Seven articles on advisory committees discuss questions for committee development; use of community resources; benefits; commitment and involvement; role in program restructuring; relationship to program success; and ways to optimize benefits. (SK)

Using merged data on adolescents (N=860), research looks at how community resources affect adolescent risk-taking attitudes and problem behavior. Determined that among high-risk adolescents, selected community resources have significant associations with adolescent outcomes. Residential stability decreases both adolescent risk-taking attitudes and…

This community-based participatory research (CBPR) project utilized a mixed-methods survey design to identify urban (Tulsa, OK) American Indian (AI) strengths and needs. Six hundred fifty AIs (550 adults and 100 youth) were surveyed regarding their attitudes and beliefs about their community. These results were used in conjunction with other…

In San Diego, California, 800 public school students from the inner city are attending a program called School in the Park (SITP), for approximately one-fourth of their 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade education. This unique program blends rigorous academic standards (formal learning) with hands-on, experiential curricula (informal learning), using…

Context: National data demonstrate that mental health (MH) visits to the emergency room (ER) comprise a small, but not inconsequential, proportion of all visits; however, we lack a rural picture of this issue. Purpose: This study investigates the use of critical access hospital (CAH) ERs by patients with MH problems to understand the role these…

In England, government initiatives to recruit more ethnic minority teachers into mainstream schools have met with only limited success. One important reason for this may be that the factors that contribute to their distinctive professional skills and identities, and their potential to help raise the achievements of ethnic minority pupils, are not…

Museums play an important role in the transmission of culture and traditions and provide a collective memory of a community. A number of museum related institutions, known as the Science Centra, have arisen to offer self-directed learning activities in problem solving and understanding the processes related to everyday life. In a modern society,…

The booklet, part of a series on Project CAST (Community and School Together), a community-based career education program for special education secondary students, presents information for community resource persons. The resource person's role is explained, and his/her activities in four phases of the project are delineated: career awareness…

The guidelines discuss ways to organize effective Community Advisory Committees (CACs) as required by California special education legislation. The CAC, it is explained, is composed of parents, handicapped pupils or adults, professionals, and interested citizens. Six functions are outlined, and potential effects on the district and the…

Suggests that a child's educational environment should enable him to grow and develop unimpeded by authoritarian controls and cultural conventions. The type of setting recommended for this purpose is a series of mini-schools located throughout the community and drawing on the community as an educational resource. (JMB)

Describes a resource center of an experimental education program in which staff members show children how to find people and places to learn from in the community and how to become independent learners. (ED)

To assess the communication practices of not-for-profit (NFP) agencies, a study conducted a local survey of 105 NFP organizations in Cleveland, Ohio, in the spring of 1987, specifically examining their public relations activities and campaigns which manage and diffuse information about NFPs to the larger community. First, a focus group sample of…

The fact sheet, intended for adults and young adults with disabilities, discusses issues to consider in planning for postsecondary education. Readers are urged to assert themselves in the process of planning for and obtaining services. Guidelines for examining career options and personal needs are given as well as practical suggestions for dealing…

The report examines issues in the "aging out" process, in which handicapped youth 21 years of age are no longer eligible for publicly funded residential, educational, and child care facilities. Procedures involved in New York's transitional care and maintenance programs are noted, and new concepts regarding the extent of society's…

The report documents services available to persons with autism in West Virginia and recommends types of services needed. A survey is said to have revealed that only 99 persons with autism were served by statewide nonschool programs, in contrast with projections of 1,939 nonschool-age autistic individuals. Background information details the…