How Communities Build Stronger Schools: Stories, Strategies, and Promising Practices for Educating Every Child

363 Pages·2002·4.405 MB·English

by  Anne Wescott Dodd, Jean L. Konzal (auth.)

HOW COMMUNITIES
BUILD STRONGER
SCHOOLS
STORIES, STRATEGIES, AND
PROMISING PRACTICES FOR
EDUCATING EVERY CHILD
Anne Wescott Dodd
and
Jean L. Konzal
HOWCOMMUNITIESBUILDSTRONGERSCHOOLS
Copyright © Anne Wescott Dodd and Jean L. Konzal, 2002.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 978-0-312-23891-9
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published 2002 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
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Companies and representatives throughout the world.
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
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and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union
and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-63223-7 ISBN 978-0-230-60214-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-60214-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
How communities build stronger schools: stories, strategies, and promising
practices for educating every child / Anne Wescott Dodd, Jean L. Konzal.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Community and school—United States. 2. Home and school—United
States. 3. Education—Parent participation—United States. I. Konzal, Jean
L., 1944– II. Title.
LC221. D6 2002
271.19—dc21
2002022040
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Letra Libre, Inc.
First edition: October 2002
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Transferred to Digital Printing in 2013
To our husbands and best friends,
Jim Dodd
and
Bill Konzal

Contents
List of Figures and Sidebars vii
Acknowledgments xi
Preface xiii
Introduction xvii
PART I
Parent and Community Involvement Today:
Challenges and Problems
1. Why Parents, Educators, and Community Members
Must Work Together 3
2. The Traditional Home–School–Community Relationship:
Tensions and Limitations 18
3. From Confrontation to Conversation: The Story of the
South Wellington Parents’ Special-Education Group 42
4. Conflict about School Change: The Story of Springfield
Regional High School 70
PART II
Beyond Parent Involvement:
Connecting Home, School, and Community
5. Changing the Paradigm: The Home–School–Community
Relationship as Synergistic 99
6. Getting Started: Building a Foundation of Trust and Respect 138
PART III
Moving Closer to the New Paradigm:
Profiles and Practices
7. A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name:
Greenbrook Elementary School 181
8. Creating a Community of Difference:
Crossroads Middle School 203
9. Linking Home, School, and Community:
A Sampling of Strategies and Practices 231
10. Rethinking What It Takes To Educate All Children 285
Appendix: Resources 309
Notes 320
About the Authors 333
Index 339
List Of Figures And Sidebars
FIGURES
Figure 2.1 Old Paradigm 25
Figure 5.1 Transitional Phase 109
Figure 5.2 New Paradigm 126
Figure 9.1 Parents’ and Educators’ Participation in the
School as a Community for Learning 284
SIDEBARS
Sidebar 1.1 Why Educators Need to Listen to Parents—
Vickie Gehm 8
Sidebar 2.1 Schools Make Unrealistic Demands on
Some Families—Marilyn Brown 28
Sidebar 2.2 It All Comes Down to Communication—
Marilyn Brown 32
Sidebar 2.3 Advocating for Children with Special Needs:
A Parent’s Perspective—Betsy Moyer 33
Sidebar 3.1 Teacher Recognition Award Bookmark 66
Sidebar 4.1 Springfield Regional High School Belief Statement 71
Sidebar 4.2 SRHS General Assessment Rubric 75
Sidebar 4.3 Grading and Reporting at Springfield Regional
High School 76
Sidebar 4.4 Springfield Regional High School
Governance Structure 92
viii HOW COMMUNITIES BUILD STRONGER SCHOOLS
Sidebar 5.1 Ten Trends: Educating Children for a Profoundly
Different Future—Educational Research Services 101
Sidebar 5.2 A Letter to Parents—Scott Balicki 115
Sidebar 5.3 One Principal’s Story—Margie L. Horton 122
Sidebar 5.4 The Principles of Community Schooling—
Erwin Flaxman 129
Sidebar 6.1 Minority Parents Take the Initiative—Meredith Maran 147
Sidebar 6.2 Classroom “Socialism” or a Lesson in Sharing?
from the Bucks County Courier Times 159
Sidebar 6.3 Reluctant Parents Participate in Arts Integration Days—
Janice C. Marston 162
Sidebar 6.4 Parent Report Cards in Chicago—Julie Woestehoff 164
Sidebar 6.5 What Do Parents and Educators Want?—
Kathy Teel Michel 166
Sidebar 6.6 Communication Is Key—Nancy Goldberg 169
Sidebar 6.7 Claire’s School—Jean Konzal 172
Sidebar 6.8 The Essential Advisor—Larry DeBlois 175
Sidebar 7.1 From the Principal’s Desk: Greenbrook Community News 183
Sidebar 7.2 A Typical Year at Greenbrook, 2000–2001 Calendar 187
Sidebar 7.3 Mystery Readers—Lori Woods 195
Sidebar 7.4 Home Visits—Lori Woods 198
Sidebar 7.5 Parent Conferences—Thea Dahlberg 200
Sidebar 8.1 A Parent’s View: Black History Month Must Be
Celebrated in Our Schools—Carolyn Jordan 204
Sidebar 8.2 The Director’s View: Multicultural Curriculum:
What Is It? How Do We Do It?—Ann Wiener 205
Sidebar 8.3 Crossroads School Calendar, 2001–2002 221
Sidebar 8.4 Crossroads Mission Statement 223
Sidebar 8.5 Crossroads School Parent Statement—
Marjorie Moore 226
Sidebar 9.1 The More, the Merrier: A Successful and Effective
Strategy for Building Bridges of Communication—
Kelly Arsenault and Debbie Deschambeault 233
LIST OF FIGURES AND SIDEBARS ix
Sidebar 9.2 Connecting with My Parents—Susan F. Bean 236
Sidebar 9.3 E-Mail: A Powerful Way To Communicate—
Julie Ann Ludden 238
Sidebar 9.4 Mini-Schedule—Larry DeBlois 239
Sidebar 9.5 Bridges—Kathy Gregg, Brendan Dundas,
Nancy Fowler, and Sue Manning 244
Sidebar 9.6 “Mom and Pop Reading Day”—Pat Monohan 254
“Mom and Pop Reading Day” from a Parent’s
Perspective—Julie Macosko Kerber
Sidebar 9.7 Parent Involvement in the High School—
Chris Horwath 256
Sidebar 9.8 Parent Volunteers Create a Win-Win-Win Situation!—
Nancy Goldberg 257
Sidebar 9.9 Parent Workshop—Deanna Nadeau 258
Sidebar 9.10 Sharing Writing with High School Parents—
Holly Ciotti 260
Sidebar 9.11 “Math with Mom”—Deanna Nadeau 262
Sidebar 9.12 “Discovery with Dad”—Deanna Nadeau 263
Sidebar 9.13 Bringing Parents and Children Together through
Poetry—Elaine M. Magliaro 264
Sidebar 9.14 Sharing Teaching Philosophy with Parents—
Karen M. Christian 266
Sidebar 9.15 Parents in Partnership: Freeport Middle School—
Janet Russell Theriault 267
Sidebar 9.16 Engineers Help Students Build Robots—
Kit Juniewicz 274