Equal Voice and Mutual Benefits - Taylor & Francis Online

Journal of Latinos and Education, 13: 120–133, 2014 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1534-8431 print / 1532-771X online DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2013.821064

Building Strong Community Partnerships: Equal Voice and Mutual Benefits Tammy Oberg De La Garza College of Education Roosevelt University

Lissette Moreno Kuri Logan Square Neighborhood Association

This article explores an urban partnership and service-learning project deliberately created to improve literacy and strengthen learning communities in an urban, Latino neighborhood of Chicago. The project aligns activities and objectives with resources and needs of university participants, a Latino community organization, and local public schools. The needs addressed include (a) improving literacy achievement in Latino students, (b) improving literacy instruction, (c) expanding students’ awareness and engagement with social injustices, and (d) exploring barriers to literacy access in students’ homes and community. This project serves as a model for developing partnerships and outreach between higher education institutions and the community. Key words: community engagement, partnerships, service-learning/outreach, Latino/a, literacy

The Latino population constitutes the largest minority group in the United States and is the fastest growing segment of the school-age population (Fry, 2010). There is an alarming epidemic of Latino youth dropping out of the American school system (Gándara, 2010). More than 67% of Latinos are without a high school diploma by the age of 29, and nearly 50% of Latinos fail to graduate from their public high school each year (Bridgeland, DiLulio, & Morison, 2006; U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). The decision to abandon school is tragic, as dropouts are 8 times more likely to be unemployed, live in poverty, receive public assistance, or go to prison than a person with at least a high school diploma (Buchanan, 2005; Harlow, 2003). The lack of literacy achievement among elementary Latino students is a stumbling block to student success. In 2011, eighth-grade Latino students’ scores on standardized reading measures were closer to those of fourth-grade White students than their own eighth-grade peers (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012). Figure 1 shows the reading achievement gap between White and Latino students over a 20-year period from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2012). Research indicates that students whose home and school lives are well connected are more optimistic about their ability to succeed (Suárez-Orozco & Correspondence should be addressed to Tammy Oberg De La Garza, 8554 West Agatite Avenue, Chicago, IL 60656. E-mail: [email protected]

BUILDING STRONG COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

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Scale Score

NAEP 4th & 8th Grade Reading Scores 285 275 265 255 245 235 225 215 205 195 185

White-8th Hispanic-8th White-4th Hispanic-4th

1992 1994 1998 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 Year

FIGURE 1 Comparison of reading achievement scores for fourth and eighth graders, by ethnicity. NAEP = National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Suárez-Orozco, 1995; Teachman, Paasch, & Carver, 1996). In a survey of recent high school dropouts, 71% of young people felt that one of the keys to keeping students in school was to improve communication between school and home so as to increase parents’ involvement in their child’s education (Bridgeland et al., 2006). Although parent involvement is widely accepted as valuable, most urban schools fail to integrate families into the educational efforts of students (Chavkin & Williams, 1993; Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Schools resist, ignore, avoid, or discount parents’ contribution to their children’s lives at school (Nevin, 2008). Causes for gaps in bridges between the Latino community and educational settings involve miscommunication, failure to work collaboratively, and lack of trust (Cockcroft, 1995; Espinoza-Herold, 2003). Teachers are at the forefront of partnering homes and schools. Research demonstrates that in order to be effective, classroom teachers must possess cultural diversity awareness and sensitivity (C. M. Banks, 2001; Gay, 2000; Irvine, 1992). To attain that goal, teacher education programs need to advance cross-cultural awareness (Nieto, 2000; Wade, 2000); however, beginning teachers often report that coursework in traditional teacher education programs did not help them in dealing with diversity in the classroom (National Comprehensive Center, 2008). Teachers enter the profession with limited understandings of cultural differences and social justice, resulting in schools filled with leaders who are incapable of fostering authentic relationships with the diverse populations they serve (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Sleeter, 1995). This article explores an urban partnership in Chicago that is aimed at developing stronger learning communities through service-learning projects. Roosevelt University College of Education has partnered with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and the public schools, families, and students in the Logan Square community. The founding principle of this partnership is mutuality—the open exchange of ideas and benefits. This partnership intentionally

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honors the experience and knowledge of all parties with equal voice in identifying needs, designing service-learning objectives, interpreting the data, and determining the conclusions of the project.

