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From forging home-school-community partnerships to obtaining grants, to developing a strategic plan — NCEA's publications will help your schools and communities. Following is a sampling of publications and products available through NCEA.
Community Education and Social Capital
Author: George Kliminski and Eric C. Smith. Recently, the term 'social capital' has re-emerged as a concept that has strong relevance to community educators. As a concept that existed primarily in the world of sociology, social capital adds an important dimension to the theory and practice of Community Education in building partnerships between school and community. This article is published in the Community Education Journal, Vol. XXVII, Nos. 3/4. Download the article here in MS Word or PDF format, and order the full journal for $12.50.
Have You Checked Your Social Capital Lately? The Keystone Project
Author: Eric C. Smith. The idea of social capital says, in effect, "We are working hard and demonstrably to build great schools; please support us with your money." In other words, a reserve of social capital is needed before the public will support education, not after. This article advances the idea that building social capital is the gateway through which financial and human capital is created. It is published in the Community Education Journal, Vol. XXVII, Nos. 3/4. Download the article here in MS Word or PDF format, and order the full journal for $12.50.
The Community Education Cookbook
NCEA's first national cookbook! Includes great recipes from across the country and snippets of community education history for entertaining reading. Compiled by former board members Joyce Kitka, Pam Shelton, and Louise Summers. NCEA members contributed their favorite recipes. $10 each or 3 for $25.
Journey Into Community: Looking Inside the Community Learning Center
by Steve R. Parson
This book provides a roadmap for the journey which begins when a traditional school decides to end its isolation from its community. Community Learning Centers provide teachers, administrators, parents, and community leaders with the tools they need to achieve important educational goals which include:
- high level student performance
- afterschool programs which support student learning and provide enrichment activities in a safe environment
- the acquisition of essential technological skills by both students and members of the community
- expanding leadership opportunities for teachers, students and the community
- unlocking the storehouse of resources in the community to support the education of our youth.
Contents
- Schools Becoming Community Learning Centers
- The Changing View of Teaching
- Classrooms in the Community
- Teacher Leadership
- Partnerships for Student Success
- Collaboration for Improved Service Delivery
- Afterschool Programs Connected to Student Success
- Making Technology Work for Students and Community
- Shared Decision Making, Shared Accountability
- Community Education Foundations
- Resources to Support Community Learning Centers
Author Steve Parson has served as President of the National Community Education Association and is a member of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Training Task Force. At Virginia Tech he has served as an associate dean and a faculty member in the Educational Leadership program.
The book is available from NCEA for $29.95 with $5.00 shipping and handling.
Transforming Schools into Community Learning Centers
by Steve Parson
ISBN: 1-8833001-61-7
This practical new book with a vision of the future of education is by long-time NCEA member Steve Parson. Steve is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Virginia Tech. He also is a consultant and trainer in the fields of community education, educational partnerships, and education reform.
Transforming Schools into Community Learning Centers demonstrates how your school can:
- Provide services to the entire community, not just to school-age children; and
- Develop community resources as an integral part of the school's instructional program.
Further, the book profiles sites at which various components of the vision have already been set in motion. And it provides guidelines for implementation developed from real experiences at real schools.
Published 1999, 180-page paperback, 6" x 9"
$29.95 per copy
Home, School, and Community Partnerships
by Larry E. and Virginia A. Decker
Many Americans worry about what they see as a growing gulf between the American public and its public schools. Troubling trends seem to indicate a fraying relationship among families, schools and communities. Though there is agreement that change needs to occur, there is no agreement on the best way to make that change.
This book will help educators weave some of the best ideas for creating and sustaining family and community engagement into a comprehensive home-school-community partnership program tailored to their own communities.
For educational leaders, teachers, and family and community advocated interested in creating and maintaining home-school-community partnerships and collaborative initiatives.
