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ORGANIZED COMMUNITIES, STRONGER SCHOOLS: A PREVIEW OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

By Kavitha Mediratta, Seema Shah, Sara McAlister, Norm Fruchter, Christina Mokhtar, Dana Lockwood

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A preview of findings from a six-year study of the impact of community organizing on school improvement in seven urban communities. (2008)


Description
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform has released a preview of findings from a six-year study that show a positive impact of effective community organizing on education reform in seven urban communities.

The study finds that effective community organizing
  • contributes to an improved learning environment and improved educational outcomes for students

  • strengthens school-community relations, parent engagement, and a sense of community and trust in schools

  • stimulates important changes in policy, practices, and resource distribution that expand equity and capacity at the system level, especially in historically underserved communities

Organizing groups in the study sites achieved their effectiveness through a combination of:
  • system-level advocacy

  • school- or community-based activity

  • strategic use of data
Organizing also produced consistent parent, youth, and community engagement that both generated and sustained the improvements.


Background
These preview findings were released on March 26, 2008, in the Presidential Session at the American Educational Research Association's annual meeting in New York City. The final report will be published by Harvard Education Press in Fall 2009.


Funder
The study has been generously funded by the
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.



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