DETAILS OF THE PROJECT Participants Logan Square is located on the near northwest side of Chicago and has attracted immigrant communities throughout history. Logan Square’s current population of almost 85,000 is predominantly (71%) Latino (NCES, 2005). This blue-collar community struggles with poverty, language barriers, and underperforming public schools. In 2010, less than 55% of third graders at each of the local public schools had attained the Illinois Learning Standards in reading (Chicago Public Schools, 2010). The Logan Square Neighborhood Association is a nonprofit Latino community organization in the Logan Square neighborhood that, as part of its mission, forges solid relationships between the community and public schools. Since 1996, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association has operated a network of after-school community learning centers in the five neighborhood schools. The Logan Square Neighborhood Association delivers comprehensive adult, child, and family literacy services to more than 1,000 families yearly. Adults can attend ESL classes, receive vocational training, or work on their general education development. Their children participate in homework support, physical activities, and academic tutoring that are deliberately linked to classroom instruction through planning with classroom teachers. The success of the centers is attributed to long-term partnerships with other public agencies, administrative support, and volunteers (Warren, Hong, Rubin, & Uy, 2009). Centers are designed and governed through extensive community input. The planning and opening of each site involves parents from each school conducting door-to-door surveys to tailor programming to the community’s priorities. Each center is governed by an advisory board comprising teachers, the principal, parents, and members of the community being served. Roosevelt is a private university located 5 miles southeast of Logan Square in downtown Chicago. The College of Education has approximately 1,400 students, follows a strong tradition of social justice, and cultivates highly skilled educators who are socially conscious and dedicated leaders in their professions and their communities. Parallel to national teacher demographics (82% White, 8% Black, and 6% Hispanic; NCES, 2010), more than 74% of Roosevelt education students are from Caucasian backgrounds and have limited direct experience with racial inequities. A lack of diversity perspective hinders opportunities to recognize and confront social injustices for Roosevelt graduates and citizens everywhere. A nationwide poll of more than 1,200 Americans indicated that the perceptions of Whites and Blacks on racial bias differ in the United States—49% of Black respondents felt that racism was a very serious problem, but only 18% of Whites shared that sentiment (Opinion Research Corporation, 2006). Aversive racism, a contemporary subtle form of prejudice, is estimated to include up to 80% of White Americans who have racist feelings they may not even recognize (Dovidio & Hebl, 2005). Roosevelt takes aim at challenging unexplored student bias, increasing cultural awareness, and examining social injustice by incorporating service-learning into coursework.


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Project Design This work is built on the theoretical foundation of social capital theory. Research in social capital theory suggests that building relationships among people encourages active participation in community and school life and enables individuals to work collectively toward agreed-upon goals (Noguera, 2001; Shirley, 1997; Warren, Thompson, & Saegert, 2001). This project follows a community service model of collaboration (Warren, 2005; Warren et al., 2009) in which servicedelivery organizations partner with public schools to provide a range of after-school programs, evening classes, and health services for children and their families (Dryfoos & Maguire, 2002). To advance the community service model of collaboration, service-learning was incorporated into the project. Service-learning is a teaching methodology that is generally defined as a course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs, and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility. (Bringle & Hatcher, 2009, p. 38)

