To serve poor youngsters and their families, South Bay Union School District developed its own preschool campus, the VIP (Very Important Preschoolers) Village. The program depends on strong administrative support, planned staff development, parent involvement, parent education programs, community partnerships, curriculum/assessment alignment, and…

Sweden's preservice teacher education programs for preschool, elementary, and secondary educators all require practical teaching experience. University preservice programs differ due to decentralization of regulation as of 1993. At Uppsala University 50 "practice areas" work with the university teacher education program. Each practice…

Discusses the measurement of customer satisfaction with public school districts based on collaborative efforts generated by the Florida Schoolyear 2000 Initiative. Describes implementing customer satisfaction surveys in Florida, explains the testing of the surveys with businesses and parents, and discusses trends in performance improvement. (LRW)

The origins, function, and projects of the Executive Advisory Board on Higher Education (EAB) in Baltimore County (Maryland) are described. The board brings together local government leaders, business executives, and higher education administrators to address issues of mutual concern. Lessons learned in this experiment in regional cooperation are…

The importance of partnerships between metropolitan universities, local government agencies, and community organizations to address community health issues is discussed and illustrated in the collaborative activities of North Texas University and its Fort Worth health sciences center, including a community clinic and a master's program in public…

Higher education is being asked to pay more attention to student learning and to contribute to advancement of community social and economic conditions. As a result, educational institutions will no longer be self-contained. Community members and organizations have become critical partners in framing goals and intentions of educational reform, and…

Presents information about Illinois' Father Sweeney School for the Academically Gifted Child. Discusses the school's curriculum, which includes math, French, science, language arts, social studies, and religious education. Indicates that students are taught to become responsible for their own learning. Describes other school activities, including…

Examines parent-teacher relationships in early childhood programs, including those for children with disabilities, across five eras of the 20th century. The general approaches have been the earlier tendency to view parents as learners in need of information and the recent trend to involve them in program decision making. (SLD)

A 1995 survey of 50 state and 35 urban business-education coalitions revealed that academic standards, student assessment, educational finance, and school-to-work transition were of paramount concern. Coalitions are challenged to sustain community commitment to reform efforts and overcome fear of change. Business can help by defining needs,…

Explores how collaboration among teachers from several schools and with university researchers facilitates attempts to change practices. Analysis indicates that collaboration facilitates change because it provides opportunities for teachers to learn new content and pedagogical knowledge, encourages them to be risk-takers in implementing new ideas,…

Describes the Fantastic Follow Through Project at the Fairfield Court Elementary School in Richmond (Virginia), a partnership serving children through grade three and their families by linking home, community, and school. Program evaluation findings support the usefulness of the approach. Recommendations are made for program improvement. (SLD)

A training and teaching tools development project aims to help multigrade classroom teachers in remote areas of Ontario. The project presents multiple instructional strategies, such as collaborative learning, differentiated teaching, and subject integration. Sixty teaching activities, created and tested by teachers, are contained on a CD that will…

Given the centrality of parent-professional partnerships in British government educational policy and the widespread reality of parent dissatisfaction, this article identifies key challenges to partnerships. These are: (1) defining partnership and associated processes; (2) achieving consensus about the purpose of the partnership and partner roles;…

Discusses an atypical doctoral degree program in Community College Leadership at Mississippi State University, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to educating future rural community college administrators. Program characteristics include: (1) instruction and research driven by priorities established by rural community colleges; (2) a degree…

Describes a comprehensive service-learning program that partners Skagit Valley College (Washington) students with local community and business entities to provide direct experiential learning and foster practical connections with future employers. Discusses the program, its range of learning opportunities, the roles of the partners, and the…