12/11/09 - Trust Program Officer Co-Authors Book on Community Organizing for Better Public Schools

12/11/09

Trust education program officer Kavitha Mediratta co-authored the recently released book, Community Organizing for Stronger Schools: Strategies and Successes, with Seema Shah and Sara McAlister, and published by Harvard Educational Publishing Group.

About the book

In cities across America, community organizations are taking up the cause of public school reform. Their efforts are radically transforming the role of young people, parents, and community members in public education. As the results of their campaigns become more visible, community groups are igniting interest and gaining support among education reform advocates, policy makers, and private foundations.

Drawing on a six-year national study, Community Organizing for Stronger Schools offers a richly textured analysis of community organizing for school reform. The authors examine the role of organizing in building social and political capital and improving educational outcomes for students in some of the nation’s most challenged school districts. They delineate the strategic choices and organizational characteristics that foster successful initiatives and consider how community organizing can support increased civic engagement and sustained educational reform. Finally, they discuss the challenges facing this burgeoning field in a new era of American politics.

Advance praise

“This is a welcome contribution, original and challenging. I don’t believe any previous book has shown so clearly the wide variety of ways organizing can reshape schools. Nor has any book drawn together such an impressive body of data, much of it quantitative and longitudinal, to support claims of organizing’s effectiveness. At a time when much of the national discussion proceeds as if top-down models were the only way to think about reform; this volume offers a much-needed alternative vision.”

—Charles M. Payne, Frank P. Hixon Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago

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