COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS & STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN FAITH-BASED SCHOOLS

Abstract

Student engagement is a topic of interest among teachers and school leaders. In an era of high-stakes testing and a push to make students prepared for the workforce, teachers are finding ways to increase their student’s level of engagement. One method to increase student engagement is to use community partnerships to help enhance classroom instruction. This can be accomplished through work-based learning, problem-based learning, civic engagement, or service learning. While much research has been conducted on what public schools are doing with community partnerships and student engagement, little research has been conducted on faith-based schools. The goal of this study is to utilize the case study approach on two faith-based schools and see how they are using their community partnerships and whether these are improving student engagement or not. More specifically, this study looks to study the relationship between voluntary and compulsory course and/or program requirements in these schools and how teachers explain the role of their administration in such learning experiences.