Parent involvement programs for rural communities work best when they respond to particular features of the communities they serve. Research provides conflicting findings about whether rural parents are more or less involved in their children's education than are urban or suburban parents. Even if parent involvement is more prevalent in rural…

This digest discusses issues related to the implementation of high quality early childhood education by public school districts. Contents focus on: (1) the development of a written statement of philosophy; (2) the analysis of screening and assessment practices; (3) organization of the learning environment; (4) teacher preparation; (5) parent…

A growing number of urban school reform initiatives seeking to transform failing schools engage significant numbers of parents. Many such initiatives have succeeded in improving student academic achievement and transforming the culture of schools. This digest describes common characteristics of such projects. While the best among these projects is…

This digest briefly discusses some ways to involve families in their children's drug prevention education. Helping children and teenagers stay away from drugs and those who use and sell drugs is an important job in which parents and other close relatives play the most important role. Because youth experiment with drugs for the same reasons they…

Community service is a voluntary contribution to the commonweal that teaches valuable lessons about the responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. Vital services are provided through thousands of organizations created to meet needs not otherwise provided for by government. Participation in these community service projects help create a…

This digest describes the creation and operation of after school programs for poor urban students. Schools often sponsor such programs and find the advantages to be the credibility lent by the school, continuity of care, and easy access to resources. Some of the disadvantages to school sponsorship are higher personnel costs, the possibility of…

From a synthesis of findings culled from a study that examined partnerships of families and communities with middle schools at multiple sites, researchers derived eight "lessons" that can help foster understanding of the nature of family-school partnerships in the middle grades. Researchers also elaborated implications of these lessons,…

Although the existence of small Catholic elementary schools (enrollment: 300 or less) is precarious, these institutions enable students to succeed academically beyond national norms, due to the special learning environment that they provide. The recent Small Schools Survey of Catholic elementary schools indicated that classes in small Catholic…