The sense of urgency to turn around low-performing schools and ensure all students achieve at high levels has never been greater. The federal law, No Child Left Behind, requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014.

Increasingly, businesses and other partners are stepping up to help. Some have “adopted” an entire school or classroom, providing generous financial support and human resources on an ongoing basis. Others have donated school supplies or completed one-time community service projects at the school. What is significant about the contributions of these businesses is their emphasis on helping students learn. The stakes are high. These students are their future work force.

A partnership between a school and a business can prove beneficial to both partners if the right components are in place.

The Daniels Fund has researched why some school partnerships are more effective than others. This report highlights seven strategies for successful partnerships based on the findings. Researchers reviewed more than 40 Web sites; interviewed nearly 40 educators, business leaders and partnership experts; and conducted focus groups of principals, business representatives and district stakeholders in Denver, Colorado, where the Daniels Fund is headquartered.

School-Business Partnerships: What Works? offers educators, business leaders and administrators practical advice about creating successful and lasting school-business partnerships to improve schools and increase student achievement.

School-Business Partnerships: Seven Strategies for Success

School-business partnerships have been flourishing for more than 30 years. Since the 1970s, partnership programs have evolved from one-sided “Adopt-a-School” efforts to mutually beneficial partnerships that provide advantages to both schools and businesses.

Partnerships offer business leaders and their employees an opportunity to contribute to their community as well as an inside look at today’s schools, which in turn increases their knowledge, understanding and advocacy for public education. Schools and students benefit from additional human and financial resources. Effective programs share common characteristics whether they are in Los Angeles; Denver; or Granite, Utah. These common characteristics are reflected in seven strategies identified by research commissioned by the Daniels Fund.