Public Accountability: School Improvement Efforts Need The Active Involvement of Communities to Succeed

The Philadelphia-based Research for Action and the Chicago-based Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform recently conducted a national study that examines the work of community organizing groups and their education campaigns. Our study suggests that schools benefit when the public has a more robust role in accountability. We demonstrate that when parents, community members, and other stakeholders participate in demanding and developing solutions to the problems of public schools, improvement efforts are more successful. We identified four primary strategies that community organizing groups use for creating public accountability. They are: creating public conversations; monitoring practices, programs, and policies; increasing participation in the political arena; and building joint ownership and a relational culture.