Monday's District Improvement Committee LISTENING FORUM is going to inform the direction of the Windsor School System.
Please join the conversation to help support a comprehensive plan for
achieving our district and school goals... we can NOT do it without you!!
Consider the following research that supports community involvement and ownership:
When carrying out a community-based
strategy for impacting the outcomes of our children, there is a need for community members to be included in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of
programming. This will ensure that the community is empowered to "own" the program and sustain the initiative over time. Edwards, et al.,
describe this as collaboration and cooperation (2000).
Collaboration
can be understood as the process through which individuals, groups, and
organizations work together to achieve desired outcomes for the target population
and/or community they serve. (Collaboration
Framework - Addressing Community Capacity: the national Network for
Collaboration http:/crs.uvm.edu/nnco/collab/framework.html). In our district, collaboration is
based on the shared vision to develop the genius in every child and to create life-long learners.
I believe that this
can be achieved through the development of an interdependent system to achieve the goals outlined by the district and the respective schools. An interdependent system, connected through a collaborative process of community investment, is achievable through active
community involvement versus community input (Foster-Fishman, et al., 2001; Harper, et al., 2004).
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Although community input is critical in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of community based initiatives, research supports stakeholder involvement as being an essential component in carrying out community based strategies. This was demonstrated in
the results of Chilenski, et al. (2007), which indicated that greater community involvement, which can be
understood as active participation in community initiatives, is a predictor of
stronger attachment, feelings of initiative, and overall efficacy. When each of these areas are increased
there is an overall strengthening of community readiness and stronger outcomes were observed.
