Describes a Brazilian project that aimed to improve the standard of science education in primary public schools through computer assisted learning. A neural network to analyze models is presented that was used with students 11 to 18 years old for topics on local environmental problems. (Author/LRW)

Describes organizational and planning strategies used to convince voters in the Park City (Utah) School District to approve two bond referendums. Offers 10 suggestions for conducting a successful school-bond campaign. (LMI)

Discusses a school district's plan to introduce into the curriculum civic writing activities directly linked to local history and community issues. Suggests that writing can stimulate students' civic responsibility through the academic skills of research and critical thinking. Addresses planning, implementation, assessment, and recommendations.…

The Brushy Fork Institute at Berea College, Kentucky, helps develop the leadership skills that rural Appalachian communities need to solve local problems and spur economic development. Community members from 42 rural counties in 4 states (plus 2 student groups at Berea College) have attended weekend workshops at Berea College and returned home to…

Asserts that students have little knowledge about the operation of local government. Discusses a three-day interdisciplinary lesson about water management and local government for the elementary grades. Includes descriptions of laboratory exercises, homework assignments, and class discussions. (CFR)

Sponsored by West Chester University and the local League of Women Voters, the Kids Around Town Program is helping some Pennsylvania elementary school children develop responsible citizenship by involving them in community service activities. Students select a public policy issue affecting them. This issue serves as a springboard for study and…

Illustrates a model for integrating urban fieldwork into a human geography class project. Reports on a project in which students explored the interaction between Atlanta (Georgia) and its five target suburbs, and their interactions among each other. (CMK)

Warns of the limitations of educational reform via standards and standardization as seen in New York, NY. Focuses on "culturally responsive pedagogy," which is needed to build a system sensitive to the backgrounds and contexts of students and schooling. (CMK)

If libraries what influential people in their service areas to regard them as full partners in community building, libraries need to know their information needs before they do, and get the resources into their hands that will facilitate their decision-making before they realize they need it. Suggestions are provided for effective marketing of…

This article investigates the dynamic overall picture concerning the development of local curriculum in Thailand through action research conducted by 27 Thai elementary school teachers in three private schools in Fang District, Chiang Mai Province. This was the teachers' first experience with action research. The article examines the following…

This brief addresses how to engage and mobilize young people in order to prepare them for when disaster strikes. Perhaps more importantly, this brief seeks to do so in sustainable ways to avoid desensitizing youth to the effects of disaster, and prevent wavering attention. There are two ways to serve students--help them when disaster strikes their…

Examples of effective community-based action in defence of minority indigenous language are relatively few. However, three indigenous language committees of Northwest Cameroon, the Bafut, Kom and Nso' language committees, provide dynamic models of the role that community-based organisations can play in the development and maintenance of minority…

Language planning is normally thought of in terms of large-scale, usually national planning, often undertaken by governments and meant to influence, if not change, ways of speaking or literacy practices within a society. It normally encompasses four aspects: status planning (about society), corpus planning (about language), language-in-education…

A study was conducted to examine the interdependence between "actors'" (persons responsible for solving problems within their municipalities) conceptions and local strategies for development. Two peripheral municipalities with development problems are compared. The municipalities have a shared history and culture and a similar economic…

Although knowledge of how the population of an area is structured and how it is constantly changing will not solve problems created by the changes, it will provide a basis for understanding the needs of an area and for better program planning. Population processes that produce growth or decline in areas include natural increase, migration, and…