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Abstract

Often superintendents and boards of education employ an expert-based, school-centered, “decide and defend” decision making approach when dealing with critical school district issues. In the case presented here, involving what to do with an historic school building, it is an approach that did not yield the result the superintendent or board of education anticipated. This case gives prospective administrators an opportunity to contrast a “decide and defend” approach to decision-making with a community engagement approach. The teaching notes highlight the essential elements of effective community engagement and conclude with a culminating activity that asks students to identify a critical issue in their school district and outline a community engagement plan to address it.

Keywords

community engagement school community relations educational leadership

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And the Survey Says: The Case for Community Engagement

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