Examines the continuing expansion of the Groundwork network within the United Kingdom and assesses its environmental achievements. Offers a broad, flexible, and accessible approach to environmental management, improvement, and education. (JRH)

Best preschool programs provide both developmentally appropriate curricula and school-based family support services. This article describes four exemplary, innovative, and low-cost early education programs in Kentucky, Colorado, Iowa, and Florida that integrate family support, day care, and health and social services. These districts had visionary…

Reviews the Oregon Transition Support Initiative, an ongoing research and implementation project that prevents recidivism by helping stakeholders help incarcerated youth return to their communities. Discusses the transition process as the working relationships that together accomplish the common goal of seeing that youth offenders learn the life…

A consultant eager to involve a southern Minnesota community in school reform recognized that most parents were simply too busy to participate. Since public involvement was unattainable, community permission for change might suffice. The process resembles a thoughtful, managed conversation that is interactive, organic, and ongoing. (MLH)

Advocates using technology to provide assistance for youth during and after incarceration, emphasizing that community involvement in the transition process can be significantly enhanced with technology support links. Recommends visual visits with family members, counselors, and teachers back home as an important addition to treatment or continued…

The dissertation presents a plan for the compliance of William Rainey Harper College with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Chapter 1 discusses the background and significance of the plan and identifies major issues (such as the institution's commitment to nondiscrimination of the handicapped), defines terms, and cites limitations and…

In reaffirming "The Declaration of Principles" from a 1995 meeting, the Corporation for National Service and the U.S. Department of Education have pledged their commitment to service as a means of improving schools, enhancing student achievement, and meeting citizenship challenges. Programs exemplifying six service-learning principles…

Growing out of Northern Ireland's 1980s Peace Education Project (aimed at breaking down Protestant/Catholic barriers), the Education for Mutual Understanding initiative focuses first on helping schoolchildren deal with everyday conflicts in their lives. EMU uses conflict resolution and peer mediation to help schools organize into learning…

Describes the Community Arts and Education Partnership, a community-system arts and literacy program for students at all grade levels. Notes that in this program, professional community artists and generalist classroom teachers delivered a sequential, integrated curriculum to over 500 students of diverse ethnicities. Concludes that literacy gains…

Public deliberation is a little-used concept that gets people talking about education and working together to improve it. Study circles discuss each solution's pros and cons, explore people's deeper motivations, weigh others' views carefully, work through conflicting emotions, and identify common ground. Pueblo, Colorado's process is profiled.…

After 13 years of rebelling against alleged public school transgressions of parental rights, Citizens for Excellence in Education is promoting reconciliation with public school educators. Actions include focusing rhetoric on solutions, not problems; developing biblical support papers to guide Christian conduct; and promoting improvement-oriented…

Aurora, a village of 147 residents in north central Kansas, was the focus of a 1978 investigation of the community development potential for Kansas rural villages. Students and staff from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare worked with community residents to identify three programs the village wanted (a recreation program, a…

The El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence is a communitywide initiative to help teachers and principals bring students to higher standards. High-school principals can help establish K-16 standards by gathering community leaders, bridging lower and upper grades, helping teachers translate standards into practice, and aligning standards with…

The important concepts undergirding school-based management are greater budgetary autonomy, district-level support for local school needs assessments and plans, allowed deviations from district normative expectations, better onsite decision-making opportunities, and a total district commitment to instructional and administrative excellence. In…

Summarizes the issues arising in a (British) grant-maintained comprehensive school as it responds to its highly supportive community's needs. Saved from closure by opting out, Bankfield School is managed by a governing body devoted to community education and a principal and staff committed to local needs. School-community balance is being achieved…