Community-driven school reform is receiving greater attention now as communities become more closely involved with their schools. One such program is a grassroots, faith-based organization called People Acting for Community Together (PACT). PACT is one of about 150 community-organizing groups nationwide that have worked to improve student learning…

Learning to read is a major milestone and should be an event to celebrate. The author of this article relates the story of how, with the encouragement of her principal, and the help of a children's librarian at the public library, the community coordinator at a nearby Barnes and Noble, and a children's book buyer at a local independent book store,…

The booklet provides a history of the Right-to-Read, Austin (Texas) Learning Center project and, based on the experiences at Austin, provides a guide to establishing a Right-to-Read project in a learning center. The general problems, needs, and experiences of the project are described and discussed as they evolved, under the following headings:…

In two case studies instructional conditions constrained what working class Hispanic students and their teachers accomplished. Certain instructional arrangements ensnare linguistic minority students by not capitalizing fully on their social, linguistic, and intellectual resources. Community based research sites can help to develop the appropriate…

This progress report details the objectives of the Guam Department of Education's District Action Plan and progress toward achieving them in fiscal year 03-04 and the first quarter of fiscal year 04-05. Areas covered are: (1) standards and assessment; (2) personnel quality and accountability; (3) federal, state, and local programs; (4) home-school…

The Guam Education Policy Board initially adopted the Guam Public School System District Action Plan in May 2003. The DAP established the direction and details for improving academic performance in reading, math, and language arts by using the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act as a framework. The adopted DAP was also used as a basis for…

The paper describes a successful effort at collaboration among a college reading program, a neighborhood self-help agency, and a public school. The three-way partnership was formed to improve the literacy levels of 12 behaviorally disturbed children in the fifth and sixth grades. The project involves whole language reading instruction and…