This chapter explores the dilemmas that we, two Australian researchers, faced as we worked with school communities to improve students' literacy outcomes. Our current research focuses on literacy learning and teachers engaging parents, community members, and students in curriculum inquiry, which integrates social media use. Combining a…

The Native American Needs Assessment Action Plan is designed to assist educators and administrators in addressing the needs and areas of possible opportunity that have been identified through the annual Native American Needs Assessment conducted by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. The Action Plan is organized around areas of need…

The Minnesota Dialogue on Education project was a comprehensive statewide survey of public opinion on educational issues conducted by the Minnesota Department of Education from September 1983 through February 1984. The project involved dissemination of 250,000 copies of a Dialogue on Education Study Guide with a questionnaire attached, followed by…

This paper outlines citizenship issues facing the United States today and presents ways to address these issues in society. Voter turnout, welfare issues, the national service program debate, curriculum reform, and multiculturalism all interface with issues of citizenship in a democracy. Elements contributing to the modern understanding of…

This annotated reference list is organized for a quick review of citizen participation information sources. Resources and readings are intended to be a starting point for researchers, practitioners, and others who are looking for information about citizen participation. The document includes the following sections: (1) "General Links to Citizen…

This paper describes a qualitative study of seven alternative democratic program (ADP) students of a public high school in a suburb of a major city. The purpose of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding of how students in ADP reflect upon their transitions to become active members of the ADP community over time. The students were…

This paper addresses the changing definitions of "community" as addressed in the research literature. Beginning with Tocqueville's description of individuality in the United States, the paper identifies the following designations for the term "community": (1) "Modern Communitarians"; (2) "Communities of Memory"; and (3) "Moral Commitment and…

Asserts that, although active citizenship is heralded as the goal of social studies, few textbook studies have attempted to define or examine civic participation. Reports on a study of the treatment of citizenship in four widely used third-grade textbooks. Finds that, although the texts are largely supportive of mainstream political values, they…

This report summarizes a working conference held at the Educational Technology Center in the Harvard University Graduate School of Education to explore the uses of educational technology in urban schools and offer recommendations for developing policies and programs. Participants included urban practitioners, researchers, professors, policy…

Connects the concept of diversity to the symbiotic relationship between individuality and community in the United States. Maintains that cultural awareness is a valid and realistic response to global interdependence and changing demographics. Criticizes the notion of ethnic pluralism as a "balkanizing" influence on communities and the…

Experiential education, service learning in particular, offers one pedagogy for teaching democracy. This paper presents a rationale for teaching democracy through service learning and provides general and specific guidelines for accomplishing the goal. Models of service learning are described that teachers can incorporate into classroom…

Presents a vision of multicultural education as a validating and inclusive process for non-European ways of knowing. Classifies multicultural education as inclusionary, emancipatory, liberatory, critical, and transformative. Briefly gives examples of each and identifies leading advocates of these approaches. (MJP)

Reports on the attitudes of 175 Russian adolescents and their teachers toward civic and community service activities. Argues that economic and social crises have created negative attitudes towards community service. Finds that students who are involved in community activities are more optimistic. (CFR)

Implemented in the Franklin (Wisconsin) Public Schools during the 1986-1987 school year, this project was aimed at improving citizenship development in high school students through an intensive study of the U.S. Constitution as it relates to the personal lives of citizens. The project's primary objective was to provide a structured program of…

This paper explores the implications of an effort to promote service learning in two middle schools in the Palo Alto (California) Unified School District. The schools are grades six through eight with about 1,000 students in each. The paper describes seven service efforts and then analyzes the costs and benefits of these projects. The study…