In this address some of the possible consequences of voucher plan adoption are considered. Areas of concern are (1) the degree of change from the present system, (2) the lack of incentive for new entrepreneurs to provide alternatives, (3) the effects on the concepts of the comprehensive school and heterogeneity, and (4) the changed roles of the…

This report discusses low-performing school districts identified by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL). It is based on a 5-year contract in which SEDL tried to transform low-performing schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas into high-performing learning communities. The first part of the paper…

The School Readiness Act of 1991 (S. 911) amends the Head Start Act to expand the availability of the comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, and social services of Head Start to all eligible children and their families by 1997. This senate report on S. 911 begins by affirming the effectiveness of high quality early childhood development…

This fact sheet begins with an overview of family support programs, which includes a discussion of the premises of family support programs and a list of typical program components. The remainder of the fact sheet focuses on one approach to family support, comprehensive and collaborative (C&C) services. The fact sheet underscores the need for…

This is volume three of a six-volume guide to the establishment and management of a comprehensive family-support program. This volume explains the role played by evaluation in the evolution of family-support and family-education services, introduces key aspects and important considerations in planning an evaluation, and discusses how to choose a…

This volume, the last of a six-part report, is a guide that provides an overview to the Building Villages series. It discusses the need for comprehensive programs, and examines the corresponding need for change in the family-services framework. It sets forth the organizing principles of family support as the movement grows from a program to a…

This guide, Part 2 of a 6-volume guide, is designed to assist program managers in maintaining comprehensive family-support programs through creative funding. It stresses building a portfolio of resources to serve the families within the communities. It also examines the general principles of financing strategy, potential funding sources, tips on…

This guide, volume four of a six-part series, describes several community-outreach methods and provides practical outreach suggestions that are based on experience, as well as typical problems and the ways practitioners have chosen to resolve them. The guide is divided into three parts. Part 1 focuses on recruitment. Specific topics cover ways of…

Adult basic education (ABE) programs are not adequate to prepare the unemployed and undereducated to gain entry into the labor market and conceivably higher education. Some indications of the scope of the problem can be seen in a recent Division of Adult Education, U.S. Office of Education, report which indicated that more than fifty-one million…