Describes the construction and results of a predictive model that could help identify what factors seemed to influence voter choices on a school voucher constitutional amendment in California. Precinct voting outcome data from the County of Los Angeles were linked to voter demographics along with measures of local school quality and existing…

The big questions concerning education in Canada go unresolved because conversations about them occur separately within like-minded enclaves. There needs to be a national, public dialogue about the broader education issues. Accomplishing this requires giving up the search for the silver bullet, separating the issues differently, abandoning…

Describes a Rutgers University (New Jersey) course to prepare undergraduates to participate effectively in civic life and public decisions about education and schooling. The course, which includes a service learning component, examines the theoretical and conceptual bases of civic responsibility, reviews the educational policymaking process, and…

The executive director of Public Agenda describes the seven-stage journey toward public consensus, underlines the importance of genuine public involvement, and provides some common-sense principles to guide those seeking to foster public engagement. Reform-minded educators should listen carefully, create an ongoing process, seek diverse…

The Hattiesburg (Mississippi) Area Education Foundation (HAEF), a local fund serving the community's educational interests since 1988, recently evaluated its own organizational effectiveness and identified barriers to its work (multidistrict environment, business ambivalence toward education, and white flight). HAEF encouraged five districts to…

Interviewed and observed 8th graders involved in the Community Youth Research after school project (which taught youth how to investigate community needs and effect systemic change), examining how they described and interpreted their surroundings and directed their concerns toward social action. Participants identified many problems, making sense…

States that a means to provide civic engagement of students is by developing social capital of high school students and adults within their communities through service learning. Contends that community service facilitates civic engagement and political activity in young people which continues into adulthood. (CMK)

States that to understand systems of power students must think about service and politics as a continuum of activities. Believes that a good model of service learning, as a citizenship education tool, is the historical relationship between women and community service. (CMK)

Examines perspectives on the role of college presidents in shaping public policy. Reports on a national survey of presidents regarding civic engagement, which highlights diverse strategies of engagement (examples include writing editorials and political candidate endorsements), along with common barriers (such as time dedicated to fund raising).…

This article discusses recent developments in the status of local, statewide and national advocacy groups and networks of parents of children with behavioral, mental and emotional disorders. Several groups of each type are described, along with lessons learned through experiences of local groups. Contact numbers for listed groups are offered. (PB)

Explores the ways in which nonscientists inform themselves and make decisions about complex and technological controversies. Explores the prejudice against emotion in a 1976-77 case before the Cambridge Experimentation Review Board. Suggests that, in spite of some cultural bias against pathos, emotional appeals play a vital role in the shaping of…

Reports a New York State Education Department mandated government participation course. Course requirements were to examine public policy issues and to incorporate a participatory element. Describes four programs that were implemented by school districts: Effective Participation in Government Program; The Community Service Corps; National Issues…

A government is a complex system of competing factions that adopts a decentralization policy when the dominant group sees current government structures or procedures as an obstacle to the realization of group interests. Case studies of educational decentralization in Peru, Chile, and Mexico demonstrate that the "state" tends to share…

Minority participation in public policymaking has improved little in recent years, despite an increasingly multicultural population. Programs to prepare minorities for government careers are growing, but additional measures are sought, including minority hiring in growing agencies, development of advocacy groups in government agencies, mentoring…

This article argues for the civic value of the humanities scholar. Scholars can contribute to the community through their state humanities councils. Many institutions of higher education may be indifferent to how scholars can participate in civic life. A listing of possible scholar roles in humanities council programs is included. (JB)