Service Learning as a Scholarly Pursuit

This chapter will show how one of the top scholars programs at the University of Tennessee incorporates meaningful service-learning into its curriculum. Their model, which includes academic courses, service dialogues, and service, promotes greater scholar engagement in the community and undoubtedly enhances the classroom experiences for its students. Following the practices of many of the earlier movements, the program tries to recognize the valuable resources, the human competence, and the rich cultural legacies in the schools and communities in which they serve. It is a constant and dynamic process of assessment and reflection that will hopefully transform not only the scholars but the communities they serve.

Community Schools

This chapter explores the connection between a school's efforts to engage with parents and community members and the academic achievement of its students. The author examines two case studies from Tennessee- the charter school model within the state-run Achievement School District in Memphis, and the community school model in Knoxville. The chapter begins with an explanation of key terms, followed by an introduction of each case study. Next, the author compares student academic achievement within each educational model, demonstrating that the community schools have achieved greater gains than the charter schools. The author then analyzes survey and interview data from parents and community members to compare each educational model's parental and community engagement efforts. Ultimately, the author concludes that in Tennessee, the community school model has been more effective than the charter school model in improving student academic achievement in large part because of its emphasis on meaningful engagement with parents and community members.

Building the Neighborly Community in the Age of Trump

With no moral compass, the current higher education civic engagement movement has wreaked havoc on inner city communities, especially for low-income people and people of color. This chapter explains why this happened, who it benefits, and why it largely continues unquestioned. A bold new vision is charted for higher education's civic engagement movement that is built upon principles of systems change and a fundamentally reimagined version of cities founded on social justice. Theoretical and practical solutions are also discussed.

Building Capacity to Implement Community Schools

This chapter outlines the importance of capacity-building assistance in implementing the community school strategy with quality; describes and assesses the work of the nation's oldest and largest community school capacity-building organization—the Children's Aid National Center for Community Schools; and positions that work in the context of community school reform efforts nationally and internationally. The chapter provides case studies of capacity-building efforts with three community school initiatives, two in the United States and one in Europe, and also offers a listing and brief description of other engagements from 2012 to 2018.

Community Schools as a Vehicle for Social Justice and Equity

A deficit narrative of academic success in low-performing schools is articulated in cultural norms set by those who fail to understand how poverty and racial inequality manifests through daily interactions, beliefs, and biases. Work to address race and poverty are emotional, complicated, and challenging because the concepts are avoided, minimized, or disputed by a dominant narrative and privileged cultures that oppress students of color. This chapter is not about a study of race or poverty nor does it seek to forward understanding of how race and class intersect. Instead, it focuses on the ways a university has promoted social justice and equity in the development of community schools. This work encompasses: the influence of change through advocacy and policy, issues of school culture and climate, and shared leadership. It recognizes emerging perceptions impacting health, violence, and food security that cause socio/emotional issues not considered when critically addressing issues of race and poverty. Therefore, community schools are a vehicle for social justice and equity.

Community Schools

This closing chapter is about community schools from both local and national perspectives. This chapter adheres to the Penn Concepts that the most important work of Universities is the solving of social problems, and that universities should deal with the universal problems of local communities. The concept of community schools based on Kronick's model of systems theory, collaboration, and prevention is presented. The importance of theory and practice is discussed using the Chicago School of Sociology as an exemplar of the contributions of George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, William I. Thomas, Everett Hughes, and Erving Goffman. These scholars opened the doors to engaged research and set a path that Kronick has followed since 1971.

The Disciplining and Professionalization of Community Engagement

Efforts are underway to professionalize the field of community engagement and to build the discipline of community engagement. This work requires the articulation of the knowledge, skills, values, and ethical standards that distinguish community engagement from related fields. It also requires cross-sector collaboration and communication as well as valuing community engagement in different contexts. This chapter provides an overview of the Master's Program in Community Engagement at Merrimack College and has been written collaboratively by the director of the program and a student in the program. The authors contend that the disciplining and professionalization of community engagement requires the establishment of academic programs and departments which develop and disseminate knowledge. With the disciplining and professionalization of community engagement, the field will be better positioned to prepare community engagement practitioners equipped with the skills and expertise necessary to engage in communities in collaborative, respectful, and responsible ways.

Breaking out of the Ivory Tower

This chapter outlines the author's process of moving from conducting laboratory research to community-based participatory research and her perspectives on the academic cultural barriers to making this shift. She also describes themes across her studies that are characteristic of successful projects and offers suggestions for future directions for clinical psychology that could increase academics' involvement in engaged research. The author also describes some important lessons from these experiences, such as (1) creative collaborations with interdisciplinary partners can lead to meaningful work outside of disciplinary and funding restrictions; (2) community partnerships can be “messy” to conduct, but the payoff in external validity is worth it; and (3) engaged scholarship requires a high level of investment and trust by both researchers and the community partners. However, despite the difficulties in establishing these connections and navigating differing agency structures, the final products can have a much larger impact and reward than carefully-controlled laboratory studies.

Strategic Partnerships for Pre-K-12 Journalism Education

A deep and innovative partnership is being co-created between the Ohio University Scripps Schools of Journalism and its alumni in the Cincinnati area with the Community Learning Center Institute, and the teachers, partners, and students at the Oyler Community Learning Center. This chapter will provide insight and practical lessons for the engagement process and infrastructure that is necessary for the development and sustainability of genuine, lasting, and transformative university–school partnerships.

Action Research, Design Thinking

Narratives of unruly Black children in failing schools often normalize hopelessness at the expense of students. Newer, sometimes silenced voices, however, can produce counter-narratives that can lead to ecological solutions for assisting traumatized students. This is a case study of the transformation of a principal who asked, “What's wrong with these children?” to an advocate whose inquiry shifted to “What happened to these children, and what must we do to help them?” With trauma awareness and behavioral management training for her staff, improvements began. The local school board cut her successes short by changing the lock on her office door on the day before teachers returned for the Fall Semester and informed her that her services were no longer needed. What is the lesson for the consultant?