Publications & resources for educators, researchers, policymakers, and leaders of community-based organizations
Books
Pathways to Community Engagement in Education
Collaboration in Diverse, Urban Neighbourhoods
by Catherine M. Hands
This book takes a comprehensive look at community engagement strategies in education to demonstrate the diverse nature of school-community relations and their value to promote their effective development. The author brings twenty years of experience in various educational settings in Ontario and California to examining community involvement policies and their interpretation, as well as school-community collaboration in practice. Chapters include recent research on school-community collaboration from the perspective of teachers, school district leaders, administrators, and support staff within two school districts in a low-income and culturally diverse urban community. The book also includes perspectives from community members involved in organizations across the city with a mandate to work with youth. In a time where students’ academic, social, and emotional support needs are on the rise, this book offers a valuable resource for strengthening school-community relations and demonstrating the power of collaboration.
Hardcover ISBN978-3-031-33000-1 Published: 25 June 2023
Softcover ISBN978-3-031-33003-2 Due: 07 October 2023
Including Families and Communities in Urban Education
Edited by Catherine M. Hands & Lea Hubbard
The work of school, family and community partnerships is complex and messy and demands a thoughtful and deep investigation. Currently, parent and community involvement does not draw on school reform and educational change literature and conversely the school change literature often ignores the crucial role that communities play in educational reform. This edited volume focuses on structural considerations regarding education and the school communities, school-level and family culture, and the interrelationships between the agency and actions of school personnel, family members, community citizens and students. This book extends the dialogue on school reform by looking at parent and community engagement initiatives as part of the school reform literature. The contributors illustrate the negative impact on students and their education when assumptions made by school personnel regarding the organization of education, the nature of families, and the contributions they should make to their children’s education are not challenged.
Information Age Publishing, Catherine Hands, et al. | Apr 1 2011
Book Review
Praise for Pathways to Community Engagement in Education
Badgett, Kevin (2024). Pathways to Strengthen School and Community Collaboration: A Book Review
Articles & Book Chapters
School-Community Relations, Leadership and Policy
Hands, C. M. (2023). School-community collaboration: Insights from two decades of partnership development. In B. Cleveland, P. Chandler, J. Clinton, I. McShane & S. Stackhouse (Eds.), Schools as community hubs: Building ‘more than a school’ for community benefit (pp. 31-43). New York: Springer.
Hands, C. M., Julien, K., & Scott, K. (2019). Reading the map and charting the course: Educational leaders’ role in interpreting policy and implementing practices around community involvement. In T. Turner-Vorbeck & S. B. Sheldon (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of family, school, community partnerships in education (pp. 561-585). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Hands, C. M. (2014). Connecting to the world beyond the school: The social contexts that influence school leaders’ school-community partnering. Journal of Educational Administration and Foundations, 24(1), 41-56. Published April 2015.
Hands, C. (2014). Creating links between the school and the community beyond its walls: What teachers and principals do to develop and lead school-community partnerships. Teaching & Learning, 9(1), 1-15.
Hands, C. M. (2011). Fostering collaboration: The teacher leaders who cultivate school-community partnerships and the social contexts that influence liaising. In S. Auerbach (Ed.), School leadership for authentic family and community partnerships: Research perspectives for transforming practice (pp. 173-192). New York: Routledge.
Hands, C. M. (2010). Why collaborate? The differing reasons for secondary school educators’ establishment of school-community partnerships. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 21(2), 189-207.
Hands, C. M. (2009). Architect, advocate, coach and conciliator: The multiple roles of school leaders in the establishment of school-community partnerships and the impact of social context. In K. Anderson (Ed.), The leadership compendium: Emerging scholars in Canadian educational leadership (pp. 193-213). Fredericton, NB: Atlantic Centre for Educational Administration and Leadership.
Hands, C. M. (2009). The evolution of trust relationships in school-community partnership development: From calculated risk-taking to unconditional faith. In L. Shumow (Ed.), Promising practices for family and community involvement during high school (pp. 53-69). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Hands, C. (2008). Circles of influence: The role of school-community partnerships in secondary school students’ character formation and citizenship. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 54(1), 50-64.
Hands, C. M. (2006). Seeing the glass as half full: Meeting the needs of underprivileged students through school-community partnerships. In D. E. Armstrong & B. J. McMahon (Eds.), Inclusion in urban educational environments: Addressing issues of diversity, equity, and social justice (pp. 71-90). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Hands, C. (2005). It’s who you know and what you know: The process of creating partnerships between schools and communities. The School Community Journal, 15(2), 63-84.
Family Engagement in Education and Governance
Hands, C., Kurucz, E., Spencer-Mueller, E. K., Gudz, N., & Archer, K. (2025). Beyond school newsletters and memos: Family engagement in planning, developing, and delivering an innovative STEM program. Education Sciences, 15(6), 665. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060665
Hands, C. (2014). Somewhere between a possibility and a pipe dream: District-level leadership that promotes family inclusion and engagement in education. The Journal of Family Diversity in Education, 1(2), 88-111.
Hands, C. M. (2014). Youth perspectives on community collaboration: Are students innovative developers, active participants, or passive observers of collaborative activities? The School Community Journal, 24(1), 69-97.
