There are three ways parents can be involved in school life: (1) parent change programs; (2) school change approach; and (3) parent organizations. The problem with parent change programs is that they operate on the naive assumption that children's problems are the result of their parents' inadequacies. They imply that the parent, rather than the…

One of a series of studies based on data collected from 1,844 eleventh and twelfth grade students in Canada examined educational and occupational aspiration levels of youth relative to selected school-related factors. Rural and suburban youth were compared. An attempt was made to assess the utility of the variables as predictors of aspiration…

Public relations should be an effective two-way communications system between school and public and can be implemented in seven steps: plan the public relations program; identify school publics; assess present communications effectiveness; plan to involve students, staff, and community members; identify key message sending agents; develop and…

The responsibilities of school personnel in detecting and dealing with incest are discussed: (1) knowledge about incestuous behavior; (2) observation and detection; (3) reporting and referrals; (4) counseling and followup; and (5) prevention. (FG)

A set of general policies or ground rules is desirable for colleges and universities planning to participate in both basic and more complex data exchanges with other institutions. Participation in data exchange is enhanced by well-defined and comparable institutional memberships, clear organizational objectives and data, high-quality and timely…

Describes development and implementation of a school-based substance abuse preventive intervention "systems approach" strategy. Interventions are selected and linked to existing school program/personnel components for reinforcement based on local needs assessment survey data. Modifications are ongoing corresponding to the results of a substance…

Delivery of primary health care (PHC) programs is critical to rural African health care. The paper explores the school's role in PHC delivery and indicates ways that professional health personnel and teacher educators can cooperate in preparing teachers with necessary knowledge and skills to participate meaningfully in PHC delivery. (SM)

Reports on field study of school rituals in two U.S. southern private schools. Finds one school's rules and procedures promoted scientific analysis, abstract thinking, and individualism, whereas other saw itself as nurturing community, seeking organic and interdependent relationship with world. Concludes both schools engender commitment and belief…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their students played a pivotal part in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s. Private HBCUs, in particular, provided foot soldiers, intellectual leadership, and safe places to meet and plan civil disobedience. Their economic and political autonomy from the state enabled the…

This is the fourth in a series of reports from Reality Check 2006, an ongoing set of tracking surveys on education issues. Reality Check surveys attitudes among public school parents, students, teachers, principals and superintendents on a regular basis. In surveys on education, it is not uncommon for the public, parents and teachers to see…

S. Redding noted the many challenges facing research and researchers in family-school-community involvement, and he presented a call to "rally the troops" to respond to a series of concerns. The issue of control over defining the role of schools should be a shared enterprise among the family, the school, and the community, with the individual…

To determine the level of involvement in service learning among community colleges, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) conducted a national survey of over 1,100 colleges in spring 1995. The following institutional and program profile, based on responses from 773 institutions, emerged from the survey: (1) four out of five…

Classical commitment studies are either sociologically oriented or based in the psychological empirical research tradition. A review of the literature reveals agreement on the multidimensionality and the contextual complexity of commitment, two principles which guide the hypotheses of the present study. This study uses the Administrator and…

Two procedures for assessing the press (defined as the characteristic pressures, stresses, rewards, or conformity demanding influences of a particular institution) of high school environments were investigated across 3 factor-analytically derived dimensions (strong intellectual orientation, school activities, and strong environment control).…

Problems of obtaining a representative sample for a national survey are discussed, and the experiences of Educational Testing Service are used as examples of some methods used to cope with these problems. It is suggested that researchers: (1) capitalize on some existing program; (2) establish in the minds of the possible examinees and the possible…