This research study measured the impact of Project Citizen on Moroccan students' civic literacy. Project Citizen (PC) is a community problem-solving curriculum which has been implemented in more than 80 countries worldwide. Using mixed methodology, the authors examined the extent to which students' participation in PC had an impact on developing…

While the teacher shortage is a national crisis, the manifestations of the shortage are felt most acutely at the local district level. The diversity of these micro-contexts often leads to disparities in the ways local school systems are served by large-scale initiatives. District leaders provide an important lens for understanding the localized…

Basic education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seems to be characterized by lecture methods of instruction, a lack of interdisciplinary approaches and a disconnection with local community problems. During 2008, a "My Community, Our Earth" (MyCOE) workshop was organized in the MENA region and involved teachers of geography,…

A model for enhancing the local capacity of urban schools for solving problems by restructuring school settings is the subject of this paper. In identifying the strength and weaknesses of such a concept, the paper reviews data from nine sites studied by the Documentation and Technical Assistance (DTA) project for their applicability to other…

This study, proposed by the West Virginia School Boards Association at the request of the West Virginia Legislature's Oversight Committee was designed to examine the kinds of decisions and nature of actions of local school boards in West Virginia between July 1985 and July 1990. A qualitative research design consisting of emergent category…

Three Rural Education Conferences sponsored during 1977 by the National Institute of Education proposed to find ways to strengthen the capacity of people at the local level to identify and solve their own education problems. The first conference focused on the nature of rural communities and the political, social, economic, and geographic…

While most rural special education leaders agree on the universality of certain problems (funding inadequacies, personnel recruitment/retention, transportation, low-incidence handicapped populations, staff development needs, resistance to change) in rural areas, no agreement exists regarding generalizable solutions which will work in all rural…

A discussion of recent trends in state educational reform stresses the importance of addressing two challenges: teaching all students higher order thinking and developing more systematic, coherent policies. The article describes the challenges, examines how state policies in the 1980s addressed them and how districts responded, and suggests future…

Following a brief introduction, chapter 1 of this study seeks to establish a framework for building stronger links between school and the workplace by calling attention to the need for (1) an ongoing analysis of the local economy in the context of the regional, national, and global economy; (2) a standing representative community consultation,…

The social studies unit involves students in learning about how their families and neighbors view their community. In addition, students identify community issues and problems, and explore their own attitudes about their community. It is designed for use in grade five through junior high school. There are four parts to the community study project.…