For months, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been debated throughout the media, legislatures, education organizations, and households across the country. Education groups have released statements both in favor of the standards and opposed. As these arguments are being tossed around, 44 states and D.C. are implementing CCSS and other…

The 1998 Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program provides $120 million for Title I schools and an additional $25 million for all public schools. Almost 3,000 schools are receiving $50,000 each to implement schoolwide models listed and explained in this article. Challenges and funding tips are discussed. (Contains 13 references.) (MLH)

A reform initiative's demise is often due not to its ineffectiveness, but to its inability to deliver immediate results. Beginning with a clear vision, educators move through a "ready, fire, aim" sequence that creates "products" along the way. Charting progress can help maintain everyone's faith by distinguishing between long-term and immediate…

Openness and accessibility were once the hallmarks of U.S. public schools. Civic and governmental agencies held meetings in the schools, and families and community groups came together at schools their children attended. Now that 75 percent of all taxpayers have no children in school, it is essential that school districts stop overprotecting…

Inclusion is both a philosophy based on social justice and a practice requiring significant adaptations by the school community. This article presents qualitative data on over 200 Queensland (Australia) principals toward inclusion. Responses suggest the majority are "qualified" inclusionists. Although mindful of social-justice…

Describes a survey of 51 graduate students/full-time teachers at schools implementing full inclusion programs. Participants expressed their views concerning implementation methods, effects on instructional practices, community reactions, and advantages and disadvantages. Schools need to do a better job of explaining the rationale for full…

Community-service programs that lack administrative or community support are destined to fail. The success of mandatory programs depends on careful preparations, stakeholder buy-in, academic merits, program quality, staff support, safeguards for students, accurate recordkeeping, and recognition of long-term educational benefits. (MLH)

In Pennsylvania, introduction of student learning outcomes became a major battle rather than a reasoned debate, and final language of the proposed regulations was somewhat muted. Because the state failed to cultivate the grass-roots support necessary for reform, a vocal, effective opposition emerged, and sensation overshadowed real issues.…

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act calls for partnerships across local, state, and federal levels. This document offers suggestions for community organization to achieve the national education goals. The first section includes information on forming a steering committee, creating task forces, avoiding turf battles and finger pointing, defining…

Reviews the major factors media specialists must consider in evaluating instructional software for microcomputers, stresses the importance of staff use of instructional software as a selection criterion, outlines the role of community support in implementing instructional computing, and recommends several periodicals as sources of information on…

This workbook offers information about building community support for educational reform, particularly for improving mathematics and science education. Following an introductory chapter that explains the need for community support, the second chapter offers step-by-step suggestions for bringing the community together, some of which are identifying…

Information on school/community partnerships in Virginia is provided in this resource guide, which is divided into five sections. The first section, "Building Community/Classroom Partnerships Through Coalitions," by Jane Asche, discusses recent findings that point to the need for coalitions to improve public education. Successful…

Educational visions developed by two participants in the Education 2000 project--Redwood Falls, Minnesota, and Yonkers, New York--are described in this paper. An overview of the blueprints that are being developed from these visions is provided as well as a description of the design process. The Education 2000 process offers a new design for…

Ethnic studies programs, initiated in the recent past, have begun to wane in popularity. There are a number of possible explanations for this phenomenon. Ethnic studies programs have encountered the following stumbling blocks when implemented: (1) inadequate teacher preparation and commitment; (2) fragmented integration with other curriculum…

The Office of Educational Leadership (OEL) of the Minnesota State Department of Education initiated a project to develop and examine the effects of processes designed to transform schools into structures that assure that all students learn. In September 1989, 10 Research and Development (R&D) project sites received grants from the OEL. The…