"AASA Learning 2025: Student-Centered, Equity-Focused, Future-Driven Education" is a movement that calls for a holistic redesign of the public school system by 2025. This initiative is grounded in the foundational work of the AASA Learning 2025 National Commission, comprised of thought leaders in education, business, community, and…

The Iowa Community Betterment (ICB) program provides support to communities attempting to maximize their own resources and create development. In two ICB projects, Edgewood citizens developed badly needed affordable housing and built a golf course, and Greene residents boosted tourism by building a paddlewheel riverboat and supporting local…

Despite their important role in the community, there have been a number of economic cycles and population shifts which have resulted in rural communities losing their weekly newspapers. An exploratory case study examined a small Iowa community of 450 persons which launched a volunteer newspaper nearly 10 years ago. The experiences of this…

To examine the unique characteristics of rural social workers from five northeastern Iowa counties, interviewers examined the areas of lifestyle, supervision, flexibility, community resources, generalist casework as opposed to specialized casework, and the influence of gender in rural areas. The 3-phase field study (comprised of approximately 15…

Art instruction in Iowa schools lacks cohesiveness and continuity. This may be due in part to the state government's commitment to local autonomy. The Iowa Department of Education does not mandate what schools must do; it only suggests and encourages. In 1986, the department published a five-year plan for the achievement of educational goals,…

The purposes of this handbook are (1) to help individuals who are thinking about becoming family day care providers decide whether the profession is appropriate for themselves and their families, and (2) to present ideas for setting up and maintaining a family day care home that provides high quality service to families, a developmental learning…

This handbook of information and suggestions for improving art education in the elementary and secondary schools of Iowa provides broad guidelines for the purpose and goals of a quality art education program. The guidelines may be used to inform school administrators and board members of the general characteristics of an educationally valid…

The reference guide presents information on placing special education students in the community for "specially designed" career exploration or "specially designed" vocational training in Iowa. Much of the information is in question and answer format. An introductory section provides background on the employee-employer…

Procedures to help intermediate-grade social studies teachers implement a local history unit are provided. Although intended for teachers in Iowa, the guide can easily be used by educators in any state. The procedures are organized around three major generalizations: (1) buildings and artifacts are resources in explaining the history of a…

This guide contains activity ideas to help elementary and secondary students celebrate Iowa History Month, October, 1985. There are four major sections. The first section contains an historic calendar for the month of October. Each day focuses on a significant occurrence in Iowa history and provides specific suggestions for discussing the events.…

Two booklets, "A Blueprint for Iowa's Young: Implementation Directions for the Framework Paper," and "Investing in Families, Prevention and School Readiness: Working Draft of a Framework Paper" present a framework for creation of a blueprint for implementation and management of community investment initiatives. The framework is…

School year 1980-81 completed the third year of operation for the Lohrville Career Education Model (LCEM) and the Toward Community Growth Project, a systematic attempt at exploring careers in Iowa and at inducing Iowa's youth to seek careers closer to home following high school graduation or completion of post-secondary education/training. The…

The 1979-1980 school year was the second year of operation for the Lohrville Career Education Model (LCEM) and the Toward Community Growth project, which was designed to provide rural Iowa high school students with occupational experience in their local areas in an effort to offset the out-migration of rural high school graduates and the lagging…

Few would argue against the idea of planning and implementing improvements to the nation's schools. This report contends, school improvement planning processes have frequently not been conceived in ways likely to produce desired learning outcomes for many students. The analyses presented in this report focus on a lack of attention to how schools…

The Lohrville Career Education Model (LCEM) is a successful program to influence the decision of rural high school students to remain in the community after graduation and to help them examine local occupational opportunities and potential. The LCEM consists of a 7-unit course in local history, rural living, rural economy, rural attitudes,…