Hello there, we’re GEEC, the Greater Equity in Early Education and Care: Child, Family, and Community Engaged Research team. We are a research collaborative working with community partners to promote equity in learning and care for children through child, family, and community engaged research.
Within the context of the Model Schools for Inner Cities (MSIC) initiative, what leadership strategies and practices do school administrators use to foster family-school-community partnerships?
Method
Case study techniques were used to investigate leadership strategies in two MSIC schools over time in order to gain in depth understanding of participant experiences. The research is informed by a critical place-based perspective, which emphasizes responding to the unique community context that a school is situated in (Gruenewald, 2003; Haymes, 1995), as well as a critical social justice perspective, which aims to identify and proactively address systemic inequities (Sensoy & Di Angelo, 2012).
Key Takeaways
Based on interviews with school administrators (i.e., principals and vice principals) and focus groups with families, the following seven leadership practices were identified as key to supporting family-school-community partnerships:
To learn more, read the full manuscript here.
Document citation: Cummins, N. & Patel, S. (2025). Leadership and family-school-community partnerships in the Model Schools for Inner Cities initiative. Improving Schools, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/13654802251397190
The 2023 Enhancing Equity in Ontario Elementary Education symposium invited participation by all Ontario district school boards, education stakeholders, and scholars focused on educational equity and human rights. The hybrid symposium included over 300 participants and created space for reflection and sharing of promising practices around equity-based initiatives, in support of enhanced equity for elementary school students.
To promote further mobilization of the ideas and resources that were shared at the symposium, several outputs have been created, including panel summaries and podcasts with transcripts. Podcasts were generated based on panel discussions, conversations that took place at our onsite voicEd Radio Speaker’s Corner and with others post-symposium. Podcast topics include:
For a list of links to all podcasts with transcripts along with panel summaries that have been published thus far, click here.
More forthcoming!
The thirteenth episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Faith-based Equity, is now live!
Hosted by Dr. Sejal Patel, this episode features Elder Joanne Dallaire, Aasiyah Khan, and Leora Schaefer.
In this podcast, participants shared their perspectives on faith-based equity. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
To cite this podcast:
Patel, S. (Host), Dallaire, J. (Guest), Khan, A. (Guest), and Schaefer, L. (Guest). Faith-based equity (No. 13) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Educational Equity Podcast. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/educational-equity-podcast-faith-based-equity–66930515
To listen to the podcast and for more information about each speaker and their work, head to https://www.torontomu.ca/educational-equity-symposium/podcasts-/
The twelfth episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Equity for Students Living in Low Sociodemographic Neighbourhoods, is now live!
Hosted by Dr. Sejal Patel, this episode features Yvonne Kelly, Maria Yau, and Michael Kerr.
In this podcast, participants shared their perspectives on equity for students living in low sociodemographic neighbourhoods. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
To cite this podcast:
Patel, S. (Host), Kelly, Y. (Guest), Kerr, M. (Guest), and Yau, M. (Guest). (2025, July 10). Equity for students living in low sociodemographic neighbourhoods (No. 12) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Educational Equity Podcast. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/educational-equity-podcast-equity-for-students-living-in-low-sociodemographic-neighbourhoods–66930514
To listen to the podcast and for more information about each speaker and their work, head to https://www.torontomu.ca/educational-equity-symposium/podcasts-/
The eleventh episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Equity for Indigenous Students, is now live!
Hosted by Dr. Sejal Patel, this episode features Jodie Williams, Tesa Fiddler, and Dr. Nicole Ineese-Nash.
In this podcast, participants shared their perspectives on equity for Indigenous students. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
To cite this podcast:
Patel, S. (Host), Fiddler, T. (Guest), Ineese-Nash, N. (Guest), and Williams, J. (Guest). (2025, July 10). Equity for Indigenous students (No. 11) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Educational Equity Podcast. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/educational-equity-podcast-equity-for-indigenous-students–66930512
To listen to the podcast and for more information about each speaker and their work, head to https://www.torontomu.ca/educational-equity-symposium/podcasts-/
The tenth episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Equity for 2SLGBTQIA+ Students, is now live!
Hosted by Dr. Sejal Patel, this episode features Ilana David, Malissa Bryan, and Jo Jefferson.
In this podcast, participants shared their perspectives on equity for 2SLGBTQIA+ students. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
To cite this podcast:
Patel, S. (Host), Bryan, M. (Guest), David, I. (Guest), and Jefferson, J. (Guest). (2025, July 10). Equity for 2SLGTBQIA+ students (No. 10) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Educational Equity Podcast. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/educational-equity-podcast-equity-for-2slgtbqia-students–66930511
To listen to the podcast and for more information about each speaker and their work, head to https://www.torontomu.ca/educational-equity-symposium/podcasts-/
The ninth episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Equity for Disabled Students, is now live!
Hosted by Dr. Sejal Patel, this episode features Dr. Maria Karmiris, Luke Reid, and Ingrid Palmer.
In this podcast, participants shared their perspectives on equity for disabled students. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
To cite this podcast:
Patel, S. (Host), Karmiris, M. (Guest), Palmer, I. (Guest), and Reid, L. (Guest). (2025, July 15). Equity for disabled students (No. 9) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Educational Equity Podcast. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/educational-equity-podcast-equity-for-disabled-students–66989026
To listen to the podcast and for more information about each speaker and their work, head to https://www.torontomu.ca/educational-equity-symposium/podcasts-/
The eighth episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Melanin Magic: A Conversation about Black Joy is now live!
Hosted by Jahiem Thomas, this episode features Coleen Dudley, Holidae Robinson, Tiasia Robinson, Dr. Alana Butler, and Dr. Janelle Brady.
In this podcast a panel of Black advocates, students and professors share their lived experiences, insights, and reflections on the meaning and significance of Black Joy in education.
The discussion was guided by the following questions:
Special thanks to Tanitiã Munroe, Research Coordinator, Centre for Excellence for Black Student Achievement and Research & Development, Toronto District School Board for helping us to bring the wonderful youth participants of this podcast together.
To cite this podcast:
Thomas, J. (Host), Brady, J. (Guest), Butler, A. (Guest), Dudley, C. (Guest), Robinson, H. (Guest), and Robinson, T. (Guest). (2025, July 9). Melanin magic: A conversation about Black joy (No. 8) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Educational Equity Podcast. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/melanin-magic-a-conversation-about-black-joy–66918303
To listen to the podcast, access the transcript for this episode, and for more information about each speaker and their work, head to https://www.torontomu.ca/educational-equity-symposium/podcasts-/
The seventh episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Equity for students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) is now live!
Hosted by Dr. Sejal Patel, this episode features Melissa Jean-Baptiste Vajda, Micheline Limoges, Jacqueline Lawrence, and Neethan Shan.
In this podcast, participants shared their perspectives on equity for BIPOC students. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
The sixth episode of the Educational Equity podcast, titled Equity for Black Students, is now live!
Hosted by Dr. Sejal Patel, this episode features Karen Murray, Raquel Walker, Kearie Daniel, and Charline Grant.
In this podcast, participants shared their perspectives on equity for Black students. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
To cite this podcast:
Patel, S. (Host), Daniel, K. (Guest), Grant, C. (Guest), Murray, K. (Guest), and Walker, R. (Guest). (2025, July 3). Equity for Black students (No. 6) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Educational Equity Podcast. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/educational-equity-podcast-equity-for-black-students–66854367
To listen to the podcast, access the transcript for this episode, and for more information about each speaker and their work, head to https://www.torontomu.ca/educational-equity-symposium/podcasts-/
