Sociology and School Knowledge

ELP 544

Research Paper

The Role of a Local Non-Governmental Organization in

Education and Curriculum Development in the United States

Professor: Gregory Dimitriadis

Master Student: Bopha Ong

Fall Semester

December 12, 2008

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Abstract

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There exists a significant body of literature addressing the work of Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in public health, in relation to civil society
and the state government, and in resolving social and environmental issues in
other developing countries. However, regarding the field of education, we know
little about the role of NGOs as intermediary organizations in supporting
education, particularly in regards to school curriculum. In the field of curriculum
analysis, there is a controversy over what should be taught, how it should be
taught and to whom it should be taught. In addressing this key concern Eisner
(2002) clearly defines explicit and implicit curriculum—the null curriculum, and
suggests some subject areas in the null curriculum that should be included
explicitly in the school curriculum. Yet, in his research, there is a gap in literature
surrounding how and who should assist in improving school curriculum. This
article considers key questions in relation to the gap in the literature mentioned
above: what are NGOs and what are their roles, strengths and weaknesses in
assisting with curriculum development. Furthermore, this article will also
address questions about the definitions and types of curricula, and the functions
NGOs play in supporting school curriculum. The findings of this study suggest
that NGOs have a role in improving school curriculum through parent
involvement and teacher involvement in curriculum implementation.

Key words: Non-Governmental Organization, curriculum, hidden and null curricula

===============================================================

Introduction

The mandated curriculum, nationwide high-stake testing, and the No Child Left

Behind Act in Bush’s administration 2001 negatively impact schools’ performance,

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teachers’ performance, and what students learn (Crocco & Costigan, 2007). The purpose

of the curriculum should not be scripted or made into a particular form of ―official

knowledge‖, particularly as ensconced in textbooks, which works in the interests of

powerful groups, rather it must address the needs of the community and everyone in that

community (Apple, 2004). Generally, NGOs are committed to addressing social needs

and improving the human condition, and thus often use education and support schools in

order to build stronger communities (Seffrin, 2002). Non-Governmental organizations

have the ability to work closely with local communities and to develop innovative

programs that address local needs and contexts (Klees, 2002). Therefore, local NGOs

can play an important role as partners with the government in supporting schools to

provide additional curriculum support and materials to enhance the mandated curriculum

since local education-based NGOs have resources and networks between parents,

teachers, students, administrators and other stakeholders. This paper will review the

definitions of NGOs, ―curriculum‖ in a broader sense, and types of NGOs as well as

types of curricula; and examine one local education-based nongovernmental

organization—Every Person Influences Children (EPIC) that partners with the Buffalo

Public schools and explore how and why this non-governmental organization is involved

with school curriculum improvement.

Literature Review

In recent years Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) have become

increasingly visible and active in various sectors of social life, including education

(Ginsburg, 2002). Effectively, NGOs have been in operation since the 1800s; however,

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the specific term NGO is differently defined and came into common usage with the

development of the United Nations (UN) in 1945 (O'Sullivan, 2008). The terms used to

identify these organizations have multiplied and evolved to include voluntary

associations, non-profit associations, international nongovernmental organizations,

nongovernmental development organizations, new social movement organizations,

people’s organizations, membership organizations, grassroots support organizations, and

membership support organizations (Fernando & Heston, 1997).

Defining Non-Governmental Organization

Most researchers agree that there are difficulties associated with the definitions of

―NGOs‖ and then go on to define them in the way that is most useful in the context they

are discussing (Fernando & Heston, 1997). There are many definitions of NGOs. The

Yearbook of International Organizations defines NGOs as organizations which have not

been founded and are not formally controlled by national government (Union of

International Associations, 2005). In addition to the definition given by the Yearbook of

International Organizations, Reinalda and Verbeek (2001) give the second characteristic

of these organizations, which is the pursuit by private means and private objectives that

are likely to have domestic or transnational public effects. The World Bank defines

NGOs as private organizations [i.e. independent from government] that pursue activities

to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide

basic social services, or undertake community development (Categorizing NGOs, 2006).

According to Clake (1998), nongovernmental organizations are non-profit, private,

professional organizations with a distinctive legal character, concerned with public

welfare goals.

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 The term NGO is somewhat misleading, since it suggests a broader scope in the

present day—that is, everything outside the governmental sector—than is usually

intended. In general, the term refers only to nonprofits and does not include any

organizations in the corporate sector (Munchen, 2006). Institutions within the nonprofit

or independent sector are also often referred to as nongovernmental organizations

(Seffrin, 2002). Present-day NGOs are often legal corporations with full-time staffs and

governing boards. In the United States NGOs are categorized by the Internal Revenue

Service with specific tax designations as 501 (c)(3)s, (c)(4)s, and (c)(6)s (Seffrin, 2002).

