High impact practices are evidence-based educational practices that have been shown to increase student learning and raise levels of performance, retention, and success. The circle--commonly known as a discussion circle--is a key high impact practice linked to positive outcomes for urban youth. Circles are effective tools for enhancing communication, promoting emotional support and healing, and encouraging problem-solving and creativity. In High Impact Practices with Urban Youth--Circles at the Center: A Guidebook for Practitioners and Scholar-Activists, Yan Dominic Searcy and Troy Harden provide research-based best practices in an accessible format to bridge the gap between practitioners and researchers who are specifically working to improve the life outcomes of urban youth. Targeted to assist front-line practitioners, program directors, and those training to be practitioners, this book reflects Searcy and Harden's combined over five decades of work with urban youth and imparts high impact practices to influence interventions and program design. Each chapter begins with a brief narrative from a discussion circle, reflective of the authors' interactions with youth or program staff that is germane to a high impact practice. The best youth work combines art and science, emotion and skill. High Impact Practices with Urban Youth effectively blends both to ground the next generation of interventions aimed at improving youth program outcomes whether the programs are targeting juvenile justice, health promotion, education, sports, leadership, or mentoring.

"The interior of the high school was a cruel April Fool's joke. The outside bragged manicured landscaping and a sturdy, three-story exterior supported with a sextet of limestone Greek columns that simultaneously nodded in three directions - the city's celebration of ancient wisdom, the prosperity of the early 20th century, and the promise of the future. But inside captured what is wrong with many urban high schools: poorly maintained cinder block walled hallways and classrooms that tilted toward a correctional facility more so than an instructional facility. There were guards on every floor, a roving police officer, metal detectors at the entrance, and analog loudspeakers crackling orders to students"--

Social studies is a discipline unique to K-12 education and tasked with the preparation of democratic citizens. Social studies educators work with concepts, theories, and ideas from multiple disciplines across the social sciences and humanities, which makes discourse through shared language complex. Specialization in content areas that comprise the social studies can further complicate shared understanding of essential terms. The Language of Social Studies Education offers essential information for key concepts organized to reflect the contemporary context of K-12 social studies education. The concepts found within this volume reflect the breadth of the discipline while also providing the foundational knowledge needed to develop deeper understanding. Each entry is based on multiple sources that invite the reader to pursue their interests through further inquiry. This book will appeal to those who are looking for concise information based on respected scholarship from disciplines across the social studies. Even seasoned social studies practitioners will find its entries helpful for incorporating new concepts, ideas, and approaches into their discourses on citizenship education.

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.

An updated edition of a groundbreaking book on best practices for nonprofits What makes great nonprofits great? In the original book, authors Crutchfield and McLeod Grant employed a rigorous research methodology derived from for-profit books like Built to Last. They studied 12 nonprofits that have achieved extraordinary levels of impact—from Habitat for Humanity to the Heritage Foundation—and distilled six counterintuitive practices that these organizations use to change the world. Features a new introduction that explores the new context in which nonprofits operate and the consequences for these organizations Includes a new chapter on applying the Six Practices to small, local nonprofits, including some examples of these organizations Contains an update on the 12 organizations featured in the original book—how they have fared, what they've learned, and where they are now in their growth trajectory This book has lessons for all readers interested in creating significant social change, including nonprofit managers, donors, and volunteers.