Community and school--United States

Family and community involvement literature reveals that principals play a key role in the success of family and community involvement initiatives. However, there is a paucity of information on specific strategies that principals use to increase involvement. This lack of information applies to schools in general and for schools with diverse populations with low socio-economic status. To help fill these gaps in information this researcher examines differences in communication and action strategies used by principals in, both Title I and non Title I schools, with exemplary family and community involvement programs (as evidenced by their school receiving the FL DOE Five Star School Award) compared to strategies used by principals whose schools did not receive such a distinction. Sixty-one potentially significant communication and action variables are extracted from the literature and grouped into three categories (one-way communication, two-way communication, and action-based communication strategies). Seven null hypotheses addressing the significance of these categories and the potential to develop a predictor model are tested using a specially designed Family and Community Involvement Principal Survey whose content, construct, and validity was subjected to the scrutiny of experts in the field and pilot tested for its reliability. Data was collected in January 2003 from a final sample of fifty-nine Palm Beach County. Florida elementary school principals (an 80% response rate). This data is subjected to a series of factorial Analysis of Variance and Discriminant Analysis, testing the null hypotheses at a .05 level of significance. The analyses identify statistically significant differences in action-based communication variables for Five Star, Title I, and an interaction among Five Star/Title I principals including: (a) planning teacher in-service on involvement, (b) funding involvement programs, (c) creating a Family Resource Center, and (d) encouraging family and community members to participate in shared decision-making. No significant differences were found in one-way or two-way communication variables for Five Star, Title I, or an interaction between Five Star/Title I. Further, the null hypothesis for a predictor model was rejected allowing for identification of key variables in a partnership classification model. Conclusions, recommendations, and implementations are discussed for further research and practical application.

This study examined the effectiveness of citizen participation
strategies occurring most frequently in the administration of educational
programs.
Determining the most frequently occurring citizen participation
strategies required an exhaustive search of case studies noting the frequency
of occurrence of the various strategies. A second search of the
case studies yielded twenty critical criteria or issues which were frequently
mentioned in the selection of a particular citizen participation
strategy. Strategies found to occur most frequently were the public
hearing, advisory committees, organizations and workshops.
A panel of experts was randomly selected from a list of educational
leaders with experience in citizen participation. A questionnaire
was drafted, field tested and then mailed to each expert.
It was found that educational leaders rank the advisory committee
strategy as the most effective strategy followed by the workshop, organizations
and public hearings. Another conclusion reached was that when specific criteria are suggested, the preferred strategy is subject to
change based on the criteria and circunstance of the situation.
The study further revealed that when a specific criteria or issue
is weighted most heavily, the educational leaders identify different
strategies as being most effective for the various circumstances. Differences
in the frequencies of first choice responses within the demographic
categories were also interpreted to be significant by the chi-square
test.