Community Control over Educational Goals and Policy
last updated May 27, 2007
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Some Theoretical Considerations

Read it now:

Lisa William-White (2006), on why schools based on white-middle class norms undermine black achievement

Polly Greenberg (1969) on why poor people need to control their own school boards

Ed Whitfield, Diversity: What Schools Leave Out

Deborah Meier’s Six Alternative Assumptions to high-stakes testing

To Get:

Howard Zinn, A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

William Domhoff, Who Rules America?

Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust

Donald Arnstine, Democracy and the Arts of Schooling

Jean Anyon's , Radical Possibilities

Jonathan Kozol,The Night is Dark and I am Far from Home   Out of print (which is the only reason I refer you to Amazon)

And Practical Applications

In the Classroom:

Curriculum resources for teaching community organizing Teachers' Domain

Ann Berlak and Sekani Moyenda, Taking it Personally: Racism in the Classroom from Kindergarten to College

Nancie Atwell, In the Middle: Writing, Reading, Learning with Adolescents

Outside the Classroom:

1. Education Not Incarceration's 4 Point Plan against pushouts.

2. The story of how the Oakland community almost (again) gained control of its schools. 

3. Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) is self-defined as a multi-racial, anti-racist, grassroots membership organization made up of teachers, students, and parents. Situated in a school district where 90 percent are students of color and 70 percent are low-income, CEJ bases its organizing on the premise that racism and class bias define virtually all public education issues. Their May 2002 demonstration was part of a successful campaign to leading to a LA Board of Education resolution committing resources to a study of alternative assessments to high-stakes testing. This led to the Report from the LA School Board Task Force on Alternaive Assessment. Further campaigning with a coalition of other groups (for example Californians for Justice) led to the first delay of the implementation of the CA High School Exit Exam.

4. Community Schools are based on Five Conditions for Learning

5. Small Schools as promoted by the Coalition of Essential Schools(CES) are based on Ten Common Principles:  1. Learning to use one's mind well   2. Less is More, depth over coverage   3. Goals apply to all students   4. Personalization   5. Student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach   6. Demonstration of mastery   7. A tone of decency and trust   8. Commitment to the entire school   9. Resources dedicated to teaching and learning   10. Democracy and equity