In fact, many NGOs, according to Seffrin (2002), choose to refer themselves as not-for-

profits, indicating that although they are not in the business of making a profit like for-

profit corporations, they raise more funds from other sources such as governments and

other organizations for their work and other ongoing projects. Seffring (2002) also

argues that although NGOs are commonly defined in opposition to government and for-

profit organizations, they frequently display characteristics of both. Many NGOs receive

support from the government and for-profit corporations.

Types of NGOs

O’Neill (1989) categorized NGOs into nine types; religious, private education and

research, healthcare, arts and culture, social sciences, advocacy and legal services,

international assistance, foundations, corporate funders and mutual benefit organizations.

Certain types of NGOs are also variously called voluntary organizations, development

agencies, civil society organizations, membership organizations, mutual aid societies,

advocacy organizations, and grassroots organizations (Seffrin, 2002). However, Ginsburg

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(2002) divides NGOs into four major types: (1) grassroots operations linked to social

movements targeted at challenging and transforming unequal social structures; (2)

nonprofit businesses run by professionals that give work and income opportunities for the

disadvantaged in an effort to incorporate them in extant political economic setting; (3)

some of them are locally-based organizations that operate on a shoe-string budget

obtained from resources of those involved; (4) while others are international entities with

sizable budgets supported by grants and contracts from international organizations,

national governments as well as foreign governments with particular projects being

undertaken.

Work of NGOs and their Constraints

The increasing roles/work of NGOs are due to the perception that the public

sector is unresponsive and inefficient (Ginsburg, 2002). NGOs often work at a grass-roots

level to provide aid, education, and most importantly for the libraries-- information both

to the audience they are trying to reach, and to a wider audience of policy-makers, state

organizations and funding agencies (Munchen, 2006). NGOs’ work and responsibilities

have arisen as a response to the need of social groups, to secure social, economic and

political equality; a sustainable environment; peaceful ethnic; religious or national

relations; and as a resistance against all kinds of exploitation and domination (Ginsburg,

2002). Beside theses responsibilities, in helping the national government, NGOs are

committed to addressing social needs and improving the human condition, especially

helping resolve health issues (Seffrin, 2002). Other NGOs’ work focuses on educational

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and occupational issues by indirectly empowering individuals with new skills and

competencies, thereby improves their overall standard of living (Seffrin, 2002).

Positive impact of NGOs’ advocacy role on the issues they address depends on

the extent to which they mobilize the support of and act in collaboration with the state,

rather than acting in opposition to it (Fernando & Heston, 1997). Seffrin (2002) also

stresses that NGOs often work in collaboration with the government and for-profit

corporations, and each brings their particular competencies to bear on a common issue.

Paul Streeten, during his seminar presentation, drew examples from different parts of the

world to show that the work of NGOs lies in their role as brokers or catalysts in linking

families and communities to the wider society and the government; and this broker

function is likely to become more important in the future, and it is hoped that this

function will contribute to an understanding of the ever evolving role of NGOs (Fernando

& Heston, 1997).

The missions and practices of NGOs are considered to be radically different from

public and private sectors. NGOs which are partly funded by the national government

still function within the boundaries set by the state and are subjects to various laws and

regulations within that nation (Fernando & Heston, 1997). Apart from receiving grants

from the national government, NGOs receive funding from foreign sources such as other

governments, UN agencies, corporate and other private foundations. This dependence of

funding can lead to a question of whether NGOs’ work represents the strengthening of

civil society or only the intention to shape civil society in ways that external entities

believe are desirable (Ginsburg, 2002).

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 Strengths and Weaknesses of NGOs

NGOs continue to play a critical role in U.S. society. Although in the future some

NGOs are likely to disband due to political or economic issues, others will evolve to

address unresolved issues and emerging threats like improving the health, education and

wellbeing of the public because of their strengths in some areas that the government and

other private entities do not possess (Seffrin, 2002). NGOs provide support to

marginalized communities, outreach capacity, the efficient provision of services,

administrative efficiency, capacity building of the poor, and the development of civil

society. In addition, NGOs are community focused and are generally politically neutral,

have strong grassroots links and the ability to innovate, adapt, and receive trust of locals.

NGOs also have field based experts such as an expert in education who may specialize in

a particular field with cost effectiveness (O'Sullivan, 2008).