Hands, C. M. (2013). Including all families in education: School district-level efforts to promote parent engagement in Ontario, Canada. Teaching Education, 24(2), 134-149.
Hands, C. M. (2012). Possibilities for parent participation: Including all families in their children’s education. Teaching & Learning, 7(2), 41-62.
Hands, C. M., & Hubbard, L. (2011). An overview of family and community inclusion in urban education. In C. M. Hands & L. Hubbard (Eds.), Including families and communities in urban education (pp. 1-14). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Hands, C. M., & Hubbard, L. (2011). Culminating remarks on family and community inclusion in urban education. In C. M. Hands & L. Hubbard (Eds.), Including families and communities in urban education (pp. 303-311). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Hubbard, L., & Hands, C. M. (2011). Organizational structures that challenge family and community inclusion in an urban charter school. In C. M. Hands & L. Hubbard (Eds.), Including families and communities in urban education (pp. 41-68). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Hands, C. M. (2010). Parent engagement in school decision-making and governance. In D. Hiatt-Michael (Ed.), Promising practices to support family involvement in schools (pp. 97-127). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Hiatt-Michael, D. B., & Hands, C. M. (2010). Family involvement policy, research and practice. In D. Hiatt-Michael (Ed.), Promising practices to support family involvement in schools (pp. 1-8). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Equitable Education and School Communities
Winters, K-L., Hands, C. M., & Obradović-Ratković, S., & Burgess, J. (2023). Chapter 18 The arts cure: Innovating equitable education and research during and after the pandemic. In B. W. Andrews (Ed.), Arts education: A global affair (pp. 294-312). Boston, MA: Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004685253_018
Obradović-Ratković, S., Winters, K. L., Hands, C., Woloshyn, V., & Beres, J. (2021). Teaching, researching, and community building across virtual platforms: Narratives from the field. In D. R. Andron (Ed.), International online teaching experiences: Good practices webinar (pp. 5-22). Lucian Blaga University Publishing House. Available electronically at https://centers.ulbsibiu.ro/ccap/publicatii/
Hands, C. M., & Freckelton, K. R. (2019). A perfect storm for leading equity and inclusion: The complexities of policy development, varied student and adult learning needs, and cultures that don’t support them. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy – Special Issue, 190, 6-17.
Ratković, S., Armstrong, D. E., & Hands, C. (2013). Editorial: Teaching & Learning special issue on equity, engagement, teaching and learning: Imagining and building a culturally inclusive learning community. Teaching & Learning, 7(3), i-ix.
Armstrong, D. E., Ratković, S., & Hands, C. (2012). Editorial: Teaching & Learning special issue on equity, and engagement. Teaching & Learning, 7(2), i-vii.
Hands, C. M. (2003). Creating community: A real possibility for schools in culturally diverse societies. Leading & Managing, 9(2), 123-128.
Hands, C. M., & Begley, P. T. (2003). Building community through collaboration. Issue introduction. Leading & Managing, 9(2), vi-ix.
Higher Education and Student Mental Health
Smith, K., & Hands, C. (2022). Roadmaps of mental health: An environmental scan of mental health policies and strategies in Ontario Universities. In S. Obradović-Ratković, M. Bajovic, A. P. Sen, V. Woloshyn & M. Savage (Eds.), Supporting student and faculty wellbeing in graduate education: Teaching, learning, policy, and praxis (pp. 120-136). NY: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003268185-9
Woloshyn, V., Savage, M. J., Radković, S., Hands, C., & Martinovic, D. (2019, November). Exploring professors’ experiences supporting graduate student well-being in faculties of education. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Special Issue: The role of mentoring and coaching in supporting the well-being of educators, 8(4), 397-411.
Professional Learning Communities and Mentoring Leaders
Hands, C. M., Armstrong, D. E., & Mitchell, C. (2020). Collaborative learning and knowledge-sharing: The potential of new administrator networks and mentoring programs. In B. J. Irby, J. N. Boswell, L. J. Searby, F. Kochan, R. Garza & N. Abdelrahman (Eds.), Wiley international handbook of mentoring (pp. 205-222). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
Mitchell, C., Armstrong, D. E., & Hands, C. M. (2017). “Oh is that my job?”: Role vulnerability in the vice-principalship. International Studies in Educational Administration, 45(1), 3-18.
Hands, C., Guzar, K., & Rodrigue, A. (2015). The art and science of leadership in learning environments: Facilitating a professional learning community across districts. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 61(2),
Educational Change
Spencer-Mueller, E. K., Kurucz, E., Hands, C., Gudz, N., & Archer, K. (2025). Co-creating a better world with collaborators: A design lab approach to transforming education. The School Community Journal, 35(1), 169-194. doi: https://www.adi.org/journal/SS2025/Spencer-MuellerEtAl.pdf
Kurucz, E., Spencer-Mueller, E. K., Hands, C., Gudz, N., & Archer, K. (2025). Co-constructing educational innovations for an uncertain future: Design thinking and developmental evaluation in the school reform process. Evaluation and Program Planning. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2025.102559
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“Her visionary outlook impacted me positively and helped me carry a sense of purpose into my workplace. She helped me grow with humanity, to think globally, to challenge existing schools of thought and to critically think and reflect on those aspects within society that continue to oppress those marginalized within society.”
Suzanne R-C, sustainability expert and former student
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