Valley Interfaith and School Reform : : Organizing for Power in South Texas / / Dennis Shirley.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Texas Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Shirley, Dennis,
• Place / Publishing House: Austin : : University of Texas Press, , [2021]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (176 p.)

Can public schools still educate America's children, particularly in poor and working class communities? Many advocates of school reform have called for dismantling public education in favor of market-based models of reform such as privatization and vouchers. By contrast, this pathfinding book explores how community organizing and activism in support of public schools in one of America's most economically disadvantaged regions, the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, has engendered impressive academic results. Dennis Shirley focuses the book around case studies of three schools that have benefited from the reform efforts of a community group called Valley Interfaith, which works to develop community leadership and boost academic achievement. He follows the remarkable efforts of teachers, parents, school administrators, clergy, and community activists to take charge of their schools and their communities and describes the effects of these efforts on students' school performance and testing results. Uniting gritty realism based on extensive field observations with inspiring vignettes of educators and parents creating genuine improvement in their schools and communities, this book demonstrates that public schools can be vital "laboratories of democracy," in which students and their parents learn the arts of civic engagement and the skills necessary for participating in our rapidly changing world. It persuasively argues that the American tradition of neighborhood schools can still serve as a bedrock of community engagement and academic achievement.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- Introduction. Community Organizing in the Rio Grande Valley -- Chapter one. Founding Valley Interfaith: The Origins of a Grassroots Organization -- Chapter two. Parental Engagement at Palmer Elementary School -- Chapter three. Contested Change at Alamo Middle School -- Chapter four. Transforming Sam Houston Elementary School -- Chapter five. The Challenges of Community Organizing and School Reform -- APPENDIX -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX