This section organizes our introductions to organizing, engagement, and equity models by topic. The navigation below provides links to each section and brief descriptions of the category.
For a more detailed discussion , see HOW MODELS WORK →
Section Navigation
Conceptual models simplify complex real-world dynamics to make them more understandable. Often building on academic research and theories, conceptual models can help practitioners think about the problems of organizing, engagement, and equity in new and more creative ways.
Dialogue models describe the design, process, or techniques used in structured, facilitated discussions. Dialogue models help practitioners develop a dialogue or deliberation process that helps community members converse more respectfully and productively.
Education models describe organizing, engagement, or equity strategies and processes that were developed specifically for districts, schools, and their youth, family, and community partners.
Engagement models describe the strategies or processes used to engage students, families, and community members. Engagement models help leaders, organizers, and practitioners share power and decision-making with stakeholders.
Research and evaluation models describe “participatory” approaches to professional research, action research, or program evaluation that center equity strategies, cultural sensitivity, and community involvement.
Trauma-informed models describe the conditions and symptoms of community-level trauma, and they provide guidance for organizing, engagement, and equity practitioners working in communities that have been adversely affected by violence, crime, substance use, poverty, disinvestment, or neglect.
Youth models describe developmentally appropriate organizing, engagement, or equity strategies and processes that are specifically designed for use in youth-adult partnerships that support authentic youth leadership in schools and communities.
Conceptual Models
Return to Section Navigation →
Citizen Participation Continuum
The Citizen Participation Continuum describes the various roles that community-development corporations (CDCs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) can play in facilitating the participation of community members in local educational, civic, or governmental decision-making. Developed by Robert Silverman | Read more →
Dignity Model
The Dignity Model describes ten essential elements of dignity. The model provides a framework for understanding how the experience of dignity can help strengthen relationships, resolve conflicts, or make organizations more successful, and how violations of dignity inevitably damage relationships, incite conflicts, or undermine organizational cultures. Developed by Donna Hicks | Read more →
Five Key Dimensions of Participation
The Five Key Dimension of Participation model describes the fundamental features of adult-led organizations working to promote positive youth development and participation. The five dimensions provide a framework and vocabulary for understanding how organizations can create environments that support youth leadership and decision-making. Developed by Neema Kudva and David Driskell | Read more →
Ladder of Children’s Participation
The Ladder of Children’s Participation describes eight levels of decision-making agency, control, and power that can be given to children and youth by adults. The “rungs” of the ladder represent a continuum of power that ascends from nonparticipation (no agency) to degrees of participation (increasing levels of agency). Developed by Roger Hart | Read more →
Ladder of Citizen Participation
The Ladder of Citizen Participation is one of the most influential and widely referenced models in the field of democratic public participation. The model describes how empowered public institutions and officials deny power to citizens, and how levels of citizen agency, control, and power can be increased. Developed by Sherry Arnstein | Read more →
Ladder of Empowerment
The Ladder of Empowerment was one of the first civic-participation models to describe the characteristics of individual and collective forms of community empowerment in democratic decision-making. While earlier models described the dynamics of power or participation, the Ladder of Empowerment addresses the elements of building power and the conditions that contribute to (or undermine) power-building in communities. Developed by Elizabeth Rocha | Read more →
Pathways to Participation
The Pathways to Participation model articulates a developmental progression of child and youth participation in organizations and communities that can inform planning or reflection. The model describes five distinct levels of participation and three “stages of commitment” representing degrees of dedication and fidelity to the empowerment of children and youth. Developed by Harry Shier | Read more →
Types of Engagement: Conventional, Thin, and Thick Engagement
The Types of Engagement model describes three foundational forms of engagement: thick, thin, and conventional. Leighninger’s descriptions offer a useful framework for understanding different varieties of community participation, as well as some of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Developed by Matt Leighninger | Read more →
Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment Pyramid
The Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment (TYPE) Pyramid describes three general categories of youth participation: adult control, youth control, and shared control. The authors argue that “shared youth-adult control in participatory research and action may be ideal for positive youth development and empowerment rather than youth-driven participation.” Developed by Naima Wong, Marc Zimmerman, and Edith Parker | Read more →
Varieties of Participation
The influential Varieties of Participation model describes the most common forms of public participation in local democratic governance. Visually represented as a three-dimensional “Democracy Cube,” the model details methods of participatory selection, modes of communication and decision-making, and degrees of power and authority granted to the public. Developed by Archon Fung | Read more →
Dialogue Models
Return to Section Navigation →
Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry is a theory, methodology, and process of organizational and social engagement. Described as an “asset-based” approach to systems change, the model emphasizes positive idea generation over problem identification and utilizes questions and dialogue to help participants uncover existing strengths, advantages, or opportunities in their communities, organizations, or teams. Developed by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva | Read more →
