Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.

Growing numbers of residents are getting involved with professionals in shaping their local environment, and there is now a powerful range of methods available, from design workshops to electronic maps. The Community Planning Handbook is the essential starting point for all those involved - planners and local authorities, architects and other practitioners, community workers, students and local residents. It features an accessible how-to-do-it style, best practice information on effective methods, and international scope and relevance. Tips, checklists and sample documents help readers to get started quickly, learn from others' experience and to select the approach best suited to their situation. The glossary, bibliography and contact details provide quick access to further information and support.

The purpose of this manual is to articulate the key elements and process for conducting a community assessment to gain information about community needs and resources. It is intended to provide a framework and tools for actively learning about a community's needs and strengths and then setting priorities. The manual covers the following: what a community assessment is; reasons for conducting an assessment; where community assessment fits within the community work process; the pre-assessment phase; core elements for developing a community assessment plan; information collection and analysis methods; establishing community priorities; and reporting the findings. The final section presents an illustrative community assessment scenario. Worksheets are included throughout. The appendix includes Rothman's three models of community organizing and an outline of various methodologies used in assessment.