Synopses & Reviews
The persistent failure of public schools in low-income neighborhoods, where fully half of the black and Latino students fail to graduate with their peers, has vexed educators for decades. Many people now see these problems as structural and tied to a lack of power held by impoverished communities, but few school reformers know what to do about it. Their strategies for improvement remain largely focused within the four walls of the school.
To forge better connections between schools and communities, A Match on Dry Grass argues that community organizing represents a fresh approach to address educational failure. Based on a comprehensive national study, the book presents richly detailed case studies of six prominent efforts in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, San Jose and the Mississippi Delta to illustrate how organizing groups work to build the participation and leadership of parents and students so they can hold school systems accountable for real improvements. Organizing groups do not just demand change, however, they also collaborate with educators, parents, students, and other residents to take part in the change efforts. Out of the case studies, Warren, Mapp, and their collaborators identify the central processes common to all organizing efforts for school reform to show scholars and educators how community organizing really works and what it means to build meaningful collaborations. Hundreds of such organizing efforts have emerged in recent decades and A Match on Dry Grass explains the principles of this important new movement for educational justice and the steps that make it work.
Review
"Civil rights activists in the 1960s insisted in the face of terror and death that national citizenship granted in the 14th Amendment meant something. That seminal work inspired organizing groups, active agents in an historic and on-going process, to bond with and bridge across racial, faith, gender, immigrant, and youth communities to reshape the narrative about the promise of citizenship. A Match on Dry Grass draws on these organizing traditions in the work to right 'the wrong this day done' in the nation's public schools. All of us doing that work will benefit from reading this book." --Robert Moses, Founder of the Algebra Project
"This is an important book for anyone interested in fundamental and sustainable school reform. Community organizing as described in A Match on Dry Grass creates new relationships, new community leadership, and new political power focused on doing what is right for kids. These are potent sources of support for true systemic change and an essential dimension to transforming our schools for the long haul." --Andrés A. Alonso, Chief Executive Officer, Baltimore City Public Schools
"In a context of top-down school reform preoccupied with changing administrative policies, the stories of bottom-up, community organizing initiatives in A Match on Dry Grass read like a breath of fresh air. Who better to spearhead educational reform than the young people, parents, teachers, and neighborhood residents who are committed to bringing about change in their communities? Simultaneously analytical yet full of practical organizing techniques, this important volume offers a provocative mosaic of not only what is possible, but what people are actually doing. A Match on Dry Grass's on-the-ground view of community organizing for school reform is must reading for those who see how important quality public education is for building a strong democracy." --Patricia Hill Collins, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland
"For too long we have been waiting for Presidents, Governors and other self-declared superheroes to save our schools while overlooking the power and potential of local communities. This detailed study on community organizing for educational change in school districts and communities throughout the United States serves as a poignant lesson to those who are genuinely concerned about promoting educational change and a powerful reminder of what is possible when those with the most at stake take action to compel schools to improve." --Pedro A. Noguera, Professor of Education, New York University
"A Match on Dry Grass locates the problems of public education as residing squarely in unequal power relations in a socially and economically stratified society. The diverse and engaging accounts of successful organizing efforts show that relational power develops where community organizing becomes a way of life without which sustained progressive educational change is neither possible nor desirable. This book is a treasure that I plan to reference again and again." --Angela Valenzuela, Professor of Educational Policy and Planning, University of Texas-Austin, and author of Subtractive Schooling and Leaving Children Behind
"The book should be equally interesting to students of collective behavior and social movements as to education reformers... The book reconnects education to its democratic impulse of improving the life chances of all Americans, which can get lost in the typical school reform talk of raising test scores." --ontemporary Sociology
"Warren and Mapp offer those interested in authentic educational and social change actual glimpses into local, as opposed to more artificial, national efforts to generate school success, especially in low-income areas... The main strength of the book is its honesty in eschewing canned, often failed, approaches to school reform. Instead, Warren and Mapp take a more realistic road toward the creation of a more just, equitable, and real American democracy. Summing Up: Highly recommended." --CHOICE
Review
andldquo;A Shared Future is a very important and exciting book. Wood and Fulton have written a state-of-the-art treatment of the field of faith-based community organizing with a focus on two important developments: local-state-federal organizing and the emergence of a racial equity analysis at the heart of the organizing. These two developments, alongside the provocative yet careful analysis of the authors, make this a critically important book. It will be widely read and debated.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;In A Shared Future, Wood and Fulton bring alive the triumphs and dilemmas of contemporary faith-based community organizing. They describe how vibrant networks of community organizations based in churches, unions, schools, and other community groups have won victories at state and national scales as well as in local communities. Interviews with organizers and a large-scale survey show how these dynamic coalitions have become one of the most ethnically and racially diverse forces in contemporary American politics, retaining a commitment to universal justice while confronting the realities of racialized exclusion. This book offers not only careful evidence and analysis, but also hope that faith-based organizing, grounded in moral commitments that bind a diverse society together, can contribute to the ethical democracy we so badly need.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A Shared Future tackles the crises of our timeandmdash;rising economic inequality, racial injustice, and policy paralysisandmdash;by examining the efforts of faith-based community organizing to create an ethical democracy.andnbsp;This is scholarship at its best, combining empirical research with a vision for the possibility of a shared future within our increasingly multiethnic society.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;This bookandnbsp;is both a distinctive achievement in terms of the comprehensive new data it provides on the evolving field of faith-based community organizing, and a major contribution for those who work at the intersections of religion and politics as well as theory and practice. Wood and Fultonandrsquo;s rich account will be the starting point for the next generation of democratically engaged scholars and thoughtful activists who want to play a role in movements toward a more ethical democracy.andrdquo;
Synopsis
A Match on Dry Grass argues that community organizing represents a fresh approach to address educational failure.
