Evaluating Community Partnerships: Investigating Team Building in a Community Program and School Partnership in Chicago

• In Event: Roundtable Session 90
  In Roundtable Session: Hot-Button Issues in Changing Times

Abstract

Community partnerships are a growing part of inner-city schools (Sanders, 2001). This paper discusses the background of an evaluation of a well-known community program that places groups of young adult volunteers in schools for a year of full-time service being piloted in four public middle and high schools in Chicago, examines the different levels of “team building” in this community partnership with the literature, and offers the results of the further investigation of “team building” theme which emerged from the data analyses from the document review, surveys, observations, and interviews. The findings about the community partnerships in this study suggest that (a) “team building” in the community partnership is important and multifaceted and (b) sustainability is a concern.

Authors

• Holly A. Downs, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

• Korinne Chiu, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

• Amanda Glascott, City Year Chicago

• Carly Siuta, City Year Chicago

• Lauren Fluegge, University of North Carolina - Greensboro