Building the community school movement: vision, organization, and leadership

On a local level, creating and sustaining community schools requires leadership from local government, schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. These groups must provide the fuel and direction to move the community school strategy forward along a common vision and with strategic methods for financing. At the federal level, it must continue to build constituency for community schools if it is to succeed, although the community school movement has made great strides in recent years. There is not now a coherent federal framework to support the community school vision. The proposed Full Services Community Schools legislation would build a national constituency and legislate key principles advocated by the Coalition for Community Schools: developing districtwide community school strategies, focusing on results, and improving coordination of funding streams.     

The school community council: creating an environment for student success

A model of community-school partnerships is developing within a school district in Evansville, Indiana. Based on a full-service community school philosophy, the model started in one elementary school in the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and has expanded into a districtwide initiative called the School Community Council. The council is made up of over seventy community organizations and social service agencies working together to establish full-service schools as places of community and to enhance youth and family development.     

The impact of school and college expenditures on the wages of southern and non-southern workers

Based on previous evidence of diminishing earnings returns to greater educational expenditures, the hypothesis that southern schools and colleges have greater returns than non-southern schools and colleges is tested but is not accepted. Per pupil expenditures for both school and college, however, significantly raise earnings for southern male full-time workers. The elasticity of expenditure with respect to the wage for high school graduates is 0.1212 for southerners and 0.0360 for non-southerners, and the elasticity for college expenditure is 0.0468 for southerners and 0.0260 for non-southerners. The author is grateful to Philip R. P. Coelho, W. Lee Hansen, Wayne H. Joerding, Victor J. Tremblay, and an anonymous referee for helpful suggestions and to the Mississippi Research and Development Center for support of this research.     

The power and limits of institutions in altering the racial hierarchy of the United States: A new lens on the history of school desegregation

This article frames the history of school desegregation within the broader topic of the ability of institutions to generate shifts in macro‐level racial hierarchies. Utilizing the vast social science literature on the history of school desegregation, we specifically examine the level of involvement required from all three branches of the United States federal government to desegregate public schools. We argue that aggressive and repeated involvement was required from the United States federal government, including the Supreme Court, President, federal law enforcement agencies, and Congress, to desegregate public schools, thereby demonstrating the intense commitment needed from institutions to alter racial hierarchies. However, because most formerly desegregated public schools experienced rapid resegregation after declining involvement from the federal government, we also conclude that alterations to racial structures are unlikely to be maintained without continual force from institutions.     

Participation in the School Breakfast Program: new evidence from the ECLS-K

This article examines determinants of participation in the federal School Breakfast Program among third-grade public school students. Data come from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort. Results suggest that participation is much less common in the School Breakfast Program than in the National School Lunch Program, even among children whose schools offer both programs. Economic vulnerability, time constraints, and local norms are found to be linked to participation; program and logistical aspects, such as whether schools serve breakfast in the classroom and the length of time available for breakfast, are predictive. Results suggest that participation in the School Breakfast Program could be increased by adjusting program characteristics and by enhancing outreach efforts.     

Three high school after-school initiatives: lessons learned

Alarmed by the large numbers of high school-age youth who are disengaged at school and leaving high school without a diploma or the important skills for the workplace, policymakers and youth advocates are beginning to see high school after-school as the new frontier in after-school programming. Although older youth represent a sizable percentage of American students, they garner only a small fraction of the federal, state, and local investments for after-school programs. This chapter reviews the insights and lessons learned from three after-school initiatives that have shown success in attracting high school students to their programs and engaging them in meaningful activities to support their success in school and transition to early adulthood: the After School Safety and Education for Teens, After School Matters, and the After-School Corporation. Emerging from these pioneering efforts are some promising practices and program models that can guide the development of future after-school programs, but not without the help of policymakers and funders, both public and private.     

SCHOOL QUALITY AND RETURNS TO EDUCATION OF U.S. IMMIGRANTS

Using the U.S. labor market as a common point of reference, this article investigates the influence of source country school quality on the returns to education of immigrants. Based on 1980 and 1990 census data, we first estimate country-of-origin specific returns to education. Results reveal that immigrants from Japan and northern Europe receive high returns and immigrants from Central America receive low returns. Next we examine the relationship between school quality measures and these returns. Holding per capita GDP and other factors constant, immigrants from countries with lower pupil-teacher ratios and greater expenditures per pupil earn higher returns to education.)     