Synopsis
The persistent failure of public schools in low-income neighborhoods, where fully half of black and Latino students fail to graduate with their peers, has vexed educators for decades. A Match on Dry Grass argues that community organizing represents a fresh and promising antidote to educational failure. Based on a comprehensive national study, the book presents rich and compelling case studies of prominent efforts in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, San Jose, and the Mississippi Delta. The authors show how organizing groups work to build the participation and leadership of parents and students so they can hold school systems accountable for real improvements. But organizing groups do not just demand change. They also collaborate with educators and other community residents to contribute to efforts to improve schooling. Out of these six case studies, Warren, Mapp, and their collaborators identify the central processes common to dynamic organizing efforts for school reform, outlining how community organizing builds the kinds of relationships that can transform schools and communities.
Synopsis
The persistent failure of public schooling in low-income communities constitutes one of our nation's most pressing civil rights and social justice issues. Many school reformers recognize that poverty, racism, and a lack of power held by these communities undermine children's education and development, but few know what to do about it.
A Match on Dry Grass argues that community organizing represents a fresh and promising approach to school reform as part of a broader agenda to build power for low-income communities and address the profound social inequalities that affect the education of children. Based on a comprehensive national study, the book presents rich and compelling case studies of prominent organizing efforts in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, San Jose, and the Mississippi Delta. The authors show how organizing groups build the participation and leadership of parents and students so they can become powerful actors in school improvement efforts. They also identify promising ways to overcome divisions and create the collaborations between educators and community residents required for deep and sustainable school reform.
Identifying the key processes that create strong connections between schools and communities, Warren, Mapp, and their collaborators show how community organizing builds powerful relationships that lead to the transformational change necessary to advance educational equity and a robust democracy.
Synopsis
Faith-based community organizers have spent decades working for greater equality in American society, and more recently have become significant players in shaping health care, finance, and immigration reform at the highest levels of government.
In A Shared Future, Richard L. Wood and Brad R. Fulton draw on a new national study of community organizing coalitions and in-depth interviews of key leaders in this field to show how faith-based organizing is creatively navigating the competing aspirations of Americaandrsquo;s universalist and multiculturalist democratic ideals, even as it confronts three demons bedeviling American politics: economic inequality, federal policy paralysis, and racial inequity. With a broad view of the entire field and a distinct empirical focus on the PICO National Network, Wood and Fultonandrsquo;s analysis illuminates the tensions, struggles, and deep rewards that come with pursuing racial equity within a social change organization and in society. Ultimately, A Shared Future offers a vision for how we might build a future that embodies the ethical democracy of the best American dreams.
About the Author
"This is an important book for anyone interested in fundamental and sustainable school reform. Community organizing as described in
A Match On Dry Grass creates new relationships, new community leadership, and new political power focused on doing what is right for kids. These are potent sources of support for true systemic change and an essential dimension to transforming our schools for the long haul."--Andrés A. Alonso, Chief Executive Officer, Baltimore City Public Schools
"For too long we have been waiting for Presidents, Governors and other self-declared superheroes to save our schools while overlooking the power and potential of local communities to exert the kind of constructive pressure that can lead to the sustained transformation of schools. This detailed study on community organizing for educational change in school districts and communities throughout the United States will serve as a poignant lesson to those who are genuinely concerned about promoting educational change and a powerful reminder of what is possible when those who have the most at stake take actions to compel schools to improve."--Pedro A. Noguera, Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, New York University
"In a context of top-down school reform that is preoccupied with changing administrative policies, the stories of bottom-up, community organizing initiatives in A Match on Dry Grass read like a breath of fresh air. Who better to spearhead educational reform in inner cities, barrios and rural areas than the young people, parents, teachers, and neighborhood residents who understand and are committed to bringing about change in their communities? Simultaneously analytical yet full of practical organizing techniques, the case studies in this important volume offer a provocative mosaic of not only what is possible, but what people are actually doing. A Match on Dry Grass's on-the-ground view of community organizing for school reform is must reading for those who see how important quality public education is for building a strong democracy."--Patricia Hill Collins, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: A New Movement for Equity and Justice in Education
Chapter 1. How Community Organizing Works
Chapter 2. "A Match on Dry Grass": Organizing for Great Schools in San Jose
Chapter 3. "An Appetite for Change": Building Relational Cultures for Educational Reform and Civic Engagement in Los Angeles
Chapter 4. "Our Strength is the Power of Our Community": Political Education and the Continuation of the Struggle in Denver
Chapter 5. "Weaving a Tapestry that won't Unravel": The Transformation of Education in the Mississippi Delta
Chapter 6. "Acts of Leadership": Building Powerful Forms of Parent Participation in Chicago
Chapter 7. "Cement between the Bricks": Building Schools and Communities in New York City
Chapter 8. Building Relationships and Power to Transform Communities and Schools
Conclusion: Lessons for School Reform and Democracy-Building
Appendix A: Collaborative Research Process