Gaining recognition in practice and research, service-learning is designed to give equal weight to the service as well as the learning that occurs, and both the service provider and the recipient receive equal benefits from the activity (Furco, 2003). Embedding service-learning into the teacher education curriculum offers the opportunity to orient future teachers to this emancipatory pedagogy (J. Banks, 1997; Gay, 1995), confront issues of social injustice, and build a practice of socially just approaches (Baldwin, Buchanan, & Rudisill, 2007). The community service-learning project described here blends the rich resources of the Logan Square community, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, and Roosevelt University with the needs of each partner: heightening cross-cultural awareness, refining instructional practice, and increasing literacy achievement. Partnerships and Building Trust The initial step involved an introductory meeting during which the university faculty member met the community program director and expressed a desire to support the community project. The faculty member made a deliberate decision to partner with a community organization that was committed to involving families in Latino education programs because it reflected best practice in school change. Initially the faculty member’s offer to help was met with acceptance tinged with a hint of disbelief, and the faculty member frequently faced questions such as “Why are you doing this?” “Where are you from?” and, the most surprising, “What are you?” Reflecting on that last question, although it was unnerving, the Caucasian professor realized that openly answering questions was one way of establishing trust. After establishing a commitment to partner, there was a series of meetings during which the needs of the students, schools, and organizations were identified and explored. Next a flurry of brainstorming meetings, phone conversations, and e-mails resulted in a wide range of proposed activities. Collectively, ideas that were not reciprocally beneficial were discarded, and a schedule of weekly meetings was established to discuss issues, address needs, and provide feedback. After 7 months of planning and discussion, a multidimensional service-learning project was tailored to meet mutually agreed-upon objectives.

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The interwoven web in Figure 2 shows the alignment of partner needs to the service-learning project activities. To expand elementary students’ literacy skills and further develop preservice teachers’ literacy instructional methodology, 17 Roosevelt preservice teachers tutored small groups of 2–3 elementary students in community learning center programs at five schools on a weekly basis. Roosevelt faculty presented two literacy workshops that addressed reading comprehension strategies, vocabulary skills, and research-based methods for teaching English language learners. A total of 59 Logan Square Neighborhood Association tutors and 17 Roosevelt preservice teachers attended the workshops and had the opportunity to exchange ideas about literacy experiences and instruction. Having ready access to a variety of texts in out-of-school settings plays a significant role in students’ academic achievement and successes with literate processes (Mason & Allen, 1986). Students’ ability to verbalize an accurate expression of literate sources does not necessarily represent the types of literacy access opportunities that exist in their homes and communities. Understanding the types of literacy encountered by and accessible to students could help parents,

Re-Evaluate, Plan, & Act

Improve literacy achievement of Latino students

Explore literacy access limitations in the Latino community

Improve pre-service teacher instructional methodology

Service Learning Project

Meetings

Increase pre-service teacher awareness of social injustice

E-Books

Weekly Tutor

Workshops

Improve parent mentor and tutor instruction in literacy

Increase awareness of literacy in homes and community

Literacy Photos

FIGURE 2 Organization web of service-learning project goals and activities.


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teachers, and community organizations better understand and improve the resources that were available to learners. Having a better grasp of the extent of literacy materials in students’ homes would help parent mentors and literacy instructors tailor their instruction to build on and expand home literacy experiences. To increase awareness of the types of literacy resources and activities that were accessible to students, 39 elementary students in Grades 2–8 were given disposable cameras and instructed to take pictures of literacy found in their homes and community. Students brainstormed and discussed their own definitions of literacy, which was grounded in different forms of communication—speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students predominantly related literacy activities to printed text and offered a wide variety of possible examples of literacy sources in their homes and community: words printed on books, magazines and Internet pages, or everyday items like cereal boxes and prescription bottles. Supported by their university tutor, students added captions and text to their photos and created a community literacy e-book. Students would present their e-books to the learning community in their schools at the end of the project. In a parallel project, the university students created their own e-books contrasting photographs of literacy taken in their homes and community with the elementary students’ photographs. This project was designed to increase university students’ awareness of social inequity. This comparison provided opportunities for the university students to explore the extreme differences in literacy access and educational opportunities between Latino students in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood and themselves. Finally, to address the limitations of literacy access in the Logan Square community, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association program coordinators would meet to review the themes identified in the community literacy e-book in order to explore and discuss the differences between the two groups. Designed to produce social change, this critical examination would provide the opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, and community members to cultivate solutions for improving access to literacy materials and eradicate some of the barriers that impede learning opportunities for Latino students. The underlying foundation of this partnership was mutual collaboration. Because all partners stood to benefit a great deal from the project, each was willing to commit resources and demonstrate flexibly in altering the course when presented with obstacles. The Logan Square Neighborhood Association provided funding for site coordinators, resources, and training for parent mentors and tutors. Roosevelt University College of Education provided resources and faculty for the literacy workshops, undergraduate tutors, and research analysis to further secure community learning center funding opportunities for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. The participating public schools shared school building space, student referrals, and administrative support. In the center of everything were parents and their children, who gave their time, effort, and a great willingness to learn. Figure 3 illustrates the commitment of resources made by each of the partners.

