Designing Community Partnerships to Expand Student Learning: A Toolki

Click to Return to Reading the Toolkit Download customizable resource COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION GROWTH CHART The key to successful collaboration is clear and consistent communication. It is important to discuss logistical concerns as well as philosophical approaches to education and youth development with community partners. These conversations will begin between community partners and the school community partner coordinators, but a successful partnership will also involve students, teachers, and families in these discussions. Here are some techniques for establishing regular and effective communication between schools and community partners. Assess how well your school and its community partners communicate with each other. Respond to each statement using a scale of 0 to 2, where: 0 = a strategy that will be a long-term initiative or is not applicable to your partnerships 1 = a strategy that can be achieved in the next couple of weeks 2 = a strategy that is already in place Collectively, these reflect best practices in communication and collaboration. Whenever possible, community partners and school community partner coordinators should review this chart together. 28

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