In many reports, scholars describe parent involvement in schools by focusing on the influence parents have on their children's learning or on the educators' perspective of parent involvement (e.g., Norton, 2003). This article looks at the issue through a different lens. It focuses on the nature of parents and community engagement in schools that…

The "Brown v. Board of Education" decision defined public education for African Americans in the United States. In this article I discuss the tradition of African American parental involvement in the pre-"Brown" era, challenges to parental involvement in a post-"Brown" era, and a parental involvement initiative in an…

This article addresses an important need--the dissemination of information relating to technology as a public relations tool--and the associated exigency for administrator and teacher technology training. Specifically, we identify the increased expectations for the performance of school leaders and teachers, as well as unresolved issues in public…

The job of the early childhood director requires becoming comfortable in performing a wide variety of tasks. Being a director demands skills in many different areas, as well as the ability to focus one's attention in many directions at once. This is the broad description of the director's job, but very little attention has been focused on the…

In his career in education, the author has spent much time working on behalf of independent schools and non-profit organizations both in the U.S. and abroad. He believes that his work in the world of tuition-driven institutions has given him some insights into the care and feeding of successful schools. He further believes that many of the things…

A British project examined the level of awareness of the Department of Continuing Education's adult program, Open Studies (OS), in Lancashire and South Cumbria. It assessed what the public and ethnic minority groups thought about accreditation of courses, which segments of the public would be interested in accredited courses, and what prices…

The advertising section of the Proceedings contains the following 14 papers: "Advertising versus Product Publicity: The Effects on Credibility and Purchase Intent" (M. Catherine Chew and others); "Introducing Introductory Advertising Students to the World Wide Web" (Beth E. Barnes); "In Defense of Puffery" (John H.…

Among the most rapidly progressing issues in American public education is that of contracting with private companies for teaching or administrative services. This booklet neither encourages nor discourages school boards from considering or entering into relationships with private companies for educational services. School districts usually enter…

A project was created to provide individualized and technical training specially designed for women who desired to become small business owners. Recruitment of eastern Kentucky women in the Hazard Community College five-county service area was done through direct mailing; posting of flyers; and newspaper, radio, and television publicity. In…

In order to study library public relations practices in Idaho, a survey was mailed to all Idaho public library directors and branch librarians in 1992. The state received 88 responses to the 141 surveys mailed. Seventy-five percent of respondents reported a lack of public relations budget, and in 76 percent of the libraries, one staff member was…

This manual is designed to give public library trustees basic information on the structure of library service in Michigan, with emphasis on the trustees' major areas of responsibility, in order to help trustees understand and fulfill their obligations. In particular, the "Action Checklist" at the end of each chapter is designed to assist…

Project PAT (Parents Are Teachers), a program for parents and their children from birth through 3 years, is described. PAT is a nationally validated Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act demonstration project in the St. Cloud Community Schools district of Minnesota. The focus of PAT is the quality of the parent-child relationship and…

The Family Oriented Structured Preschool Activity (FOSPA) program, an Early Childhood/Family Education program for parents and their 4-year-old children, is described. FOSPA is a nationally validated Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act demonstration project in the St. Cloud Community Schools district of Minnesota. Based on research…

These proceedings contain eight presentations related to research in the areas of marketing and distributive education: "Desired Student Preparation in the Job Application Process as Perceived by the Business Community" (Thomas Allen, Jr.); "Effective Marketing Techniques for Collegiate Business Education Programs" (Ralph Wray); "Alabama Marketing…

The Public Relations section of the proceedings contains the following 14 papers: "Telling the Truth in Public Relations: An Application of the Narrative Paradigm" (Stephen P. Banks); "Teaching Fund Raising in Public Relations Programs: A National Study of the Attitudes and Behaviors of Educators" (Kathleen S. Kelly); "The…