MEASURING THE IMPACT OF THE PROJECT With institutional review board approval, anecdotal tools and literacy measures were used to measure how effectively the project addressed the overarching objectives of improving literacy instruction and the literacy skills of Latino elementary students. To measure Latino students’

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Parent training Site security Program funding Site coordinators Volunteer hours Tutoring Mentoring Student support

Building space Student referrals Administrative support

Literacy Workshops Undergraduate tutors Funding for materials Research analysis

FIGURE 3 Partners’ contributions of resources.

achievement levels in reading comprehension, fluency, and word recognition skills, undergraduate students administered leveled 3-Minute Reading Assessments (Padak & Rasinski, 2005a, 2005b) at the beginning and the end of the project. In addition to student achievement levels, changes in Latino student attitudes toward reading were examined using the Garfield Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990). The plan for measuring improvement in literacy instruction relied on informal observations of tutoring sessions, analysis of tutors’ narrative descriptions of tutor sessions, and workshop evaluations. Documenting changes in student thinking about diversity and cultural sensitivity relied on students self-reporting in their journals and on capturing student comments during class time in detailed notes at the end of each class. It is important to note that this project was launched in the fall semester with 17 undergraduate preservice teachers and 39 Latino elementary students in Grades 2–8. FINDINGS Improving Literacy Skills In all, 3-Minute Reading Assessments (Padak & Rasinski, 2005a, 2005b) were administered to 39 students in Grades 2–8 at the start of the fall semester, and 34 students were retested at the


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end of the semester. No significant changes were demonstrated, in large part because of the limited amount of time spent in tutoring. As frequently happens with funding, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association budget for the community learning centers program was delayed for several weeks, and the project started later than anticipated. This delay, coupled with schedule interruptions (unplanned special programs, student illness, etc.) and differing project conclusion dates across sites, contributed to a dramatic decrease in the number of service hours delivered. The elementary students engaged in literacy tutoring between 8 and 12 hr, in sharp contrast to the 20 hr per semester that was planned (2 hr per week for 10 weeks). Elementary students in the tutoring program looked forward to sessions with the university students and frequently compared information about their activities with one another. The children excitedly shared stories they had read and the pictures they had taken with tutors and classroom teachers. To measure change in students’ attitude toward reading at school and home, a pre and post Garfield Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990) was administered. Although there was an increase in students’ scores, the t-test analysis was not statistically significant (p < .09). Figure 4 organizes changes in pre- and posttest student responses to 20 questions (see the Appendix for the survey directions, prompts, and response options). Improving Literacy Instruction Because undergraduate students were scattered across five different school sites and scheduled to serve as tutors on different days, the observations were too inconsistent to provide accurate preand post-project data on instructional practice. Despite that, all of the preservice teachers were informally observed using research-based literacy strategy instruction methodology at the end of the semester. This was a sharp contrast to the reliance on lower level question-and-recall activities that was demonstrated early in the semester. This improvement in practice was corroborated by

Student Garfield Reading Attitude Survey 59 58 Total Score

57 56 55 54 53 52 51 Pre-Test

Post-Test

FIGURE 4 Garfield Elementary Reading Attitude Survey pre- and posttest scores.