Making the ordinary school special

SUMMARY. In recent years there has been considerable debate about how the education service should provide for children with special educational needs. In arguing for keeping such children in mainstream schools the author begins by focusing upon some of the myths which have developed in the field of special education and which may themselves act as barriers to change. Then a number of critical issues are outlined along with some indications of the kinds of changes in policy and practice which might be required if ‘ordinary schools are to become special’. Particular emphasis is placed upon the important, but neglected, area of policy and directions at the LEA level. This article is based upon the book Making the Ordinary School Special by Tony Dessent (Falmer Press, 1987).     

Are Consumption and Government Expenditures Substitutes or Complements? Morishima Elasticity Estimates from the Fourier Flexible Form

This article provides estimates of Morishima elasticities of substitution between private consumption expenditures (nondurable goods, services, and the stock of durable goods) and government expenditures (federal defense expenditures, federal nondefense expenditures, and state and local expenditures), finding consistent evidence that private consumption and government expenditures are net Morishima substitutes. Elasticities of substitution vary over our sample period, estimated elasticities are generally asymmetric, and short-run elasticity estimates differ from unity. In the long run, substitution elasticities remain asymmetric and vary over time. Our estimates are free of arbitrary functional form assumptions that can bias statistical inferences arising from our optimization model.     

Returning to school after marriage: Results for whites and blacks

We investigate the impact of various family background, socioeconomic, and life-course factors on the likelihood of white and black women returning to school after marriage. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, results indicate the following: (a) many married women return to two-year schools rather than four-year schools, (b) blacks are more likely than whites to return to school after marriage, (c) fewer measured predictors are significant in models for blacks and for two-year schools, and (d) changing life-course position affects the likelihood of returning to school.     

Schools uniting neighborhoods: the SUN initiative in Portland, Oregon

The SUN Community Schools Initiative is a community-driven model that allows each school community to design the programs that fit neighborhood needs in Portland, Oregon. County and city governments, local school districts, and community agencies have jointly leveraged resources to support fifty-one community schools. The program is managed by the Multnomah County Department of School and Community Partnerships. The City Parks and Recreation Bureau oversees twelve sites staffed by city employees. Strong support across political systems aligns funding and reduces the fragmentation in existing funding patterns.     

Student commitment and purpose in a private secondary school

Research on public education often concludes that low achievement is partly caused by a lack of student commitment to an educational goal. This study investigates the sense of academic purpose among students in a private secondary school where all graduates go to college, and explores the mechanisms of student commitment built into the social organization of the school. Results show that educational commitment among students develops from intensive face-to-face interaction in a primary community, the sense of history and tradition resulting from continuity in students' educational experiences, and the substantial power students have over their own school lives. These results add qualitative information to the debate over differences between public and private education, and suggest ways to improve public schools.     

Hate at school: victimization and disorder associated with school avoidance

Abstract

Previous research indicates that victimization at school and school disorder are associated with school avoidance. The appearance of hateful words and symbols at schools and verbal hateful attacks at schools are prompting additional concerns about students’ perceived safety. The current study provides evidence that observing and being victimized by hate at school are additional contributors to school avoidance that is enacted over concerns of being attacked at school. This includes avoidance of the school itself as well as specific places at the school such as the school entrance, school cafeteria, and parking lots. Data analyzed from the 2013 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey provide this evidence. The findings point to recommendations for identifying and reducing hate in schools while maintaining efforts to reduce bullying and provide a positive school climate.     

Inclusive education services for children and youth with disabilities: Values,roles and challenges of school leaders

Implementing inclusive education requires significant changes to values, systems, and practices. Hong Kong began to implement the inclusive education policy on the basis of voluntary participation in 1997. The government later launched a school partnership scheme, under which schools with proficient practices in whole-school approach to inclusive education were invited to serve as resource schools to support other schools. Data on what has led school leaders to join the reform under the policy of voluntary participation and how they tackle problems during implementation cannot be located. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study is to uncover the reasons for school leaders' decision to participate in and what they did to facilitate the school wide effort to practice inclusive education, as well as challenges encountered. Key findings included Christianity and Confucianism as the prime reasons for practicing inclusive education, partnership with teachers and a shared vision as the key to successful implementation, and a competitive education system together with inadequate resources and teacher training as the main challenges. Recommendations consist of incorporating value development and building relationships with stakeholders in principal training programs, integrating knowledge and skills for inclusive education into the pre- and in-service teacher training programs, and appropriating resources with increased stability and autonomy.     

