Describes the energy conservation program devised by the Houston, Texas, Independent School District. Explains steps taken to involve students, teachers, staff members, and administrators in the program. (FL)

Two conflicting trends in recent school reform activities are identified: a shift from local to state control and an increase in state monitoring and accounting activity; and an increasing recognition of the need for local and district involvement in school reform. Reform movement is not likely to wither, but history suggests that reform efforts…

The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) is the largest school-based health promotion research project to date, involving 96 elementary schools nationwide. The article describes recruitment strategies used at four sites, examines how social learning theory guided project activities, discusses logistical considerations, and…

Discusses the first schoolwide symposium at Hendersonville High School (North Carolina) in which, for one week, students and faculty were immersed in the culture and history of the Vietnam War era. Explains that because this first symposium was so successful in gaining student enthusiasm, the school organized three more symposiums. (CMK)

Describes the Center for Engaged Scholarship at the University of South Florida, which operates from the premise that all scholarly work has potential applications beyond academia. Its activities help faculty to partner with community groups while also meeting the expectations of their departments and disciplines. (EV)

Explores the recent implementation of restorative justice practices in Minnesota, Colorado, and Pennsylvania school communities, examining how their approaches can address substance abuse problems and offer alternatives to zero-tolerance policies. The three programs are committed to the idea that restoration is a more appropriate educational tool…

Many institutions are surveying students about sensitive topics such as alcohol and drug use, sexual behavior, and academic dishonesty. Yet these can be some of the most difficult surveys to administer successfully, given reluctance on the part of respondents both to participate and to provide truthful answers. (Contains 1 table.)

Schools have differing levels of ability to develop leadership capacity. Yet even high leadership capacity schools may not always sustain improvements in student achievement. Several factors are key to realizing the promise of leadership. These factors challenge traditional concepts about leadership and the distribution of power, but when…

This article describes an interactive and collaborative strategic planning process by a community college in which student retention and success became a focus of a re-accreditation endeavor. The underlying assumption of this strategic planning effort was that engaging all groups that have a stake in student retention at the beginning of the…

We examine how changes in maternal work hours affect adolescent children's school participation and performance outcomes using data from interviews in 1998 and 2001 with 1,700 women who in May 1995 were welfare-reliant, single mothers of adolescents living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in four urban counties. We find unfavorable effects of…

Shared governance is an educational philosophy that offers local school personnel the opportunity to share in decision making and improve educational quality through local control. Gwinnett County (Georgia) is currently implementing school-improvement councils that will operate according to the principles of shared governance. This paper presents…

This workbook is a guide to establishing formal partnerships between school district arts supporters and community arts organizations for the benefit of arts education. The workbook consists of nine sequential sections, each containing a series of questionnaires and essays designed to aid readers in creating collaborations to benefit arts…

This proceedings contains keynote speeches, community case studies, and small-group recommendations concerned with successful telecommunications initiatives in rural communities. The four keynote addresses are: "Electronic Highways and Byways: Converging Technologies and Rural Development" (Heather E. Hudson); "Information…

Although it has been estimated that 28,000,000 Americans may be children of alcoholics, these individuals have only recently been given serious attention by researchers and clinicians. Empirical studies pertaining to the effects of having alcoholic parents were reviewed and several clusters of characteristics were derived from the findings: (1)…

This guide is intended to aid school systems to help students, as members of a group, recognize the effects of chemical dependency on themselves and their peers through student awareness programs. After the introduction, a section on identifying outcomes deals with setting realistic expectations for a student awareness program. The need for…