What can family members learn about each other from writing together? What sense of community can develop between family members and across families as they write together? What areas of culture and community can be realized as families write together? These are the questions that fostered this current inquiry into a family writing project. Four…

Character educators have a special responsibility to look after children's welfare. At a time when one out of every five children lives below the poverty line, and the United States ranks next to last among the wealthiest nations of the world in looking after the well-being of its children, character educators cannot be silent. Character educators…

Wheat and soybean producers pay a small amount per bushel produced as a check-off. Funds are used for research, outreach, and crop promotion. Commodity organizations and Extension joined forces to develop multi-state educational outreach on spring wheat and soybean production. Participatory planning involved producers in developing these…

The Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) is a special entity within the National League of Cities (NLC). The YEF Institute helps municipal leaders take action on behalf of the children, youth, and families in their communities. NLC launched the YEF Institute in January 2000 in recognition of the unique and influential…

Chicago's library and police partnership have created interactive programs for city youth. This article describes the partnership's Get Hooked on Fishing, Not Drugs program, Mystery Beat Book Club, Ghosts in the Graveyard and other art programs and discusses benefits for the children and participating organizations. (PEN)

The history and goals of the League of Schools Reaching Out, a national program of the Institute for Responsive Education (IRE), is described in this report. The league is IRE's principal national strategy to show how family/community/school partnerships can contribute to school restructuring aimed at increasing the academic and social success of…

Described in this paper are strategies and programs developed by the Control Data Corporation to address inner-city needs. Strategies cited include the establishment of new plants in economically depressed areas and the encouragement of local community support in business operations. Specific programs discussed are directed at the disadvantaged…

This book describes how the authors and other progressive-minded citizens in Floodwood, Minnesota, started a community school which literally lifted the community "by its bootstraps" from poverty and economic deprivation into one which became economically self-supporting and culturally enriched. A strong case is presented for…

Education improves an individual's and a community's standard of living. In a time when education funding is insufficient for schools to meet high quality standards, principals are in a unique position to influence their community to fully support state and local school budgets. By using data to show education's positive influence on human capital…

School-based youth community service programs are helping students develop individual and social responsibility, and build intergenerational bonds. Elements necessary to reap maximum benefit are described followed by five examples of nationally recognized programs. Project ideas and factors for success are offered. (SI)

This project was conducted as an experiment in the implementation of the guidelines set up by the agents' manual of the Texas study, SKILLS (Seniors and Kids Involved in Learning Life's Skills). Objectives of the intergenerational program included the following: (1) to further the work started by the SKILLS study, (2) to offer a variety of…

Community-based early intervention strategies can provide students with skills and attitudes that make dropping out of high school an unnecessary choice. This report analyzes the high school dropout phenomenon in terms of its magnitude, influence on minority populations, and need for local outreach programs. In California, the dropout rate has…

The Adult Basic Education Linkage Project (originally titled Project Reach) was designed to expand and promote linkage of adult basic education (ABE), English as a second language (ESL), and general equivalency degree (GED) programs in Western Pennsylvania with community groups and businesses and to conduct an extensive, ongoing outreach campaign…

Popular theatre that speaks to the common man in his own language and deals with directly relevant problems can be an effective adult education tool in the process Paulo Freire calls conscientization--a process aiming to radically transform social reality and improve people's lives. It can also serve as a medium for participatory research. Popular…

A federally funded comprehensive skills development and job placement program for Cuban and Haitian immigrants to Florida is described. The cooperative program of the United Way of Dade County, Inc., Miami-Dade Community College, the Spanish American League Against Discrimination, and Coalition for Progress served 8,916 refugees. Aspects of the…