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Abstract
What roles do parent and family engagement and community outreach play in educator efforts to improve low-performing urban schools? To address this question, we considered findings from our 3-year case study of Brookdale Elementary (a pseudonym), which was undergoing a state-mandated, district-directed turnaround reform effort from 2011 to 2014. Specifically, we investigated how and why school personnel engaged with and reacted to parents and families, community-based organizations, and the surrounding locale. In the end, the school’s educators encountered complicated obstacles yet generated some tangible victories in their pursuit of productive school, parent/family, and community connections. We conclude by considering implications of our findings.
Keywords urban education, educational reform, school improvement
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Author Biographies
Craig Peck is associate professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is a former high school principal and his research examines principals, urban schools, and educational reform. He has published in journals such as Education Policy Analysis Archives, Teachers College Record, and Urban Education.
Ulrich C. Reitzug is professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His research investigates democratic education and school-based leadership. A former editor of Journal of School Leadership, he has published in American Educational Research Journal, Educational Administration Quarterly, Education and Urban Society, and others.
