In this practical guide to service learning, 21 contributors describe specific service-learning projects that have enhanced the curriculum in schools across the United States and that have improved student learning in the process. In the Foreword, U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley, encourages schools to incorporate service learning…

The U.S. Department of Education's Partnership for Family Involvement in Education encourages individuals, partner organizations, and alliances, whether they are members of the Partnership or not, to develop and implement effective family involvement practices in education. The goals of the Partnership are to increase opportunities for families to…

The schools that Head Start participants enter may have very different methods and attitudes than were present in Head Start, and a different approach to working with children and families. While Head Start programs are seldom in a position to bring about changes in the public schools, Head Start parents can be a powerful force for school change.…

Project REAL (Rural Education Aligned for Learning) aims to improve mathematics and science education in grades 5-8 in five rural Ohio school districts identified as in "academic emergency" or on "academic watch." Program goals are to reform curricula to teach skills and concepts, rather than facts; improve students' math and…

This paper focuses on school reform in England and in particular on the attempts to increase diversity and choice through specialist schools. It examines the extent to which diversity and choice have been introduced into the state (public) education system and then presents key findings to emerge from an evaluation of the flagship government…

This report describes the Jobs-Plus approach, an attempt to transform low-work, high-welfare public housing developments into high-work, low-welfare communities. It highlights the rationale of the approach, the way the demonstration has been set up to test the approach in the field, and what has been accomplished so far by the seven cities chosen…

State policies greatly affect the decisions rural districts make about building or renovating school facilities. State, federal, and local mechanisms for funding school facilities are briefly described. Some states require a specific percentage of growth or decline in student population or a minimum number of students as a prerequisite for…

This document consists of 10 issues (covering January through December 2000) of the newsletter, "Community Update," which features articles on community and family involvement in education. In addition to the articles, each issue (except the Special Issue) includes a preview of the month's Satellite Town Meeting; events and information…

This manual is a how-to-do-it guide to building coalitions of health and human service agencies, organizations, businesses, churches, and other community-based groups for collaborative research, planning, and action to improve resident health and quality of life. Most of the information provided was discovered and developed during the 4-year life…

Children's outcomes are strongly correlated with those of their neighbours. The extent to which this is causal is the subject of an extensive literature. An identification problem exists because people with similar characteristics are observed to live in close proximity. Another major difficulty is that neighbourhoods measured in available data…

"School Reform in Chicago" shares the lessons learned from the city of Chicago's school reform efforts over the past two decades, the most ambitious in history, becoming a huge laboratory for innovations in areas such as school governance, leadership, accountability, and community involvement. In 1987, The U.S. Secretary of Education…

Knowledge and skills needed by lay participants in community development (CD) were proposed by 14 consultants around 10 topical areas. One hundred knowledge and skills statements resulted. The importance of these statements was judged by CD youth leaders and adult specialists. Judgments were factor analyzed, and nine factors emerged. (Author/SSH)

Reviews characteristics of rural drug abuse and general considerations for rural service delivery. Describes the Prevention Project, a rural drug abuse program in Florida, and explains its development, philosophy, and teaching techniques, including a basic educational module for use with rural youth. Includes recommendations for similar programs.…

Over a five-year period 230 senior-level University of New Mexico students in medicine, nursing, and pharmacy served in clinics in rural communities as part of Project Porvenir. Students, supervised by community-based preceptors, participated in the development of clinics and in the organization of services that otherwise were unavailable.…

Reexamines definitions of "ruralness" and "resources." Describes three types of support services common to human service agencies. Discusses influence as a program development resource, advantage of rural programs, incumbent social work roles related to resource development, and what makes a program successful. Lists four program development…