"Partnerships in Action explores, at multiple levels, a university-school-community partnership in action. The chapters provide rich and dynamic accounts of the activities that make up this partnership, within a context of extreme social inequality. The contributors share an enduring commitment to whole-school improvement. They describe how, through interdisciplinary collaboration, they negotiate the multiple political, social and structural complexities which arise in the coming together of the partners. The book's uniqueness lies in its combination of practical implementation and sound theoretical scholarship from a range of disciplines. Not only does the partnership strengthen the university's commitment to community-engagement, but it offers new insights to all students, stakeholders, academic staff, and social researchers - in universities, education departments and NGOs - with an interest in improving schooling, and building social justice."--Back cover.

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.

Participatory Partnerships for Social Action and Research

Action Research in Practice presents a collection of stories from action research projects in schools and a university. Topics include discussing action research, social research and partnerships in research.

Written by the team undertaking the national evaluation of Health Action Zones, this multidisciplinary book analyses the initiative's development and impact from a variety of perspectives.

The challenges and possibilities for collaborative support partnerships across the range of special needs are thoroughly explored in this practical book based on current research. Case studies are used to illustrate practice that is achievable yet forward thinking drawn from a variety of services and age phases. This book gives guidance for the sharing of practice, and advice for those wishing to embark upon or improve the way in which they work with other people and services.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.