Published 2002
Single copy: $28.95
10 or more: $24.95
Engaging Families & Communities — pathways to educational success
by Larry E. Decker, Virginia A. Decker & Associates
ISBN 0-930388-19-4
Educational observers worry about what they see as a growing gulf between the American public and its schools. But many public educators across the nation are already implementing ideas and strategies — some simple, some complex — that are making a difference, not only in children's lives, but in the health and well-being of communities. These are the educators who are finding ways to involve families in the education of their children, to keep the "public" in public education, and to secure broad commitment to the concept that it takes a community to educate a child. This book will help educators take some of the best ideas and models for creating and maintaining family and community involvement and weave them into a comprehensive family-school-community involvement program tailored to meet the needs of their own communities. The goal of such an initiative is to help all children succeed academically so that they may live productive lives in healthy communities. This optimistic goal has been has always been a part of the American dream.
Published 2000, 123-page paperback, 8 ½" x 11"
Single copy: $23.95
2–9 copies: $19.95 unavailable
10 or more: $14.95
The "Hard-to-Reach" Parent: Old Challenges, New Insights
by Renee White-Clark and Larry Decker
The popular stereotype of "at risk" families is that the adults are unemployed and the family is on welfare. The truth is that two-thirds of the people on welfare are working: 38 percent of poor families receive no public cash assistance at all. Some poor parents do experience unspeakable hardships, but the faith and determination of many have enabled them to overcome enormous obstacles to achievement. This monograph provides a realistic view of the "hard-to-reach" and gives insights for getting parents involved in the education of their children.
Published 1996, 56-page paperback, 6" x 9" Single copy: $11.95
2–9 copies: $9.95
10 or more: $7.95
School Community Centers: Guidelines for Interagency Planners
by Joseph Ringers, Jr. and Larry E. Decker
ISBN: 0-930388-11-9
This publication brings together ideas, techniques, and designs that have been proven successful by planners of school community centers nationwide. It serves as a step-by-step guide for creating a school community center that will meet the needs of a particular community and help make it a more vibrant, healthy, and desirable place to live.
Published 1995, 96-page paperback, 6" x 9"
Single copy: $14.95
2–9 copies: $12.95
10 or more: $9.95
Rebuilding the Partnership for Public Education
by Larry Kilbourne, Larry E. Decker and Valerie A. Romney
ISBN: 0-930388-10-0
A series of societal crises has weakened our schools and raised troubling questions about their ability to address the challenges that face our society. This publication deals frankly with failures in the traditional family-community-school partnership. The authors describe in detail new practices and programs that are being used in school districts across the country to rebuild the partnership for public education.
Published 1994, 112-page hardback, 6" x 9"
Single copy: $14.95
2–9 copies: $12.95
10 or more: $9.95
Reforming Public Schools through Community Education
by Jack D. Minzey and Clyde E. LeTarte
ISBN: 0-8403-9568-X
Authors Jack Minzey and Clyde LeTarte offer an up-to-date analysis of the status of education today, with a prescription for hope and a method for action through community education. Minzey and LeTarte clearly explain community education in practice and philosophy and show how community education is the framework for creating learning communities called for in virtually every reform effort.
Published 1994, 320-page hardback, 6" x 9"
1–9 copies: $24.95
10+ copies: $19.95
Grantseeking: How to Find a Funder and Write a Winning Proposal
by Larry E. Decker and Virginia A. Decker
ISBN: 0-930388-08-9
Here, in plain English, is a detailed road map of the sequential activities followed by successful grantseekers. The entire grantseeking process — from generating a good idea through identifying the right funder, writing a winning proposal, and administering the grant — is laid out in detail, with models and examples. Both novice and experienced grantseekers find this volume invaluable.
Published 1993, 96-page paperback, 6" x 9"
Single copy: $14.95
2–9 copies: $12.95
10 or more: $9.95
Tools for Schools: Contracting for School-Age Child Care
developed by Project Safe Home
Tools for Schools offers practical, step-by-step suggestions on:
- Soliciting proposals for before- and after-school care;
- Choosing a provider;
- Structuring a contract;
- Monitoring the program; and
- Assuring ongoing quality improvement.
