Date of Award
2000
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Educational Leadership
First Advisor
Larry McNeal, Ph.D
Abstract
Parents and other community citizens were empowered in educational change in two Arkansas communities through a process of participative decision making. The study circle, begun at Chautauqua in 1874, proved to be a new communication process for school-to-community relationships. Arkansas Friends for Better Schools, one of two state sponsors of the 1998 'Calling the Roll: Study Circles for Better Schools,' cooperated with Study Circles Resource Center and Southwest Educational Development Laboratory to implement the Study Circles program on education in five Arkansas communities in the fall of 1998. Superintendents and School Boards endorsed the program; community coordinators organized study circle groups; and trained facilitators managed groups that deliberated on national and local school issues. Plans of action developed from discussion and dialogue resulted in school change recommendations. The results indicated a change in community support focused on the needs of the school system and increased awareness by the school district to community concerns.
Recommended Citation
Chesser, Jo Sykes, "The First Statewide Study Circles on Education in America: Participant Perceptions of Study Circles in Two Arkansas Communities" (2000). Theses and Dissertations. 155.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/155
