Schools can utilize community resources and the family to nurture the student with exceptional talent. Programs such as the Student Leadership Development Program in Dade County, Florida, identify community resources, facilitate the engagement of these resources with students, and integrate these extended educational experiences into the total…

Describes the recent influx of immigrants from the nations of the former Soviet Union. Presents information about reasons for their emigration and difficulties encountered upon settlement in the United States. Recommends that schools and colleges develop programs to ease the transition for these new students and their families. (CFR)

In an exploratory project to enrich the reading experiences of 84 rural low-income first-graders, 15 female community members were trained to work with children in nontraditional and traditional activities that addressed reading-related skills. Student achievement test scores improved from exceptionally low reading achievement in the fall to…

Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) was created by Purdue University (Indiana) School of Electrical and Computer Engineering to broaden the education of engineering students by the use of an extended service-learning experience integrated into the engineering curriculum. EPICS provides local community service organizations with…

School-community partnership programs can help teachers reach children in the crucial years from birth to 4, thereby preventing reading difficulties and raising future test scores. Many organizations help families in starting their children on the road to lifetime reading by distributing free books and pamphlets on reading aloud to children. (SM)

Profiles "Civil Law Mini-Trials," an instructional activity developed by P.A.T.C.H. (Participatory Awareness Through Community Help). The Mini-Trials allow students to participate in mock civil cases including preparation, presentation of arguments, debriefing afterwards, and a discussion of the real case verdict. Discusses other P.A.T.C.H.…

The Marie-Victorin school board, in cooperation with 11 community organizations in Longueuil, Quebec, launched "De A a Z, On s'aide!," a project designed to encourage an interest in reading and writing in families with children 0-4 years old and break the recurrent cycle of illiteracy that plagues poor neighborhoods. (TD)

Describes a project to integrate technology into K-12 schools in Trumbull County, Ohio that included business, industry, government, and education members who were interested in creating a community-based information network so that students would develop technological skills needed in the workforce. Discusses funding, technology training, and…

Describes service-learning programs developed in three Catholic schools in three states. States that all schools are recent recipients of the National Service-Learning Leader School award, and that all have implemented an integrated approach to service-learning in school curricula and culture. Contains a list of service-learning resources. (NB)

Alarming numbers of students, particularly minority students, are being suspended and expelled from our nation's schools. The surface issue is discipline; however, the underlying issues are literacy and barriers to academic success. To address these issues, a large urban district opened a new school for students who were not succeeding in…

This paper offers reflections on two transformative teacher education projects. The first a global communities module is set in a university in Vancouver and utilizes the lens of social ecology to examine the roles of teachers in bringing an awareness of local/global issues to their students' learning experiences. The second, a Canadian…

Agency-school collaborations are examined from the point of view of the agency. The data for the analysis were gathered through interviews with staff people from six different community-based organizations in California, all of whom have experience working with schools and youth volunteers. The study found that there often are culture clashes…

This report describes the methods used to plan, organize, and teach an integrated thematic unit in the Spring of 1994 at Fairmont Junior High School in Boise, Idaho. The unit was planned collaboratively with assistance from preservice teachers and their professors at Boise State University, the principal and teachers at the junior high school, and…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the relationship between schools and communities. Each of the 10 schools under study served predominantly low-socioeconomic Mexican-American students. Data were derived from interviews and observations conducted at 8 of the 10 schools. Findings show that the schools' relationships with…

The United States Congress enacted the Educational Partnerships Act in 1988. The Educational Partnerships Program (EPP) stimulated the creation of educational partnerships to demonstrate their contribution to educational reform. The Office of Educational Research (OERI) provided funds to 30 educational partnerships. This document contains five…