Strong parent leaders, strong public schools, strong democracy
Murnane and Levy argue that effective educational reform depends on communities first agreeing on the problems they seek to solve, emphasizing collaborative problem-solving and broad stakeholder engagement, like the IAF's broad-based community organizing, as the foundation for preparing students for an evolving workforce.
Case Studies
This case study examines how Austin Interfaith (now Central Texas Interfaith) strengthened public schools by cultivating parent leadership, building relationships among educators and families, and creating lasting partnerships that transformed school culture and student success.
Books | Articles | Essays
Industrial Areas Foundation organizer Ernesto Cortés — alongside Theresa Perry, Robert Moses, Joan Wynne, and Lisa Delpit Imani Perry, and Jeannie Oakes — raise the importance of youth being at the forefront of organizing for civil rights in education and the constitution as a tool for guaranteeing universal quality education. This review praises Quality Education as a Constitutional Right for uniting diverse voices to spark discussion around critical questions in the fight for educational justice, including "What [does] quality education [look like] for students of color?" and "What is quality education, and what will it take to enshrine it as a constitutional right for all young people?"
Documenting Valley Interfaith's education campaigns in South Texas, Shirley demonstrates how broad-based community organizing developed parent leadership, strengthened public accountability, and transformed public schools by building lasting civic power rather than pursuing short-term reforms.
Drawing on case studies from across the country including Texas Industrial Areas Foundation, Shirley demonstrates that durable urban school reform is achieved not only through educational policy but through community organizing that develops parent leadership, strengthens public institutions, and holds school systems accountable.
Research for Action (2002). Strong Neighborhoods, Strong School: Austin Interfaith.
Books | Articles | Essays
Metis and the Metrics of Success I Used to Think...And Now I Think... Edited by Richard Elmore. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press. 2011
Thomas, Gary and Hiatt-Michael, Diana, editors (2001). Promising Practices for Family Involvement in Schools. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Books | Articles | Essays
Marshall, Ray (2001). Improving the Odds: Increasing Opportunities in Austin - Report to the Mayor and Council. Austin Equity Commission. https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/c114d8e3-4fa8-453d-98af-637ee38996d9/content
Orr, Marian (1999). Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore 1986-1998. University Press of Kansas