Some other strong features of NGOs are the process-oriented approach to

development, participatory methodologies and tools, long-term commitment, emphasis

on sustainability, advocate on behalf of the poor, and the accountability towards client

base (O'Sullivan, 2008). Local-based NGOs, focusing on a specific mission to help the

communities, receive the passionate support of local communities and loyal volunteers,

which make them able to address issues that organizations in other sectors cannot, or will

not, do. Therefore, unlike organizations in the public sector, which are often subject to

constant political pressure and regulation, or those in the corporate sector, which are

beholden to their owners and shareholders, NGOs are accountable primarily to the

public's trust (Seffrin, 2002). And, NGOs that closely collaborate with both public and

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private entities, especially those with the corporate sector, have often led to and increased

professionalism and efficiency (Seffrin, 2002)

However, NGOs have some weaknesses in the areas they are working with such

limited financial support and management expertise, limited instructional capacity, low-

levels of self-sustainability, isolation, and lack of inter-organizational communication and

coordination. Some local-based NGOs are small organizations with only a handful of

staff and volunteers (Seffrin, 2002); therefore they receive small scale intervention from

the government and other agencies and lack understanding of the broader social or

economic context (O'Sullivan, 2008).

To study the connection between NGOs and schools in regards to the

improvement of school curriculum, the second part of the literature in this case study is

involving the discussion of the definitions of curriculum and types of school curricula.

Defining School Curriculum

The curriculum field has played an important role in the history of the relationship

between school and community (Apple, 2004). The curriculum field, more particular than

any other educational field, has been dominated by a perspective that might best be called

―technological‖ in that the major interest guiding its work has involved finding the one

best set of means to reach pre-chosen educational ends (Apple, 2004). However, the

problem of defining curriculum is complex (Portelli, 1987). Curriculum is a complex

notion and a varied nature in the context specific, and thus it is hard to give a single

definition to capture its full meaning (Portelli, 1987). Eisner (1994) also admits that

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curriculum is not a natural entity but a complex notion, and a ―real‖ definition is

impossible. In this study, it is important to distinguish the definitions of curriculum in

narrow and broad senses.

In a narrow sense, drawing from Portelli’s study in 1987, curriculum is defined in

three major areas: contents, experiences and a plan. In his study, curriculum is defined as

a course of studies, which list content, subjects or subject matter, and it is what students

should be taught. Macdonald (1965) similarly defined curriculum as those planning

endeavors which take place prior to instruction. The curriculum, in a narrow sense, is

typically defined as ― a written description of what students will learn in a particular

grade or course‖ (Jones, Jones, & Hargrove, 2003, p. 28).The definition of curriculum as

content is clear but it is too narrow; and if curriculum is defined simply or exclusively in

terms of content or subject matter, then we form the false impression that the question

―what should be taught?‖ is the primary (and for some the only) curriculum question

(Portelli, 1987). The influences of curriculum on subject matter seem to neglect the

learners and to separate the school from the rest of the students’ lives (Portelli, 1987).

However, curriculum does not only mean the outline of the topic included in the

instruction (Jones et al., 2003). In the broader sense, it also includes ―aspects of students

development, sequencing of contents and skills, applications of learning, student

activities, and the organization of instruction‖ (Jones et al., 2003, p. 28); and curriculum

should be disseminated at different levels from the school, the district, families,

communities, and the state to professional organizations. This definition is supported by

Snyder, Bolin, and Zumwalt (1992). In the larger context, curriculum goes beyond the

written educational objectives to include the lived experiences of teachers and students in
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individual classrooms (Snyder, Bolin, & Zumwalt, 1992). Another broader definition of

curriculum, stemming from in the late 1930s, is curriculum as experience. Some theorists

define curriculum by the experiences of each individual. Curriculum is as all the

experiences a learner has under the guidance of the school (Portelli, 1987). Similarly, the

Center for Educational Research and Innovation (1998) has given the definition of

curriculum as the activities added—what is added to the formal timetable outside subject

boundaries. Also, curriculum is not only guidelines what to do to produce successful test-

takers and high scorers, but also aims to help children think and act with intelligence,

sensitivity and courage in caring for themselves and others as citizens in democratic

societies (Pinar, 1995).

Portelli (1987) comes to conclude that more focus should be directed toward

investigating the relationship between curriculum and other educational issues and

alternatives, as well as the underlying philosophical vision of curriculum. Apple (2004)

critiques school curriculum by stating that the curriculum in schools responds to and

represents ideological and cultural resources that are from somewhere, but not all

people’s visions are represented and not all their meanings are responded to. Therefore,

from the controversial ideas surrounding the definitions of the term ―curriculum‖, Cohen

and Harrison (1982) offered the overall definition of curriculum as reality, which is what

actually happens to the person or persons, arising from a complex network of interaction

between people responding to a diverse array of influences, explicit and implicit, human

and physical.

