Public Engagement Said To Hold Promise for Schools

By Ann Bradley

Washington

Growing impatience with the pace of education reform has helped to fuel a grassroots movement that holds great promise for improving support for public education, concludes a report issued here last week.

The report by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform is an attempt to map the wide variety of activity around the country that falls under the broad name of "public engagement."

In the past few years, the phenomenon has swept through the education community, as educators and school reformers have concluded that much broader support and involvement will be needed to improve schools fundamentally. At the same time, people have become aware of a disturbing--and in some cases growing--gulf between the public and its schools. ( "Divided We Stand," ...