Suburban New York School District with Parent Participationjn;Ive Chicago City Schools
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 229 460 UD 022 668 AUTHOR Steinberg, Lois, S.; And Others TITLE Community Environments and Parent Participation [with Appendices]. INSTITUTION National Opinion Research Center, Chicago, Ill. SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington,DC. PUB DATE Jun 20 CONTRACT 400-7J-0005 NOTE 335p.; For related document, see UD 022 669. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Community Characteristics; Comparative Analysis; Decentralization; Elementary Secondary Education; *Parent Associations; *Parent Participation; *Parent School Relationship; Participative Decision Making; *School Community Relationship; *Suburbari Schools; *Urban Schools ABSTRACT This study compares parent participation in suburban New York school district with parent participationJN;ive Chicago city schools. Sectionone provides an overview of the udy, which was based on an examination of externalinnovations (such as laws, court orders, and new programs) that creatednew bases for parents to become involved in edmcational decision makingat the local school level. Section two reviews characteristicsof the suburban school district studied and characteristicsof the school system which appeared to influence parent participation in major issues (budget controversies, school board elections,facilities, school community relations). In sections three throughfive, the history, personnel networks, and social characteristicsof several suburban parent groups are then reconstructed andinteraction settings and resources mobilized by thesegroups are described. rhe remainder of the study focuses on the urban reseAch,'with section six detailing methodological criteria. Sectionsseven and eight compare variations in parent participation levels in the five urban sites, and provide researchers' and communityorganizers' comments regarding the parent participation data. Implicationsof the study's findings for policymakers, administrators, andparents are discussed in section nine.
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