Only the federal government has the power and resources to address the housing crisis. National policy should extend resources to grassroots groups which will design housing programs and policies according to local conditions. Important issues are: (1) preserving existing subsidized housing; (2) providing capital; (3) constructing affordable…

Court-ordered citizen monitoring of school desegregation does little to increase participation in school politics by minorities, women, the powerless, or the uninvolved. The greatest effects of increasing community involvement are likely to be a little more effective desegregation and much more power and participation for those who already have…

Review of four articles on nonmetropolitan trends suggests that (1) access to adequate education and other services should be ensured regardless of locale; (2) urban-rural dichotomies are politically useless; and (3) rural schools and communities should pursue locally defined goals. A coherent comprehensive rural policy is needed that values…

Educators are increasingly criticized because education's implicit promise of vocational success is unfulfilled. This attack is intensified by general public skepticism toward commoditized social services, which has become a political issue. Educators have difficulty responding to these challenges because, in claiming professional status, they…

The recommendations of Scotland's 1975 Alexander Report for increasing adult education participation and Tom Lovett's development of a social action model with working class adults in Liverpool and Ireland are used as background to an examination of Scottish projects that use a community work approach to involve nonparticipating adults in…

Applying the concept of "neighborhood effects" to education in a federal state such as Canada permits the argument for federal presence in public schooling. Includes four sets of examples of neighborhood effects that meet criteria specified for federal action. Notes five differences between Canadian and American public education.…

Although education, as an activity mandated, sponsored, and supervised by the capitalist state, is as much an apparatus of the state as any other state agency, it is far more democratic, open to change and innovation, and subject to potential community control than any other state apparatus. To understand education's function in a capitalist…

Argues for local control of education by Native Canadians. Position based on benefits of parent responsibility, rather than on criticism of Canadian Indian policy or treaties. Examines Indian education history, noting positive examples of Native communities taking educational responsibility. Concludes local control makes good educational policy.…

This paper explores the relationship between low income parents and urban schools. Parent participation in urban schools today is said to have been institutionalized in forms set in motion by the Civil Rights movement. Three types of response to the failure of schools to respond to the 1954 Supreme Court decision calling for desegregation are…

Responds to criticisms of the community control approach to public education. Holds that community control was only unsuccessful because it was opposed by those interests who feared the consequences of participation by the poor, and that the idea should be given an opportunity to operate at the local level. (Author/GC)

The local school board has traditionally been the predominant control mechanism for public education in this country. Since the 1970s however, increased legislation and reform in statehouses across the nation have functioned to reduce the discretion enjoyed by local boards. This paper represents an attempt to sketch this increase in state…

This paper examines ongoing changes related to appropriate methods and practices in Aboriginal educational research, including community control of research based on the principle of self-determination. This assertion of control includes the redefinition of relationships in the research process; appropriate initiation of research projects;…

To examine the influence of Western perspectives on indigenous language teaching, a two-dimensional framework of approaches to language teaching is presented. A horizontal continuum concerning the nature of language ranges between form and function, and a vertical continuum concerning the nature of language learning ranges between construction and…

An assessment of current practices in citizenship education in Canada is followed by a proposal for decentralization of educational control and community involvement for students at all levels. In response to research which indicated that Canadian students were virtually ignorant of their government and its political issues and to the demand for…

A review of the literature on school reform and successful restructuring efforts, with a focus on the decentralization of the Chicago public school system, is the purpose of this paper. Under new legislation, the Chicago Board of Education will be disbanded to encourage citizen control of schools, and will be replaced by a system of individual…