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student journals that documented lesson content, methodology, and assessment summaries and reflections for each session. Unexpected and unmeasured instructional changes also emerged from community learning center parent mentors/tutors. Although assessment measures were not in place to accurately capture the degree of impact, the energy and enthusiasm was palpable in classrooms and school lunchrooms where the tutoring, workshops, and interactions took place. After both parent workshops, the tutors were very excited about the training content, expressing increased comfort levels in “approaching students and teaching reading strategies” (post-workshop field notes, 10/1/2010). One parent tutor shared, “I can do these strategies with my kids at home and at school. Teaching reading was such a scary thing before, but now it is not” (post-workshop field notes, 10/22/2010). Appropriate assessment tools will be used in the future to accurately measure the impact of literacy workshops and activities on parent participants. Changes in Thinking about Diversity Analyzing student journals and post-class field notes, two common occasions that prompted expressions of cultural sensitivity expansion were noted: interactions between parent tutors and undergraduate preservice teachers at joint literacy workshops, and conversations with parents at the end of tutoring sessions. Out of the 17 participating university students, 12 articulated a budding awareness of parents’ concerns about academic achievement. From one student’s reflection journal: “I didn’t realize that parents in the community desperately want their children be successful in school but feel powerless to help” (student post-workshop reflection, 10/2/2010). Emerging realizations like this point to flawed assumptions preservice teachers make about the motivation, support, and achievement of culturally diverse people. Examining photographs of literacy taken by children in the Logan Square community uncovered issues of social injustice and equity, as captured in nine of the preservice teachers’ journals and discussions. In a class discussion, one preservice teacher expressed deep concern over the limited amount of printed text that was available to her students (post-class field notes, 11/11/2010).

IMPLICATIONS Service-learning partnerships offer many benefits but are complicated orchestrations of communication, planning, and activities. As with any relationship, partnerships must be frequently reexamined and adjusted to address the changing needs of partners. Mid-year, the partners met to discuss the unanticipated challenges and restructured certain aspects of the project. Some of the changes were going to be put into place immediately into the following semester, and other changes would impact the project next fall. Promising Changes in Literacy—Elementary Students The improvements in elementary literacy achievement and reading attitudes, although limited, are promising. They indicate that positive change is possible in this type of partnership program.


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In order for there to be a stronger impact, elementary students would need to engage in a consistent tutoring program that lasts longer than 10 weeks. Although budget delays could not be predicted, the program was structured to start later in the semester (the first week in October, instead of September) and run for two successive semesters October through April. This adjustment would mean that the Latino students would get as many hours of service as possible. The later start would also give preservice teachers a cushion to reorganize their schedules and develop a more effective literacy instruction practice. The partners believed the adjustments would effectively increase the positive changes in literacy achievement and the reading attitudes of Latino students. Changes in Literacy Instruction Although improvements in literacy instruction were noted, a more consistent method of observation and measurement was needed. It was determined therefore that the program would be conducted on one evening at one site, with 2–3 elementary students per university student. This would enable the faculty member to frequently attend sessions for instructional support and guidance, giving the undergraduate students opportunities to ask questions and receive immediate feedback. Changes in Thinking About Diversity—Preservice Teachers The sharp changes in thinking about diversity are particularly important as the population of Latino students increases dramatically. The public teaching populations remain predominantly Caucasian, and there is much to learn about each other’s cultures in order to develop trust and caring relationships, so that students can be led to higher levels of achievement. Spending time observing lessons also helped the faculty member realize the great need for helping preservice teachers select and use books in lessons that were culturally relevant to Latino students. In the following year, the undergraduate coursework would incorporate demonstrations of language and literacy strategies to use with ESL students with deliberately chosen examples of quality children’s literature.

SUMMARY These positive findings will further the growing acceptance of service-learning as pedagogy in higher education. The promising changes observed in this project will be used to tailor future activities for greater impact on students, instruction, and the community. By sustaining this ongoing work, the relationships between schools, communities, and families will continue to be strengthened and benefitted by activities that are mutually beneficial. This project will continue to address the needs of the partners, sustained by equitable contributions of resources. The faculty member will make the service-learning project a major element of both the fall and spring reading instruction courses so that students can experience a full academic year of literacy instruction development and student literacy achievement growth. The

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Logan Square Neighborhood Association will continue to offer after-school and evening educational programming to children and families in the Logan Square community, and the schools will continue to provide communication with families and space in which to hold the programs. Future goals of this partnership are to extend and expand its reach into the community by involving more College of Education students and course faculty in different areas of education (counseling, educational psychology, etc.) at Roosevelt University. As the program develops, the partners are committed to exploring the impact of this project on the school and its community.

