Findings from a literature review on dropout prevention were integrated with suggestions from Oregon educators. Ideas included examples of universal interventions (such as student advisory programs), dropout interventions for at-risk students (such as community-based learning), and interventions for individual students (wraparound interventions).…

Describes the Los Angeles Theatre Center's program, "Theatre as a Learning Tool," which brings students from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and educational backgrounds to see fully staged theatrical productions. Notes that the program integrates the plays into daily lesson plans in reading, writing, critical thinking, and communication…

Describes the Board of Directors' of the Miami-Dade Community College Foundation development of new bylaws. Provides information on the foundation's structure and functions, the concern of the Ad Hoc Committee on Governance with the issues of quorum and board member oversight, and the responsibilities of the foundation's committees. (DMM)

In rural America, community members are working together to reform education, revitalize communities, and improve the quality of life. This article describes long-term efforts, such as Alabama's PACERS program, Georgia's REAL Enterprises project, and Minnesota's Center for School Change. Smaller-scale efforts in Nebraska, Mississippi, and South…

Describes the unusual community/university collaboration at the Community Literacy Center in Pittsburgh. Shows how education and inquiry can help construct an intercultural discourse in which teens enter a policy discussion about suspension and in which college mentors enter the discourse on inner-city teens. (SR)

Rio Hondo Community College (California) combined elements of cooperative learning and classroom research to meet needs of a culturally diverse population. The effort is based on four principles: (1) creating a curriculum supporting diversity; (2) treating students as inexperienced adult learners; (3) promoting cooperative learning; and (4) using…

Investigates five writing centers from the viewpoint of English faculty. Describes these writing centers' history, the different concepts of their roles in community colleges and universities, their staffing, the politics of their structural organization and funding, the array of services they provide, and the direction of their development. (SR)

A psychiatric-hospital administrator describes how she agreed to be a foster parent for a troubled girl who was medically fragile. Together, and with community help, they formed Golden Buckets, an organization that provides therapeutic foster care for medically dependent children and their families. (MKA)

Examines concerns regarding the current external and internal attacks on Basic Writing in relation to the entire field of composition studies. Argues that new "recognition work" is needed in Basic Writing. Exemplifies the possibility of developing the capacity to see local communities not as places to export composition's beneficence, but as…

Examines the current status of library technical assistant (LTA) programs in North America, lists the programs, and describes their major features. Makes suggestions for future directions, including distance learning, specialization within programs, continuing education, articulation agreements with bachelor's degree programs, and an increase in…

In reaffirming "The Declaration of Principles" from a 1995 meeting, the Corporation for National Service and the U.S. Department of Education have pledged their commitment to service as a means of improving schools, enhancing student achievement, and meeting citizenship challenges. Programs exemplifying six service-learning principles…

Founded in 1977, "Communities in Schools" champions the connection of needed community resources with schools to help 300,000 youngsters annually to learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. The program brings in community-service providers, such as health-care and mental-health professionals, to work as a personalized team alongside…

A Maryland elementary school enlightened parents and community members about school technology by hosting a technology night showcasing student work. Through staff and community members' cooperative efforts, the technology committee created a comprehensive program composed of several elements: student involvement, district vision,…

Outlines a theoretical and conceptual framework for neighborhood-based collaboration by nonprofit organizations. Analyzes the main concepts of innovation in the design and implementation of a collaboration to prevent child maltreatment in an undervalued neighborhood and draws implications for social policy, social work practice, and social work…

Explores initiatives by the University of Newcastle in Australia to facilitate participation and success of people from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low socioeconomic-status families, indigenous Australians, people with disabilities, people from rural and isolated communities, women in non-traditional fields, and young and older people who…