Community organizing for school reform is a growing national phenomenon, as young people, parents, neighborhood residents, and faith-based institutions struggle to improve the quality and equity of public schooling, particularly in urban school districts. Now a decade old, community organizing projects are influencing local public schools in…

A marketing study was conducted in the Sauk Valley College (SVC) Illinois district. This public comprehensive community college conducted a survey to determine public perceptions of the scope and quality of its programs; extent of public involvement with SVC; prospective market for SVC; and primary information sources used by the public concerning…

Public schools are often faced, when engaged in the task of developing annual goals, with the necessity of soliciting public input. To gather reliable input from the school community has been haphazard and uneven. Consolidated High School District 230 (Palos Hills, Illinois) employed the Public Opinion Laboratory, a professional survey firm, to…

This report presents the results of an achievement and enrollment study of the law and public service magnet program at the Northeast Law and Public Service Magnet High School (Kansas City, Missouri). Achievement test scores for students in the program were at or slightly above those of the district as a whole for the 1990-1991 year. It also was…

AEL works with state educational entities to help schools become higher-performing learning communities. AEL's current partnership with Lincoln County (West Virginia) began about 6 months after the state board of education assumed administrative control of the county school system, citing major deficiencies in the system. AEL provided facilitative…

Discusses the Close Up Foundation's sponsorship of social studies students' trips to Washington, D.C. Describes one school's experience of planning and financing the trip, as well as its public forums and club for students to gain experience in politics and citizenship. Reports a study of Close Up participants, their political attitude…

This review attempts to summarize the major findings concerning the impact of Head Start that have been reported in the literature published since 1970, and to communicate these results to policymakers, researchers, Head Start program staff, and others. The review constitutes an update of "A Review of Head Start Research since 1969 and an…

This report describes implementation of a districtwide planning model in the Mesa, Arizona, Public Schools. Figures illustrate planning processes throughout the report. Intended as an implementive framework, the planning system's purposes are to assist decision making about resource allocation, program direction, progress measurement, and district…