Focused on the practical tools that education leaders can use to improve communications with their own colleagues, with parents, and with the general public, this guide can be used by school districts and states to organize their communication efforts strategically to build public support. The guide includes step-by-step information to develop a…

Guidelines and ideas for creating successful school/community projects are provided in this handbook. Organized like a cookbook, the book contains 43 chapters by individual contributors who take a community-based approach to education, in which the schools are the pivotal institutions of a community. The first section outlines the roles, or…

This paper summarizes the major points raised at a conference on "School/Community Collaborations: Policy Implications for Urban Education" held in New York City (New York) on May 12-13, 1988. Schools or school districts have successfully collaborated with businesses, unions, schools of higher education, hospitals, youth agencies,…

This book recognizes that publicity is required for interpreting the school to the community and the community to the school. Well-designed community-relations programs can create a sense of friendliness and good will toward faculties, provide adequate financial support for schools, and develop a sense of responsibility in the community for the…

A growing number of charter schools are being designed, launched, and operated by community-based nonprofit organizations (CBOs). This resource guide is intended to target a priority technical assistance need: creating and sustaining a healthy relationship between a new charter school and a founding community organization, leading to the creation…

The Take Pride in America (TPIA) school program encourages volunteer stewardship programs to help protect, enhance, and manage public lands such as school sites, forests, parks, water reservoirs, historical sites, fish and wildlife areas, public nature preserves, and wilderness areas in the United States. From this program an educational guide and…

In view of the national attention that has recently been brought to public school improvement, a list of suggestions is presented in the form of leading questions to guide communities in assessing the quality of their local schools and in promoting beneficial change. The evaluative questions touch on a wide range of issues: school financing…

Drawing on information from 15 sources, this literature review discusses advantages/disadvantages of small schools and summarizes practices for both rural and urban small schools to follow to maintain educational quality despite dwindling enrollments and resources. Small school disadvantages in the areas of staff, instructional program, and…

Descriptions of 80 programs of drug prevention and intervention efforts in 9 states and Pacific territories are grouped into categories. The states and territories are: American Samoa, Alaska, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Republic of Palau, Washington, and Wyoming. Each section contains an…

Practical, detailed steps for producing a slide/tape show are presented in this paper directed to rural social agencies wishing to communicate more effectively with the communities they serve. The paper begins with background information about advertising in relation to the needs and characteristics of rural social agencies and concludes that a…

Changing population patterns, inflated housing costs, and cuts in school financing have forced many school districts to face school closures and school consolidation as a way of maintaining solvency. This report reviews the literature on school consolidation with attention to the fact that the need to consolidate now faces elementary schools as…

Of potential interest to small towns in rural areas, this report describes England's first attempt at applying to a rural area the concept of a multi-agency information and advice center based on a library. The comprehensive review covers all phases of the project: (1) identification of a community's information and advice needs; (2) consultation…

This manual is designed to assist facilitators working with members of a school community in forming or strengthening partnerships that will promote greater success for their youth. Participants can identify characteristics that are most important for youth to be successful in their community, consider ways to determine that students are…

Using the school-community council as a vehicle, this manual leads school staffs, parents, community representatives, and school council members step-by-step through suggested tasks to strengthen schools and to help restore confidence in the public school system. Chapter 1, "Schools and Communities Working Together: A Rationale," defines…

On a budget of $28,000, Child Protection, Inc. has a paid staff of an executive director, 4 foster grandparents, and 3 VISTA volunteers. But with the help of 157 volunteer servide providers, the organization is able to deliver 828 units of service monthly to rural Western Kentucky. The success of the volunteer program is based on recruiting from…