Archive for Blog

Promise Neighborhood Grant

Congratulations to Adams County on being awarded the only Promise Neighborhood planning grant in Wisconsin!  This is a great opportunity and is reflective of the many hard working and dedicated leaders in that community. It will be an honor to partner with them in this effort… http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/secretary-duncan-announces-seventeen-2012-promise-neighborhoods-winners-school-s

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Scanlan’s new work

My friend and colleague Martin Scanlan from Marquette University has been doing really interesting work on the creation of “Neighborhood Educational Opportunity Zones” (also sometimes referred to as area-based initiatives or ecological reforms).

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cross-sector coordination in the US and beyond

The widespread devastation of Hurricane Sandy provide another clear reminder of how “everyday things” like shelter, food, safety, and transportation can quickly be swept away. Andrew Zolli’s recent book “Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back” sheds some interesting light on how capacity to respond to such events and occurrences can be more purposefully developed.

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Identifying students

The first days of school tend to be the time when many students are identified as homeless and, thus, eligible for services and opportunities afforded by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Beyond this first week, however–when schools are in purposeful, systematic “identification mode,” we need to develop structures for ongoing identification of those who are […]

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Complexities of cross-sector action

Our summer seminar on “Homelessness, Families, and Schools” hosted an engaging conversation with Barabra Poppe, the Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), with one of the central issues of discussion being the need for — and complexities of — cross-sector action in addressing homelessness.

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Guest blogger

Thanks to Bill Tierney and Ronn Hallett for the opportunity to contribute as a guest blogger on “21st Century Scholar” (http://21stcenturyscholar.org/)

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Technocratic vs. Justice Orientations

One of the most interesting and important findings from my research of community-level responses to poverty and homelessness over the past several years relates to the distinctions–and considerable intersections–among and between “technocratic” and “justice” orientations of service.

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Defining homelessness

Attempts to work across sectors to address homelessness have been complicated in years past in part due to different basic definitions of homelessness. Some recent changes from HUD might improve matters…

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Neighborhood effects and education reform

Should neighborhood effects be considered as we attempt to help all children succeed in school? My thoughts and a few reading references:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEiMP5AZTvQ.

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New Course Offering

I’m delighted to announce my new course offering in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis for Fall 2010 entitled ELPA 780: School-Community Relations. ELPA 780 examines theories, purposes, and structures associated with school-community partnerships.

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