Lessons learned about collaborative evaluation using the Capacity for Applying Project Evaluation (CAPE) framework with school and district leaders

Schools, districts, and state-level educational organizations are experiencing a great shift in the way they do the business of education. This shift focuses on accountability, specifically through the expectation of the effective utilization of evaluative-focused efforts to guide and support decisions about educational program implementation. In as much, education leaders need specific guidance and training on how to plan, implement, and use evaluation to critically examine district and school-level initiatives. One specific effort intended to address this need is through the Capacity for Applying Project Evaluation (CAPE) framework. The CAPE framework is composed of three crucial components: a collection of evaluation resources; a professional development model; and a conceptual framework that guides the work to support evaluation planning and implementation in schools and districts. School and district teams serve as active participants in the professional development and ultimately as formative evaluators of their own school or district-level programs by working collaboratively with evaluation experts.The CAPE framework involves the school and district staff in planning and implementing their evaluation. They are the ones deciding what evaluation questions to ask, which instruments to use, what data to collect, and how and to whom results should be reported. Initially this work is done through careful scaffolding by evaluation experts, where supports are slowly pulled away as the educators gain experience and confidence in their knowledge and skills as evaluators. Since CAPE engages all stakeholders in all stages of the evaluation, the philosophical intentions of these efforts to build capacity for formative evaluation strictly aligns with the collaborative evaluation approach.     

A spatial study of teachers’ salaries in Pennsylvania school districts

I explore the relationship among teacher salaries across Pennsylvania school districts. Using techniques developed in spatial econometrics, I find that the error terms in a salary regression are spatially correlated, suggesting evidence of omitted labor market factors. I also find evidence that salaries in nearby, financially similar districts directly influence teacher salaries in a particular district, which is evidence of pattern bargaining or more informal social comparisons across districts. Econometric specifications that ignore these factors overstate the influence of own-district variables, such as economic indicators, on salary. I thank colleagues Linda Babcock and John Engberg for very valuable contributions and for use of their data. Thanks also to Wil Gorr, who helped with some of the GIS aspects of this research. A National Science Foundation grant supported data collection.     

Equity for government school students: Reclaiming social work services in New South Wales

In Australia, school education is largely a state government responsibility, hence there are varying responses across Australia to the welfare needs of school students. The present study explores the basis for the provision of social work services within schools, particularly the special needs of rural schools, and suggests that NSW school students are disadvantaged by not having access to social work services that might help them overcome some of the educational barriers that they face. The nature of educational barriers is examined and literature on the role of school social workers is reviewed. The authors find that the social justice rhetoric of State and Commonwealth educational agencies is incongruent with NSW school practice.     

Lessons learned about collaborative evaluation using the Capacity for Applying Project Evaluation (CAPE) framework with school and district leaders

Schools, districts, and state-level educational organizations are experiencing a great shift in the way they do the business of education. This shift focuses on accountability, specifically through the expectation of the effective utilization of evaluative-focused efforts to guide and support decisions about educational program implementation. In as much, education leaders need specific guidance and training on how to plan, implement, and use evaluation to critically examine district and school-level initiatives. One specific effort intended to address this need is through the Capacity for Applying Project Evaluation (CAPE) framework. The CAPE framework is composed of three crucial components: a collection of evaluation resources; a professional development model; and a conceptual framework that guides the work to support evaluation planning and implementation in schools and districts. School and district teams serve as active participants in the professional development and ultimately as formative evaluators of their own school or district-level programs by working collaboratively with evaluation experts. The CAPE framework involves the school and district staff in planning and implementing their evaluation. They are the ones deciding what evaluation questions to ask, which instruments to use, what data to collect, and how and to whom results should be reported. Initially this work is done through careful scaffolding by evaluation experts, where supports are slowly pulled away as the educators gain experience and confidence in their knowledge and skills as evaluators. Since CAPE engages all stakeholders in all stages of the evaluation, the philosophical intentions of these efforts to build capacity for formative evaluation strictly aligns with the collaborative evaluation approach.     

Net impact of government funding on nonprofit fiscal health: burden or benefit?

This study examines the impact of federal grant awards on the financial health of recipient nonprofits. Although a modest body of research finds that government grants are beneficial to nonprofit fiscal health, a large Urban Institute study (2010, 2013, 2015) found that nonprofit managers receiving government grants consistently report fiscal harm due to awards that do not cover all program costs, late payments, and significant administrative burden. Those findings raise the question of whether government funding leads to net benefits or net harm for organizations given the administrative and fiscal burdens identified. This study tests that question using a large panel of federal grants to estimate the impact of government awards on three measures of nonprofit financial health. We find that government grants promote an increase in nonprofit size, improve operating margins, and increase financial reserves for recipient organizations. These benefits endure after the receipt of the award.