The Yellow Rabbits

Group Members
Louise Fischer
Charlene Joubert
Carla Roets
Lucia Rossi
 Book Report

Building School-Community
Partnerships
Collaboration for Student Sucess
 The Author’s Main Ideas

Purpose of book

to inform professionals, especially educational

leaders, of nb of building school community
partnerships.

to help them their capacity to incorporate

community partnerships in their school’s
improvement efforts.

∴ Collaboration will lead to student success.

 The Author’s Main Ideas
Author’s perspective on school-comm. partnerships
Community involvement in school NB!
Rationale; help schools cope with at risk youth.
Form; school community partnerships.
common e.g business, university, faith-based
variety
complexity- simple/complex
characterized by distinct factors
encounter obstacles- strategies
funding
address time limitations
communication barriers
 The Author’s Main Ideas
For successful/effective community partnerships in schools, there are
different components;
high-functioning schools- focus is always on school improvement
student-centered learning environments- encourage academic+personal
effective partnerships- implement activities + contribute to collaboration
principal leadership- establish open communication between partners
external support- assistance provided by state + districts
4 simple steps to build school’s capacity for these successful community
partnerships;
start with school priority- identify & discuss
work collaboratively- as a team
be persistent in seeking community partnerships
communicate regularly and widely- all partners involved
 The Author’s Main Ideas
Schools can initiate partnerships in different ways.
There are 5 factors that support a school’s ability to attract, develop
and maintain meaningful comm. partnerships over time;
commitment to students learning
principal leadership
ATP
welcoming school climate
two-way communication
Comm. partnerships promising practices and activities helps schools to
reach important goals.
Practices + activities can be aimed at;
improving reading, mathematical, oral & written communication, etc.
increasing awareness of career opportunities for students
providing community service, after school activities etc.
 The Author’s Main Ideas
Educational leaders need to be prepared for conducting meaningful,
goal-focused community partnerships- workshops
Community partnerships on their own cannot ensure a school’s
effectiveness, but such partnerships are an important strategy
for creating inclusive schools.

possess human + material resources to meet

educational needs of diverse student populations.
 An Evaluation of the Book
This book focuses on;
ways in which schools can improve their capacity to build community
partnerships
information on how to promote development of community partners
types of community partners
the necessary components + activities that aid schools in reaching
important goals
Weaknesses;
the author explains the same concepts in different contexts, this can be
confusing to readers
the book is based on an American perspective and the research was
done in American elementary and high schools, this makes one
question the validity and applicability to the South African context.
Assessment of the Book & Recommendation
Characteristic’s of book
set out in logical, easy to follow manner
new idea’s/points are separated into paragraphs
language usage in book is easy to understand
the chapters are not too long
case studies are included
font in book is not too small
the table of contents relates to the chapters accordingly, and they
flow well into each other.

Characteristic’s of book
colour, pictures + diagrams were kept to a minimum
suggested
improvement
Assessment of the Book & Recommendation
Recommendation
Anyone who wants to gain knowledge about;
community development
community partnerships &
how to sucessfully build school-community partnerships in schools.

Why?
Holds several benefits;
Parents gain knowledge regarding community development +
active partners in the community & school
Educators use strategies in book to improve school setting + include
members of the community in their effort
Members of the community gain an understanding of community
development + community partnerships +
how they work.
Assessment of the Book & Recommendation

Why?
Benefits for ed.psych;
it deals with the school setting + how various community partners can
contribute to improving schools
made aware of strategies and methods that are successful
leads to building + developing on the strengths to develop new ways of
improving learners attitude to school and the community.