This study examines how communities participate in schools across diverse contexts in developing countries and the results attributed to community participation. It reviews evaluations of participatory approaches to education in developing countries to answer two basic questions: 1) How do communities participate in school in developing countries?…

While the federal government has always been a junior partner to state and local agencies in financing and operating public schools, the impact of federal policies on schools continues to be a topic of debate by researchers, policymakers, and the public. This paper reviews the rapidly expanding but dispersed literature on federal involvement in…

Decentralized decision-making is an important characteristic of effective schools. Effective decentralization requires that teachers, parents, students, and the community be involved, despite the various problems they face. The creation of school improvement councils is one step towards implementing the massive structural change needed to improve…

This compilation of publications from the School-Linked Service Integration Research Project focuses on integrated services and includes the following papers: (1) "New Community Schools: Issues for Families in Three Streams of Reform" (Wayne Sailor), describes issues in special education reform, general education reform, and school/health services…

This report illustrates how community service learning can be used as a vehicle for achieving the goals of education and youth development and, concurrently, how it is highly consistent with the goals of systemic educational reform, particularly in rural schools and communities. Part 1 covers the definition of service learning as a method of…

The 10 papers in this report review what the United States has accomplished for late-adolescents and young adults in the past decade since publication of "The Forgotten Half." The consensus from the 15 authors is that many developments have not been encouraging. "Today's Forgotten Half: Still Losing Ground" (Samuel Halperin), a review of…

This review of the literature on the current state of parent and community involvement looks at the programs and practices, and their effects, in the research and practice literature, especially since 1980. The review explores past history and offers a contemporary view of the policies, trends, and factors that provide an understanding for the…