This brief describes national technical assistance organizations. Thirteen organizations are included: Essential Skills Resource Center; Center for Applied Linguistics; Center on Education and Training for Employment; Language Training Designs; Center for Remediation Design; Matrices Consultants, Inc.; Performance Plus Literacy Consultants; HRD…

Adopt-A-School programs are models of school-community involvement and cooperation in which businesses, organizations, and industries adopt schools and contribute funds, personnel, or expertise to those schools for programs, projects, and services. This bulletin highlights the Adopt-A-School program in the Oakland (California) Unified School…

The National School Resource Network (NSRN) has been established by a grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, to meet the challenge of school disruption, violence, and vandalism. NSRN's goal is to assist schools in preventing and reducing these problems by identifying and…

Two methods of controlling visitors and strangers in schools are presented: one utilizes a student visitor reception committee and the other describes various techniques of visual identification of visitors to permit faculty and students to know who does and does not belong in the school. Methods of identification include visitor ribbons and…

Youth Action Teams have been implemented in over 14 sites across the country in the past few years. Such teams are made up of a diverse group of youth working together on a project through the school, a youth service organization, a community organization, or the government. The team decides its focus, and what projects its members wish to…

The Officer Friendly program, sponsored by the Sears-Roebuck Foundation, is designed to humanize children's perceptions of police officers and their work, improve rapport between children and police, increase awareness of safety and civic responsibility, and reduce crime involving children. The program involves visits by police officers to school…

A behavior contract is a tool that many teachers and school staff use to successfully control or modify the behavior of students. In such a contract, behavior that the teacher wants the student to achieve as well as the actions that the student promises to perform to achieve the desired behavior are stated in writing. There are many types of…

The Operation Stay-in-School (OSIS) program was developed to reduce truancy before it diminishes the value of the student's education, leads to other problems such as increased burglary, vandalism, and drug abuse, and reduces the school district's attendance revenue. Truants apprehended by police are taken to OSIS reception centers where they are…

"Helping Hand" programs involve the physical identification of stores, homes, restaurants and other establishments to which children on their way to and from school may go for assistance and/or safety. Identification cards are placed in windows of cooperating establishments and homes. In some communities home owners "watch the…

Yerba Buena High School in San Jose (California) has implemented a school-based, interagency team approach for delivery of a variety of social services to students, their families, and community members. In the early 1970s the school secured a grant, hired a "crisis counselor," and set up a 24-hour hotline staffed by professionals and volunteers.…

Following a costly and destructive fire, Franklin Elementary School in Newark (New Jersey) developed an action plan for reducing violence and vandalism. The plan called for ongoing cooperation between all segments of the school population and of the local, largely Hispanic, community. Security measures were strengthened, but the thrust of the…

During the past ten years, many school districts have established alternative schools or programs for students who are seriously disruptive and academically unsuccessful. This bulletin describes five different types of alternative programs that have been effective in dealing with disruptive youth. They include the Tri-C Community Centered…

The relationship between the Flint (Michigan) Board of Education and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation began in 1935 with a $6,000 grant. The relationship between the two organizations has made Flint the national laboratory for community education programs. Through the years, the Flint community schools have requested and received Mott…

In its successful program to prevent and control violence, vandalism and misbehavior by students on school buses, the Salem (Oregon) school administration utilizes a four-step reporting and followup process. Should an incident occur, the first step is mailing of a misconduct notice to parents. This notice is followed by a warning letter. If…

Many administrators and faculty members across the country have initiated antivandalism campaigns in their schools and introduced curriculum designed to educate students about vandalism. The assumption is that if students can be educated about vandalism--what it is, what it costs, and who pays for it--they may gain more positive attitudes towards…