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 Types of Curricula

According to Goodlad (1979), there are five types of curricula. The ideal

curriculum is the standardized plan defined by the developers. The formal curriculum is

the one that gains official approval from the state and the school board and it is to be

adopted by institutions and the teachers. The perceived curriculum is what parents and

teachers believe to be the curriculum which will reflect their subjective views on what

should be taught. The operational curriculum is what is presented to students in the

classrooms. The experiential curriculum is what is actually experienced by the students.

However, other researchers such as Apple, Eisner, and Portelli who are the experts in the

field articulate other main implicit type of curricula, which are the hidden and null

curricula.

The Hidden and Null Curricula

What is not taught, what schools choose not to teach and what is not included in

the standardized curriculum is no less important than what schools choose to include

(Henderson & Gornik, 2007). Eisner (2002) also argues that it is significant for the

success of teaching and learning to consider not only the explicit curriculum of schools

but also what schools do not teach, which may be as important as what they teach. This is

considered hidden curriculum. Some theorists make the distinction between the formal

(explicit, official or mandated) curriculum and the hidden (unstudied, invisible,

unwritten, covert or unwritten) curriculum (Portelli, 1987). Explicit curriculum is what is

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officially taught , what is planned and found in the state’s standard, plan books, courses

of study, and textbooks (Henderson & Gornik, 2007). Different from explicit curriculum,

Marsh and Willis (2003) define the hidden curriculum as ―parts of the implicit curriculum

that are unplanned or even unplannable [that] seem to exert a more subtle but far greater

influence over what students learn than the curriculum itself‖ (p. 11). The hidden

curriculum is implicitly learned by students and includes what is not directly taught. It is

extremely powerful and consists of a huge body of knowledge learned by students such

as social and academic groupings and how to develop themselves in society; and the

hidden curriculum often creates students’ values, attitudes and assumptions about race,

class, gender, ethnicity, and disability (Henderson & Gornik, 2007).

Moreover, another similar kind of curriculum to study is null curriculum.

According to Eisner (1994), the null curriculum is characterized as the conscious or

unconscious avoidance of certain instructional topics. The null curriculum is also

associated with the hidden curriculum and consists of the components of knowledge that

are conspicuous by their absence (Henderson & Gornik, 2007). Eisner (1994) describes

―It is my thesis that what schools do not teach may be as important as what they do teach.

Ignorance is not simply a neutral void; it has important effects on the kinds of options one

is able to consider, the alternatives that one can examine, and the perspectives from

which one can view a situation or problems. The absence of a set of considerations,

perspectives or the inability to use certain processes for appraising a context biases the

evidence one is able to take into account‖ (p. 158). So, the null curriculum ―is identified

as the options students are not afforded, the perspectives they may never know about,

much less able to use, the concepts and skills that are not a part of their intellectual
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repertoire‖ (Eisner, 2002, p. 107). It may be learned or not and often contains learners’

beliefs about social dynamics like premarital sex, homosexuality, and lifestyle

preferences. And the null curriculum also may embody implicit political, spiritual and

psychological ideologies (Henderson & Gornik, 2007).

School programs’ aim is to focus on the development of a restricted conception of

thinking. But not all thinking is operated by words, numbers in form of mathematics, nor

is all thinking rule-abiding included in the school curriculum (Eisner, 2002). Eisner also

argues that the modes of thought can be mediated in many ways such as visual, auditory,

metaphoric, synesthetic and use forms of conception and expression that far exceed the

limits of logically scripted criteria, discursive or mathematical forms of thinking offered

in schools. Since the attention to such intellectual processes, or forms of thinking, is

absent or marginal, they are not likely to be developed in school programs; but these

forms of intellectual and skillful developments might take place outside of schools

(Eisner, 2002).

According to the body of research about brain development and the capacity of

brain, children learn in different ways and through different subject areas; therefore, as

far as school curriculum is concerned, for the development of productive thoughts, we

should pay more attention to the processes of brain development and to the varieties of

learning styles, and the schools should provide opportunities to use those processes in the

course of their work in addition to the standardized curriculum (Eisner, 2002). ―The

neglect of such consideration in schools, assuming they are not adequately fostered

outside the schools, can lead to a kind of literalness in perception and thought that

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impedes the appreciation of those objects or ideas that best exemplify metaphorical

modes of thinking‖ (Eisner, 2002, p. 100).

Eisner (2002) also raises controversial questions about subject areas in school

curriculum: why schools spend time, space and energy on the advanced forms of

mathematics, history, sciences and social studies; why is it that law, economics,

anthropology, psychology, dance, the visual arts and music are frequently not offered or

are not required as parts of secondary school programs? He also postulates that certain

subject areas have been traditionally taught in schools not because of a careful analysis of

the range of other alternatives that could be offered but, rather because they have become

the status quo. School curriculum just includes what is in the past habit, and in the

process that neglects the areas of study that could prove to be exceedingly useful to

students (Eisner, 2002).

