In order to understand the complex workings of the three branches of American government, young citizens need early exposure in the elementary years to hands-on lessons that include real life examples and opportunities for students to apply what they have learned. To that end, the authors designed a five-day, inquiry-based unit for fourth grade…

This article describes the community organizing role of an Extension educator and a research faculty to enable young children in a resource-limited community to start savings accounts and to save regularly through a school-based savings effort. The study explored whether children from low-income communities are capable of saving money regularly…

This article, based on case study research, highlights how a rural school district in the midwestern United States collaborated with local community organizations to meet the needs of English language learners after the district and community experienced rapid ethnic diversification. In particular, the district EL coordinator spearheaded the…

This study reports on research into a Local Authority initiative in York, in North Yorkshire which aimed to establish early education and childcare partnerships between its 51 primary schools and local early-years providers from the community-voluntary and private sectors in close geographical proximity to the schools. The initiative was named…

In this article we suggest a facilitating process for nurturing a community of practice (CoP). This process can be seen as a reverse LPP (legitimate peripheral participation) process where a community starts with a group of core members and gradually grows to encourage new members into a CoP. In the heart of the reverse LPP process is the identity…