The role of voluntarism in America is considered by the President of the University of Notre Dame. It is suggested that Americans take voluntarism for granted and that its importance is not appreciated until comparisons are made to countries where everything is of, by, and for the state, even citizens and their rights. Before World War II, the…

The threatened loss of more than $4.5 billion in federal funds over the next 2 years leaves New York State with three options: to increase state taxes drastically, an action that could jeopardize the state's recent emergence from severe economic crisis; to curtail state services significantly; or to devise a creative new strategy including an…

The purpose of this project was to strengthen a volunteer literacy council's ability to offer an innovative curriculum and program monitoring system that meets the total literacy needs of O-4 level students, thus increasing student and tutor motivation and retention. The project designed volunteer staff training seminars to meet these objectives.…

From October 1982 through May 1984, the Council for Community Services--a private, not-for-profit community planning council--carried out an Institutional Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Project, in close cooperation with the state of Rhode Island's Office of the Child Advocate. The project approach relied heavily on monitoring teams of…

Part of the documentation for Katimavik, a nine-month volunteer community service and learning program for 17 to 21-year-old Canadians, the bilingual student manual focuses on the work skills portion of the learning program. The manual includes learning program objectives, trimester guidelines and a checklist for activity participation, optional…

Today's educational reform proposals are undermined by four dilemmas. First, the public may demand visible results before it will provide the funding needed to achieve them. Second, higher academic standards will increase failure rates, while more attainable standards will inadequately educate students. Third, the current focus on high schools may…

This paper reviews the literature on parental involvement and covers four basic activity areas intended to foster parent participation in the schools: (1) volunteerism; (2) parent school communication; (3) parent education or training; and (4) policy-making. The authors summarize and analyze the objectives and methodologies of the research in each…

Volunteers have made significant contributions to mental health by assisting with institutional care, outpatient counseling, aftercare, and research. To describe the use of volunteers in drug abuse treatment programs, volunteers were studied by a telephone survey of administrators in 123 programs that had at least five volunteers and a single…

This paper describes techniques for bringing the elderly and topics related to aging to children into school settings. Through the participation of older adults in the schools and the inclusion of materials on aging in school curricula, students can develop positive and accurate views of aging and the aged. The first technique discussed is…

This study was designed to investigate the nature and extent of parent involvement in 11 pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and/or elementary programs by measuring attendance at meetings and workshops; the number of persons and person-hours involved in various volunteer projects; and the relative emphasis given in meetings to various planning aspects…

This comprehensive training program, Together We Can, involves a cooperative effort to reduce sex-role stereotyping and to expand options in education, work, and life styles for females and males. This facilitator manual is designed to encourage community groups, school volunteers, and parents to initiate a process of community organization and…

A study examined the organizational factors contributing to the motivation of 4-H volunteer leaders. A modified form of Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory served as the research design of the study. A total of 149 4-H leaders were interviewed regarding thirteen job factors: recognition; personal growth; relationships with other 4-H leaders,…

A project was developed to combat the negative stereotypes of ageism, and to provide positive role models of older adults for young children. Funded with a grant of $750, an Intergenerational Teaching Resource Center was established. Two major Center activities were (1) the selection, purchase, and organization into a lending program of 65 books…

This paper identifies three steps to effect change in a school district: assessing educational needs, involving staff and community, and providing vehicles for change to take place. This framework is then used to describe programs implemented in Georgia's Clarke County School District. The district needs assessment is described as involving…