Published 1993, 3-ring binder
$18.50
Shipping and handling included.
Educational Restructuring and the Community Education Process
by Larry E. Decker and Valerie A. Romney
Lifelong learning, school-business partnerships, parent and community involvement, and interagency cooperation all play a role in the community education process. This book shows how these components can be applied to reform activities at the state and local levels. It offers a systematic approach to restructuring schools, enabling them to be facilitating, coordinating centers that can build communities in which learning will flourish.
Published 1992, 144-page paperback, 6" x 9"
Single copy: $9.95
2–9 copies: $7.95
10 or more: $5.95
"I Support Community Education" License Tag Frames
Advertise your support of Community Education with a License Tag Frame! White polytuff with blue lettering.
1-10: $5.00 each
11-49: $4.50 each only 4 left
50 or more: $4.00 each
Ironstone Mugs
English ironstone, 11 0z. white with red and blue school-community logo
1–19: $6.00 each
20–29: $5.50 each
30+: $5.25 each
Community Education Apple Pin
NCEA's goldtone community education apple pin dresses up any suit jacket or blazer and is a great "thank you" for volunteers, advisory board and council members, staff, and other.
1–49 pins: $5.00 each
50+ pins: $4.00 each
Community Education Notecards and Envelopes
Great for brief messages, invitations, thank-yous, and reminders, they will fill all your note-writing needs and call attention to Community Education with its school-community message. Printed in red and blue on crisp white stock, the cards are 5 ½ x 4 ½ and come with matching envelopes. Get your supply today!
12 cards & envelopes packet: $5.00
25 cards & envelopes packet: $10.00
Turn on the Lights! Slider Flashlights
Brighten up your life with this handy Slider flashlight. The sliding cover, complete with Turn on the Lights logo, activates the switch to shed bright light on any subject. The lanyard allows hands-free use. Yellow with black accent trim, the Slider is 4 ¼" x 1 ¾" x 1" and comes individually boxed with two replaceable mercury free AA batteries. A great gift for yourself, colleagues, volunteers, and teachers, the Slider is a perfect way to say "thank you" and promote Community Education.
Slider Flashlight: 1–10: $5.00
11–49: $4.50
50 or more: $4.00
Turn on the Lights! Whistle/Light Key Ring
In keeping with our "lights on" theme, this Whistle/Light Key Ring is an inexpensive but useful gift or giveaway for Community Education Day or other events. The whistle draws attention, the red LED safety light lets you see locks, identify keys, and read key pads. White with the logo in black, this multiple function key ring is 2 ½" x 1" and is powered by two replaceable batteries (included). So, don't stay in the dark. Place your order today!
Whistle/Light Key Ring: 1–10: $3.25
11–49: $3.00
50 or more: $2.50
1 ½ inch Stickers promoting Community Education
New yellow high gloss stickers with Turn on the Lights logo.
(Order in increments of 250; minimum order 250)
250: .08 each ($20.00)
500: .07 each ($35.00)
1000: .06 each ($60.00)
1500: .05 each ($75.00)
I Support Community Education Stickers
People logo in color — red, yellow, blue. 2" round
(Order in increments of 250; minimum order 250)
250: .10 each
1500: .08 each
2000: .07 each
Community Education Insulated Mug
Whether you like it hot or cold, NCEA's thermal mug will keep it that way — without spilling a drop! This attractive 16 oz. Traveling mug, designed to fit in your car drink carrier, is a lustrous pearl blue with a black lid. The Beacon for All Ages logo is printed in white on two sides. In your car, at a meeting, or on your desk, the mug is a great way to call attention to community education. It makes a great gift, too. The traveling mug is available from NCEA only. 1-19 mugs: $6.50 each 20 or more: $5.85 each.
NCEA Publication & Product Return / Refund Policy
The National Community Education Association will only accept publication and product returns within two months of the purchase date (date of invoice). Returns will be refunded less a 15 % restocking charge.
NCEA does not accept returns on unpaid items. Payment must be made within 30 days of invoice.