The ideas of alternative subject matters such as law, economics and the arts,

communication, and anthropology classified as null curriculum are just given by Eisner

for the purpose of exemplification. In fact, he still believes that these subjects are just a

few among many others that constitute the null curriculum, and there is no adequate

conception of appropriate curriculum content without consideration of the context in

which it is to be provided and the students for whom it is intended. The success of student

learning can also take place through implicit curriculum, that pervasive and ubiquitous

set of expectations and rules that defines schooling as a cultural system that itself teaches

significant lessons (Eisner, 2002). If the null curriculum is not promoted, its absence will

have a significant effect on the kind of life that students are able to choose to lead. What

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we should examine to improve school curriculum is not only the main orientations that

have guided thinking about what should be taught in school, but we should also examine

what schools and wider community teaches students that teachers do not realize students

are learning (Eisner, 2002).

Eisner (2002) clearly points out that what is taught in schools is not always

determined by a set of decisions that have entertained the alternatives; rather, the subjects

that schools teach now are a part of a tradition, and the tradition creates expectations that

make predictability and sustain stability for becoming the standard. In supporting

Eisner’s work, Pinar (2004), suggests other possibilities for success in improving

education and curriculum by criticizing the standardized management of education. He

argues that educators should get involved in school curriculum by articulating relations

among the school subjects, society, children’s lives and children’s self-formation by

distancing teachers themselves from the standard of education. It is important to combine

curriculum work with other initiatives. Walker (2003) also suggests that school

curriculum can be improved or changed by asking the following questions: what other

initiatives added to official school curriculum (explicit curriculum) are underway or

under discussion? How can we work in ways that also facilitate desirable curriculum

changes? In addition to this, Henderson and Gornik (2007) also stress that in almost all

practices regarding curriculum, teachers engage in everyday activities from planning to

assessing, from teaching to communicating with stakeholders. Educators will not be able

to sustain the practice of curriculum successfully without the support of local

professionals and stakeholders learning communities (Henderson & Gornik, 2007).

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 The influential curriculum stakeholders such as parents and community leaders

must learn the values of curriculum, types of curriculum and the proper ways to support

the day-to-day details of this work; and they must learn the differences between

collaborative support and destructive interference (Henderson & Gornik, 2007).

Curriculum improvement requires the collaboration and the support within the context of

a local learning community among administrators, teachers, parents and other

stakeholders (Henderson & Gornik, 2007). When all the group of these individual

stakeholders work together to come to a consensus of how to solve the problems, they

will begin to know what is needed to teach children for the democratic good life

(Henderson & Gornik, 2007)

Generally, from the study of the work of Franklin Bobbitt, Henderson and Gornik

(2007) come to understand that the curriculum is a journey of a long-term process with a

certain degree of consistency. This interpretation is not as commonsensical as it seems.

Curriculum is often thought by many people including educators as specific products

such as school district frameworks, scope and sequence charts, course syllabi, and

textbooks; and they seldom see curriculum at the experiential, process level, and what

they keep in mind about the decision-making process of the curriculum is in short-term

planning: a lesson, unit, or course decision (Henderson & Gornik, 2007). But students’

journey of understanding gained from experiencing all types of curricula, which is

generally linked to teachers’ and other important curriculum stakeholders’ journeys of

understanding (Henderson & Gornik, 2007).

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Methodology

This study examines one locally-based nongovernmental organization (EPIC),

located in Buffalo, New York, which has goals towards improving education and child

learning in regards to school curriculum improvement. The reason to choose this

organization is that it is has the connection between the educational stakeholders inside

and outside schools. And, EPIC’s programs/trainings help teachers, parents and school

administrators improve students’ learning by influencing what students learn at home and

by adding useful skills and subject areas such as character education into school

curriculum.

Procedure and Data Source

The methodological approach of this study is qualitative and primarily consists of

document analysis. The documents include flyers, books, printed and electronic

documents, curriculum handbooks for character education, parent manual for Ready Set

Read parent training and the facilitators’ manual for Ready Set Read training, and the

annual report from EPIC. This study will include an overview of EPIC, as well as the

descriptions of EPIC’s programs, their work, philosophy and mission, their limitations

and constraints, their strengths and weaknesses, and an analysis of how this NGO is

involved with curriculum development through influencing curriculum content and

delivery. The study is guided by the notion of the connection between NGOs and

education to improve school curriculum.

