Asserts that music can maintain its own integrity as a discipline and still be part of a holistic educational experience for children. Describes how performance "showcases" or interdisciplinary student group presentations highlight student learning and enhance motivation. Discusses positive results and barriers to full implementation of…

Presents materials for an instructional activity where students contact and interview members of the local legal community concerning issues of civil law. Includes a series of question and situations that students can use to elicit responses. The questions concern constitutional rights of students, tort law, and family law. (MJP)

The Grandpals program at Oak Hill Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas, meets teachers' needs while providing successful intergenerational programming. The first step in developing a program like Grandpals is to determine program goals, objectives, and theme. A next step is to determine the two populations to be involved. For example, whole…

Community-based organizations (CBOs) have been an integral part of the employment and training programs of the past two decades and have provided a wide variety of services to youth and adults alike. The vast differences between different CBOs make it impossible to draw definitive, generalizable conclusions about them. It appears, however, that…

This report reviews a variety of approaches for working with homeless students. Information was gathered from state Coordinators of Education for Homeless Children and Youth, regional coordinators of homeless programs, and national and local organizations. The programs described are organized into five categories. The first concerns educating…

Collected in this working paper are summary descriptions of 17 innovative community action programs designed to prevent child abuse. These programs were developed by individuals, community groups, hospitals, and/or state chapters of the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, as well as by other groups and organizations. Located in…

Suggestions for publicizing unique qualities and successes of rural and small schools use existing communication channels to emphasize positive attributes and help change the negative. Tips include: tell students, parents, and community about school goals, highlight student and staff achievement, reiterate the school's responsibility to the…

This book presents a fresh view of action research as a methodology uniquely suited to researching the processes of innovation and change. Drawing on twenty-five years' experience of leading or facilitating action research projects, Bridget Somekh argues that action research can be a powerful systematic intervention, which goes beyond describing,…

Profiles a program developed between the schools and community of Anoka, Minnesota. Concerned about the increase in poverty, crime, and youth problems, the community involved the students in an assessment of the town's problems and created a series of service learning projects addressing those problems. (MJP)

Presents 10 ideas for service learning projects designed for elementary schools. Includes having students do local history projects complete with interviews and artifacts, learn about community volunteering, interact with the elderly, care for the environment, recycle materials, and hold canned food drives. (MJP)

Offers information useful to educators interested in implementing community-service programs. Provides estimates of students' participation in community service in U. S. high schools; describes the nature of the programs and students' experiences; and reports data which illustrate that the potential for influencing civic responsibility may not yet…

Presents a program for making oral history real to elementary children by sponsoring a senior citizens' tea. Describes the experiences of the children in preparing and giving the tea. Discusses the program's benefits of enhancing the store of information about community history and oral history and promoting student use of language in many forms.…

Asserts art educators must increase public relations efforts to ensure parents and community understand importance of art education in the general curriculum. Describes a school community relations campaign for an elementary art education program. Includes suggestions for identifying goals for the campaign, meeting the interests of the audience,…

The MOONBASE AMERICA project involved teachers and 96 secondary school students who participated in the project by helping to build MOONBASE, taking a space science course, creating a communications network, and completing a 7-day simulation in the MOONBASE structure. Teacher and student outcomes were evaluated. (MDH)

As increased attention is placed on the role of schools in the development of character, community service/service learning, the concept of providing instrution through the study of community issues, action to address them, and reflection on the experience, can help meet school and community goals. Through community service/service learning,…