OUP - Abstract

Learning Places: Community Schools in Community Development

Dissertation School: Rutgers University

Abstract:

Community schools are public, primary or secondary schools that expand their educational mission to include an explicit focus on community development. Community schools engage in community building through direct service provision for youth and adults, providing education and training adults as well as students, extending the hours that they are accessible to community residents, and by developing a curriculum rooted in studying community problems, strengths, and identify (Benson and Harkavy 1997; Cortes 1995; Dickson 1981; Gehret 1986). They have comprised a small but important component of public schooling in the United States since the early 1900s. This dissertation examines the relationship between institutional factors in the school and the effectiveness of the school in community development. Institutional factors include formal policy, political and social trends, partnerships, and funding availability. Community development includes work force development for adults and students, local participation in school and other public arenas, and community-based problem identification and solutions. The study will be based on case studies of community schools in Philadelphia, PA, Newark, NJ, and Tucson, AZ.

The primary methodology is interviews with key informants at each site. These include school principals, teachers, and personnel at collaborating or partnering institutions. Partnering institutions include universities, unions, hospitals, and community based organizations involved in service provision, housing, workforce development, and political organizing. Interviews will focus on how changes in public policy and funding trends facilitate or inhibit the development of effective school based community development efforts. Additional information will come from reviews of school documents describing programs, funding applications, and an analysis of recent legislation at district, state, and federal levels that pertain directly or indirectly to community school functioning.

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