The imaginative use of resource persons, field trips, and mentor arrangements by regular and special education teachers can be highly effective in stimulating gifted students' interest in school and commitment to learning. (Author/SB)

This pamphlet describes seminars conducted by of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to expand teachers' knowledge at all levels in order to expand students' knowledge. The seminars include: teaching with technology; forging local partnerships; work outside the classroom; lifelong learning exhibitions; the civil war; castle, cathedral,…

Reviews literature stressing the need for rural networking, especially between formal and informal helping systems. Describes seven rural networking situations to explain networking as a means of rural service coordination. Notes four major obstacles to network development and 12 principles that can enhance the use of networking resources. (SB)

Explains how community legal resource persons (police officers, lawyers, law students, court employees, legislators, etc.) can contribute to high school students' understanding of the legal system. Suggestions include that the resource person's visit relate to material the class is studying and that the teacher and resource person communicate…

The monograph provides an historical overview of services for families of disabled children and considers strategies for increasing family support. The historical analysis traces factors influencing the lack of priority placed on family services and describes trends in family resource services. Advantages and drawbacks of the continuum and array…

Suggests that social support systems offer a new avenue toward primary prevention, since social networks provide social meaning and psychological import to the term "community." Examines the nature and health protective effects of social support in the light of the historical evolution of community psychology as a discipline. (Author/AOS)

Based on a presentation given at the 1974 National Conference on Commercial Recreation for Disabled People, the paper examines the role of commercial recreation in the lives of the handicapped. Examples of commercial recreation enterprises are listed for equipment, goods and products; recreation centers, services, and schools; entertainment;…

According to statistics, 69% of women who marry will outlive their husbands, women are widowed at an average age of 56, and women often experience a loss of half their income with the death of their spouse. Women who become widowed must deal with a number of financial concerns, including the following: obtaining a death certificate and presenting…

Leisure time planning for aging adults with mental retardation is still in its early stages. The article discusses related research, noting patterns of social support and interaction, leisure involvement, leisure related programs, and community integration. The challenge for the future will be to meet individual leisure needs with limited…

An overview is presented of school programs that utilize the resources of the local community as an educational tool. Examples are presented of ways in which successful field trip programs have been organized and administered. Included in this report are citations of articles and documents available from the ERIC information system. (JD)

Today's literacy crusade still emphasizes economic rather than humanistic reasons for literacy education. However, lasting change will come only through breaking the familial cycle of illiteracy, integrating improvement of work-based, family, and generic learning skills. (SK)

A dynamic community economic development and education process has emerged in Missouri. This effort is bringing about changed awareness and attitudes as well as developing skills and community self-help actions as a result of collaboration between communities, Extension specialists, and the University of Missouri-Columbia. One of the institutions…

Background: The specific health services provided to students at school and the model for delivering these services vary across districts and schools. This article describes the characteristics of school health services in the United States, including state- and district-level policies and school practices. Methods: The Centers for Disease Control…

Statistics reveal that 61% of older Canadian women who are unattached to a male partner live in poverty. Two primary factors why women are especially vulnerable to poverty are their financially dependent status and their inequality in the work force. Even women who have worked outside the home are more vulnerable to poverty in old age than their…

This monograph is one in a series designed to report, in narrative form, discussions that took place during a series of mini-conferences for local K-12 career education coordinators on the subject of staff development in career education. The monograph covers two broad concerns: the substance of staff development in career education; and how staff…