Instead of offering a community a predetermined curriculum to be applied in its Head Start project, the Enabler Model would focus on helping local Head Start staff and parents plan and conduct a program of their own choosing, through the supportive assistance of an early childhood education specialist--the Enabler. (Author/CB)

"Town Meeting, an unusual experiment in using television for improving citizen participation in the American democratic process, has given viewers in Minnesota and South Dakota an opportunity to hear about issues and to join in the decision-making." Based on remarks made to the Kettering Conference on Public Television Programming.…

A county wide approach was effective in assisting communities to establish sex education programs in their schools. It was a united effort involving many individuals in all phases of planning. The county committee provided the incentive, leadership, resources and support to communities that wanted to establish sex education programs. (Author)

This paper presents a report on a special services aide program in Connecticut. The community was the source of the paraprofessional personnel, who were then trained by teachers. By the end of a successful second year, there was a need for a university/school cooperative training program to fill the demand for these personnel. Presented in a…

The Community Resource Center of Manchester, Connecticut, acts as a central clearinghouse for resource persons and pograms for classroom enrichment. The center's development, its resource file, and its relationship to the classroom teacher are reviewed. (CL)

The author suggests that citizen involvement can be influenced by two major factors: (1) the extension agent's personal orientation as a programer and (2) the programing situation. (CT)

Reports on the first intensive evaluation of the Private Sector Initiative Program. Recommends that Congress and the Labor Department should refrain from changing PSIP's structure, allow time for it to develop fully at the local level, continue to observe local developments closely, and learn from the experience. (CT)

The use of felt needs in community development practice involves the process of identifying needs, ranking their importance, and building programs based on the ranking. Felt needs should be replaced by the concept "anticipatory needs," which identifies what needs to be done in order to move toward a specified future. (Author/JOW)

Reports on efforts by the Minnesota Heart Health Program to develop a system that permitted tracking educational program contacts, its implementation, and its use to make management decisions about program activities. (JOW)

Incorporating community education into a district's strategic plan avoids add-on or piecemeal approaches and makes community education an integral part of the education program. (SK)

Fewer employees, shorter hours, diminished collection budgets, reduced programs and services--all at a time of record library usage. In this book, library expert Carol Smallwood demonstrates that despite the obvious downsides, the necessity of doing business differently can be positive, leading to partnering, sharing, and innovating. This…

High school students with disabilities who drop out are costly to society. Compared to those who graduate, they are more likely to be unemployed, dependent on public services, and involved in the criminal justice system. Consequently, helping students with disabilities graduate has become a prominent national concern. Students with disabilities…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) helps museums and libraries preserve our cultural heritage, enhance learning and innovation, and develop staff capacities to provide the best in service to our communities. IMLS has a long-standing commitment to funding grants and sponsoring research on the subject of how both preschool and…

Communities of practice (COPs) are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better through interacting with one another (Wenger 1998). Communities of practice have enormous potential to support and sustain quality care and education within a community and, in fact, are doing so. Businesses and…