To assess the long-term impacts of adult literacy programs, the Center for Literacy Studies conducted the Longitudinal Study of Adult Literacy Participants in Tennessee from 1991-95. The study focused on changes in the lives of 450 participants in the domains of work, family, and community after they enrolled in literacy programs. Participants…

This document is designed to help community-based organizations (CBOs) and civil rights groups get involved as full partners in developing a voluntary, national system of skill standards, assessment, and certification. Section 1 explains the benefits to CBOs and civil rights groups of becoming involved in the skill standards development. Section 2…

This guide provides Maryland teachers with information regarding how to evaluate and improve service-learning. Seven suggested practices for school-based service learning were derived from interviews with 80 Maryland teachers actively engaging their students in service learning. These seven best practices, which might provide a framework for…

For more than a decade, many researchers and practitioners have endorsed a "positive youth development" approach, which views adolescents as active contributors to their own development and as assets to their communities. As part of this shift, youth are increasingly being invited to engage in community governance. In youth…

This article discusses the redevelopment process in the context of views of developers, potential newcomers to a redeveloped area, and the residents of such an area. It is a qualitative accounting of the similarities and differences of these groups and how and why they are either willing or unwilling to participate. (Author/SSH)

A futurist presents a picture of "cautious optimism" for the decade ahead in terms of resources--natural, technological, economic, organizational/political, human, labor and wages, and education and job skills. Our biggest problem, he says, is divisiveness, and education can help by preparing citizens to contribute to society through work. (MF)

Examines low levels of Latino political participation using data from the Latino National Political Survey. Emphasizes differences among Latino subgroups (Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban) when analyzing voter participation. Shows that socioeconomic factors, such as education and income, may be mitigated by life-cycle effect variables, and all are…

Reviews teaching for and about democracy in Australia, and identifies key concepts embedded in the notion of democracy (representation, leadership, decision making, public criticism). Draws on ethnographic data from settled and remote Aboriginal Australia to explore whether understandings and practices associated with these concepts are shared by…

Advocates including school-age children in community service programs as a way to give back to the community, build confidence, create a sense of power to make a difference, organize, solve problems, develop strategies, make decisions, and gain personal gratification. Includes guidelines for planning and ideas for community service projects. (SD)

Profiles this year's winners of the Charles Frankel Prize, awarded to individuals who have stimulated and expanded public understanding of the humanities. The recipients are Rita Dove (poet), Doris Kearns Goodwin (historian/author), Daniel Kemmis (mayor/author), Arturo Madrid (professor), and Bill Moyers (television producer). (MJP)

Will the stealth superintendent hunt in Cincinnati become tomorrow's standard approach? Search consultants and superintendents offer their views on how far confidentiality should go. Also includes a search firm's process for shielding identities and a confidentiality pledge. (MLF)

Traces historical precedents of values development and citizenship education in the United States and Canada. Proposes a framework for democratic values education. Explores teaching methods and classroom environments that promote democratic citizenship education. Exhorts social studies educators to integrate teaching and learning in citizenship…

Proposes constructive ways for discussing controversial issues in the social studies classroom. Develops an educational goal and a rationale for controversial issues discussions. Explicates six strategies for addressing controversial values issues, and discusses the problem of whether the teacher should disclose their position. (SLM)

Discusses projects used by some teachers, texts, and other instructional materials for teaching the responsibility and participatory aspects of citizenship. Suggests that texts currently in use neglect teaching the protection of rights. Argues that corporations do more educating than schools through their commercials. Questions how some teachers…

As part of the IEA study of civic education, US ninth graders were assessed for their civic knowledge, concepts, attitudes, and experiences. The study yielded information about the development of democratic attitudes and dispositions toward social action. US ninth graders rated free expression and free elections as most important for democracy.…