People and organizations that comprise the nonprofit, private, and religious sectors perform tasks and develop processes daily that can be useful in the administration and operations of schools of all sizes. These practitioners and enterprises routinely employ proprietary systems and applications that carry the potential to completely transform how teachers teach and students learn. As more sector participants across the country continue to actively engage their resources and professionals in the hard work of comprehensive school reform, school administrators have found willing and committed partners who possess expertise and assets that can be readily utilized by teaching professionals and students alike. The transferability of organizational assets and the adaptation of the respective sectors’ distinctive competencies to public schooling are expanding the access that teachers and students have to sector-specific tools and resources. By forming workable partnerships and developing smart and strategic plans for integrating compatible practices from each sector into the daily activities of schools, educators are discovering real solutions to a number of longstanding academic challenges.

The nonprofit community’s focus on particular groups and segments of a population underscore how important these social institutions can be as educators struggle to adequately respond to the unique challenges facing some groups of students. Teaching students who learn differently and at different paces continues to be one of the more daunting hurdles for classroom teachers. Developing lesson plans and a full curriculum for students whose learning profiles are wide ranging has proven to be elusive for a large percentage of teaching professionals nationwide. The work of nonprofits which enables them to effectively serve certain demographics and develop programs unique to their circumstances and conditions can be informative and transforming for teachers who teach students representing similar demographics. The greatest strength of nonprofit organizations is their proximity to local communities and their established records of bridging economic and social gaps for underserved segments of a community. Conversely, one of the biggest challenges in K-12 education is the inability of schools to fully understand how to communicate with and educate students who actually come from neighborhoods and communities that are routinely served by nonprofits of all sizes. School officials must take advantage of the expertise and goodwill of these organizations in their local communities.

Private sector firms’ commitment to measurable outcomes and organizational proficiency reflect the kinds of organizational priorities lacking in far too many schools and school districts. School administrators still struggle with how to manage large numbers of students and account for their academic progress over a sustained period of time. To be able to provide a detailed and comprehensive student academic profile for parents would reflect a monumental achievement for any school. A separate reality is that school officials cannot seem to grasp what it means to fully integrate technology into the teaching and learning activities as well as the administrative and operational elements of a school day. School leaders are not able to develop coherent school curriculums, programs, and operations because they are not good managers and do not bring the necessary strategic and operational skills to their jobs. Private companies achieve organizational proficiency because they employ resources and skills in ways that are most effective and efficient in the context of their overarching goals. Many of the same systems and processes that work for multinational firms as they move products and information across continents are transferable to school systems as they attempt to manage large numbers of students across schools. Private enterprises have been successful because they have mastered how to operate and manage volumes of data and services effectively and efficiently. The private sector’s competence in organizational management and coherence as well as systems utilization is the solution to the problems that school administrators are facing as they continue to fail in their efforts to align their human resources with the academic and operational needs of schools. The complaints being voiced by many school officials regarding insufficient time and resources for the demands associated with the higher standards and increased testing can be resolved through the application of measurement and reporting tools that are specifically designed for individual schools. In a number of cities, schools and businesses have already begun to collaborate in ways that allow them to engage each other around school needs and the skills and resources that private businesses possess that are also compatible with K-12 schooling.

Communities of faith have always been integral to the building of healthy and sustainable neighborhoods and communities. Their proximity to families, locally-tailored outreach programs, and ministerial mandates lead to a type of community relevance and prominence that cannot be bolstered by most community institutions. An even greater transformation occurring across the religious sector is the movement toward ministerial programming and support that reflects a whole range of issues and concerns confronting both parishioners and residents in surrounding neighborhoods of all age groups. Communities of faith, like organizations across all sectors, are keenly aware of the state of public schools and the challenges confronting school age youth. Churches across the nation are operating weekday and weekend activities for students that provide academic support and enhancement, cultural enrichment, moral and ethical lessons, adult mentoring, and peer coaching. Most of these programs address areas of youth life that are having negative effects on classroom atmosphere and cannot be addressed during a school day. These nonproductive student behaviors and attitudes must be corrected and resolved if students are to arrive at school doors ready, willing, and able to learn. Communities of faith are responding and assisting classroom teachers in these very difficult areas. Local churches are actually partnering with school administrators to understand the non-academic challenges at schools across age groups and genders. The trust and integrity that many communities of faith represent in local areas reinforce their importance to students and families. Schools would do well to tap into the wisdom and goodwill held by religious institutions in their communities as a means toward building relevant and timely support programs for students who are especially having a hard time in school. As a community, people and organizations of the nonprofit, private, public, and religious sectors can work together to incorporate the strengths and best practices of each sector that are compatible with the uniqueness of American public education.