The Unity Project: Creating a Circle of Awareness

In the Unity Project: Creating a Circle of Awareness, authors Rebecca Novick, Amy Fisher, and Lena Ko document the processes and practices of Washington State’s Unity Project. Recognizing that the level of family and community involvement in schooling is a strong predictor of student success or failure, the Unity Project was designed to facilitate strong family/school/community partnerships in order to increase the academic and personal success of historically underachieving students.

In this qualitative study of the project, NWREL staff has documented promising educational strategies and practices throughout the state of Washington, with particular emphasis on the Unity school/family/community partnerships. Interviews, classroom observations, and examination of school documents were used to gather information on the perspectives of school and university personnel, students, families, and community members. Our questions and data gathering addressed such topics as resiliency, family and community involvement, effective literacy practices, cultural continuity, professional development, and, above all, expectations and aspirations for children’s education.

Throughout this report, we include detailed descriptions of promising educational practices in Washington schools, as well as barriers to implementing these practices. In order to provide a format that allows easy access to information by busy practitioners, we have used sidebars to present summaries of promising practices, research, and conversations with selected interviewees. These materials are intended to encourage those involved in designing and implementing home/school/community partnerships and authentic learning experiences to engage in dialogue and reflection—activities essential for thoughtful learning. For more information about the Unity Project please visit the Web Site at the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction: www.k12.wa.us/ [Community Outreach — Unity Project]

This document is available online in PDF format.

To view the Portable Document Format files (PDFs) on this site, download a free Acrobat Reader from Adobe http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

CONTENTS

	The Unity Project: The Complete Document [1040 Kb]
	Title page / Table of Contents [53 Kb]
	Chapter 1: Introduction [42 Kb]
	Chapter 2: A Caring Community of Learners [120 Kb]
	Chapter 3: Professional Development Through Collaborative Inquiry [90 Kb]
	Chapter 4: She Was Just As Smart Being Huy-Yon, But Her.... [157 Kb]
	Chapter 5: Learning To Read And Write [247 Kb]
	Chapter 6: Family/School/Community Partnerships [100 Kb]
	References [83 Kb]
	Appendix A: Assessment of the Current Reality of Washington's Children [27 Kb]
	Appendix B: School Abstracts [101 Kb]
	Appendix C: A Brief History of Major Ethnic Groups in Washington State [41 Kb]
	Appendix D: Multicultural Resources for Educators [31 Kb]

| Products and Publications | Child and Family Program Menu |

---

This document's URL is: Home | Up & Coming | Programs & Projects: Child and Family Program | People | Products & Publications | Topics © 2001 Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory Email Webmaster Tel. 503.275.9500