Local boards of education must retain their prestige and power if they are to be at all effective in establishing and influencing school policies in their areas. (CK)

Two results of minority pressure for community involvement in educational decision making are (1) administrative decentralization and community participation, and (2) administrative decentralization and community control. However, regarding "community control," controversy abounds over whether elected public officials and professional educators or…

Questions aimed at better school-community relations through identification of problems and courses of positive action were pursued at a seminar. Positive statements were presented by a citizen, a businessman, and an educator; and discussions were launched from the propositions, problems, and points raised in these papers. This report consists of…

Methods for encouraging community involvement and training community volunteers for decision making positions in community schools are described. The functions of community schools are to provide a broad diversity of learning opportunities and to involve citizens in assessing community needs, evaluating services, and advocating…

The findings of 22 significant and accessible studies of community involvement in school board policy formation, selected from over 130 relevant studies, are analyzed in this report to provide lay activists with information that could prove useful in efforts to influence policy-making. This information is organized in a question-and-answer format,…

FROM AN ANALYSIS OF OVER 2,000 RECONSTRUCTED CONVERSATIONS HELD BY 50 ADULTS IN EACH OF FIVE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSE DATA WERE OBTAINED TO MEASURE FLOWS OF INFORMATION AND INFLUENCE FROM THE SCHOOL TO THE COMMUNITY FOR OBTAINING PUBLIC SUPPORT. THE STUDY ATTEMPTED TO DESCRIBE (1) PERSONS WHO TALK ABOUT SCHOOLS, (2) THE KINDS OF…

This paper, the third based on a 4-year sociological field study of school-community relations in a factional suburb, analyzes conflict generated by the discrepancy between the perceived and actual norms governing the school board-community relationship. A 3-year effort to develop board responsiveness followed a 7-year period of professional…

Because the ultimate power to control school reform is in the hands of the superintendent or some other similarly positioned administrator, the reforms tend to benefit some student or constituency groups more than others. Judging from the personal characteristics of most superintendents and the political context of the superintendency itself, it…

The model, structure, program, and impacts of the Newton (Massachusetts) Community Schools are described as exemplary of community education service delivery. The Newton Community Schools have two components: education of the whole community and the involvement of citizens in program and policy decision-making. Section 1 of the report provides a…

Community colleges should return to the philosophy of localism and team up with community agencies to play an active role in community planning and development. Rural colleges, which are governed by local boards that are more prone to receive immediate community pressure than their urban counterparts, are more suited to the achievement of this…

The organization and implementation of a community school program is discussed under the topics of citizen participation, functions of the community school council, organizational procedures, and coalition building. Community education consists of two components: the provision of a broad diversity of learning opportunities (after-school programs,…

The Institute for Responsive Education (IRE) is a private, nonprofit organization involved in research, policy analysis, assistance to local sites, and development of a national information clearinghouse and network for citizen groups. IRE recommends an approach to community based education that encourages citizen participation in decision-making…

This bibliography features an extensive collection of articles and books on the subject of school-community relations. Topics covered include school-community relations (general); program, organization, and administration; school-community relations activities; school-community relations processes; specific publics; political aspects; research;…