THE
SCHOOL COMMUNITY
JOURNAL
Spring/Summer 2003
Volume 13, Number 1
ISSN 1059-308X
© 2003 The Academic Development Institute
Business and Editorial Office
The School Community Journal
121 N. Kickapoo Street Lincoln, IL 62656
Phone: 217-732-6462, ext. 30 Fax: 217-732-3696
E-mail: [email protected]
Editorial Policy and Procedure
The School Community Journal is committed to scholarly inquiry, discussion, and reportage of topics related to the community of the school. Manuscripts are considered in three categories: (1)research (original, review, and interpretation), (2) essay and discussion, and (3) reports from the field, including descriptions of programs. The journal follows the format suggested in the Publica-tion Manual of the American Psychological AssociaPublica-tion, Fifth EdiPublica-tion.
Contributors should send two copies of the manuscript; an abstract of no more than 250 words; key word list; a one paragraph description of the author; and a phone number, fax number, and e-mail address where the author can be reached to:
Editor, The School Community Journal
121 N. Kickapoo St. Lincoln, Illinois 62656
Please include a copy of the manuscript on diskette (in Word if possible, APA format with titles italicized) OR send an electronic copy as an e-mail attachment to [email protected]. The cover letter should state that the work is not under simultaneous consideration by other publication sources. Manuscripts will be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
As a refereed journal, all submissions undergo a blind peer review as part of the selection pro-cess. Therefore, please include the author’s description and other identifying information on a separate page and in a separate electronic file.
Subscription to the School Community Journal
The School Community Journal is published twice annually—fall/winter and spring/summer. An individual subscription for one year is $16. Library subscription is $35. Discounts are available for multiple year subscriptions. Single copies are available for $10, including shipping and handling charges. To subscribe, call 217-732-6462, ext. 30, or send mailing information and subscription fee to:
Subscription Office
The School Community Journal
121 N. Kickapoo Street Lincoln, IL 62656
Student and Teacher Perceptions of their Middle
7
and High Schools’ Sense of Community
Laura E. Schulte, Steven Shanahan,
Thomas D. Anderson, and James Sides
Having Their Say: Parents Describe Why and How They Are
35
Engaged in Their Children’s Learning
Karen L. Mapp
Students’ Self-Esteem in an Asian Educational System:
65
The Contribution of Parental Involvement and Parental Investment
Esther Sui-chu Ho
Examining the Underutilization of Involvement in the Schools
85
Alyssa R. Gonzalez-DeHass
and Patricia P. Willems
A University and Community-Based Partnership:
101
After-School Mentoring for Low-Income Youth
Steve Grineski
How Teachers Come to Understand Families
115
Margaret S. Caspe
Challenges in Creating Effective Home-School Partnerships
133
in Adolescence: Promising Paths for Collaboration
Maurice J. Elias, Keli Bryan,
Evanthia N. Patrikakou, and
Roger P. Weissberg
Requests for Manuscripts
The School Community Journal publishes a mix of: (1) research (original, review, and interpretation) (2) essay and discussion, and
(3) reports from the field, including descriptions of programs.
The journal seeks manuscripts from scholars, administrators, teachers, school board members, parents, and others interested in the school as a community. Please see editorial policy on page 2.
Editorial Review Board
Ji-Hi Bae
Ewha Womans University Seoul, Korea
Alison Carr-Chellman Davin Carr-Chellman Penn State University University Park, Pennsylvania Susan DeMoss
Parent
Former School Administrator Norman, Oklahoma
Karen Guskin P.A.T. National Center St. Louis, Missouri Pam Kay University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont Frances Kochan Auburn University
Auburn University, Alabama Pamela Loughner
Training and Development Consultant Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania Oliver Moles
Education Research Analyst Rockville, Maryland
Reatha Owen
Academic Development Institute Lincoln, Illinois
Constance Perry University of Maine Orono, Maine A.Y. “Fred” Ramirez California State University Fullerton, California Cynthia J. Reed
Director, Truman Pierce Institute Auburn, Alabama
Lee Shumow
Northern Illinois University DeKalb, Illinois
Thomas Ryan
Superintendent, District 168 Sauk Village, Illinois
Editor’s Comments
As I looked through the articles in this issue searching for a common thread, the word that came to mind was “relationship.” If we truly want to have an exceptional school community, shouldn’t our focus be on building relationships? Karen Mapp affirms this in our second article, saying, “Many school programs place their emphasis on the programming portion of their family involvement initiative and not the process of building relationships between home and school” (p. 60). This may frustrate those looking for quick fixes and easy answers, but the hard work and time necessary to build relationships has an enormous payoff for everyone connected to our schools, but most importantly, for the students.
In our first article, Laura Schulte and her team put their School Ethical Climate Index to use (see her validation article in our Fall 2002 issue), and found, among other things, that a positive sense of community within a school does affect a range of relationships, including those among students and with teachers. Next, Karen Mapp takes a very interesting look from the parents’ point of view at a school with a high parental involvement rate, despite its low socioeconomic setting. She describes intentional relationship-building efforts by both school staff and parents, which may serve as a model for others in a variety of settings. In our third article, Esther Ho surveys and examines the effect of parent involvement on students’ self-esteem in Hong Kong. The contrast between West-ern students and Asian students is often striking; while the Asians are clearly ahead academically, I wonder if the Western parents and students might be able to offer some advice about relationship-building to bolster self-esteem.
Next, Alyssa Gonzalez and Patricia Willems look at lackluster involvement levels, especially in secondary schools, and offer some positive goals to improve home-school relationships through pre-service and in-service teacher training. In our fifth article, Steve Grineski shares a program report of the very promising relationships forged in his community through a university-community collaboration providing after-school mentoring for at-risk youth. He examines the benefits for each group involved in the program, again highlighting the value of building relationships. Next, Marga-ret Caspe breaks down the process by which teachers come to understand families, providing valu-able information for teachers and teacher educators wishing to increase school outreach and better facilitate constructive teacher-family relationships. Finally, the team of Elias, Bryan, Patrikakou, and Weissberg discusses the sometimes daunting area of adolescent identity formation and the positive effect that intentional, dynamic home-school partnerships can have in this arena.
I think you will find this issue packed with exceptional and practical articles to encourage all of us in our efforts to build strong, positive relationships in the school communities we impact.
Lori Thomas, Editor April, 2003