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity is one of the more influential models in the field of intercultural communication. The model describes a developmental continuum along which people can progress toward a deeper understanding and appreciation of cross-cultural differences. Developed by Milton Bennett and Intercultural Development Research Institute | Read more →
Dialogue to Change Process
The Dialogue to Change Process describes an adaptable step-by-step process for designing and implementing equitable community dialogue, organizing, and engagement processes that can help diverse groups build relationships and trust, share stories and viewpoints, learn about community issues and problems, and work collaboratively toward solutions and action. Developed by Everyday Democracy | Read more →
Shared Space Café
The Shared Space Café is an inclusive community-dialogue process that can be used in multicultural and multilingual settings. The process addresses the unequal power dynamics that can result from a variety of cultural barriers, such as differences in language ability, education, income, or social status. Developed by Portland Empowered | Read more →
Storytelling Project Model
The Storytelling Project Model provides a framework for using different forms of narrative to convey the lived experiences of race in revealing ways. The dialogue model can help people collectively analyze and better understand the many forms that racism can take in organizations and society. Developed by Lee Anne Bell | Read more →
Education Models
Return to Section Navigation →
Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships
The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships describes some of the foundational conditions, goals, and outcomes that are essential to effective engagement and collaboration between schools and families. Developed by Karen Mapp and Paul Kuttner in 2013; revised in collaboration with Marissa Alberty, Eyal Bergman, and the Institute for Educational Leadership in 2019 | Read more →
Equitable Collaboration Framework
The Equitable Collaboration Framework encompasses several resources and publications that describe a variety of approaches that school systems can use to promote equitable collaboration and partnership with students, families, and community members. Developed by Ann Ishimaru and the Equitable Parent-School Collaboration Research Project at the University of Washington | Read more →
Equity Literacy
The Equity Literacy framework describes the foundational skills, abilities, and attributes of “equity literate” educators. The framework can help schools and communities address the underlying structural forces, systemic barriers, and opportunity gaps that create and perpetuate educational inequities. Developed by Paul Gorski and Katy Swalwell of the Equity Literacy Institute | Read more →
Framework of Six Types of Involvement
The Framework of Six Types of Involvement is one of the more influential models in the field of youth, family, and community engagement in schools. The framework describes a systemic approach to developing school-family-community partnerships intended to cultivate a “culture of partnerships” throughout a district or school. Developed by Joyce Epstein and collaborators | Read more →
Parent Leadership Indicators Framework
The Parent Leadership Indicators Framework articulates a set of descriptive indicators that parent-leadership organizations can use to self-assess their practices, measure program impact, and improve communication with parents, partners, and the public. Developed by the Parent Leadership Indicators Project at the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools | Read more →
Parent Teacher Home Visit Model
The Parent Teacher Home Visit model outlines a process and set of practices that can help educators and families build more trusting and mutually supportive relationships to positively impact a child’s education. Developed by Parent Teacher Home Visits | Read more →
Engagement Models
Return to Section Navigation →
Building Blocks of Engagement
The Building Blocks of Engagement model describes six general forms of engagement that are foundational to an effective system of student, family, and community participation in education. Developed by Tina Nabatchi and Matt Leighninger | Read more →
Core Principles for Public Engagement
The Core Principles of Public Engagement describes seven foundational principles and related practices that can be used to promote more effective, open, and equitable public participation in school, community, and government decision-making. Developed by the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, International Association for Public Participation, and Co-Intelligence Institute | Read more →
Engagement Streams Framework
The Engagement Streams Framework is an influential and widely used resource that describes appropriate and effective engagement strategies for a wide variety of contexts, problems, or goals. The model articulates four general categories of engagement that are aligned with brief descriptions of different dialogue and deliberation methods. Developed by Sandy Heierbacher and the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation | Read more →
Participatory Action Research and Evaluation
A community-driven approach to research, evaluation, and social or organizational change that intentionally includes the people who are most affected by an inquiry in the design and execution of the process. Participatory action research and evaluation helps to ensure that the methods and findings more accurately reflect the perspectives, cultures, priorities, or concerns of those who are being studied. | Read more →
Participatory Budgeting
Participatory Budgeting is a civic-engagement process that can strengthen local democracy and help make public spending more equitable and effective by allowing community members to decide how to spend portions of an annual public budget. Developed by the Participatory Budgeting Project | Read more →
Quality Assurance Standard for Community and Stakeholder Engagement
The Quality Assurance Standard Process for Community and Stakeholder Engagement outlines a step-by-step process for benchmarking and evaluating effective community and stakeholder engagement. The framework includes brief descriptions of the essential practices, goals, features, and considerations for each step in the process. Developed by the International Association for Public Participation | Read more →
