Head Start has been successful because it includes comprehensive services, parent involvement and family support, a commitment to meeting local needs, training and technical assistance support, and a collaborative approach. This ERIC Digest briefly describes each of these components. Discussion concludes by noting that Head Start must take more…

Fundamental beliefs and organizational structure represent an important part of comprehensive guidance programs serving students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. These programs help students gain competencies in the areas of personal/social, educational, and career development at all educational levels. Comprehensive programs guarantee that…

This article discusses some of the various school-reform strategies that have been implemented since the publication of A Nation at Risk. It opens with an examination of standards-based accountability and some of the concerns and objections surrounding this movement. It asks whether standards are achieving their purpose, looks at the role of state…

Canadian counselors working with young offenders confront at least two problems that interfere with effective intervention: a trend toward increased incarceration, and public confusion and mistrust over approaches to reducing crime. Research during the past decade is beginning to show clearly that programs for young offenders and other at-risk…

The movement toward school consolidation was triggered by James Bryant Conant's contention that larger schools are more efficient and offer more comprehensive programs. Many studies seem to support the claim that larger schools are cheaper to operate. Yet problems with these studies include wide variation in the minimum, optimum, and maximum sizes…