Publications and Reports

CTAC’s reports focus on cutting edge issues in education and community development. Our research and evaluation studies inform practice and guide policy decision-making at local, state and national levels.

Advise and Consent: A Study of Collaborative Decision-Making in Denver

This CTAC evaluation examines the effectiveness of Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM), Denver’s strategy for site-based management and community involvement. The report analyzes and tests the correlation between school-level data, and perceptions of the school community as to the impact of CDM in its major priority areas. The recommendations provide a pathway for strengthening and using CDM as a more effective vehicle for improving educational opportunities for children.

Parents as Partners

This initiative in the Seattle Public Schools focused on results for children of families living in poverty, and non-native English speaking and ethnic minority families. CTAC assessed involvement among a representative sample of parents in the 47,000-student district as well as school and district staff. CTAC then guided a train-the-trainers process to prepare a corps of culturally and linguistically diverse school staff, community organization representatives, and parent instructors to train others across the district and community to assume roles as equal partners in school improvement. The initiative engaged parents and community members speaking nine languages (Amharic, Cambodian, Chinese, English, Lao, Somali, Spanish, Tigrigna, and Vietnamese).