The purpose of this guidebook is to help persons interested in establishing a family day care program in their homes set up a quality learning environment that enhances children's cognitive development through play. Following a literature review showing the importance of play in Piaget's theory of child development, the author describes a…

This practicum report describes an attempt to develop and implement a systematic public relations program for an elementary school center, with the aim of improving public confidence in the school. The author developed a model process for instituting and sustaining a general public relations operation and then field tested the model at South Grade…

In this period of limited financial resources and educational manpower, community colleges can benefit from the application of strategic management techniques to determine how to use their resources most effectively while addressing community needs. At Delta College, this approach was adopted to assess community needs for agricultural programs and…

A Teacher Corps-sponsored survey of a rural town in northern Maine is described. The survey was intended to investigate the feelings of town citizens regarding their own lives, the town in which they live, and their school. It was intended to disclose the need for day or foster care centers, to find out about the levels of educational attainment…

The current success and acceptability of the Design for School Excellence (DSE) in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public Schools is due largely to the seriousness in which the Board of Education and the Superintendent communicated with school employees and the entire community in planning the final outcome of this program. From the original suggestion of a…

Describes problems encountered by Bay Mills College (Michigan) in providing transfer-oriented prehealth programs for low income Native Americans. Suggests that the difficulties were caused by misjudging the needs of the community. Discusses a comprehensive survey underway of local professionals and residents to determine interest in health science…

This article describes work on a new tool to help educators increase parental involvement in their schools using the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). When the authors set out on their goal in rural Hart County, Kentucky, they discovered that no instrument existed to measure changes in the level of parental involvement. Using…

In 1991, the Northwest Area Health Education Center in North Carolina conducted a needs assessment of area hospitals, revealing that Respiratory Care (RC) departments in Catawba and Alexander counties would require 29 technicians and therapists within 3 years. A survey of area high school students identified 44 students interested in RC. In…

The Intermountain Community Learning and Information Services (ICLIS) project was begun in 1985 to provide rural communities in Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming with greater access to information and educational programming. Computer centers were housed in nine rural public libraries to provide services related to literacy, career guidance,…

This guide for operating the Head Start home-based program option is based on experience gathered in the initial Home Start program and in the decade spanning 1974 through 1984. Its purpose is to offer the tested ideas and procedures gained in those years to organizations wanting to provide home-based child/family development services. The Guide…

The study described in this report was conducted at Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) to assess the needs of area senior citizens and to develop programs in response to those needs. The report first summarizes the results of a series of interviews with representatives of area social agencies conducted to identify met and unmet needs of the…

An occupational/technical program needs assessment model is described by which colleges can alter existing programs or develop new ones in anticipation of job market requirements. The report first discusses the two-part (existing and potential programs), tri-level (initial evaluation, individual program screening, and individual program planning),…

A model public school adult education program was established to provide training and/or skill upgrading for adults in vocational education. To coordinate the adult classes and to provide new classes, the Cabot School District of Arkansas hired an adult education coordinator. To respond to community needs and to establish an exemplary program, the…

This document reports the findings of Project Respond, a program designed to develop a model for assessing and addressing risk to children in the St. Louis community. Section A concerns: (1) a definition of risk; (2) effects of profound sociological risk on children; (3) social and economic costs of sociological risk. In Section B, the Project…

A rationale, background information, and a discussion of methodology are presented for a needs assessment process intended for pilot implementation at Western Piedmont Community College (WPCC). This process was designed to assess the local need for paraprofessional programs in the Human Services area, i.e., Early Childhood Associate, Mental Health…