After 20 years of experience, comprehensive education in Belgium is characterized by many compromises. Pedagogically, positive results have been achieved. Curricular and structural reforms have been largely successful. However, too much is being expected of it as a lever for social change, and the system may fail as a result. (MSE)

The issue of student success is a common concern in the typical community college, and no less so at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) in New Mexico. As a result of a comprehensive program review of student success rates in mathematics, the Mathematics Departments in the Divisions of Arts and Sciences and Developmental Studies collaborated on…

This article discusses the comprehensive secondary schools which have so far been created in West Germany. It points out the ways they differ from English comprehensive schools, summarizes research results, and looks at teacher training needs. (SJL)

Presents data on the extent, nature, and consequences of adolescent substance abuse. Definition of substance abuse is considered. Discusses primary and secondary prevention programs, including programs targeting high-risk youth, school and peer group, families, and communities. Outlines tertiary prevention efforts and emphasizes the need for…

The Head Start community has recognized that the mental health program has been a weak spot in the program's comprehensive services strategy. A brief telephone survey of 101 programs identified the services most desired and resulted in recommendations for strengthening this aspect and making the program a laboratory for innovative practices. (SLD)

Current research on students' experiences in encounters with their classmates in school is explored by using the narrative of a 25-year-old nursery school teacher in Sweden about her own experiences as a quiet and well-behaved student. Her story illustrates some of the built-in conflicts of the comprehensive school. (SLD)

A high priority area for behavioral community psychologists involves working to strengthen informal support systems within communities. A collaborative effort between a community group and academic based psychologists focusses on a community problem--dog litter in an urban area. An original demonstration project was used to influence the political…

The institutional self-study required by a university hospital's reaccreditation process is explored, with a discussion of benefits and costs. A reaction by C. F. Waltz and A. Belcher reaffirms the value of reaccreditation studies and discusses ways of minimizing costs without compromising comprehensiveness and utility of results. (SLD)

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, the achievement growth of students in magnet schools, Catholic schools, and secular private schools was compared to that of students in public comprehensive schools during the first two years of high school. Some advantages of magnet schools and Catholic schools are discussed. (SLD)

Real progress toward large-scale comprehensive service delivery to children and their families is possible only when community agencies move beyond cooperation to genuinely collaborative ventures at both the service delivery and system level. The following factors that affect the success of collaborative efforts were developed from an analysis of…

The report by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, "Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children," presents a comprehensive strategy for child well-being. Parent education and universal health coverage are but two aspects of an approach that considers the needs of all families. (SLD)

New programs taking a comprehensive approach to disadvantaged young men in urban areas have met with some success. This paper attempts to define the issues that will influence the development of comprehensive programs and examines the qualities that have made them a promising alternative for the future. Issues that shape the lives of youth include…

The inherent methodological problem in conducting research at multiple sites is how to best derive an overall estimate of program impact across multiple sites, best being the estimate that minimizes the mean square error, that is, the square of the difference between the observed and true values. An empirical example illustrates the use of the…

Gives an overview of a comprehensive career education program that provides the basic elements of personal career development to an entire school population. Activities, which are presented developmentally by grade level, offer students the opportunity to take control of their personal development at all grade levels. Career goals are discussed.…

Recent criticisms of Project Head Start have resulted in plans to improve program services and to expand in a more thoughtful manner to make the program more responsive to the needs of children and families. New directions include expansion below and beyond the ages previously served by Head Start. (SLD)