http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/20714291

Overcoming Barriers to School Council Effectiveness

This report describes and assesses a year-long effort by the Institute for Responsive Education (ire) to support and evaluate local school advisory councils in five communities around the nation (San Diego, a suburban community in southern California, Fairfield and Calhoun Counties in South Carolina, and Yonkers, New York). An overview of the project's objectives, design, and implementation is provided. Barriers to the effectiveness and strengths and weaknesses of the strategies employed by the ire in the project are reviewed. Four case studies are presented to illustrate the varying processes used by the ire to provide resources and establish relationships between councils and citizens' organizations. These experiences are discussed in terms of local conditions, technical assistance provided, and specific evaluation activities implemented at each site. Based on the case studies, this paper draws conclusions and makes recommendations regarding common problems that various councils have in functioning effectively, and the need to make councils more effective by increasing the collaboration between parents, students, and professional educators. Specific processes or formulas which might be used for attaining this increased collaboration and for resolving particular issues are outlined. Appendices contain samples of the questionnaires used at each site. (Eb).

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