Six Principles for Equitable and Inclusive Civic Engagement
The Principles for Equitable and Inclusive Civic Engagement framework describes essential elements of effective civic engagement, particularly in communities dealing with the adverse effects of disinvestment, discrimination, or disenfranchisement. The principles emphasize that engagement work cannot be separated from the larger cultural, political, and socioeconomic context of a community and should remain responsive to conditions of inequity and injustice. Developed by Kip Holley and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity | Read more →
Spectrum of Public Participation
The Spectrum of Public Participation describes five general modes of public participation that fall on a progressive continuum of increasing community influence over public decision-making. The influential and widely used model can help groups define and determine the public’s role in a civic-engagement process. Developed by the International Association for Public Participation | Read more →
Youth Engagement Continuum
The Youth Engagement Continuum describes both five forms and four degrees of youth engagement on a developmental continuum that progresses toward authentic youth empowerment in educational, civic, and political decision-making. Developed by the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing | Read more →
Research and Evaluation Models
Return to Section Navigation →
Parent Leadership Indicators Framework
The Parent Leadership Indicators Framework articulates a set of descriptive indicators that parent-leadership organizations can use to self-assess their practices, measure program impact, and improve communication with parents, partners, and the public. Developed by the Parent Leadership Indicators Project at the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools | Read more →
Participatory Action Research and Evaluation
A community-driven approach to research, evaluation, and social or organizational change that intentionally includes the people who are most affected by an inquiry in the design and execution of the process. Participatory action research and evaluation helps to ensure that the methods and findings more accurately reflect the perspectives, cultures, priorities, or concerns of those who are being studied. | Read more →
Why Am I Always Being Researched? Seven Inequities Framework
The Why Am I Always Being Researched? Seven Inequities framework outlines seven ways in which power dynamics can bias research agendas, generate misrepresentative results, perpetuate structural discrimination, and contribute to community disinvestment. The framework also proposes a set of complementary opportunities to design research and evaluation programs in ways that produce more authentic truths that will better serve communities. Developed by Chicago Beyond and Community Partners | Read more →
Trauma-Informed Models
Return to Section Navigation →
Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience Framework
The Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience Framework describes trauma-related experiences, conditions, and symptoms that adversely impact the functioning of communities, neighborhoods, and schools. The framework proposes strategies that help can build more resilient communities by addressing the manifestations of trauma in social relationships, physical environments, and community systems. Developed by Prevention Institute | Read more →
Dignity Model
The Dignity Model describes ten essential elements of dignity. The model provides a framework for understanding how the experience of dignity can help strengthen relationships, resolve conflicts, or make organizations more successful, and how violations of dignity inevitably damage relationships, incite conflicts, or undermine organizational cultures. Developed by Donna Hicks | Read more →
Trauma Informed Community Building Model
The Trauma Informed Community Building Model is a research-based guide to using trauma-informed engagement practices and interventions to strengthen communities. The model describes several interrelated dimensions of trauma-informed community-building practice and includes a framework for evaluating community strength and resilience. Developed by BRIDGE Housing Corporation | Read more →
Youth Models
Return to Section Navigation →
Ladder of Children’s Participation
The Ladder of Children’s Participation describes eight levels of decision-making agency, control, and power that can be given to children and youth by adults. The “rungs” of the ladder represent a continuum of power that ascends from nonparticipation (no agency) to degrees of participation (increasing levels of agency). Developed by Roger Hart | Read more →
Pathways to Participation
The Pathways to Participation model articulates a developmental progression of child and youth participation in organizations and communities that can inform planning or reflection. The model describes five distinct levels of participation and three “stages of commitment” representing degrees of dedication and fidelity to the empowerment of children and youth. Developed by Harry Shier | Read more →
Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment Pyramid
The Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment (TYPE) Pyramid describes three general categories of youth participation: adult control, youth control, and shared control. The authors argue that “shared youth-adult control in participatory research and action may be ideal for positive youth development and empowerment rather than youth-driven participation.” Developed by Naima Wong, Marc Zimmerman, and Edith Parker | Read more →
Youth Engagement Continuum
The Youth Engagement Continuum describes both five forms and four degrees of youth engagement on a developmental continuum that progresses toward authentic youth empowerment in educational, civic, and political decision-making. Developed by the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing | Read more →
Youth Participatory Action Research and Evaluation
A youth-driven and youth-led approach to research, evaluation, and social or organizational change that intentionally includes young people who are most affected by an inquiry in the design and execution of the process. Youth participatory action research and evaluation helps to ensure that the methods and findings more accurately reflect the perspectives, priorities, or concerns of young people who are being studied. | Read more →
Return to Section Navigation →