Mavis Sanders

Child Trends

The full-service community school (FSCS) strategy, an education reform implemented in the United States and internationally, seeks to improve learning by responding holistically to students’ needs. While the literature on FSCSs has grown significantly, research on the role of teachers remains limited. This study expands the current knowledge base t...

Maximum 120 words) As a comprehensive school reform strategy designed to meet the complex needs of students in underserved communities, full-service community schools (FSCSs) have the potential to transform these students' learning experiences and outcomes. To explore the process of transformation at one such school, the authors conducted a mixed m...

Nearly half of the 50 million children and youth in US public schools are of color – 24% Hispanic/Latino, 15% African American/Black, 5% Asian/Pacific Islander, 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 3% two or more races (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2016). In contrast, approximately 85% of teachers are White (Feistritzer, Griffin, &...

The conclusion highlights key findings from the articles in this special issue and their implications for practice in the field. It also discusses the articles' limitations and directions for future research that will further enhance the literature on and practice of FSCSs.

This introduction provides a brief description of the conceptual underpinnings and defining elements of full-service community schools (FSCSs). It also identifies sources of skepticism about the FSCS strategy. The introduction concludes with an overview of the articles included in this special issue on FSCSs, and their collective significance for a...

This article examines the leadership roles and practices of community school coordinators (CSCs) in three full-service community schools (FSCSs). FSCSs are designed to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of historically underserved students through expanded learning opportunities, integrated service provision, family engagement, and co...

This chapter reviews the defining characteristics, professional practices, empirical results, and implementation challenges associated with schools. It describes the main rationale for and characteristics of full‐service community schools. The chapter discusses how the theory of change of full‐service community schools requires different approaches...

Full-service community schools (FSCSs) are designed to provide historically underserved students with more equitable educational experiences. Yet, the literature has given scant attention to how teachers help to fulfill the promise of these schools. Integrating two critical constructs in education—professional capital and culturally relevant and re...

Background/Context Full-service community schools provide comprehensive and coordinated resources and supports to meet the complex needs of children and families in low-income communities. Given their intentional focus on expanded networks of school, family, and community stakeholders, full-service community schools are particularly useful contexts...

Full-service community schools aim to reduce educational inequality by addressing the multifaceted needs of low-income children and youth. Critical to this task is the ability of these schools to generate sufficient social capital to provide students, families, and teachers with essential resources. Using data from a qualitative case study, this ar...

Nearly half of the 50 million children and youth in US public schools are of color – 24% Hispanic/Latino, 15% African American/Black, 5% Asian/Pacific Islander, 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 3% two or more races (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2016). In contrast, approximately 85% of teachers are White (Feistritzer, Griffin, &...

Full-service community schools are viewed as an approach to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for underserved student populations. The realization of these goals, however, is not guaranteed. According to Richardson’s (2009) research-based model of highly effective community schools (HECS), the effectiveness of full-service community sc...

Based on data from a longitudinal multiple case study, this article describes how district-level expectations, policies, and practices affected principals’ responses to an external reform in two school districts, one urban and one suburban. The specific reform highlighted is a comprehensive family and community engagement approach developed by rese...

This study draws from 4 years of qualitative case study data to describe how programmatic and district factors interacted to affect reform sustainability in two school districts—one urban and the other suburban. These districts have been implementing a reform developed by the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) for over a decade. NNPS as...

Purpose: Coburn’s (2003) multidimensional conception of scale includes four interrelated dimensions—depth, sustainability, spread, and ownership—that provide a framework to understand scale at both the school and district levels. This study was conducted to understand how reform leaders in four districts implementing the National Network of Partner...

Forty-nine schools in Baltimore are working with the Fund for Educational Excellence and the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk at Johns Hopkins University to establish comprehensive, permanent programs of partnership with their families and communities. To better understand how these schools are building and improving...

Background Research suggests that schools’ capacity to successfully implement and sustain reform programs may rest, in part, with district-level facilitation. The importance of district leadership has been established for a variety of educational reforms, including school, family, and community partnerships. However, few studies have been conducted...

In 1998, Joyce Epstein and I co-edited a special edition of Childhood Education, entitled “International Perspectives of School, Family, and Community Partnerships” (Sanders & Epstein, 1998). The research articles included in the edition represented 11 nations and demonstrated the importance of partnerships in educational reform and excellence. In...

This article reports findings from a case study of district leadership for school, family and community partnerships in a suburban district in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA. Analyses suggest that the case district's family and community involvement specialist has been successful in using different kinds of data to achieve a variety of goals th...

In this qualitative case study, the author describes (a) how parent liaisons in a diverse suburban district have supported school, family, and community partnerships and (b) the role played by the district family and community involvement specialist. On the basis of analyses of interview, observation, survey, and document data, the author identifie...

Families and schools have traditionally been viewed as the institutions with the greatest effect on the development of children. Communities, however, have received increasing attention for their role in socializing youth and ensuring students' success in a variety of societal domains. School-community partnerships can be defined as the connections...

Community involvement has played a prominent role in the education of African Americans. This involvement has taken a variety of forms and has been essential to African Americans' educational progress and attainment. For example, religious and civic community leaders were central in the struggle for legal access to schools and school desegregation....

This study explores novice teachers’ experiences as team leaders for school-community partnerships. Six focal teachers who were enrolled in an MA program in teacher development and leadership were recruited for the study. The focal teachers volunteered to serve as leaders of a reading-focused community involvement activity as members of their schoo...

