Case Studies in Community Partnership

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Civic cooperation – a joint effort around a common community concern by people and organizations from varied sectors of life – is difficult, but not impossible, to achieve. Two case studies commissioned by the Annenberg Institute's School Communities that Work task force illustrate some of the challenges and successes of civic partnerships in support of standards-based public education reform in urban settings. The studies also analyze factors for success and potential pitfalls, providing a rich set of lessons for future work.


Civic Cooperation in El Paso
Case Studies in Community Partnerships No. 1
This study by Clarence Stone of George Washington University and the University of Maryland documents the mobilization of civic capacity to support education reform by the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Achievement – a partnership housed at the University of Texas at El Paso – and other community partners in El Paso, Texas.

The study describes the partnership's strengths, including its focus on equity and high-quality teaching and learning, the high creidibility of its partners, and the skillful framing that led to shared concerns and unified action. The study also describes the partnership's significant accomplishments in the face of numerous challenges, identifies the obstacles still to be faced, and draws some widely applicable lessons about the keys to successful civic mobilization.
PDF file [15 pages, 462 KB]
Printable text file


A Youth-Development Partnership in San Francisco
Case Studies in Community Partnerships No. 2
This study by Ellen Foley of the Annenberg Institute and Amy J. A. Arbreton and Karen E. Walker of Public/Private Ventures describes the history, organization, successes, and challenges of a civic partnership in San Francisco organized around shared values about youth development.

The study reviews the history of the successful grassroots initiative that guaranteed funding for the city's children, setting the stage for a broadly based youth-services partnership. The study also analyzes the keys to success for the partnership's first project, the San Francisco Beacon Initiative – including careful preparation, a strong theoretical framework, and a high priority on public engagement – and suggests important lessons that can be applied to other cities' efforts.

The experience of this partnership illustrates how a committed, focused, and unified urban community can enhance its children's education and development and how vigilant the community needs to be to meet the continuing challenges of maintaining that achievement.
PDF file [18 pages, 513 KB]
Printable text file