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 Limitations of the Study

Typical of this case study involving a limited site, the findings of this case study

are intended to be descriptive and informative, but not necessarily transferable to other

contexts where other NGOs are in different contexts with different priorities. This study

is most applicable to similar NGOs with education-based goals and missions since there

are many types of NGOs with different missions and goals. The economic,

demographical and political nature of the region the NGO is located within has also

influenced its work and thus this study is also limited within the context of Buffalo,

Western New York.

Findings

I- Descriptions of the Case Study

The organization that is the focus of this study is a local nongovernmental

organization, Every Person Influences Children (EPIC). It is a national not-for-profit

organization that provides effective programs and resources for parents, teachers and

school administrators that help them raise responsible and academically successful

children. EPIC was founded by Robert Wilson in 1980 after the murder of his wife in

1977. The reason he founded EPIC lies behind the violent actions of a 15-year-old

neighbor who killed his wife. He investigated the child’s life and found out that he had

been abused, neglected and experienced a miserable life. The establishment of EPIC is to

prevent other children from falling into the same track as that boy. In addition to the main

funding from the founder when he was alive, EPIC also receives other various sources of

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funding such as federal fund (for some programs), donations from individuals, the public,

and other funding from family and corporate foundations.

EPIC's mission is to help parents, teachers and community members raise

children to become responsible adults. To achieve its mission, EPIC combines an award-

winning parenting program with a school-based character education curriculum and

offers leadership training in several areas. EPIC is working with schools, churches,

hospitals, and community agencies throughout New York Sate and New Jersey and has

been implemented in sixteen states and the Virgin Islands. EPIC’s programs encourage

parents and teachers to proactively develop the foundation of character and provide

knowledge, skills and experiences to maximize the academic success of their children.

Three main programs are offered to parents, children, teachers and administrators. Each

EPIC program stems from the principle upon which EPIC was founded: to help parents,

teachers and community members raise children to have successful lives in their

community and wider society.

Pathway to Parenting Program offers parents a comprehensive and continuum-

styled programming, from the birth of their child through young adolescence that

develops parenting skills, parent advocacy in education, and parent leadership in

communities. The program helps parents address behavior issues, develop family

literacy, and gain understanding about how to be involved in their child’s education.

There are many programs within Pathway to Parenting.

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 Just for Teens Program is a comprehensive program geared to pregnant and

parenting teens, focused on enhancing the skills and confidence of teens as people and as

parents. The program is available for pregnant or parent teens through schools and other

agencies. The curriculum for the program, which focuses on four main areas --

fundamental parenting skills, bonding with the child, relationships and personal well-

being, is created by EPCI to address the needs of participants. The beneficial impacts of

the training are: increased confidence of teens as people and as parents, increased

academic achievement, participating teens who graduate from high school at more than

double the national average, and participating teen parents receive life skills and

parenting skills in addressing key risk factors which contribute to child abuse.

Ready Set Read Program is a workshop series focused on family literacy

development and preparing children for school success. The purpose of this training is for

parents to identify and explore individual learning styles for themselves and their child,

and to help them to better understand the best learning approach for their child. The

program is invaluable for improving children learning through reading. Parents are

trained to select age-appropriate books, and explore how to create stimulating learning

experiences for their children in everyday surroundings. The curriculum is based on US

department of Education National Reading Panel research on the best practices for

reading instruction and family literacy. It provides practical guidance for parents to

promote and encourage literacy in their children.

Pathway to Character Program is a character education program for teachers

and parents to help children develop the basis traits of good character, while preparing

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them to achieve academic success. EPIC implements the Pathway to Character initiative

in the 24 schools in the Buffalo Public Schools in a three-year strategic plan. The

program includes a parent involvement component that connects parents through letters

home, parent development, and other EPIC parenting workshops. Designed for grades K-

6 and expending through the initiative Pre-K up to 8 grades, Pathway to Character helps

students develop core ethical values that will enable them to think critically and act

responsibly, and also seeks to improve their academic skills by providing a meaningful

and challenging academic curriculum. It is a comprehensive academic curriculum that

teaches to higher learning standards while incorporating personal character development.

And the lessons in the curriculum are created by teachers who know what schools need in

order to fit character education into a teacher’s busy day.

Pathway to Leadership Program is a training series that offers parents, school

administrators, and communities training experiences that develop individuals to become

leaders, at home and in their community, with an emphasis on developing effective

partnerships between teachers and parents to benefit children. There are three series of

programs. (1) Parents as Advocates Program aims at helping parents understand the

importance of their roles as positive advocates for their children, and teaching their

children to advocate for themselves. (2) Parent Leadership Institute Training develops

leadership roles in the home environment and in the school community. It includes four

topics: foundations of parent leadership, managing conflict, making decisions, solving

problems, building on the foundations, and introduction to the standards and academic

assessments. Similarly, (3) Creating Home/School Partnerships and Parent Involvement

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Training engages school principals, teachers, and parent leaders as partners to help

students achieve academic and personal success.

