Community Organizing and Engagement

In communities around the nation, youth organizing groups are becoming effective and powerful partners in school reform. Youth, as the people who spend each day inside schools and classrooms, have a huge stake in what happens in schools and bring a unique knowledge and perspective to reforms.

VUE 30 full issue

At the request of the Nellie Mae Foundation (NMEF), AISR staff examined the growing body of literature on community organizing to understand how this strategy fits into systemic education reform. The research shows that community organizing for school reform has the potential to create equitable changes in schools and districts, develop innovative education solutions that reflect the knowledge of under-served communities, and build the long-term social capital of under-served communities both to support schools and districts and to hold them accountable for improving achievement.

Full report

Executive summary

Directory of New England organizations

CO&E staff provide research, training, and logistical support to the New York City Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) in New York City, a citywide coalition of parent- and community-led neighborhood collaboratives.

The Center for Education Organizing (CEO) supports and amplifies local and national demands for educational justice in underserved communities. The CEO integrates the expertise of a university-based research center, years of on-the-ground experience supporting education organizing, and our longstanding reputation as a seasoned convener of diverse education stakeholders. 

AISR supports the Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s (NMEF) to help school districts and communities in New England implement, sustain, and build demand for student-centered approaches that foster deeper learning for every student.

Goals

AISR provides support to urban communities in their struggles for school improvement. Through policy research, educational data analysis, training, facilitation, coordination, support for strategy development, and logistical support, we help youth, parent, and community education organizing groups develop sufficient power to improve the quality of education in low-performing school districts.