Cross-sector collaborations can generate the resources and political will necessary to tackle urgent, complex issues. Because these partnerships involve local leaders, they are typically responsive to their surrounding communities, addressing local concerns, and capitalizing upon local assets. These strengths-oriented, locally driven…

High school journalists are beginning to look beyond the restrictions of reporting the news of the campus to the larger responsibility of reporting the news of the community. Such a functional approach to news gathering can help school journalists to see the relationship between their school and the community and to discover that learning how to…

Reports the results of a survey of high school newspaper advisers that revealed a lack of newspaper coverage of issues not directly related to the school; discusses four reasons cited for narrow coverage: lack of staff motivation, lack of time and skills, administrative censorship, and previous publication by the local newspaper. (GT)

The ballot, as a device to communicate to the government by citizens, is perceived to be much more effective in some settings--the direct question in a local election--and less effective in others--the major questions and primary offices in a national election. Such political facts of life are part of the resurging interest in the referendum as a…

This paper describes, with a typology, the effects of localistic (community-focused) educational practice on the curriculum; and it assesses the arguments against localistic curricula which focus on the notion of social control. In conclusion, it offers a conceptual framework which may contribute to analysis of localistic curricula. (Author/SJL)

Within the next 3 years, every school district in the country is likely to deal with a new and frightening challenge--dealing with the presence of students or staff members with HIV infection or AIDS. How schools respond to this challenge may well determine the future of U.S. education. Some communities may react with ignorance and fear, just as…

This article explores the benefits and drawbacks of centralized versus local control of schools. It concludes that our traditional conflict between Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian perspectives makes it possible for us to avoid a permanent imbalance between centrist imperatives and the need to maintain rural strength. (PB)

This paper reviews the literature and findings of a prior study (Dixon 1997) that described and categorized contrasting elements of different conceptions of democracy: liberal democracy, participatory democracy, and community democracy. A table in the appendix also presents this comparison. These contrasting conceptions of democracy were then used…

As the issues with which individuals and communities struggle on a daily basis have become more urgent (e.g., unemployment, increasing crime, and overburdened health care), the tensions inherent in the relationship between college and community have become more apparent. Despite criticism that their missions are already overextended, some…

Presents the perspectives of a high school librarian and a high school English teacher on the issue of censorship in their schools. (MM)

The 3-part companion volume to the final report of the Education North Evaluation Project serves as a policy development resource book for anyone who must address questions of school-community relations. Part I focuses on the educational issues of concern to policy makers and their advisors in very remote, interracial, poor northern communities.…

This paper explores changes needed in the focus and commitment of educational research to better reflect issues relevant to rural schools and their communities. Historically, educational researchers have focused on national or cosmopolitan concerns in efforts to develop widely applicable procedures for school improvement. However, improving rural…

In response to an initial soundings paper issued by the United Kingdom's Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) presented its views on ways of enhancing the United Kingdom's existing vocational qualifications system. Selected points of the position that LSDA presented are as follows: (1) the time…