This commentary draws on the articles in this issue to underscore the importance of community engagement and districtwide capacity building as central to efforts to use data to inform accountability and choice, along with school and instructional improvement. The author cautions against treating data as an all-purpose tool absent adequate…

A teacher of "basics" for 14 and 15 year olds who have failed eighth grade questions the validity and relevance of this teaching approach. She stresses the importance of apprenticeships and internship programs to help students apply knowledge that is infrequently used and soon forgotten. (MLH)

Community involvement too often becomes a patronising, paternalistic process designed and delivered by professionals to control rather than enable and empower. What alternatives are there? Pat Thomson argues that within the international radical tradition we have some important answers and urges us to draw once again on the work of people like…

Argues that many of the needs youth have are determined by where and how they live. Suggests youth services providers should take a constructivist approach by helping communities and organizations create services that provide and nurture caring attitudes and behaviors. Presents recommendations for modifying cultures and organizing caring…

This discussion of the development of the Oklahoma Community Youth Effort curriculum guide includes information on problem solving, issue identification, public and community issues, decision making, action plans, proposal writing, and information addressing adolescent concerns. (JOW)

Four paradigms of labor-management relations are found in American small schools: paternalism, collective bargaining, collegial problem solving, and community problem solving. Examination of the conditions under which each is likely to exist and their unique characteristics, reveals the circumstance which will enhance the effectiveness of each.…

Community problem solving as an aspect of continuing education is traced from the colonial period to the present. This review shows that educational programs to help adults identify and solve community problems are not a recent innovation. (Author/JOW)

The purpose of this collection of papers is to define and explain the concept of process orientation, especially as applied to community education. The major presentation begins by tracing the central importance of process orientation through a review of literature within community education. Then a variety of different perspectives on process…

Research on African-American and Latina/o youth has been dominated by studies that focus on "problem" adolescent behavior. Typically, they explain youth crime, delinquency, and violence as individual pathological behavior or cultural adaptations stemming from social disorganization in their communities. This article argues for a more…

This paper discusses the need for a quality written constitution for student government. The thought process involved in implementing democracy in the university setting is outlined in 10 steps. Members of the student government need to realize the tremendous potential of using the democratic process to resolve disagreements. Each of the 10…

A democracy must tolerate many points of view without becoming divided. Therefore, public educators and the communities they serve are challenged to help students understand political and religious issues without proselytizing. This handbook provides guidelines for beginning the journey toward common ground, for moving from a climate of antagonism…

Children aged 10-14 need to assume responsible and challenging roles as part of their adolescent development. Based on the physical, social, moral and ethical, and emotional developmental characteristics of this age, adolescents need to discover and test new skills; develop a sense of competence; socialize to develop close friendships; take part…

While most rural special education leaders agree on the universality of certain problems (funding inadequacies, personnel recruitment/retention, transportation, low-incidence handicapped populations, staff development needs, resistance to change) in rural areas, no agreement exists regarding generalizable solutions which will work in all rural…

How peace can be "enforced" on an entire generation through education is discussed. The goals of education for peace are several. For example, it would enable people to cope with issues of modern society, help them develop an understanding of different cultures, and prepare them to actively participate in the governmental policy-making process. To…

The problems, challenges, and opportunities of rural education are the focus of the fourteen speeches and nine workshops presented at the second annual conference on rural education, held February 1-2, 1979, in Des Moines, Iowa. Conference proceedings are presented in this newsletter in transcript or summary form. Speeches cover the topics of…