An analysis was conducted of contemporary notions of inclusion and their provenance in developing thought about difference in education, with a particular focus on the role of community in promoting and enabling inclusion. Being informed by: (1) an international group of advisers; and (2) a national group of informants and commentators, a review…

This digest examines the pressures that have led to school consolidation, what consolidation has achieved, the role of community in education, and the ways that school consolidation undermines that role. Belief in the principle of economies of scale and the pursuit of national educational goals related to economic competitiveness have led school…

This column, the last in a series of articles dealing with partnerships in educating young children, focuses on partnerships developed with communities. Examples of the importance of community partnerships--including provision of comprehensive services to meet student interests--welfare reform issues, and the need to be politically active are…

This paper traces the development of input from the black community of Bradford, North Carolina, in the decision-making, administration, and resource allocation of the local school district. The approaches taken by blacks and by the traditional interests in the district to express their respective ideas during this development are analyzed and…

Information collected through firsthand observations, interviews, and questionnaires from such sources as administrators, teachers, students, board members, and other community members is the base of a study of the relationship between school and community in a rural setting. (Author/MLF)

The issues addressed in this paper include: (1) various views of what constitutes a community; (2) the controversy over the quantity, kind, and division of decisionmaking powers allotted to community action groups; (3) arguments against and in favor of community participation; (4) characteristics which prohibit citizen participation among…

Beginning with a review of recent literature on social conflict, this study adopts Coser's distinction between realistic conflict, which seeks to balance both sides of a disagreement, and nonrealistic conflict, which seeks domination by only one party. Where nonrealistic conflict develops in intense labor-management disputes in public school…

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…