II- Discussions

NGOs and Education

There are many types of NGOs, so it is reasonable to suggest that the complete

understanding of NGOs is not limited only to international organizations such as

UNICEF, UNESCO, or Oxfam, etc. NGOs are broadly involved in many areas, locally

and internationally to address social needs. One type of NGOs, such as locally-based

organization like EPIC, plays an important role in education to help the government solve

the common social and educational issues. However, not many NGOs address the need of

schooling or support education. Most NGOs’ work is dealing with health issues, political

and environmental issues. Yet, many NGOs are coming to realize the importance of

education because education also has an immense impact on the human society (Goel,

2007), which also needs the attention and additional support beyond that of national

governments. The report on educational issues in Nation at Risk has escalated the

continuing debates over educational issues such as parent involvement, teacher education,

principal leadership, high-stake testing, assessments and especially curriculum in

schools—focusing more on both skills and the content of curriculum (Sleeter & Grant,

1997). These are the fields that education-based NGOs can work on domestically.

From this brief case study, we can suggest that education-based NGOs can have a

significant role in strengthening public schooling since they are independent entities and

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work collaboratively with the government, schools and individuals, with greater intensity

and often with great and more diverse financial support. Moreover, they have their own

expertise that can be brought into the field of education as an additional support to the

work of schools. For example, the NGO in the case study brings their own expertise such

as conducting trainings on the topics of parent involvement, leadership and creating their

own curriculum as a supplement to the school curriculum.

Role of NGO (EPIC) in Improving School Curriculum

EPIC plays a key role as an intermediary organization to link schools with parents

and other stakeholders within the community. EPIC provides educational resources and

trainings to parents, teachers, administrators and other community members, which

ultimately influence child education and school curriculum. EPIC is not for profit and is

oriented to serve the best interests of the children. Its missions, goals and history can lead

to the assumption that EPIC is politically neutral, although some programs are partly

funded by the federal government.

There are many areas in education that existing NGOs work with such as

providing financial aids, child care service, afterschool programs, and supplying

educational materials, etc. However, what EPIC has done is different. Obviously, the

study of the programs of EPIC leads to a conclusion that EPIC’s work with teachers and

parents, influences school curriculum/what children learn implicitly and makes the

hidden and null curricula happen in another setting outside schools.

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 Improving the Curriculum (Broader Definition) and the Null/Hidden Curricula

According to the literature, curriculum does not mean only what is taught in

school by teachers. The meaning of ―curriculum‖ brought to this study is its broad

definition-- curriculum as experience, curriculum as reality, student activities and what

they learn outside the schools. Michael Apple critiques the taught curriculum in schools

by stating that the prescribed curriculum and the textbooks that were meant to teach were

often extraneous and tedious for students. They respond to, and represent, ideological and

cultural resources that are from somewhere, but not address all people’s visions and

needs (Apple, 2004).

In addition to Apple’s critic, Eisner also articulates that the hidden and null

curricula are as important as the taught curriculum, which should be addressed. In

response to the concerns of the two authors, this study suggests that curriculum can also

be improved or expanded outside of schools, and the hidden or null curriculum can take

place through the involvement of parent and teacher education, which covertly influences

or broadens the curriculum that children learn at schools. To this extent, local education-

based NGOs, such as EPIC, make this happen through two ways.

1- Parent Involvement

EPIC believes that parents are the children’s first teachers at home. They can

influence the children’s behavior and teach their children directly and indirectly at home

in many subject areas such as character development, social justice, law, anthropology,

economics (as suggested by Eisner to be null curriculum which should be included in the

25
formal school curriculum). Parents can also help support or strengthen the subjects

currently included in formal school curriculum such as literacy or mathematics by best

fitting the learning styles of their children with the ways they process information and are

taught at schools. It is obvious that most of the time children closely interact with their

parents. In Eisner’s study, the mode of thought can be operated in many ways and every

child has a different way of learning. So, parents are the children’s educators at home

since they may better understand their children’s modes of thoughts and learning styles.

The programs of EPIC respond to this concern by improving parent’s education

through training –Pathway to Parenting program and Pathway to Leadership Program,

and establishing a parent resource center. In the trainings, EPIC provides other subject

areas such as parenting skills to teens and parents, leadership skills, and literacy to

parents. This provision is a supplemental form of knowledge or a content of curriculum

that students will learn and what parents will teach their children.

