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