvania
CONTACTS:
(For descriptions of all foundations listed below, click here.)
Annie E. Casey Foundation, 701 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, (800) 222-1099 or (410) 547-6600, Contact: Douglas W. Nelson, executive director; Tony Cipollone, associate director; or Lynne White, senior associate.
(For descriptions of all agencies and school districts listed below, click here.)
Philliber Research Associates, 28 Main Street, Accord, NY 12404, (914) 626-2126, Contact: Dr. Susan Philliber, e-mail: 72060.126@compuserve.com
Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority (serves Savannah, GA), 316 East Bay Street, Savannah, GA 31401, (912) 651-6810, FAX: (912) 651-6814, Contact: Gaye M. Smith, deputy director
Illinois Project Success (serves Illinois), 2-1/2 Capitol, Springfield, IL 62706, (217) 782-1446, FAX: (217) 524-1678, Contact: Lori Williams, Office of the Governor
First Neighborhood Place (serves Louisville, KY), 4401 Rangeland Road, Louisville, KY 40219, (502) 962-3160, FAX: (502) 473-8045, Contact: John D. LeMaster, Jr., M.Ed., Director
New Beginnings (serves San Diego, CA), Unified School District, 4100 Normal Street, Room 2036, San Diego, CA 92103-2682, (619) 293-8371, Contact: Jack Campana, Lifeskills Education program coordinator, e-mail: jackcampana@smtpgw.sdcs.k12.ca.us
New Jersey School Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP), (serves New Jersey), Department of Human Services, CN700, 222 South Warren Street, Trenton, NJ 08625-0700, (609) 292-7901, FAX: (609) 984-7380, Contact: Roberta Knowlton, director
Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families Program (serves New York City), 2770 Broadway, New York, NY 10025, (212) 866-0700, Contact: George Khaldun, e-mail: rheedlen@ix.netcom.com
School of the Future Project (serves Houston, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, Texas), Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, The University of Texas at Austin, P.O. Box 7998, University Station, Austin, TX 78713-7998, (512) 471-5041, FAX: (512) 471-9608, WWW http://hogg1.lac.utexas.edu/ Contact: Wayne H. Holtzman (e-mail: wayne.holtzman@mail.utexas.edu or Scott Keir
Schools Partnership Training Institute (SPTI) (serves San Francisco, CA), c/o California Research Institute, San Francisco State University, 14 Tapia Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132 (415) 338-1762, FAX (415) 338-6121 Contact: Howard Blonsky, director
(For descriptions of all resource organizations and agencies listed below, click here.)
California Tomorrow, Fort Mason, Building B, San Francisco, CA 94123, (415) 441-7631, e-mail: 74740.2431@compuserve.com
Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning of the Institute for Responsive Education, 605 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, (617) 353-3309, FAX: (617) 353-8444, Contact: Scott Thompson, communication and dissemination, e-mail: stt@bu.edu
Center for the Study of Social Policy, 1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 503, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 371-1565, FAX: (202) 371-1472, Contact: Sara Watson, e-mail: swatson400@aol.com
ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and
Early Childhood Education, University of Illinois, 805 West Pennsylvania
Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, (800) 583-4135 or (217) 333-1386, Contact:
Dianne Rothenberg, associate director. e-mail: ericeece@uxl.cso.uiuc.edu
WWW Site: http://npin.org
National Center for Education in the Inner Cities, Temple University Center for Research in Human Development and Education, 9th Floor, Ritter Hall Annex, 13th Street & Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19122, (215) 204-3000, FAX: (215) 204-5130, Contact: Margaret C. Wang, e-mail: crhde1@vm.temple.edu
Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 822-8405, FAX: (202) 870-4050, Contact: Mary Marshall
Institute for Family Support and Development of MICA (Mid-Iowa Community Action), Inc., 1001 West Ingledue Street, Marshalltown, IA 50158, (515) 752-7162, Contact: Arlene McAtee
National Association of Partners in Education (NAPE), 209 Madison Street, Suite 401, Alexandria, VA 22314, (703) 836-4880, FAX: (703) 836-6941, Contact: Janet Cox
National Center for Children in Poverty
(NCCP), Columbia University School of Public Health, 154 Haven
Avenue, New York, NY 10032, (212) 927-8793, FAX: (212) 927-9162, Contact:
Carol Oshinsky or Beth Atkins, e-mail: ejs22@columbia.edu
WWW Site: http://www.nccp.org/
North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory, 1120 Diehl Road, Suite 200
Naperville, IL 60563-1486,
(800) 356-2735 or (630) 649-6500, fax (630) 649-7600
This Critical Issue summary was researched and written by Kent Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Date posted: 1995