This study explores the preparation of future teachers and administrators to conduct school, family, and community partnerships. Based on a sample of 161 schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDE) in the United States, the survey examined not only the courses and content presently offered to prospective educators, but also leaders' pers...

How can we partner with our communities to improve school programs and increase students' success? This current era of high stakes testing, accountability, and shrinking educational budgets demands that schools seek bold and innovative ways to build strong learning environments for all students. Community involvement is a powerful tool in generatin...

The last decade has seen a rise in research on and practices of school, family and community involvement in the education of youth. This trend can be attributed to a number of factors. Low achievement and high dropout rates, especially for poor and marginalized youth, have led educators and social scientists to become more aware of the importance o...

Despite increasing interest in the role of community involvement in school improvement, few studies have examined motivations for, or results of community partnership development in high schools. To fill this gap, the authors conducted case studies of three high schools with successful community partnerships. The authors found that case high school...

This article reviews the current theoretical and empirical literature on community involvement in schools to foster greater understanding of the key concepts, themes, and issues in the field. The article describes differing rationales for community involvement. It also discusses four major forms of school-community partnerships and factors that inf...

This case study describes how one urban elementary school in a high-reform district and state has been able to develop strong connections with community businesses and organizations as Part of its program of school, family, and community partnerships. The case study identifies four factors that allowed the school to build successful bridges to its...

This article identifies key issues, concepts, and strategies that may assist middle school leaders in developing comprehensive and permanent partnership programs as part of their school improvement efforts.

In this article, I examine the role of "community" in school-based programs of school, family, and community partnerships. I offer a working definition of school-community partnerships, discuss the benefits of school-community collaboration, identify gaps in current knowledge in the field, and analyze survey data collected from over 400 schools acr...

The National Network of Partnership Schools was initiated in 1996 to assist schools, districts, and states in developing comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnership as part of their school improvement efforts. Members of the National Network are provided with tools and strategies to implement partnership activities that prom...

Based on interviews with eight administrators, teachers, parents, and community volunteers, this article reports the challenges and progress of two urban middle schools in developing comprehensive, permanent school, family, and community partnerships through the National Network of Partnership Schools. Partnership activities and their effects on th...

In 1996, the National Network of Partnership Schools began working with 202 schools to build comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnerships. During the spring of 1997, all school members joining before December 1996 were asked to complete an end-of-year survey called UPDATE. On the basis of an analysis of 1997 UPDATE data, the...

A survey of educators in 161 U.S. schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) examined the preparation of teachers to work with families and communities. The survey included questions on the demographic characteristics and present course offerings of the SCDE; attitudes and perspectives of the respondents about school, family, and commu...

Provides an overview of the types, challenges, and benefits of school, family, and community partnerships internationally. Discusses six types of involvement essential for a comprehensive program of partnerships in relation to the articles in this focused journal issue. Considers challenges and benefits of these partnerships as illustrated by the a...

Reviews international research and practice regarding parent-school partnerships. Considers factors common to many nations: parents' concern for their children's academic success; the role of partnership programs in parent involvement in education; the need for teacher and administrator training to prepare for partnerships; and the need for policie...

This study explores the effects of teacher, family, and church support on the school-related attitudes, behaviors, and academic achievements of African American urban adolescents. To achieve this objective, 827 students in an urban school district in the Southeastern United States were surveyed. Interviews were conducted with a subset of the resear...

The National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University's Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships was established by researchers to guide schools, districts, and state departments of education to create positive, permanent programs of partnership, to recognize and disseminate their efforts, and to learn from the various...

Previous studies have suggested that in response to occupational and educational discrimination based on race, many African American students have mentally withdrawn from the schooling process, as indicated by low levels of achievement and high levels of school dropout. By contrast, the present study's analysis of interview data collected from 28 A...

Since 1987 schools in Baltimore (Maryland) have been working with the Fund for Educational Excellence and the education research center at Johns Hopkins University to develop comprehensive programs of school-family-community partnerships. To understand better how these schools are building and improving their partnership programs, administrators, t...

This research-based framework of six types of involvement guides state and district leaders, school principals, teachers, parents, and community partners to form Action Teams for Partnerships--dynamic groups that plan, implement, evaluate, and continually improve family and community involvement for student success. This edition offers tools and st...

This instrument is designed to measure how your school is reaching out to involve parents, community members, and students in a meaningful manner. The measure is based on the framework of six types of involvement developed by Epstein (1995). At this time, your school may conduct all, some, or none of the activities or approaches listed. Not every a...

Working with the Fund for Educational Excellence and Johns Hopkins University, schools throughout Baltimore, Maryland, have formed the Baltimore School-Family-Community Partnership Program. Schools participating in this initiative plan and implement partnership activities that target specific school goals, including improved student safety. This ar...

Drawing on J. Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres of influence (1991, 1995), this study explores the effects of teacher, family, and church support on the school-related attitudes, behaviors, and academic achievement of African American, urban adolescents. To achieve this objective, 826 students in an urban school district in the southeastern U...

In Baltimore, Maryland, 49 schools are working with the National Network of Partnership-2000 Schools at Johns Hopkins University to build comprehensive, permanent partnership programs with their families and communities. This article profiles three elementary schools that attribute their success to action teams, six types of family involvement, and...

Based on survey data collected from 375 elementary, middle, and high schools in the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS), this paper identifies dif-ferences and similarities in the development and quality of schools' programs of school, family, and community partnership. Middle schools in the sample were similar to elementary schools in t...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1995. Submitted to the School of Education. Copyright by the author.