Drawing on new materialist and public writing scholarship, this essay advocates for public writing projects that foreground "distributed action" by pursuing "material ends." Analyzing the rhetorical consequences and pedagogical potential of the Children's Peace Statue Project (1990-1995), a student-led activist project to fund,…

For over a decade, Education Resource Strategies, Inc. (ERS) has helped leaders of urban school districts strategically reallocate their resources to improve student performance. This work identifies seven Core Transformational Strategies that support high-performing schools; in high-functioning districts, resources (people, time, and money) are…

In 2007, the Kettering Foundation launched a nationwide, two-year research project to learn what people in communities across the nation think about the achievement gap--and what roles they see for themselves in helping young people succeed academically. The community forums, which drew more than 3,200 participants nationwide, spotlighted elements…

The 1978 contract negotiations between the teachers and the school board of Philadelphia were important enough to draw in four identified types of third party: government officials (notably the mayor), neutral mediators, community interest groups (representing political, financial, parental, and general public interests), and the news media. The…

In October 1978 a survey was conducted of Friends of the Library (FOL) activities during the preceding 6 years in support of public, branch, academic, public school, media center, institution, and special libraries in Ohio. The purpose of the survey was to identify and provide a comprehensive summary listing of the recent activities of Friends…

Designed to survey parent and community members, this instrument was developed and validated by the Educational Progress in Careers (EPIC) project to evaluate career, economic, and community education programs in Florida Schools. The instrument is divided into the following parts: (a) community attitudes; (b) community facility and program needs;…

The purpose of the current study is to explore the effects of community service work and community involvement on perceptions of self-entitlement--expectations of others to do things for oneself--among undergraduate students. Over the course of a 16-week semester, 26 randomly selected subjects (20 community college psychology students and six…

Over the past two decades, an increasing number of American children are left in self-care after school each day. Parents of these latchkey children often turn to the library as a safe place for their children to go. The purpose of this study was to determine whether public libraries have responded since 1990 to the call put forward by concerned…

Planning to meet the needs of the future is a critical concern of an Arizona school district. The Mesa Action Planning System (MAPS) provides a framework for community involvement with a 200-member community-based planning committee, selected from constituent groups, and a 12-member steering committee. The planning committee will receive a summary…

A model for planning and evaluating community education programs--Stufflebeam's context, input, process, product (CIPP) evaluation model--was described and field-tested with the community education programs in Lakewood, New Jersey. Community education was defined as a concern for everything that affects the well-being of all citizens within a…

In November 1989, the College of the Canyons (CC) in Valencia, California, conducted a community survey of Santa Clarita Valley to determine residents' satisfaction with CC; use of CC services and facilities; perceptions of the value and performance of CC in six functional areas; perceptions of the quality of education; attitudes about fees, the…

The results of the evaluation of the community education program of the Nashville-Davidson County (Tennessee) Metropolitan Public Schools are contained in this volume. Evaluation questionnaires were sent to participants in all seven Nashville-Davidson County community schools, as well as to school administrators and to community organizations…

This briefing book provides the only material needed to participate in the 1989 Great Decisions national non-partisan program of volunteer run discussions on U.S. foreign policy issues for classrooms and community groups. Everyone who participates in the program is invited to fill out the opinion ballots provided in the back of the book; the…

This packet contains resources on five topics relevant to rural school administrators. "Assessing Parent Involvement: A Checklist for Rural Schools": discusses educator beliefs that support successful parent engagement programs, challenges and advantages of rural schools attempting to involve parents and community, and aspects of…

Prepared as part of a comprehensive study of reading in Virginia, this report contains data gathered in a survey of elementary and secondary reading teachers and specialists and adult basic education teachers to determine teacher needs in that state. The report provides an analysis of the responses to the 72-item questionnaire used in the survey…