Dr. Larry E. Decker Memorial

In Memory, April 2012, of Dr. Larry E. Decker, former Charles Stewart Mott Eminent Scholar at Florida Atlantic University

A snapshot of his experiences and contributions during his life

Professional Experience

  • 1995-until retirement, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, Charles S. Mott Professor, an Eminent Scholar Chair in Community Education and (Spring 1996) Chair, Department of Educational Leadership.
  • 1973-1995, University of Virginia, Curry School of Education, Associate Dean for Administration; Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies; and Director, Mid-Atlantic Center for Community Education.
  • 1971-1973, St. Louis Park School District, Minnesota, Director, Community Education, a jointly sponsored city/school department and member of superintendent's executive staff.
  • 1970-1971, National Center for Community Education and Flint Public Schools, Michigan, Administrative Internships with central office and special projects.
  • 1967-1970, University of Oregon, Director, Center for Leisure Studies and Community Service.
  • 1964-1966, Eugene Public Schools, Lane County Youth Project with Oregon Cooperative Extension Service, a national juvenile delinquency prevention project providing instructional alternatives and intervention strategies.

Award

  • Recipient of National Community Education Association’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, with his wife, Virginia (Gina), due to their lifelong commitment to furthering the quest of community education

Publications

Books and Monograghs

  • Decker, L.E.; Decker, Decker, V.A.; and Associates. (2001). Engaging families and communities: Pathways to educational success. Fairfax, VA: National Community Education Association.
  • Decker, L.E. (1999). The evolution of the community school concept: The leadership legacy of Frank J. Manley. Fairfax, VA: National Community Education Association.
  • Decker, L.E. and Boo, M.R. (1998). Community schools: Serving children, families, and communities. Fairfax, VA: National Community Education Association.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Boo, Mary Richardson. (1996) Community Schools: Linking Home, School and Community. National Community Education Association, Fairfax, VA, 1996.
  • White-Clark, Renee and Decker, Larry E. (1996) The "Hard-to-Reach" Parent: Old Challenges,New Insights. National Community Education Association, Fairfax, VA.
  • Decker, Larry E.; Gregg, Gloria A.; and Decker, Virginia A. (1996) Teachers Manual for Parent and Community Involvement. National Community Education Association, Fairfax, VA.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Boo, Mary Richardson.(1995) Creating Learning Communities: AnIntroduction to Community Education. National Community Education Association, Fairfax, VA.
  • Ringers, Joseph, Jr. and Decker, Larry E. (1995) School Community Centers: A Guide forInteragency Planners. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
  • Decker, Larry E.; Gregg, Gloria A.; and Decker, Virginia A. (1994) Getting Parents Involved in the Education of Their Children. American Association of School Administrators, Arlington, VA.
  • Kilbourne, Larry; Decker, Larry E.; and Romney, Valerie A. (1994) Rebuilding the Partnership for Public Education. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. ERIC ED366107
  • Decker, Larry E. and Associates. (1994) Home-School-Community Relations: Trainers Manual and Study Guide. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. ERIC ED371822
  • Decker, Larry E. and Decker, Virginia A. (1993) Grantseeking: How to Find a Funder and Write a Winning Proposal. Community Collaborators, Charlottesville, VA.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Romney, Valerie A., eds. (1992) Educational Restructuring and the Community Education Process. National Coalition for Community Education, Alexandria, VA. ERIC ED344067
  • Decker, Larry E. and Romney, Valerie A., eds. (Winter 1992) "Redefining Schools: Community Education's Role in the Educational Reform Movement," Community Education Journal, National Community Education Association, Alexandria, VA.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Associates, (1992) Community Education: Building Learning Communities, National Community Education Association, Alexandria, VA, 3rd edition, ERIC ED316661
  • Decker, Larry E. y Asociados, (1990) Educacion de la Comunidad: Desarrollando Comunidades Educatives, National Community Education Association, Alexandria, VA. (Traducido al Espanol por Cliff Whetten, Texas A&M University)
  • Decker, Larry E., and Romney, Valerie A., (1990) Community Education Across America, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. ERIC ED324534
  • Decker, L.E.; Decker, Decker, V.A. (2004). Home, school, community partnerships. Scarecrow Education. Lanham, MD
  • Decker, Larry E. and Boo, M. R. (2001). Community schools: Serving children, families, and communities. (2nd edition). Fairfax, VA: National Community Education Association

