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

If it takes a village to raise a child, Anne Wescott Dodd and Jean L. Konzal feel that it takes a community to make a school. Not content with the idea of a school being contained within four walls and existing only for a few hours every day, Dodd and Konzal know that a school which looks after the complete child exists far beyond its four walls and for the whole 24 hours in each day. They present a radical democratic vision of the public school where everyone—not just students, teachers and parents—plays a part in shaping our children and, consequently, our future.

A new vision of our public schools that looks beyond their four walls.

Library Journal

Dodd and Konzal, both education professors whose previous book, Making Our High Schools Better, dealt with improving interactions between educators and parents, expand on that sphere of influence by emphasizing the importance of community involvement in the public education partnership. They don't advocate any particular reform measures because they contend that each community must decide for itself what will help its children learn. Instead, they advise teachers, administrators, parents, and tax-paying citizens to seek common ground or work in different ways toward a common purpose. The ten chapters effectively discuss the benefits of a connected involvement, offer suggestions for building a foundation of trust and respect, and detail actual cases in which communities have dealt with educational challenges with varying degrees of success. Several of the case studies resulted in significant academic improvement. Dozens of sidebars feature practical tips and testimonials. Recommended for academic and public libraries.-Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

If it takes a village to raise a child, Anne Wescott Dodd and Jean L. Konzal feel that it takes a community to make a school. Not content with the idea of a school being contained within four walls and existing only for a few hours every day, Dodd and Konzal know that a school which looks after the complete child exists far beyond its four walls and for the whole 24 hours in each day. They present a radical democratic vision of the public school where everyone not just students, teachers and parents plays a part in shaping our children and, consequently, our future. Cites a community's responsibility in fostering an effective public school system, presenting a radical democratic vision that involves every member of a community in shaping its children. Model Ts and outhouses are relies of an American past, but that time seems, to some people, to have been a golden time.