Getting the Community Hooked

Overview & Synopsis

One of the most powerful predictors of strong community support for schools is the corresponding strength of a school district's community education program, according to research done in Minnesota that assessed the level of support for public education. For a group of Minnesota school leaders who were looking for ways to build better grassroots community support for public schools, the findings of that research affirmed the value of investing in community education to support traditional K-12 programs. In this article, the author describes the various benefits of promoting community education and community engagement. The author also describes several strategies schools can use to engage their communities to support their educational goals and missions.