University-community partnerships (UCPs) are increasingly utilized to address issues in education. In this article, we present reflections on best practices for child- and family-focused UCPs. These reflections emerged before, during, and after a convening that brought together representatives from five UCPs in the United States that emphasized…

Partnerships between schools and out-of-school organizations (museums, zoos, nature centers, etc.) have been shown to improve the educational experiences for both students and teachers. In this article, we report on the experiences we have documented as a nature center through our active involvement in school partnerships. Our partnerships with…

While Massachusetts has received accolades for its high scores on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, absolute results from standardized tests tend to correlate strongly with family income and parental education. The Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education…

The American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Plus 50 Initiative (2008-2011), funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, was created to build the capacity of community colleges nationwide to develop programming that engages the plus 50 learner. The Initiative supported a pilot group of 13 two-year institutions to develop or expand college…

This theme issue of "Service-Learning Network" explores some challenges and rewards of integrating service learning into school and community culture. The lead article, "Integrating Community Service Learning with School Culture" (Sheldon Berman), surveys the integration of community service learning in the culture of school…

The School-Community Collaboration Project was conducted to train personnel to infuse career education elements into the ongoing educational process and to increase the involvement of parents and the employment community in the process. Five Massachusetts school systems participated in the project, including fifty-four educational personnel and…

In August 2000, twenty people met in a room in Boston to address two questions: (1) How can Boston create a network of community schools?; and (2) Does the action have to proceed one school at a time, or are there systematic changes that can advance the movement? For the next four years, these people worked together, without funding, a road map,…

Four examples are given of Teacher Corps school-based staff development projects in Massachusetts. An introductory chapter identifies characteristics of successful staff development efforts, based on participatory decision making, the needs of teachers, students, and the community, and cooperation between the university and the school. The first…

Designed as a resource manual for use in conjunction with state and/or local level career education staff development training sessions, this handbook also provides local practitioners with information to develop new or improved career education programs. Chapter 1 overviews the concept, rationale, goals, and objectives of career education in…

This guide provides descriptions of 33 promising practices in career education in Massachusetts, which represent a cross-section of geographical locations, student populations, and program components. It is designed for use by school administrators, guidance personnel, teachers, and community members who are looking for suggestions on how to…

The first annual supplement to the 1991-1992 directory of two-way bilingual education programs in the United States profiles new and some existing programs in which language-minority and language-majority children are instructed in and through both languages. this volume contains data on 25 programs in Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut,…

Experiences in developing a Career Passport project are described for three pilot communities. (A Career Passport is a listing similar to an adult resume that describes a young person's experiences, skills, abilities, knowledge, and work-related attitudes.) An introduction describes the concept and its three essential ingredients as they were…

Because it is based upon the premise that learning is a lifelong process and that citizen involvement is essential to neighborhood problem solving, community education is particularly attuned to the current needs of cities and can be particularly effective in responding to urban housing needs. One way in which leaders can simultaneously address…