Just for Teens Program helps develop parenting skills—how to take care of

newborns for teens who are pregnant/ or will be parents in the future. This is an

important basic life skill that is ignored and not taught in schools. Moreover, the

curriculum in Ready Set Read Program is designed for training parents, which covers

some good topics such as brain development and learning styles, the World of Reading:

Understanding how children learn to read, Reading for Your Child (for both parents and

children together), Reading is Everywhere: learning through play and daily life (for both

parents and children), and Helping your Child Succeed in School. These are practical

literacy topics that parents can use to improve their own literacy, and they also help

26
parents learn how a child’s brain develops and why reading is critical for them. Then they

can teach their children at home.

2- Teachers involvement

Apart from parents/family involvement in influencing curriculum, teachers also

play an important role in supporting the curriculum at the school level. As Young (1981)

suggests that to enrich the curriculum, teachers need to include a large number of topics

and skills in their instruction in addition to the official prescribed curriculum. The

curriculum is also a field of enquiry and action that bears upon schooling including

content, teaching, learning and resources (Lowe, Holt, Centre for Educational Research

and Innovation., & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development., 1998).

So, teachers have an important role in teaching and improving curriculum. The program

of EPIC, Pathway to Character Education implements indirectly character education in

school curriculum through teacher training.

According to Brannon (2008), today children often come to school with

problematic behaviors and attitudes. And many parents ignore the need for character

education in schools. They are often preoccupied with test scores, grades and what the

state requires students to learn (McDonnell, 2008). So, character is also another necessary

null curriculum content that is absent in formal school curriculum.

EPIC’s character program brings parents and schools together to build the

necessary character foundation in the children. The special features of the character

education program are the nine core traits that are included in the standard-based

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infusible curriculum that teachers insert into the four core subject areas such as English

Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Math. EPIC’s annual report has shown that

the inclusion of character education into the school curriculum benefits both children and

parents. Students’ behaviors have shown improvement, along with an increase in

academic achievement. It also increases parent involvement in schools, strengthens the

relations between parents and teachers, and embraces character education at home.

Conclusions and Recommendations

When looking across the literature and the study of the work of EPIC, it should be

immediately apparent that the education-based NGOs can be an intermediary party to

connect schools, parents and communities to serve the children’s learning through

helping improve the school curriculum and to make the hidden and null curriculum

happen. The study sought to explore a number of questions—what is meant by NGO?

What is their work? What is meant by curriculum? What are the types of curricula? What

are hidden and null curricula? What NGOs do to help improve curriculum (implicit and

explicit)? A number of critical messages emerged from this study that can raise questions

and recommendations for EPIC, school administrators and future researchers.

According to the literature, the work of NGOs is constrained by the rules and

regulations of the government, especially when they are dependent on government

funding. Although EPIC embraces new skills or subjects directly and indirectly into the

school curriculum, it inevitably has to align them with the state’s standard. Therefore,

EPIC should be more flexible in terms of the topic/programs selection and

implementation without losing their independence, goals or missions. EPIC should also
28
build more inter-organizational partnership/cooperation with other education-based

NGOs with similar missions and schools within and out of the country to learn more

about their programs, and what schools need, to improve curriculum instead of teaching

students only tests.

According to Henderson and Gornik (2007), administrators’ work is to work

collaboratively with parents, civic leaders, and cultural communities to help solve

community issues and improve the school curriculum. Thus this study also sends a

message to school administrators to be transformative curriculum leaders and to pay more

attention to curriculum improvement through partnering with local education-based

NGOs and getting teachers involved in their programs as a part of professional

development.

Generally, the findings of this study also contribute to the field of educational

administration through providing ways for school principals, teachers, parents,

community members and educators who work in schools and school districts to better

understand the curriculum and to increase their awareness of ways to improve curriculum

and teaching, [not just] internally, but also externally. Furthermore, the findings highlight

the need for education-based nongovernmental organizations to give more attention to

assisting schools with regards to curriculum development. Ultimately this study of EPIC

provides an example for existing education-based NGOs and potential NGOs to be

receptive to the ideas about how to develop students’ learning through curriculum and

how to partner with schools and community members to implement more curriculum-

29
related programs such as the subjects-- the arts, law, economics and communication in

null curriculum, as recommended by Eisner (2002).

Recommendation for Further Research

Because of the scope of the study is only the work of EPIC within Western New

York, it is hard to say how effective the programs are in other states. Thus it is also worth

conducting additional research on all the programs of EPIC in all of the states that it is

located. Also, further research in this field need to be done for better understanding of

education-based NGOs’ work on a wider scope-- study the work of international NGOs

in other countries, does their work influence the school curriculum? What they do to

improve school curriculum? Then we should do the comparative case study of

international NGOs in developing countries like in the South-east Asia and those of the

U.S or Canada. Another possibility for research is to study the effectiveness of

international NGOs and local NGOs’ partnership in educational programs and how they

contribute to the improvement of school curriculum.

30
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