CONCLUSION This project demonstrates how strong partnerships can be formed by students, families, schools, and communities in which each partner has equal voice, receives mutual benefits, and contributes resources in a balanced manner. By uniting the beauty and strength of the Latino culture with the knowledge and craft of budding teachers, this project prepared future educators to be more effective teachers and leaders in Latino communities and equipped Latino students to achieve at higher levels in the academic arena. Creating a climate of trust in which all of the partners had equal voice in expressing needs and receiving equal benefits was essential to creating an atmosphere of democracy and social justice. This balanced approach gave each partner impetus to address challenges as they arose by working harmoniously with the other partners and tapping into the others’ expertise and resources. Developing equity early in the partnership is a valuable investment in the development of a mutually beneficial project. Activities that promote balanced context for efficient tailoring of partnerships to increase impact and success include the following: • • • •

Schedule regular meetings for partners to interact and share ideas, goals, and suggestions. Invite partners to be explicit about mutual needs and benefits. Maintain an equal balance of contributions (time, resources, space, funding). Encourage an atmosphere of exploration and experimentation to focus partners on project strengths and weaknesses. • Develop a variety of tools to measure project effectiveness that are valuable to all partners. • Sustain equality in making conclusions about the project’s impact and future directions. By engaging with one another, more learning communities can tap into the wealth of resources that already exist and tackle problems that might otherwise go unsolved. REFERENCES Baldwin, S., Buchanan, A., & Rudisill, M. (2007). What teacher candidates learned about diversity, social justice, and themselves from service-learning experiences. Journal of Teacher Education, 58(4), 315–327. Banks, C. M. (2001). Becoming a cross-cultural teacher. In C. F. Diaz (Ed.), Multicultural education in the 21st century (pp. 171–183). New York, NY: Addison-Wesley. Banks, J. (1997). Educating citizens in a multicultural society. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Bridgeland, J., DiLulio, J., & Morison, K. (2006). The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. Report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Civic Enterprises, LLC: Washington, DC.


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Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (2009). Innovative practices in service-learning and curricular engagement. New Directions for Higher Education, 147, 37–46. Buchanan, B. (2005). Dropping out, dropping chances: Dropping out comes at high personal cost. Greensboro, NC: News & Record. Chavkin, N. F., & Williams, D. L. (1993). Minority parents and the elementary school: Attitudes and practices. In N. F. Chavkin (Ed.), Families and schools in a pluralistic society (pp. 72–83). Albany: State University of New York Press. Chicago Public Schools. (2010). Illinois school report card. Retrieved from http://www.cps.edu/Schooldata/Pages/ Schooldata.aspx Cockcroft, J. D. (1995). Latinos in the struggle for equal education: The Hispanic experience in the Americas. Danbury, CT: Franklin Watts. Dovidio, J. F., & Hebl, M. R. (2005). Discrimination at the level of the individual: Cognitive and affective factors. In R. L. Dipboye & A. Colella (Eds.), Discrimination at work: The psychological and organizational bases (pp. 11–35). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Dryfoos, J., & Maguire, S. (2002). Inside full-service community schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Espinoza-Herold, M. (2003). Issues in Latino education: Race, school culture, and the politics of academic success. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Fry, R. (2010, May). Hispanics, high school dropouts and the GED. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center. Furco, A. (2003). Service-learning: A balanced approach to experiential education. In Campus Compact (Ed.), Introduction to service-learning toolkit: Resources and readings for faculty (2nd ed., pp. 11–14). Providence, RI: Campus Compact. Gándara, P. (2010). The Latino education crisis. Educational Leadership, 26(2), 24–30. Gay, G. (1995). Curriculum theory and multicultural education. In J. A. Banks & C. A. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 25–43). New York, NY: Macmillan. Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research and practice. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Harlow, C. W. (2003). Education and correctional populations. Bureau of Justice Statistics special report. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice website: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ecp.pdf Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Irvine, J. I. (1992). Making teacher education culturally responsive. In M. E. Dilworth (Ed.), Diversity in teacher education (pp. 779–792). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Ladson-Billings, G. J. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97, 47–68. Mason, J. M., & Allen, J. (1986). A review of emergent literacy with implications for research and practice in reading. Review of Research in Education, 13, 3–47. McKenna, M., & Kear, D. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43, 626–639. National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2012). Trends in academic progress: Reading 1971–2012 / Mathematics 1973–2012. National Center for Education Statistics: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. (2005). The condition of education in brief 2005. Institute of Education Sciences: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. (2010). The condition of education in brief 2010. Institute of Education Sciences: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). The nation’s report card—reading 2011: National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4 and 8 (Publication No. NCES 2012-457). Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences. National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality and Public Agenda. (2008). Lessons learned: New teachers talk about their jobs, challenges and long-range plans (Issue No. 3). Retrieved from http://www.tqsource.org/tqresources. php Nevin, A. (2008). Why are parent partnerships a puzzlement? Educational and Psychological Consultation, 18, 259–263. Nieto, S. (2000). Placing equity front and center: Some thoughts on transforming teacher education for a new century. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(3), 180–187. Noguera, P. (2001). Transforming urban schools through investments in the social capital of parents. In S. Saegert, J. P. Thompson, & M. R. Warren (Eds.), Social capital and poor communities (pp. 189–212). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. Opinion Research Corporation. (2006, December 12). Racism poll: Most Americans see lingering racism—in others. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/12/racism.poll/index.html

