Engaging citizens in shaping the institutions that serve them is, of course, not new. Its roots stretch to the foundations of our democracy. It is well developed in the movements that go by such names as community revitalization and community organizing. What is new is the increasing use of engagement techniques for public education.

The fundamental purpose of any public engagement initiative is to channel a community's concern, apathy, or anger into informed and constructive action. It calls upon citizens to reinvest in their public institutions - not only their money, but their time, energy and commitment as well. Three broad characteristics are common to this widely used strategy for achieving social change:

• Public engagement actively and intentionally seeks to involve citizens from all segments of a community.

• Public engagement works for changes that will improve the life of the local community.

• Public engagement builds, informs and deepens local conversations around issues with the aim of developing broad support and consensus for action.

Public engagement for public education sits squarely in the context of this strategy for civic reinvestment. Initiatives may be labeled public conversation, parent involvement, school/community partnerships, community organizing, or even standards setting and implementation. They may have their impetus in the school system or in the community. But regardless of where it begins, public engagement for public education is a purposeful effort to build a collaborative constituency for change and improvement in schools.

The concept of engagement for public education is particularly compelling for two reasons. First, schools - as public, or "common," institutions - present a ready emblem of democracy and public life. They command the attention of concerned citizens as few other institutions do. Second, engagement initiatives can stir community conversation and action - obtaining the participation and buying the time - that will help efforts to improve schools to move forward.

What are the underlying conditions that drive Americans - educators, parents and citizens - to do this work? The reasons are easily stated but complex in their implications.

• The public is growing impatient with the pace of education reform.

• The media are focusing public attention on schools and creating a siege mentality among education professionals.

• Schools are recognizing that they need public support for long-term reform.

• There's a belief that communities can - and should - solve local problems.

• The historically disenfranchised are willing to take action because others have not.

An 18-month study by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform looked at a rich collection of schools and communities across America engaged in widely diverse kinds of activities for better schools. Collectively, they reveal some common areas of focus for school improvement.

• Improving teaching and learning: Educators, parents and community members are learning to think and work together about what good schools and good work should look like and what well-educated students should know and be able to do.

• Bringing more people to the table: Schools are listening differently and reaching out more effectively to stakeholders, particularly to those who have felt excluded or unwelcome, for reasons of race, class, culture or other aspects of "difference." And stakeholders - parents, civic and business coalitions, senior citizens - are stepping forward to insist on change, and be willing to take the personal leadership that change requires from many different actors.

• Equipping communities to make tough decisions: Much of the benefit of engagement lies in how those ends are achieved. The process of bringing people together, talking, listening, developing a shared vision and creating a plan of action has value in and of itself. It expands the capacity of the community to undertake effective problem solving and make the tough decisions required to solve tough problems. The increased social capital or civic capacity that results is often difficult to measure - but is surely one of engagement's most important outcomes.

The schools and communities using this tool for change believe that it has enormous potential to move them further along the road of reform, to restore the mutual trust and shared responsibility that must exist between schools and their communities, and to promote greater student and school achievement. The Institute's research shows that educators, parents and citizens are raising their voices together for change. Their commitment offers ample testimony to the powerful promise of public engagement to improve public schools. For anyone concerned with the future of public education, and for the future of our children, their efforts offer reason for hope.