In 1992 legislation enabled the U.S. Department of Labor to establish a program of Youth Fair Chance grants to provide comprehensive services to youth in selected urban and rural high poverty areas. The legislation also asked to an independent evaluation of the 16 urban and rural programs these grants funded, and this evaluation was undertaken by…

Over the past two decades, an increasing number of American children are left in self-care after school each day. Parents of these latchkey children often turn to the library as a safe place for their children to go. The purpose of this study was to determine whether public libraries have responded since 1990 to the call put forward by concerned…

This paper addresses the changing definitions of "community" as addressed in the research literature. Beginning with Tocqueville's description of individuality in the United States, the paper identifies the following designations for the term "community": (1) "Modern Communitarians"; (2) "Communities of Memory"; and (3) "Moral Commitment and…

Partners in Science students, aided by community professionals, learn science by designing and conducting their own research. Partners in Science brings the community and schools closer together through a mentorship program. Scientists, in fields ranging from wildlife biology to space physics, are in frequent contact with classes and home-schooled…

This report summarizes the recommendations of the Presidents Leadership Group formed in early 1997 by the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention. Offers the following proposals for effective prevention. College presidents should: (1) work to ensure that school officials routinely collect data on the extent of the alcohol and…

In their complex nature, early adolescents want to believe in their teachers. Teachers demonstrating what they believe earn respect from students. In science education, it is vital to link scientific phenomena to daily life and social decision making skills to engage students in developing science-process skills. The science-technology- society…

This report examines Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Annenberg Challenge, Children Achieving, a districtwide systemic reform initiative designed and led by a small core group of district officials and external partners. It was organized around eight core strategies (fair funding, standards, accountability, decentralization, leadership and support for…

This Read*Write*Now! activity poster presents, on one side, a colorful image of Arthur the Aardvark encouraging adults and children to share the fun of reading and writing, and, on the other side, 5 fun and challenging activities for reading time. The activities are designed to expand a child's interest in and enthusiasm for reading and writing…

In June 1999, nearly 40 researchers and specialists in youth development gathered to participate in a conference entitled "Creating Citizenship: Youth Development for a Free and Democratic Society." This executive summary identifies a number of qualities and capacities of young people that are essential for achieving the goals of…

This monograph highlights the projects that high school and middle level students have initiated when they have seen a need in their communities, researched the need, and then figured out a way to answer the need. The monograph categorizes these state and national award-winning, self-initiated community projects as follows: aiding the…

This report summarizes the results of the initial phase of MC 2000, a process of deriving information from the population of Mendocino College's (California) service area for the purpose of guiding long-term institutional planning and decision-making. The report presents the data collected from public meetings and the telephone survey. It…

As helping professions enter the 21st century and nascent network technologies realize their full potential as therapeutic and educational modalities, it is an ethical and moral imperative that the digital divide be bridged. It is important that those in counseling and related fields take active steps to ensure that cybercounseling is available to…

Shared leadership among members of a home, school, and community partnership is an idealistic goal that sounds good in theory but can be very difficult to achieve. Based on a review of the literature on issues in collaboration and applied research conducted by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, this paper examines the importance of…

This report focuses on service and service-learning in high schools. The report compares data from 1984 research with information from two studies of service and service-learning completed in 1997. The data suggest that community service and service-learning in 1984 was available in slightly more than one-quarter of all high schools (primarily to…

The partnership described focuses on a severe problem with environmental pollution at Akwesasne, the Mohawk reservation situated along the St. Lawrence River, at the juncture of New York, Quebec, and Ontario. Industries are located along the river and its tributaries and in past years have discharged PCBs (and other toxins) into the waterways in…