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Padak, N., & Rasinski, T. (2005a). 3-Minute Reading Assessments: Word recognition, fluency and comprehension: Grades 1-4. New York, NY: Scholastic. Padak, N., & Rasinski, T. (2005b). 3-Minute Reading Assessments: Word recognition, fluency and comprehension: Grades 5-8. New York, NY: Scholastic. Shirley, D. (1997). Community organizing for urban school reform. Austin: University of Texas Press. Sleeter, C. E. (1995). Reflections on my use of multicultural and critical pedagogy when students are White. In C. E. Sleeter & P. L. McLaren (Eds.), Multicultural education, critical pedagogy, and the polities of difference (pp. 415–437). Albany: State University of New York Press. Suárez-Orozco, C., & Suárez-Orozco, M. (1995). Transformations: Immigration, family life, and achievement motivation among Latino adolescents. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Teachman, J. D., Paasch, K., & Carver, K. (1996). Social capital and dropping out of school early. Journal of Marriage and Family, 58, 773–784. U.S. Census Bureau. (2009). Educational attainment. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/ data/cps/2009/tables.html Wade, R. C. (2000). Service-learning for multicultural teaching competency: Insights from the literature for teacher educators. Equity & Excellence in Education, 33(3), 21–30. Warren, M. R. (2005). Communities and schools: A new view of urban education reform. Harvard Educational Review, 75, 133–173. Warren, M., Hong, S. B., Rubin, C., & Uy, P. (2009). Beyond the bake sale: A community-based relational approach to parent engagement in schools. Teachers College Record, 111, 2209–2254. Warren, M. R., Thompson, J. P., & Saegert, S. (2001). The role of social capital in combating poverty. In S. Saegert, J. P. Thompson, & M. R. Warren (Eds.), Social capital and poor communities (pp. 1–28). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

APPENDIX Garfield Elementary Reading Attitude Survey Response Options

4 points

3 points

2 points

1 point

Survey Instructions: The children were given the 5-page Garfield Elementary Reading Attitude Survey with the following 20 prompts. After each prompt, the four different Garfield responses (above) were depicted. Students were instructed to circle the picture that described how they would feel in each of the following situations: Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

How do you feel when you read a book on a rainy Saturday? How do you feel when you read a book in school during free time? How do you feel about reading for fun at home? How do you feel about getting a book for a present? How do you feel about spending free time reading a book?


6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

How do you feel about starting a new book? How do you feel about reading during summer vacation? How do you feel about reading instead of playing? How do you feel about going to a bookstore? How do you feel about reading different kinds of books? How do you feel when a teacher asks you questions about what you read? How do you feel about reading workbook pages and worksheets? How do you feel about reading in school? How do you feel about reading your school books? How do you feel about learning from a book? How do you feel when it’s time for reading in class? How do you feel about stories you read in reading class? How do you feel when you read out loud in class? How do you feel about using a dictionary? How do you feel about taking a reading test?

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