In an applied communication course in a Boise (Idaho) high school, at-risk students participate in exchanges with a senior citizens' center, learn about work force readiness, and work with developmentally disabled children. (SK)

Describes how three middle-aged educators have been working with and helping to connect adolescent young men, from an alternative educational program for troubled youth, and independent elders in an assisted living complex. Notes the connections are built around storytelling and writing. Discusses positive results from this program. (SG)

Howe-To Industries is an intergenerational entrepreneurship project at the John de la Howe School, a state-supported institution for at-risk youth in rural McCormick County, South Carolina. Expansion of this type of program into public schools could engage the community and school system in a mutually beneficial relationship. John de la Howe…

Discusses a specific type of mentoring: matching retired, older persons with young people enduring a crisis period in their lives. Programs such as the Teaching Learning Communities (T-LC) Mentoring Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, assign elders as mentors and tutors to junior high school students in danger of dropping out. Strong elder-youth bonds…

Texas ranks among the top 10 states for school dropouts with an annual dropout rate of about 30%. Some dropout prevention programs are incorporating community service components as a means to counter the alienation and low self-esteem frequently seen among dropouts and at-risk students. Significant adults other than school personnel provide youth…

Describes a bush camp in British Columbia (Canada) based on the Rediscovery concept. Guided by Kaska Dena and Sekani Elders, and based on traditional teachings, the week-long camp offers Native youth the opportunity to reconnect with the land and the cultural heritage it embodies and to make powerful new connections to their Elders and peers. (TD)

In a Canadian program, adult volunteer mentors meet with elementary student mentees for an hour each week during school. An evaluation of five such school-based mentoring programs found that mentored students developed a more positive attitude towards school, achieved higher grades, and improved relationships with adults and peers. Mentors report…

The Llano Grande Center for Research and Development started as an oral history experiment in two of Texas's poorest school districts. Since the 1920s, when this arid region in the southernmost tip of Texas was first transformed into the orchards and farmlands of the "Magic Valley," workers of Mexican descent have worked the land. Over…

An intergenerational project trained older adult volunteers from a small South Carolina community to teach vocational skills to students at a residential school for at-risk youth. Volunteers helped students with production and marketing of goods and services for six school-based companies. Benefits include enhanced sense of community for…

Howe-To Industries is an intergenerational entrepreneurship program at John de la Howe School, a residential school for at-risk youth in rural South Carolina. The program recruits volunteer older adults to teach business and life skills to students. Addresses the benefits of intergenerational programming and offers strategies for program…

This document describes six industry-education partnerships in Massachusetts selected as exemplary and 14 selected as outstanding. They represent innovative and collaborative ways to address dropout prevention, at-risk and special needs students, adult literacy, basic skill development, and enrichment needs of students. Each entry provides this…

As part of a series exploring effective strategies for school improvement and dropout prevention, this monograph focuses on early childhood education and reading/writing programs, and compiles strategies to help families engage in meaningful literacy activities. The monograph describes and defines family literacy, provides a research basis for…

Joliet Junior College's Center for Adult Basic Education and Literacy (CABEL) is responsible for providing adult basic education and support services for adults whose skills in reading and mathematics are below the 12th grade level. Its offerings include instruction in Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Educational Development (GED), English as…

The 12 programs selected as 1996 winners of the Secretary's Awards for Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs illustrate a diverse range of promising practices for the 21st century. Winners were selected based on the presence of 10 elements, including the following: effective and potentially replicable practices; measurable objectives…