Articles and Book Chapters

  • Decker, L.E. (2002). Community education: A status report and projections for the future. Journal of School Public Relations. 23, Fall.
  • Decker, L.E. and Nicoll, W.G. (2002). Building effective family-school-community partnerships. Curriculum Infusion. Florida partnership for Family Involvement, Tampa, FL
  • Decker, L.E. (September 2001). Allies in education. Principal Leadership. National Association of Secondary School Principals.
  • Decker, L.E. (2001). Community education. In Guthrie, J.W. ed. The Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd edition. New York, NY: Macmillan.
  • Decker, L.E. and Decker, V.A. (2001). Integrating service learning into K-12 education. Active citizens, Strong communities: conference proceedings, World Conference on Community Education, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
  • Kerensky, V.M. and Decker, L.E. (2001). Richard C. Pendell: A special friend remembered. Community Education Today, 24, 2.
  • Decker, L.E. (1999, Fall/Winter). The leadership legacy of Frank J. Manley. Community Education Journal, XXVI, 1/2.
  • Decker, L.E. and White-Clark, R. (1999, Fall/Winter). What educators can do to foster parent involvement. Community Education Journal, XXVI, 1/2.
  • Decker, L.E. (1999). School community relations. In W.M. Cullar (Ed.), The Florida education handbook. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Association of School Administrators, 3rd Edition.
  • Decker, L.E. (1998). Community education: A concept of learning enrichment for those aged 4 to 94. Journal of educational public relations, 19, 4.
  • Decker, L.E. and White-Clark, R. (1999, Fall/Winter). Getting beyond barriers to benefits involving "hard-to-reach" parents. Middle Matters, 7, 1. National Association of Elementary School Principals, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Fall 1998).
  • Decker, L.E. (1998). School community relations. In A.C. Jurenas (Ed.) School administration: Knowledge, constructs and theory. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
  • Decker, L.E. (1998). Community education and the community school. In A.C. Jurenas (Ed.) School administration: Knowledge, constructs and theory. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
  • DeLellis, A.J.; Henry, J; and Decker, L.E. (1998, April). Collaboration between schools of nursing and local education agencies to provide health care services to PK-12 students: Elements of cooperative agreements. Public Health Nursing, 15, 2.
  • Decker, L.E. (1998, April). Community schools are educators' bridges to gaining families and communities support. The School Administrator, 55, 4.
  • Ringers, Joseph, Jr., and Decker, Larry E. "Creating School Community Centers," Principal, Vol 76. No.2, November, 1996.
  • Decker, Larry E. with Gregg, Gloria A; and Decker, Virginia A. "Parent and Community Involvement in the Education and Social Development of Children," Ponencias, Vol. 1. Institutode Formento E Investigacion Educativa, A.C., Mexico City, Mexico, October 1995.
  • Decker, Larry E.; Gregg, Gloria A.; and Decker, Virginia A. "Parent and Community Involvement," International Community Education Association 7th World Conference, Jomtien, Thailand, August 1995.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Romney, Valerie A. "In Support of State-Level Community Education Development," Community Education Journal, Vol. XXI, No. 1, Winter 1994.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Decker, Virginia A. "Rebuilding the Home-School-Community Partnership," International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement, Melbourne, Australia, 1994. ERIC ED366107
  • Decker, Larry E. "Building Learning Communities: Realities of Educational Restructuring," Community Education Journal, Vol. XIX, No. 3, Summer 1992.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Romney, Valerie A. "In the Forefront of Reform," Community Education Journal, Vol. XIX, No. 2, Winter 1992.
  • Decker, Larry E. and Schoeny, Donna H. "National Educational Leaders Speakout on Community Education," Community Education Journal, Vol. XIX, No. 2, Winter 1992
  • Decker, Larry E. "Thinking and Acting from a Broad Perspective: Community Education," in Teaching Thinking: An Agenda for the Twenty-first Century, Collins, C. and Mangieri, J., eds., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, 1992.

Developer of comprehensive plans for community education:

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1874/Community-Education.html

Co-author of texts:

http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/fine-family-involvement-network-of-educators/member-insights/are-schools-doing-enough-to-learn-about-families and http://www.amazon.com/Diverse-Partnerships-Student-Success-Strategies/dp/1578865395 and http://www.amazon.com/Larry-E.-Decker/e/B001JRUSDC

Co-author and contributor to numerous publications:

http://www.neighborhoodplanning.org/pdf/RebuildPart.PDF and http://www.communityschools.org/assets/1/AssetManager/CAS_building_a_communityschool.pdf#xml=http://pr-dtsearch001.americaneagle.com/service/search.asp?cmd=pdfhits&DocId=707&Index=F%3a%5cdtSearch%5ccommunityschools&HitCount=7&hits=64c2+64c4+64d7+64d9+66ac+66ae+66b1+&hc=31&req=larry+decker and http://smallschoolsproject.com/PDFS/hard_to_reach.pdf

Principal Investigator, Grants and Contracts

Over $6 million in past 25 years for training, research, and service projects funded by federal, state, and private foundations:

  • U.S. Department of Education: Adult Education, Community Schools, Professional
  • Development, Higher Education, Teacher Corps, Women's Educational Equity, Bilingual

Education:

DISSERTATION ADVISOR for a host of dissertations:

www.docstoc.com/docs/106982037/ABSTRACT